Consumerist
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inventions
HD Sunglasses Use The Power Of Stupidity To Increase Real World Resolution
Did you know your eyes have probably been viewing things in only 480 vertical lines of resolution? Thankfully someone out there isn't as stupid as the rest of us, and realized that if our television sets can be upgraded to HD, so can our eyeballs. At least they can with the help of these special sunglasses. More » -
comcast frank explains it all
No HD Red Zone Channel For You, Comcast Tells Chicago
There are three ways in which HDTV blows your mind: It lets you read too-small text in video games and movie subtitles, makes the picture on DVDs take up the entire screen, and in football games lets you see more of the field, and in such stunning detail you can make out the tears on Buffalo Bills fans' faces as their team blows 11-point leads in the final two minutes. More » -
above and beyond
LG Electronics Offers Customer Amazing Service On Broken Plasma TV
If you owned an expensive TV that stopped working, and you were years out of warranty, you'd assume the manufacturer would have nothing to do with you, correct? LG doesn't play that game—Tim's experience with them when his LG set went kaput is a mind-blowing example of a company practically coddling its past—and almost certainly future—customers. More » -
on-demand
Indie Flicks Now Come To Cable Boxes As Soon As They Hit Theaters
It used to be Steven Soderbergh who could get away with bringing indie films to cable on-demand services on their theatrical opening day More » -
errors
Time Warner Cable: You're Not Getting HD Because FOX Stopped Broadcasting It
Reader Dave has graciously shared with us a tragic series of emails he sent to Time Warner Cable, the highlight of which comes when he tells them about the time that he called in because the New York City FOX affiliate wasn't working (he wanted to watch the NY Football Giants) and was told that FOX 5 had decided to stop broadcasting in HD. More » -
western digital
Western Digital HD Ships With Super Secret Asian Lady Porn!
A reader wrote in to tell us that the Western Digital hard drive he recently boughtnewfrom Best Buy had hidden dirty pics buried on it. He was running a program to retrieve some accidentally deleted images when he discovered the secret files. Read his story below. [Update: our tipster has written back in to clarify that the HD was not necessarily "brand new."] More » -
directv
DirecTV Installer Arrives, Poops, And Leaves, But Doesn't Install DirecTV
It's hard to fit everything you need to do into an average day, but this ingenious DirecTV installer found a way to show up late to his appointments, take a break for lunch, and drop the kids off at the pool—all before 5pm! Now if only he'll remember to bring a ladder with him the next time so he can actually complete the installation. More » -
dishonest
Dish Network Adds 22 Channels, Issues Bragging Press Release, Then Yanks 15
Want to convince people you offer as much HD as DirecTV without, you know, having to actually do it? Add 22 HD channels, issue a press release bragging about it, then yank 15 of your older channels while the press isn't looking. That's what Dish Network did according to TVPredictions.com: More » -
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complaints
Comcast Spews BS When You Complain About HD Degradation
David wanted a straight answer from Comcast as to whether they were degrading his HD signal, but instead was fed a colossal trough of baloney. The executive customer service rep who replied to David's email said Comcast is using a "new system" for HD and while it "works well with clean 1080i signals, we're making some adjustments to improve how it handles other types of HD signals so we can bring you the best HD picture. We apologize this has not created the HD experience that we intended, but we will work towards getting it right. " Sure... check out this previous post, Comcast Degrades HD Quality To Make Room For More Channels, for the science and proof of how Comcast (and other cable operators) are degrading HD feeds to make more money. The full exchanges between David and the Comcast reps, inside...
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A reader tried to send in his shipping info to Monster Cable yesterday to receive their free HD informational DVD, The Higher Definition Home Theater Experience (see second to last paragraph), and discovered the address wasn't working. Now it is, so if you got your email bounced back, try again.
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format war
The Format War Is Over, HD-DVD Surrenders!
A Toshiba insider claims that the company will abandon its HD-DVD format, yielding the next-generation DVD format war to Sony's competing Blu-ray technology. So now that the war is over you should run out and buy a new Blu-ray player, right? Not so fast. More » -
contracts
DirecTV: New 2-Year Contract With $480 Cancellation Fee For Switching DVRs
I've had DirecTV for 8 years and was happy until 2 weeks ago. I purchased a new HD receiver at Best Buy on a whim to upgrade my sturdy old DirecTivo. I got home and called DirecTV to tell them of the switch. The Rep (Mone ID#413435) took the numbers on the new box and TV and told me that my new HD receiver should start working in a few minutes. That's all she said. More » -
format war
Warner Bros. Goes Blu-Ray Exclusive
Warner Bros. rolled up its sleeves in the format war today and announced that it was discontinuing support for HD-DVD after May 2008. More » -
suspicions
AT&T Lying about Dish Network HD DVRs?
Like all decent Americans, I loath Time Warner and decided to cancel my cable and get satellite service through AT&T, who are a Dish Network reseller. More » -
complaints
DirecTV Screws Reader Six Ways From Sunday Night Football
About six months ago I moved into my apartment in Chicago to learn that the only service available was with DirecTV. Not only that, but we were forced to use MDU communications, a DirecTV reseller. With no options for television, I reluctantly purchased my own HD receiver off eBay (The HR-20) to avoid entering into a contract with them for two years. When I received my unit, I called MDU to sign up and the CSR at MDU told me that since I had my own receiver, I could sign directly up with DirecTV. Awesome I thought, I can cut out the middle man. The CSR at MDU even transferred me to DirecTV account set up line himself.
This being The Consumerist, so you know now is just about the point where the story takes a turn for the worse... More »
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csrs
Resilient Customer Gets DirecTV To Drop Price Of HD Box From $299 To $0
A DirecTV customer service representative offered Justin a free upgrade to a better HD box as part of DirecTV's legacy program. Justin, a 2-year customer, was disconnected before he could accept the upgrade. When he called back, he reached a CSR who demanded $299 for the same box. More » -
mysteries
A Plague Of Cracked Blu-Ray Discs From Netflix?
Grant is having a problem renting blu-ray discs from Netflix. More » -
punishing the ones who dont steal
Blu-Ray DRM Rendering Some Discs Unplayable
Remember when DVD-type players didn't require "firmware updates?" Ahh, those halcyon days of um, last year... More »
hd
New York, 9:39 PM
Tue Nov 10
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