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New member Username: SherrilllPost Number: 7 Registered: Apr-04 | I have read a lot of good things about VOOM from other people on this web site. I thought it would be good to start this as a new topic. I am interested in getting VOOM. There is very little technical information about the reciever box on their web site. Can someone tell me more about the features of the box and more on billing and customer service experiences. |
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Bronze Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 77 Registered: Feb-04 | Sherrill: Try this link, then click on "First Look: Va-Va-Voom!" It is from the April 2004 Sound and Vision Magazine, which may still be for sale now, but not for long: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/ |
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New member Username: NhuserUSA Post Number: 3 Registered: Feb-04 | I have VOOM now but cancelling it. I only get 2 local channels and takes about 4/5 seconds to change a channel. 10 movie channels is for people who like 70's movies. Reception is good if you get it. I like DISH or my local cable which I am going to get next week. |
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OH User Unregistered guest | Ah, I beg to differ with NH user.....here in Cleveland I'm receiving all my locals and have no problems with satellite reception...even during heavy rain with a 30" dish.....the service is quite good so far for the first 3 weeks. Good luck with D* or E*....for now, I'm Vooming! |
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Bronze Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 55 Registered: Apr-04 | any new movies on VOOM ? |
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Anonymous | If you have any interest in getting good customer service don't even bother to sign up. They have little to no information except what is printed in their brochure or available on the website. They have yet to establish any kind of process for dealing with their contracting installer issues, and they really don't make any effort to try and help you sort it out. So if you get it and have no problems with it you'll be fine, but if you need any assistance at all after the intial installation it will become a nightmare. I honestly have read about twice as many bad reviews as good (maybe even three times as many), my advice....wait. Until they get their act together, which may not be anytime soon. |
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Bronze Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 77 Registered: Apr-04 | ive also heard of them not showing up for appts. would hate to waste a day off. im gonna wait and hope my cable co. increases their HD line up |
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Anonymous | I have voom installed (finally) about 3 weeks ago. Yes, it did have scheduling problem but I think it had a lot to do with the local contract installer also. Voom is very small so it does not have a huge network of installers like DN. Therefore it offers a better deal than DTV and DN. But that's is what I like about it. I rather shop at a small Mom and Pop shop than at Walmart. After the installation, the customer service is actually quite good. The wait time is much shorter than others. I hope more people would get it just to keep the competition alive. |
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The Hook-up Unregistered guest | I also had several "scheduling" problems with the local contractor. Once installed, however, it exceeds all expectations. I don't have any of the pay movie channels but there is still more than enough HD content. Here's what I am able to get in Northern Virginia: Locals: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, WB, PBS (select HD programs in prime time) In addition to VOOMs 21 exclusive HD channels also get TNTHD, Discovery HD, BravoHD, and ESPNHD. I like the lineup on the Standard Definition channels also. Good mix for men (Spike TV, NFLNET, multiple ESPNs), women (Soapnet, WE, and oxygen), and children (several cartoon and other kids channels). The downside is I now have a low tolerance for standard definition programs due to being spoiled by the Hi-Def channels. Call me crazy but I love to see the weather maps on the 24 hour HD news channel!! |
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Anonymous | I have very little (only 2 things) negative to say about Voom. Overall, it is quite good, especially the price. The 2 things are: Its outdoor HD antenna is no better than my little indoor one and it does not have the Food channel which my wife loves. |
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Anonymous | I have very little (only 2 things) negative to say about Voom. Overall, it is quite good, especially the price. The 2 things are: Its outdoor HD antenna is no better than my little indoor one and it does not have the Food channel which my wife loves. |
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Silver Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 106 Registered: Apr-04 | no food channel ? ok voom is out. what about their movie channels, are they so old that they are black n white. |
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Anonymous | Actually, the movies are pretty decent. Somehow Voom cleans up the old movies (some of them are real classics) and play them in HD. It is showing the original "The Manchurian Candidate" which is in B&W and is quite watchable. 720P is better than the DVD's 480P. You have to be a real film lover to appreciate Voom's movies. |
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New member Username: ChristhomasPost Number: 1 Registered: Aug-04 | I purchased my HDTV in April of 2002. Since then I have had the opportunity to first watch HDTV on Directv, then Dish Network, and finally recently Voom on the same TV. One thing I have learned from comparing all 3 services is that the quality of HDTV reception can vary a great deal. I initally had Directv HD and was quite happy with quality of the picture. I would give it a score of 8 to 9. After about a year and a half I switched to Dish Network because I was fighting with Directv's provider Pegasus. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was with Dishnetworks HD picture. I would give it a 3 or a 4 at most. The HD picture was not even close to what Directv's was. I was constently trying to adjusting the picture controlls because when I went from one channel to the next I would go from a over bright picture to a dark picture. Sometimes it didn't look any better than a regular TV picture. Finally I switched to Voom. It has it's drawbacks. No local Network stations, little quarks here and there that are being ironed out now. The big plus's though far outweigh it's drawbacks. 1st of course is all the HD content and the Voom orignal HD programs which are excellent. But secondly and I believe more importantly is the absolute breathtaking quality of the HD picture, which I would give a 10+. When I turn on the TV I'm just blown away. And that's after watching HDTV for almost 2 and a half years.It's the Holy Grail of HDTV reception. Bottom line is if the very best HDTV picture is the most important thing to you Voom is the way to go.If you can live without local networks, and can put up with a few quarks I can promise you will not be disappointed. |
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Silver Member Username: HeffPost Number: 115 Registered: Dec-03 | I'm also interested in HDTV signal via satellite, Cox Cable, and/or OTA antenna with the quality and quantity of HD content being my first priority, and acceptable and a variety of SD content being a distant second priority. Let's hear more from the Voom and Va Va Voomers! |
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wmichsabre Unregistered guest | I've had Voom for 5 months now. I still can't get ESPNHD. Every time I call, they tell me something different. I refuse to have the installers back in my house because they are so unprofessional. They smell, left a pen mark on my couch, and even took a dump in my bathroom! Anybody else have ESPNHD issues? |
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Anonymous | I have to say I don't have any ESPNHD issue on my Voom service ever since it was installed 2 months ago. What kind of excuse did they give you when you call? Voom is small (compares to DN and DTV) and it contracts with the local installers. So if you have problems with them, report to Voom. May be it will use someone else. |
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New member Username: ChristhomasPost Number: 2 Registered: Aug-04 | I'm also confused about "wmichsable" not being able to get ESPNHD.This is important because I'm sure that is the most important HD station to a lot of people.I get it with no problem. I'm no expert on this, but you must have not been able to get other HD station because aren't several stations beamed down in from the same satellite? Also for what it is worth the people that installed my Voom system were neat, clean, and very professional. |
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Anonymous | Keep in mind that there might be a local black-out by ESPN if it is broadcasting one of your local teams. If that is your problem, there is no way for Voom to fix it. I live in the Mpls. area and I could not see the recent Yankees/Twins games due to local black out. |
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Teresa Unregistered guest | I had Voom for about 4 days the customer service leaves alot to be desired!!!!!!! I was renting my equipment and they took 991.68 out of my checking account, customer service told lies after lies so I emailed the corporate office and the money was put back into my account and the sattelite was removed, never had it long enough to tell if it was good |
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HDTV FORUM Unregistered guest | Another good resource for VOOM which has VOOM reviews, Voom News and a Voom Forum and general High Definition Information is at: http://www.highdefforum.com |
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Ray Kawal Unregistered guest | I've had VOOM for a few months now, and I just LOVE it! I was so sick of the crummy programming on Dishnet that I hated to pay my bill every month - it seemed the only thing worth watching was CNN Headline News! Totally different with VOOM - I find their unique CINEMA 10 channels, all in HDTV, to be quite good. I almost always find something interesting to watch, whether it's movies, RAVE, the music channel, or RUSH the extreme sports channel. Their HDNews channel is pretty mediocre, but I just LOVE the HD channels. I have a 106" CRT projector screen and to watch that size in HD is just amazing. I used to think DVDs on the big screen were excellent, but they don't compare to HDTV. That's why I signed up with Voom in the first place - because they have so many HD channels. The programming is so good, I actually enjoy paying my bill every month - that's pretty wierd! The main thing I do miss, however, is the local channels like NBC, CBS, and ABC. Voom does not yet have them on the satellite, so you must be in an area where they are available off the air - also requiring a separate antenna. In my rural area, I can't get them at all, so I use my old C band satellite antenna and subscribe separately to NBC and CBS out of Denver. But other than that, Voom is excellent. For anyone wanted HDTV, I'd highly recommend Voom. I've seen great shows that I never could have seen on Dishnet or DirecTV. |
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Silver Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 137 Registered: Apr-04 | you seem to be the exception to the rule. |
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New member Username: ChristhomasPost Number: 3 Registered: Aug-04 | Ray Kawal & I must both be the exception to the rule, because I agree with everything he says and I just love Voom too.But let me add one other thing. I've had Dish Network and Directv HDTV on the same TV and the picture quality of Voom HDTV is superior. |
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armchairmanoftheboard Unregistered guest | To wmichsabre, maybe the installer should take a shower and put on a tuxedo after he is done climbing on the roof and attic. Maybe they could be magic and snap their fingers and then no sweat smell would permiate your precious nostrills. Then he could leave your house for an hour to find a bathroom. I think only girls in dresses and high heals should do installs. I'm sure whatever company wins your business wishes they didn't. Did you say something about the programming? Ralph |
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Bronze Member Username: Jdsaenz1Post Number: 87 Registered: Jun-04 | I'm pretty sure that most cable/sat installers are contracted, thus the variations in service. My experience w/the Voom installer (he says he also does direct, dish, TimeWarner, etc. installs) was a good one, I guess it all depends on the luck of the draw... As with Voom's customer service, "try, try again". I hate taking no for an answer. During the summer, when NBC broadcast the Olympics in HD, my local station didn't broadcast. Luckily, Voom added an NBCHD channel just for that purpose. I couldn't receive it. After calling customer service and told that I couldn't receive it because I must be in a blackout area or something, I waited a day or two and called back. This time, I told the rep. that I wanted to order the channel. She told me "it's no charge; let me send the signal to you", and within a few seconds, presto. |
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Unregistered guest | I'm so aggravated with Cox Cable right now that I'm shopping for some other way to get a good channel lineup and HDTV. What I don't want to do though, is go from one bad customer service biz to another... so all of your comments are appreciated! I'm considering Voom and DTV, but I don't want to go to either if they are not customer-oriented. |
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Unregistered guest | Is Voom service really that bad? I want HD but not at the cost of endless service headaches. I currently have Direct TV but their 4 channels of HD is a really sad option for the price. Voom is giving the equipment and install for $1. Any Updated information would be very helpful. |
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Anonymous | I recently had voom installed and so far im am happy with it. i live in the bay area California and i get all my local channels in HD and have had no problems with the equipment / service except that the installer was in a hurry but then again voom has no control over that really they are independent contractors So overall after having dish network for a year and comcast for 2 months i have to say voom is the best for any HD programing for price and service plus the picture is much better than caomcast and dish's HD. I give it a 9.7 of 10 |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 256 Registered: Feb-04 | There's a whole VOOM division on the HighDefForum. See http://www.highdefforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17 Hope this helps. |
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JSilva Unregistered guest | 9/11/04 was my 50th birthday and my wife bought me a Hitachi 50" 50V500A HDTV. 1" for every year. Better than candles huh? I already had a good home theater system so they work together great. I had DN Dish 500 already but I'd have to change it to get HD. And I'd have to buy an off air receiver on top of that. Voom offered an off air receiver built into their system, so I'd save 200 bucks while getting HD. It seemed to fit. All I can say is Voom is assume! The picture is just out of this world. I think the Hitachi has A lot to do with it also since it has a DVI connection. As far as signal fad during bad weather, that doesn't bother me too much because I had both DTV & DN, they ALL do that. I still have DN and it goes out with Voom in bad weather, but it has to be really bad. I just got Va Va Voom, Love it. It was only about 15 bucks more so what the heck I figured if I paid close to $4000 for a TV what's the point. Had problems with local channels at first, but ok now, get them ALL & the HD ones come in great. No problem with customer service or install. Installed all my systems myself so I could tell if they didn't do it right. Just odd that they required pro install. (I let them use my old DTV mount and cable) My biggest grips with Voom are: No lifetime, I'd drop DN if they had it. Their equipment is trash; this is my 2nd receiver it keeps locking up. The caller ID is always one call behind and the guides not always right. (I'm told these two are known issues that fact does help, fix it) Have to reset the system to often and when you do you have wait a while for the guide to download. Sci-Fi channel that they just added comes in fuzzy. Still you have to remember this is a young company and HD is fairly new. I'll put up with it for a while, but at $100 a month they'd better get it together quickly or people will start to leave no matter how good the picture is. |
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NewVoomer Unregistered guest | I had Voom installed yesterday. I should start by saying that 20 years ago, I worked as a DBS installer, so I know how installations should be done. Vooms' contractors are HORRIBLE! I can't tell you how bad it was....but I'll try. The guys came when promised. Great. We walked around the house and discussed dish positions and options. I told him where I thought the cables should go, and he agreed. Then he asks where Washington,DC is. Well, it's about 2 miles away. I think everyone around here knows where that should be. It's a 5 minute drive from the house. SO they start the install. I'm in the house and i hear the ladder crash! I go outside and find the installer in a twisted pile by my house (2 story, what a fall)! He says he's ok and gets back up (slowly). Later, he tells me his assistent was holding the ladder and he sent them to the truck, hence, the ladder slips out. It left a big mark down the side of my house. We'll see how they deal with it. Inside, they hooked up both TV's incorrectly. They didn't seem to have much experience. I had to do the connections for both sets. Later, I looked out at the roof and found that he had run the cable straight down over the side of the house, across the gutters! They will come back out and replace the cable. On installation, I'm only getting half ov the local stations. I had to put the rabbit ears back on the bedroom set so my wife could see her shows. That said, I love Voom! Our cable was just awful and I'm glad it's gone. I like the programming and the HD stations. My wife and I are movie people, so their channels are just what we wanted. Despite the problems, I will be keeping it. they keep adding stations. Once the got HGTV and FOOD, my wife said go for it. I'd recommend it, but they need to do something about installations. |
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New member Username: SherrilllPost Number: 8 Registered: Apr-04 | I had Voom installed last week and it is great! I cannot believe I debated about the different HiDef alternatives for so long before finally deciding to get Voom. From reading the different comments, in this thread, all of the respondents seem very polarized. Either they have had a good experience or bad and little in between. Fortunately, I have had a great experience! The installer that came to my house was very professional. He arrived on time and worked all day on a relatively complicated installation with three receivers and running antenna hookup to all other rooms. The best part about Voom that I love is that it has given me access to all my local Hi Def stations. One of the things that made me mad with cable was only one local station in Hi Def (PBS) they said they had contract issues with the other local stations or the local stations had not upgraded to Hi Def. With the antenna supplied by Voom I can pull in multiple ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and PBS stations and many shows are in Hi Def!! I also like some of Voom's own programming HDNEWS and RAVE are great! I also love the TNT HiDef channel and Discovery HD Theater which came with my package. |
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njxc500 Unregistered guest | I had voom for a month, and I have to say it was the worst month of tv headaches ever. Here were my problems. 1. The first two days, the tvs were almost unwatchable, because(I was told) the menus were loading. The boxes would lock up and need to be restarted. 2. I didn't get local channels for 3 weeks, 3 tries and they finally worked. Nice once they are working, but what a mess to get there. 3. Numerous channels switched with others. For example, 522 USA tunes in OLN. OLN also OLN. ESPNHD switched with something that brings me an upgrade message. Some more I dont remember, they weren't important. The problem is that they told me IT CANNOT BE FIXED, IT IS A POLARITY PROBLEM, due to an electrical station nearby. What a joke. 4. Mine was very sensitive, for some reason. During rain and snow, I lose partial service. On a positive note, the picture in HD is fantastic, I just feel it is not worth the crap I have been through, hopefully others are lucky. |
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New member Username: SupermanwizardPost Number: 2 Registered: Jan-05 | After I got Voom, I think I changed the channel from "NFL NETWORK" maybe two times in like 4 months.Then we started to watch some of the other channel's like monsters that show off the wall horror flicks and a couple of other HD channels just to gawk at the HiDef pics....And just like any new toy it lost it's luster and my interest. Sure it boasts the most HD broadcaster channels ever..but who wants to watch still shots of art while listening to yanni?IF you want to watch HB0 or Show you have to purchase th full VA-VOOM! Ok it seems I got lucky with my installer. On time.Pleasant.Informative.N0 Buttcrack. BTW I lost my remote and they sent me a replacement free-of-charge."First ones free after that it's 24.95" The rep also informed me of the scheduled spring launch of another Satellite and 150 more channels and a undetermined amount of new HD channels. How true this is?...I guess I'll find out in the spring. |
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Anonymous | Does anyone have any experience with Voom in the Dallas Metroplex area? I am worried about installers knowing what they are doing. I have DISH now, but am looking for a change(for the better). Any advice would be helpful. |
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SPZ Unregistered guest | Is it true that the dish needs to go on your roof? |
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Bronze Member Username: Mike_leighPost Number: 17 Registered: Dec-04 | well, Voom was sold to Echostar today for $200 million. This was the only way Voom was going to survive. Hope Voom becomes more attractive to HDTV owners like myself. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_3486563,00. html |
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Barny Unregistered guest | I have had Voom for about a month now in Chicago and love it. Installer was on time and spent 1/2 the day to make sure it worked correctly. All the channels are clear. The menu is very easy to navigate, and my local channels come in digital quality as opposed to the cable quality. Local channels are all in HIDEF. I am happy with it, plus who can beat $1 installation and over 120 channels most in HD with all local channels for $89.00 with Va Va Voom |
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Anonymous | Lets hope Echostar/DISH keeps most of those new hi def channels in some form or another |
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xvxvxvx Unregistered guest | Not gonna happen, VOOM is history. E* will use the satellites but not for all those boutique HD channels. They only purchased the hardware, period. xvxvxvx |
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xvxvxvx Unregistered guest | Not gonna happen, VOOM is history. E* will use the satellites but not for all those boutique HD channels. They only purchased the hardware, period. xvxvxvx |
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sprchrgd89 Unregistered guest | Our second install reschedule i gurantee there will not be a third . Subcontractors very unprofessional and the cockamame excuses they give geez !!! Why does voom give the installation day choice option online @ time of order if no one will adhere to it ? So far they are not batting a hundered with me ! |
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Anonymous | THE VOOM POSITIVES - ok everyone agrees the installers not always so good, however Charlie Dolan, Cablevision visionary and entrepeneur dumped 600 million into putting into orbit the world's most advanced hi definition satellite. Unfortunately, he's a bit ahead of his time. However, this satellite will stay in orbit and Echostar will certainly use parts of their upcoming purchase to expand their hi def offerings, causing a rippling effect requiring DirectTV and Comcast cable to keep making additional hi def improvements, which is good for everyone who loves hi definition |
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New member Username: JkmadduxPost Number: 4 Registered: Dec-04 | according to the Wall Street Journal, EchoStar is shutting down those sattelites and VOOM will be out of business. not sure if they intend to use them (the satellites) in the future or not. |
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Bronze Member Username: Paul_ohstbucksPost Number: 40 Registered: Jan-05 | IMO..... Direct TV is the way to go. I cant speak on behalf of Dish Network, but DTV seems to be the authority when it comes to satellite service. Their customer service is excellent too, and they always put the customer first. |
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Anonymous | Are there any NEW YORKER'S out there who can give their input on VOOM? |
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Anonymous Viewer Unregistered guest | My voom works great and love it. Hopefully all the rumors go away because I know there are alot of satisified people. Dell pushes for them as well as they work great with HD tv's. Plus they are tons cheaper with more channels than direct or dish. |
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Bronze Member Username: LamprightSyracuse, Utah USA Post Number: 23 Registered: Jan-05 | Voom has no DVR/Tivo available, so it was not even a consideration for me. I would rather go without TV completely if I don't have a Tivo to watch shows on my busy schedule, not the networks. I went with Comcast and their awesome Motorola HD DVR. It's not quite as good as my DirecTV Tivo (not HD Tivo), but it's close. I'm very happy with the quality of Comcast's HD broadcasts. Having all of the local channels in HD available on the DVR is a huge plus. You cannot record locals on an HD Tivo. Plus, comcast has On Demand which is something the Satellite companies cannot provide. There is a ton of really great content available On Demand and it's almost all FREE. Most of it is SD, but there are some HD On Demand movies. I've never seen Voom, but after reading all of the negative reviews in this forum I don't think I would even give them a try. I'm sticking with Comcast for atleast 1 year until DirecTV transistions to MPEG4 compression and releases their new HD DVR's for the new MPEG4. If they are a reasonable price at that time, I'll probably switch back to DirecTV. But, for now I'm VERY happy with Comcast! |
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Silver Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 164 Registered: Apr-04 | having an HD DVR is great. if voom doesnt have it they are missing out. I couldnt live without mine |
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Silver Member Username: RevanLos angeles, Ca Usa Post Number: 165 Registered: Apr-04 | having an HD DVR is great. if voom doesnt have it they are missing out. I couldnt live without mine |
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xvxvxvx Unregistered guest | Hopefully all the rumors go away because... Sorry to burst your little fantasy bubble but they are not rumors, they are facts, VOOM is shutting down and their boutique HD channels are going away. Only the satellites were sold, noone wants to go bust like VOOM has done. xvxvxvx |
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Jimmiejo Unregistered guest | I had great service from our installer, and more importantly, honesty. No digital signal exists here, so no network t.v. coverage for us. BUT i've had a 50" HDTV for over a year and until now, It just enhanced the crappy signal from our cable company. If you want to experience HDTV at it's potential, VOOM is it. I don't think we'll miss all those dumb sit-coms anyway and if we do, I'll re-subscribe to basic cable.....and keep VaVaVOOM. |
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fegarciajr Unregistered guest | Was highly considering in switching over to Voom on April 6th, 2005. I called their service dept. to ask questions regarding their issues with them being bought by Echostar and if they knew if any changes would be coming soon. The person I spoke with told me that she appreciated my concerns but could not tell me anything except to offer me an extra month of free cable channels. Two days later, I tried to call them again to see when they could schedule a date for service and their phone number was no longer in service. Also if you visit their web site (www.voom.com), you can see that they are out of business! |
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Silver Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 298 Registered: Feb-04 | http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050408/media_cablevision.html?.v=3 |
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Los Angeles Unregistered guest | Experience with Direct has been awful, lies upon lies, sales will tell you ANYTHING to make the sale, but they DO NOT understand their product, or their equipment, they have multiple call centers, none are connected so tracing a promise made is impossible. Corporate has not returned letters. Took three attempts to hook up ONE HD TV. Do what you'd like, but be educated before you sign the dotted line with them. |