The Daily Procrastinator

One of these four shows is not real.  Guess which one.

1. Groomer Has It: 12 professional pet groomers compete for a coveted title.  (Animal Planet)
2. Kid Swap: A cross between Wife Swap and Supernanny, families take on each others’ kids for a month of tough love.  (ABC)
3. Hole in the Wall: An import from Japan, contestants try to fit themselves through small, awkward shapes cut into a wall.  (Fox)
4. Parking Wars: Following members of the Philadelphia Parking Authority as they ticket, tow and impound cars.  (A&E)

Thinking about making the switch from a satellite service to AT&T’s new premium television offering? I switched on January 9th of this year and have been extremely happy with the service. I was a DirecTV subscriber for almost 10 years prior. Here’s my review of the service so far.

The only real negatives I can come up with are the selection of HD channels is not a diverse as DirecTV (though it’s not bad), and that it might take 30 days to have the service installed. AT&T is swamped with installations right now. But, don’t be too disappointed; what you get is worth the wait. The installers are professional, friendly and knowledgeable. Each television has its own receiver which is connected by a coaxial cable (I know. I was surprised too). Each box communicates with a separate unit that is your DVR and a router. With the router, you can connect your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, or just about anything else that uses an Ethernet cable. You also receive a USB-connected wireless unit (mine is a small 802.11g unit from 2Wire) for laptops and such.

As for the service:
• I believe the HD picture is clearer than what DirecTV offers. I have no more pixilation during action shots.
• When changing channels there is no more waiting for the next channel to load up.
• The DVR is very easy to use, and recordings can be scheduled from either the main unit or from a computer. The rewind and fast forward options are much smoother than my DirecTV DVR or my TiVo Series 2.
• A recorded show playing in one room can be stopped and then picked up where it left off in another room (this may be my favorite feature).
• Four shows can be recording while a fifth is being watched. The only drawback is that you can only record 2 HD shows at one time.
• On Demand movies.

I’m obviously a very happy customer so far, and I expect this service to only get better as they tweak it and add more HD capacity. I also saved about $75 a month by bundling the phone, internet and television service into one bill.