BitLizard’s Blog

This week we switched from Comcast 7mb Internet and DirecTV satellite TV over to AT&T’s new U-verse service – a bundle that includes TV, Internet and VOIP phone. This change should save us around $50 a month and give us a faster connection. In general, I am happy with the way things have gone thus far. We were sold the new service by a door-to-door salesman (first one I’ve seen in decades). The ordering process was lengthy but reasonably easy to understand. Installation happened a week later (I postponed on them for a few days) and went off without a hitch. In fact, the installer went beyond the call of duty and took it upon himself to clear away and tidy up the side of the building previously occupied by my hodgepodge DirecTV rat’s nest. Setup took about 3.5 hours.

The new U-Verse service does not exactly duplicate my previous service. The largest difference is in the availability of HD streaming. We have 4 HD television sets on the property and previously we could watch HD programming on all 4 simultaneously. U-verse, on the other hand, can only manage 2 HD streams at one time plus 2 SD streams. But I am discovering that stated limitation is actually just the “guaranteed service level”. It appears, at least so far, that I can have 3 HD streams without any untoward effects. I haven’t tried 4 yet. Beyond this slight drawback there are many advantages. No satellite rain-outs disrupting our TV programs. The single DVR can record 4 programs simultaneously that can be played back on any TV in the house. The Internet access (at 12 megabit) is just dazzlingly fast. I’m a very happy camper so far.

I hear that Verizon has a similar service named FioS in their telephone network territory. Unlike AT&T, they actually string fiber directly to your home. So fat pipe Internet speeds should be at least theoretically possible with that service. Unfortunately I don’t live in their service area so I will have to wait for Ma Bell to upgrade the network.

Given my experience thus far, I can heartily recommend switching to U-Verse if its available in your area. Cheaper and better, what’s not to love?

Life in General

After my recent trip to Denver on Frontier Airlines, I’ve been reflecting on how much a difference it makes to have an extra inch of legroom in front of your airline seat. Typically I fly Delta or Continental whose jets are far less comfortable. Especially those small Brazilian jets that Continental flies to Houston from West Palm Beach. Those seats actually caused me physical injury which I would rather not describe.

There appears to be an inverse relationship with the size of the airline and the comfort of the seat. Check this article out. Midwest Airlines essentially gives you a business class seat in coach. Its a wonderful thing… and I wish I flew to Kansas City and Chicago more often. But Frontier Airlines is good, as is JetBlue. I can even say nice things about TAM, the Brazilian airline whose long haul planes are very comfortable indeed and the service is a cut well above our domestic airlines – and less expensive to boot. You will also see on the table in that article that Delta and Continental are among the worst for legroom and seat size. And recent news suggests they are both going to squeeze us further.

So if you have a choice, check out the little guys for more seat at the same price or less. And while I’m on the subject of the airlines, I just had to pay Continental a freakin $200 in addition to 60,000 frequent flier miles for the privilege of upgrading two passenger’s round trip tickets. Its seems odd that Continental thinks its a good idea to shore up their finances by draining much of the value away from the frequent flier miles their best customers have accumulated. I can’t think of anything they could have possibly done to make me feel more disgusted with them. Suffice it to say, if I’m not flying to Houston, I will not be flying Continental. Cramped seats, poor service and now thievery have put me off permanently.

Life in General Airline, Continental Airlines, Frequent flyer program, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Midwest Airlines