am thinking of getting claros new tv service with recorder...is anyone here now using it and can give me an idea of service,quality,etc


oscar

I was in Acropolis a few weeks ago and they we're showing the system. I wasn't impressed at all with the quality of the image or the speed of the system when changing channels. The guide and the user interface did seem good.

I asked one of the guys from Claro that was there how does the signal get to your house, and he told me it runs through a ADSL/Flash connection. That alone is enough for me to not consider the service since I've had quite some problems with the ADSL/Flash connection from Codetel in the past. Skytv provides better quality and is faster. They have a stand in Moviemax near the Lincoln, so you might as well just go and check it out yourself.

The quality will depend greatly on the television. Once I was watching Uverse(ATT TV) on a Vizio 42inch and wasnt impressed. Then after I saw Uverse on Sony and have to say there was a major difference.

The guys at Codetel or Claro dont know there head from their ass. They try to impress you with a bunch of internal nomenclature and lingo. They dont know the difference between DSL and ADSL.

One important factor is the size of the pipe/bandwidth this will tell you the quality that may expect. Dont expect to get HD video programming on anything less than 16-18Megs. I dont think Claro has that capability in the DR (18megs) as the technology is costly and there isnt substantial crititcal mass. perhaps they are selling a water down version.

I any case even in the US its still would be ADSL or AVSL for the simple reason there no need for synchronous stream unless you are broadcasting. Verizon probably has AT&T beat with its "Fiber to the Curb" but any case its still is and will be ADSL or VDSL and in addition its much more costly to maintain.

They are using a very high compression ratio in their streams. You can easily tell because of the pressence of a lot of 'artifacts' during playback. In this case at Acropolis they were using 32" sony lcd tv's, so the lack of quality was instantly apparent.

ladronaso, i bow down to your seemingly limitless knowledge of the subject..long live the King!!!

you are so right, ladronaso. these sales clerks are so clueless, it is laughable. but, you have to be patient, and remember that last week , some of them were selling paint, or shoes. i am sort of a minor authority on stereo systems, and i used to die laughing when i went into stereo stores, and the clerks would say "these are great speakers..they are 200 watts ! i would ask them what they meant, and the answer would be "they are 200 watts speakers". but, that is what they are programmed to say, because even though they know nothing, the general public knows even less, and relies on them for advice. moral of the story? go to the store with ladronaso before you buy the tv service. his fees are reasonable LOL

dont know all the technical terms you are using,but what is bottom line???If my tvs are real good,then pic and service is good???I have had claro internet as well as banda ancha on my laptop with nothing but great service..and 5 cell phones with them...and never have had a problem....soooo I thought their tv service should be great also...and I like the tivo type recorder that also comes with it....and it is less pesos than tricom...with more channels...
is there anyone out there with the service????
oscar

How much does it cost?

1500 a month,includes 190 channels,recorder...plus tax of course...
oscar

Basic Terminology and facts: Broad Band ( banda ancha) can be obtained from a DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) ISP or cable ISP.anything over 124K is broadband. Most consumers (residential) have ADSL known as Assymetrical Subrisciber line for the simple reason that consumers generally do not need to have a "Symetrical" data stream. This is why ADSL has a lopsided download and upload rate e.g 3554down/384up.

A pure DSL (e.g T1 T2 T3) line will be 3554/3554. You will normally see this in VOIP providers such as calling card companies( STI IDN etc) in the US. same companies that people use to make calls overseas. For voice communications 64K min is required unless you are using some Unified system such as Cisco or Nortell etc which is as low as 24K. Note I said 64 K. Therefore a company can purchase 1 DSL known as a T1 T2 or T3 line and have a good number of people talking on one line. Conceptually have anywhere between 24-64 calls simultaneously on 1 T1 line. Notice that In DR there are no other providers of "CALLING CARDS" except the telephone companies. WHY? Corruption etc.

Now for Video depending on the type of compression used ATT Uverse currently has 25Mb as down stream 2.0 upstream. The 25Mb which they allocated to their service HD video requires somewhere in the hood of 1400 Megabits/s rate but ATT is compressing somewhere in the hood of 8.5Megabits/s. Pixelation and artifacts will occur whenever there is congestion in network and issues with the quality of the line(copper line). Since ATT unlike Verizon uses Fiber at the remote location (usually 2000-3000ft from the home) and copper to the home it is not "a true fiber" to the home and therefore more susceptible to latency and other anomalies.

Bottom line is that I seriously doubt claro is providing 25MB service and probably providing 6-12MB service with some very serious compression ratios as stated by DannyDR therefore the quality will be mediocre typical in Dom rep. Stick to cable until technology improves.