I am moving in a few weeks and will be needing HDTV. I hate comcast and their prices seem extremely high. I started looking into Direct TV and found their pricing to be a lot better. Which do you guys prefer and why? Is one that much better than the other?

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

I'd say one of the most important things to take in to consideration when making your decision is the location's average weather conditions. If it tends to rain a lot you may want to consider the cable, because signal loss tends to be a problem. If not then I would say direct tv. I know in florida it kinda sux having the dish, but when I was living out in west texas the dish would have been perfect.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

^ ^ Very good points he brought up there. Being that I'm in ideal weather for a dish, I went with that route after Comcast finally sold off their customers to TimeWarner, and I wasn't going to be penalized for dropping the tv and keeping the internet. (Comcast charges you an additional $18/mo. when you don't have cable tv with the internet.) I was switched over to TimeWarner, which is better service and better pricing but finally made the jump to DirecTV with HD service since we upgraded our tv. Overall, the only problem I had was with the installer. The dude was low quality and I could have done a cleaner install and cable management so they will be sending someone out to finish this properly. Back on topic, the tv service has been great and I've got a decent package. I have 195+ channels, the HD content with several movie channels to two rooms for $59 a month. Installation was free but I know that's an industry standard.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[quote=beanzncheez;505946]^ ^ Very good points he brought up there. Being that I'm in ideal weather for a dish, I went with that route after Comcast finally sold off their customers to TimeWarner, and I wasn't going to be penalized for dropping the tv and keeping the internet. (Comcast charges you an additional $18/mo. when you don't have cable tv with the internet.) I was switched over to TimeWarner, which is better service and better pricing but finally made the jump to DirecTV with HD service since we upgraded our tv. Overall, the only problem I had was with the installer. The dude was low quality and I could have done a cleaner install and cable management so they will be sending someone out to finish this properly. Back on topic, the tv service has been great and I've got a decent package. I have 195+ channels, the HD content with several movie channels to two rooms for $59 a month. Installation was free but I know that's an industry standard.[/quote]

$18 bucks more if you use their internet but not their cable?

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

have you looked into charter cable? much better, imo. better prices and its as reliable as comcast. i pay $99 for high speed internet, expanded cable and home phone with free long distance.... i'm not sure if charter has service out in cumming but i would call and ask. i'm sure they do.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[quote=Garrick;506025]have you looked into charter cable? much better, imo. better prices and its as reliable as comcast. i pay $99 for high speed internet, expanded cable and home phone with free long distance.... i'm not sure if charter has service out in cumming but i would call and ask. i'm sure they do.[/quote]

they don't. just comcast :what

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

that blows. that's what happens when ya move to tha sticks!! ;) just playin.... that really isn't THAT far from the city. i'm rather shocked charter doesn't provide service out there.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

as a guy that lives in charter's headquarters, I can't really recommend going with them. I had nothing but problems when I used them for TV. I have heard the service is better elsewhere (ironically), though, so ask around where you are. Cable is only as good as the cables the service runs on, so cable is more susceptible to degradation of signal, noise, etc. Satellite, on the other hand, should be the same regardless of where you are, because it's just a matter of the box decoding the same signal that everyone else gets.

I personally have DirecTV, have had it for years, and have been very, very happy with it. The weather issues are overstated a bit, I think, but they were experiencing some growing pains with their HD local channels in some markets glitching a bit even when the weather was perfect back in early May. It's a known problem, though, and I'm not really noticing it any more -- plus they gave me free HD and Showtime for 6 months for dealing with it.

I'd go with DirecTV. My $.02.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

i looked into sat tv, but wanted a constant signal at every outlet in my house w/o having an accompanying box. at the time i upgraded, TWC was running a special for 40 for digicable + local HD & a few others (less expensive that expanded basic) + 12 dollars for the tivo type box. so total of maybe 55 bucks in taxes & fees. & the service around here is rarely knocked out as all the lines near here are run underground.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

I have had dish for years and absolutely love it. The only downfall of dish, as stated before is weak signal when it rains. I'm sure that not all charter offices are the same, but the one in the area that I live is horrible; impossible to get a straight answer from anyone. To add to this I actually had an installer come to my house at 10pm a few weeks ago asking for the receiver from where we had service a long time ago, and insisted that if we did not hand over the receiver that we would be charged $250 for it!! WTF!?

go with a dish, I have had direct and dish and both are pretty keen.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

toasty - that's ashame charter gave you such bad service. i've had stellar service although occassionally my internet and phone go down for the day sometimes... pretty rare. if it is based out of StLou, i am surprised they don't give you guys a little better service.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

Go with a dish for sure. Only reason I don't have one is because my building doesn't face the right direction. Lame.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[QUOTE=speciale;506005]$18 bucks more if you use their internet but not their cable?[/QUOTE]Yep. Comcast will charge you an additional $18 a month for internet if you don't have their cable tv service. What a joke. And in reference to Garrick's comment of Comcast reliability. That's bullshit. I'd had them come out here. Shitty connection, poor quality on the tv and crap speeds on the internet. I think I was getting like 10Mbps/1Mbps so to hell with them. My internet screams now at a lower cost with TimeWarner. I've seen my speeds around 14Mbps/3Mbps now.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

comcast blows

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

important sidenote I forgot to mention -- DirecTV is adding 70 additional HD channels this fall. They launched a couple new satellites last year (IIRC), and I just got an email from them about it today reminding me to get a special converter, so it looks like they're on pace.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[QUOTE=toasty;507609]They launched a couple new satellites last year (IIRC), and I just got an email from them about it today reminding me to get a special converter, so it looks like they're on pace.[/QUOTE]What about those that already have an HD receiver? Do we need to add anything more because customer service told me that I shouldn't have to and then when the channels become available, I'll automatically get them as they are added.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

Comcast is more expensive than DirecTV. DirecTV charges more for the local channels in hi-def. DirecTV has way more HD channels thanks to NFL Ticket. Comcast will be coming out with A&E and National Geographic HD on the 17th. So choose your pick : )

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

well, it puts me in a bit of a pickle since comcast does charge more for their internet if you do not subscribe to their cable. Just like beanz said.

I would much rather use direct TV, but the extra 18 bucks makes the comcast way more cost effective.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[QUOTE=beanzncheez;507646]What about those that already have an HD receiver? Do we need to add anything more because customer service told me that I shouldn't have to and then when the channels become available, I'll automatically get them as they are added.[/QUOTE]

What you need is a small rectangular-block-shaped adapter that goes between the satellite feed and your receiver -- you'll need one for each line if it's a DVR. They are offering them for free to customers that don't already have them, so just call if you need one.

Is your box already compatible with the 5-LNB dishes? If so, you probably already have this adapter...

I'd just call DirecTV and ask them if you need anything else. My understanding is that people with existing equipment will be upgraded to whatever they need.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

Ask about the comcast triple play deal. You get digital voice, hi speed internet, and digital cable for $99 total. It's a nice deal, ask and see if you qualify.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

Cavalier has ala carte internet and phone and cable. And you can add or drop services for no fee at any time. My DSL is only $16.00 a month with better speeds than when I had verizon for $35.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

I have comcast cable HD, and the price is astronomical, $100/month. I think I' switching to satellite in August because it has higher quality HD service and more HD channels. AND I HATE COMCAST!

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

^ you are just getting a bad deal. have you called and asked them about any special deals or if you can change your plan? as stated above, comcast triple play is that much. somehow, some way, you are getting screwed.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

DirecTv > *********

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

I'm a bit cheap when it comes to TV as I don't watch TV too much.. but we do have access to satellite tv.... ooh the goodies of fta :D

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[QUOTE=XxxstaticxxX;507766]Ask about the comcast triple play deal. You get digital voice, hi speed internet, and digital cable for $99 total. It's a nice deal, ask and see if you qualify.[/QUOTE]But you get the crappy package of tv channels and the shit internet speed package. Boooo.

Re: Cable vs. Direct TV / dish or cable?

[QUOTE=toasty;507717]Is your box already compatible with the 5-LNB dishes? If so, you probably already have this adapter...[/QUOTE]I believe I already got that dish installed.