[alcimedes]

So I've been with Comcast for a while now, and I'm getting less and less impressed with their service. I'm starting to look hard at satellite TV options, but haven't really been ready to go full throttle that direction. I don't have many friends who are using satellite (and paying for it) so I wanted to hear from folks who are actually paying for what they're getting.

So, who's using which service, and would you recommend others go that route?

I just want standard service, which from cable TV is running about $45 a month. It looks like the same satellite service will run me $30.

So, what would you all recommend?

[Crusader]

DirectTV, I love it. No High-speed 'net for me tho...

[Zodiac]

Bell ExspressVu. But thats the only sattelite service i've use so that's all I can say,

[Ryan]

I've got Dish Network, and its pretty nice. The PPV sucks, because they only ever have about a dozen movies, but other than that it works well. It is more expensive than DirecTV, last time I checked. If you're anal about video quality, than get cable.

But trust me it was worth it to get rid of Comcast. We had a bad cable somewhere, and they refused to fix it. We replaced the cables in our house, so we knew it was on their end. But, they had to be asses and refuse to do squat about it. So, we bought a satellite dish. I wouldn't go back, even if it was cheaper.

Be warned though: they aren't that much better in service. We had our account jacked somehow and had porno charged to it for a month(fifty bucks worth), and it took a while to convince them that we didn't order it.

[Eugene]

8VSB in satellite vs 256QAM in cable. Sorry, but I'll take cable in this case. So much more bandwidth. Cable is going win-out. NO extra fee for local channels, more bandwidth per channel, no need to install a bigger dish with 3 LNBF when your 24" 2 LNBF dish isn't good enough.

Comcast might be the ugly 800 lb gorilla, but cable is the way to go if it's available to you.

[Wrao]

In my experience DirectTV > DISH network and Comcast > adelphia

my 2 cents.

[NosferaDrew]

I love my DirecTV.
I couldn't live without NFL Sunday Ticket.

[kretara]

I have comcast and am switching to Dish.
Why?
Two reasons. Fox Sports World and DirectKick.
Comcast in Arkansas refuses to carry Fox Sports World (I can't miss my EPL action) on their system and will not let me order DirectKick (MLS Soccer) even though they are both offered in most other places in the country.
Comcast goes bye-bye this week.

[SKMDC]

direct tv with TiVo, i don't know how i lived without it.
i had bad experience with dish network and during last years nickeloldeon fiasco i switched.

[AirSluf]

XXXXX

[ThunderPoit]

Originally Posted by Eugene 8VSB in satellite vs 256QAM in cable. ...snip... 3 LNBF when your 24" 2 LNBF dish isn't good enough.

sorry to go OT, but what do those numbers and letters mean in english for those of us that arent enlightened?

[alcimedes]

think i'm going to go ahead with directv with Tivo. should be what i want, and i'll have fun hacking apart the Tivo to boost the hours it can handle. i'm sick of the cable company, so it should be a fun call to tell them to stuff it.

since they upped the download speed, while halving my upload speeds, i've been looking for any way to pay them less money. (they're the only high speed option in my neighborhood). so this is my alternative.

[NosferaDrew]

DirecTV is great.
Plus my heavily upgraded Series 1 TiVo (165 hours, TiVoNet card for video extraction).

Can't beat that combo!

[dmz]

Kill Your Television

[Spart]

I know people who can get me satellite for free if I can get the dish and such hooked up, but I'm lazy.

We stopped getting cable as it's mostly crap, and the only TV I watch is the weather over the antenna.

My brain cells thank me.

[Moogs]

DTV all the way.

The first couple years we lived in this house we had AT&T (now Comcast) digital cable and it absolutely sucked. The selection was good but they try to cram so many channels into the same pipe that a lot of channels ended up with crappy, dithered picture quality. Especially darkly lit scenes. Also the price was the worst of the three options available to us.

I also had the misfotune of using Dish Network while on vacation this past week. Absolutely shitty menuing system and the satellite signal regularly required "re-acquisition" even though there was no foul weather and seemingly nothing in the way of the dish.

DTV we've been using for the last (going on three I think) years now and it's been awesome. All the same channels and premium stuff(HBO, NHL Center Ice) we need, plus National Geographic and a couple other good ones which AT&T / Comcast didn't carry, for about $14 less per month than "digital" cable (which is frankly a marketing gimmick more than an actual description of the signal you receive). Picture quality has been pretty much flawless throughout and it takes a BIG storm to mess with the signal.

I know Comcast has been running a lot of sign-up specials for people getting cable and broadband service but the promotions usually only last 3 or four months then you get the shaft pricing wise. While I have little choice but to go with Comcast for internet (and it has admittedly been pretty reliable), I cannot strongly stress enough that DirecTV is the best television service available IMO. You won't regret it.

Otherwise, kill your television as suggested earlier.

[Snoopy]

I'll add my two cents. Comcast gives a $10 discount on broadband internet for its TV customers. We signed up for Basic cable, which is just under $12 a month. It gives us just a few good cable channels plus all broadcast channels. So, for a little less than $2 a month we get better reception of local TV channels than provided by an antenna.

We have Dish because it cost less than Direct TV a few years back, when we first got the equipment. We have experience almost NO dropouts. If the antenna is not pointed correctly these would be more frequent, whichever satellite you have. The Dish menu is fine for me. I found the Direct TV menu less friendly when I saw it a couple years ago.

[SKMDC]

that's one thing i miss about dish network, the menus were much easier to deal with. the trade-off with direct tv with TiVo is that the menus are much more powerful (do more things) and you can change the look of them quite a bit, but they aren't as easy to negotiate as dish network.

[Trumpetman]

Originally Posted by NosferaDrew DirecTV is great. Plus my heavily upgraded Series 1 TiVo (165 hours, TiVoNet card for video extraction). Can't beat that combo!

You and Al please post some infor on the DirectTV Tivo hacks. I've had DirectTV for a couple years now. I've been slowing caving into the ideal of getting TV. Knowing that I could stream the data onto my computer for burning to DVD and things of that nature would probably cause me to cave immediately.

Nick

[SKMDC]

O'Reily has a book of TiVo hacks that i was looking at the other day.
It's kind of pricey
this link has a few samples though.

[NosferaDrew]

weaKnees - Get more storage and/or TiVo parts.

9th Tee - Network cards (wired and wireless) and cache cards for the TiVo.

Series 1 TiVos are the easiest to mess around with. I've upgraded my Series 1 TiVo HDs for more hours and popped in a TurboNet card to get it on my network.
Once on the network, you can do fun things. And especially this (link is up and down).

Another great resource for all things TiVo is the TiVo Community Forums

[xionja]

Rabbit Ears!





(for real, we only get the christian channel, and fox news.)