Time to switch again- DISH, DIRECT, or CABLE TV?

[Gavin Allan]

Gotta switch from Cable. Rates are going up $95/month next month. I've had them all and hated them all for one reason or another. Any ideas?

 

[Robert Caffyn]

I have Comcast for my TV and computer. I pay $189/month for that and so far, aside from the cost, I'm satisfied with thier service. Granted, I have everything I could get for my TV(HD, OnDemand and all of the movie channels). I live on the edge of town and have not experiened any loss or interuption of service, except when the garbage truck yanked down the wire. Comcast was on it within an hour and had it fixed. So, JMO, good luck on your chioce. Bob

 

[Kevin Lang]

As much as I hate Comcast, and despite how vile of a company it is, I'd recommend it over the 2 satellite providers.



I've had both, hated both...and their rate hikes over the years were preposterous. Additionally, DirecTV's installer broke the coax jack off my tv years back when they installed it. I kid you not.



Satellite has way too many storm outages, doesn't allow for an easily-added real high speed internet connection, & requires too much in the way of hardware.



FiOS all the way, and failing that, some other cable connection.

I have Comcast for my TV and computer. I pay $189/month for that

BTW, I pay less for that for FiOS with 4 DVR-capable receivers, a central DVR, phone service, and 30 Mbit/sec internet access. :banana:



(I hope you can see this, Comcast, because I'm doing it as hard as I can!)

 

[Bill V]

I recommend--None of the above!



Between what's available for free over the air, and for free or very cheap over the internet (which can be connected to your television rather cheaply and easily, while maintaining HD), there's no need to pay the exorbitant cable or satellite fees.



All the main broadcast channels are available for free over the air, and in most parts of the country they're in HD.



Need your fix of shows like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report? They, and tons of other cable channel programming, is available for free on the channel's website.



Want past seasons of most TV shows? You'll get them for much cheaper via Netflix (via either download or DVD-by-mail) than you will paying for cable.



Want current seasons of many other TV shows? Many are available on either iTunes, Amazon.com, Hulu, or Hulu Plus a day or two after their initial broadcast, again for far cheaper than cable.



Want to be able to use a DVR with your over the air broadcast programming? Tivo works great on those broadcasts, and costs a fraction of cable.



Even if you like live sports--many people underestimate how much sports programming is on broadcast TV, as they've become so accustomed to thinking broadcast channels are on cable, not free over the air. And depending on what your sport is, you may still have options--for example, mlb.tv was $80 for the 2010 season, and allowed you to stream nearly every regular season game via the internet in HD. And if you get your internet from certain providers, you also have free access to ESPN3 via the internet, with lots of live sports programming.



And even if that's not enough sports--for example, if you can't live without Monday Night Football--you'll still be better off going to the local watering hole once a week to catch the game. Why give your money to your television provider when you can instead use it for brews and burgers?



The following article is definitely a good read...

 

[bob k 2]

im gonna switch to over the air broadcast tv ..i have been seeing this girl and she has it..its in HD and clear as can be. she gets about 30 channels. she just got a new samsung 40in tv the 120 hertz ones and her picture is outstanding.

she paid a little over $200 for the antenna and installation and no monthly bill.

 

[Andy Chase]

I've got directTV now. I was debating between Dish and Direct, luckily for me I went to Direct becuase Dish ended up Dropping FSN so I'd miss all of the Twins games, and some Wild games. If you decide to go with Direct let me know and I can give you my account number and we each get $100 ($10 off for 10 months). So far the reception has only gone out during 2 severe thunderstorms. I missed out on it, but I think they are still doing the free HD for life. I did sign up to get 50% off for the first year, and 25% off the second year though.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I called my cable provider (Comcast) about 3 months ago and threatened to switch. They dropped my cable bill $65/mo on the spot. The key is to ask to speak to someone in "retention" and tell them that you are willing to sign up for a one year commitment.



TJR

 

[TomT]

I hate Comcast. They really pissed me off several years ago. Since then I have had DISH and have been very happy with them. HOWEVER, they are currently in a big dispute with Fox over several of their channels which includes FX where many of my favorite shows reside and if they don't get it back soon I may be switching to Direct TV.

 

[Richard L]

I have Time/Warner Cable at my new house. I hate their service and have had numerous outages since I moved in on June 1st. I only pay $98 per month for full HDTV, and Digital as well as 8MPS Internet service.



I had DirecTV at my old house and was very happy with it. I found that rain-fade was very infrequent and I have had more outages with cable in the past 5 months than I had in the 6-7 years I had DirecTV. I would have put DirecTV in my new house but their Internet sucks and my old sevice was not available in my new neighborhood.



What I hate about all these companies is that they do everything to hide what they are really charging you before you order a service and then you get find out when you get your bill.



I had my cable company install another TV outlet on another wall in the living room. The Internet website says the charge for a custom install with a wall drop is $49.99 When I called to order the new outlet, the guy told me there is an additional $29.99 charge to activate that new outlet?? I thought that was odd and asked why anyone would want to pay $50 for a new outlet without activating it?? I agreed to pay the $80 and scheduled the installation. After the installation I got my next cable bill with a $110 new outlet installation?? When I called to find out why I was charged $30 more than I was quoted.



It turns out there is a $29.99 charge for them to come out to your house and there is also an $19.99 charge for the outlet cover plate that is mounted on the wall, but they failed to put that on the bill. She did take $20 off my bill, but it still cost me $10 more than what I was quoted. I asked if they give written quotes before the installation and she said..."Good luck with that".



It's true that all their prices are listed on their website, most cutomers don't know all the charges that will apply and even the people taking the orders don't know either.



...Rich

 

[Bo Loo]

Food for thought:



http://consumerist.com/2010/10/worst-company-in-america-trophy-mailed-to-comcast.html



http://consumerist.com/2010/10/comcast-installs-cable-by-draping-it-across-yard.html

 

[Mark K 2]

I pay $104 a month for cable with 300 or so channels and high-speed internet and 3 DVR's. There are more features, but I never got higher than channel 408. I guess there are music and pay-per-view channels. Never looked into satellite. All I know is that the satellite cuts out in the rain and snow and when I asked about heated antennas, the DISH and Direct TV guys thought I was nuts. Hey... the cable company uses heated dishes. Why can't the home satellite folks offer them?

 

[Ed Fenwick]

I like the idea of using the internet for the TV. I was just gifted a Dell that has a video card TV out. So far so good, how much RAM do you guys think it needs to keep up with the shows? And what do I need to make it HD?

Thanks in advance Ed

 

[Bill V]

Ed, there's some info that I think will answer at least some of your questions starting about half-way down the article I linked to in my previous post in this thread. Definitely worth a look. The section starts with the header, "How does all this internet video get on my TV?"



Bill

 

[Mark K 2]

You poor guys. My cable company is locally owned, but they're no fly-by-night. They do cable for 1/3 of the county. A cable box fried after a nearby lightning strike. It was replaced in two hours. They replaced my DVRs voluntarily when new models came out. They replaced one of my remotes for free when a button stopped working; I took it to the main office four blocks away and they swapped it while I waited. Maybe I'm spoiled.