I'd like to hear from various customers of all the different methods of receiving TV stations regarding cost and service satisfaction. I heard there is a current sale with Direct TV where you get service and install on 4 TV's for $50. I don't know if this is as good as it sounds or if the sale is still even on. Any replies are appreciated. Also does the best system depend on geographic area? I'm in Phila. PA area. Sherry
I had Dish Network, dropped them and went to cable to get local channels and internet. Seems they are broadcasting local channels now, so that objection has been over come. I like my internet service, other than that I would drop cable like a rock and go back to Dish! Cable here brags about no loss due to the weather compared to dish. Well every time a little thunder boomer rolls through cable is running weather advisories, fine, I think the feds require it, but for every little rain drop? On the other hand, dish would lose signal maybe once or twice a year during torrential rain. So I guess you could say I was very satisfied with Dish Network, kind of, almost, sort of satisfied with cable! Greg
I just switched from cable to Dish no way I would go back I have a PVR that takes care of 2 TVs. I have a TV in the bedroom and no box at all. It can record 100hr of TV and I can pause and rewind live TV since it has 2 tuners I can do PIP. Not quite as good as Tivo but I felt the package was better from DISH. I still have cable internet but have been toying with DSL but Comcast draws you in with the 3 MB download speed which works pretty well where I have probably 1/2-2/3rd of the homes in my neighborhood have cable access but the backbone is new so it does not bog down.
Between Dish and Direct you need to look at the packages they offer and what fits your viewing. Each has pluses and minuses. Dish now has Sirius radio also. I don't use it but you might.
Wayne
I've got Directv and am happy with it. I've been with them for about 10 years now and have only had a few episodes of signal fade due to extremely heavy rainfall. Frankly, Cablevision had more service outages.
You should be able to find installation of four receivers for free if you're a new customer. $50 would buy you TIVO for one of those receivers if you wanted that. But for just four ordinary receivers: free. Of course, you'll have to obligate yourself to a service contract for a year, but so what? You've got to get your content from somebody, right?
Seeing as how you live in a city, you'll be able to get your local stations on Directv. Not all markets do, but if Wilmington, NC can, I know Philadelphia will.
I subscribed to both cable TV and cable internet simultainiously. When Comcast took it over I switched to Direct TV, but kept my cable internet service, because cable kept on increasing it's subscription rates at least once a year and I got fed up with being screwed over.
Then, about a year and a half ago, I got notified by Comcast, my internet provider, that if I didn't subscribe to cable TV and the internet they would increase my internet subscription by almost $20.00/month. I emailed them telling them I wouldn't be strong-armed into buying their cable TV service and if they persisted I would go to DSL. I received a response pretty much telling me that it was the policy and they were not going to change, so I gladly switched.---cable still arrogantly treats consumers as if they are the only service in town. I'll never go back to cable.
Direct TV is great and I've never had any problems with it.
Here on Long Island ,NY Cablevision has a special "triple play" promotion. You get digital cable TV, high speed internet, and Voice over IP unlimited phone service, each for $30 for the first year. After that, it goes up slightly for the second year, then it goes to full price for the third year, which right now would be about $63 for TV, $45 for internet, and $35 for the phone, which is $143 for the month, which is not bad IMO. I'm happy with the service.
Direct TV would be ok if you didn't have to have a receiver for each tv.
Why can't they have one central tv converter and use a different remote for each tv set.
Tom
I'm in the Philly suburbs. I have had DishNetwork for over 6 years. I have been very happy with their service. Make sure you get DVR receivers, at least one for your primary viewing location. I have a model 721 and model
501.Make sure Dish has a programming package that is to your liking. DirecTV may be better for you if they have a channel Dish doesn't and its one you really want. DirecTV has NFL Season Pass or something like that, gets you all NFL games. Dish does not. Dish has NHL and MLB season passes. (Not that NHL matters right now). Make your decision based upon programming then look for the best deal for that vendor.
I have used
I'd also figure out how HDTV fits into your plans. Currently, many cable providers offer the local networks in HD, while the sat providers, do not. With Sat, you still need to use an antenna to receive the locals in HD. The sats do have an assortment of 8 or so other HD channes, eg Discovery, HBO, etc avail in HD as do many of the cable companies.
And don't forget internet access. By bundling that into the deal, cable becomes more attractive.
I have used both cable and DirecTV. I rarely encountered weather related problem with cable (when I was in New York City and in Fort Lee-New Jersey). Since I have switched to DirecTV, I have weather related problem whenever there is mild-to-heavy rain. This may have to do with the fact that my house is not tall (2 floors, relatively flat roof), and there is a not-so-short tree south of the house.
The other thing is that DirecTV requires a decoder box at each TV. If I remember correctly, each additional decoder box costs additional monthly fee. I used cable basic service and I didn't need a decoder box. The use of decoder box not only costs more but also causes some inconveniences. For example, I cannot use picture-in-picture any more because that would require 2 decoder boxes in one TV, and I cannot watch TV in more than 2 locations in my house because I am restricted to 2 decoder boxes (and I don't want to pay extra). Of course, this point is irrelevant if you want to watch premium channels in cable or if you want to subscribe to HDTV cable service or your local cable requires you to use a decoder box even for basic cable service (such as in New York City); in these three cases, you will need a decoder box, and cable will not be better than DirecTV in this espect.
I am still staying with DirecTV because a family member wants to watch a channel that cable doesn't carry. Otherwise, I would have switched back to cable.
Jay Chan
Cable TV with cable Internet costs $85+taxes here. Dish is close to $40 (minimum setup) and my AT&T Internet is $14 a month.
Do you have the DVR522? If so, do you find that the audio gets out of sync with the video when playing recordings? They keep saying they know about the problem, but they haven't fixed it yet.
Other than that, I love Dish Network and the DVR. And it's a lot cheaper than cable in my area.
What kind of internet access do you have for $14? Sure sounds like dial up, in which case you're comparing apples to oranges.
Love digital cable, broadband internet and DVR's on every TV. For $140/month I get a bazillion channels, 3 DVR's and screaming internet access.
If you go wwith Satellite, make sure you have an unobstructed view to the satellite(s) in question. No tall trees or buildings or hills in the direction of the bird. I think both direct and dish have aiming info on their websites. In Philly it will probably be southwest.
I get basic cable access and digital internet for about $50 per month. I don't care about the TV at all but I like the fast internet access. Dan
For about $100 (phone, TV and internet): Internet - 256K Internet connection for T1 and T2 only pay a few bucks more, TV - All local channels, digital tier, HBO and sport.
Greg, I see what you mean. Positive and negative about both. I didn't realize you don't get the storm warnings with a dish. I get them with the news channels on cable. Don't remember if I get them with others. I don't think on TV Land but maybe I just don't notice, taking them for granted. :) We pay
139 a month for all cable stations but it's not digital, so if the dish is almost as good and a lot less cost, that's probably better for us. Thanks for replying. SherryWayne, I know what Tivo is but not the other two anachonyms you mentioned. PIP is picture in picture? PVR? We have 5 television sets so don't know if this will destroy any good package deals. I know there was a deal for 4 tv's. We've been falling for the ads by cable showing the dish so vulnerable to elements so far, which seemed reasonable, although our cable has been down for several hours at a time several times a year. We just didn't think anything was better. Is any particular dish preferred, especially as far as quality and reliability? Direct TV vs dish? Next maybe to investigate the current offers. Thanks for your reply. Sherry
Ray, at least one thumbs up for Dish Network in particular with your reply. We'll do a little more investigating. Thank you. Sherry
Mortimer, if you've read all my posts in this thread, you see I know basically nothing about anything but cable TV, but hearing such glowing things about Dish Network and Direct TV I think it's time my household became more educated, especially since we pay 139 monthly even without digital. We're curious as to how many movie channels, if any, come with a basic dish package. Also we need to keep our 5 TV sets operating with full package of movie channels, etc, which we are dependent on. HBO and Starz are favorites at my home. How many channels do you get? Thanks for your reply. Sherry
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