Cable vs Dish set up

Do a station to station comparison as it can vary at different cable companies and dish offerings.

Considerations:

Reliability. Cable used to suck but some people in my area went to satellite and are sorry. They get a lot of interference in poor weather. One guy has to go out during snowstorms to brush it off his dish. this will vary in each location also

Services Some cable companies offer high speed internet along with cable

Total cost: In my city, the cost for the channels I use are a wash. No advantage either way.

Equipment: That tivo or DVR is sure nifty. I use it all the time and never used to bother with the VCR for recording shows to watch later.

Depending on where in Virginia, you may also have Verizon Fiber Optics as an alternative.

I have DIsh for my TV signals and Cable for my internet and phone. If I consolidated all to cable I'd probably save a few bucks but Dish gives me the channels I like. Dish network is expensive, and as they upgrade their service, your old equipment become outdated. Spent 500 bones for a HD receiver 3-4 yrs ago and learned the other day that I'd have to spend another 300-500 for an updated box, something about going from mpeg3 to mpeg4?? and the old dish echostar HD receivers cant even decode the new signal. They're also telling me I need a new dish. I'd go for cable as long as their customer service is ok in your area, of course that can change day to day also...

The Free-to-air channels are the unencrypted ones - things like Home Shopping Network, Asian Soccer, and Bass Fishing.

Between cable and Dish, Dish has much better p*rn.

If you go with satellite, here's a tip: Don't put the dish on the roof! Put it on the patio or a fence-post. All it needs is an unobstructed view of the southern sky. Tip 2: Spray it with no-stick cooking oil if expecting snow.

Tell him to spray it with PAM... This will keep the snow off the dish...

Amy.

I have been happy with just DVDs from the local video stores, Netflix, and the local library. It is amazing the variety of DVDs you can rent, many are high definition. I miss the news coverage on cable but now use the Internet. Cable at $45 a month has become too expensive.

Hi, Considering TV, Internet, telephone I'd go for cable.

Another learning curve. There are almost infinite choices, different program packages and equipment, high definition. I have digital cable, with high speed Internet, voip, total cost around

One other consideration -- with satellite you can also subscribe to international services not available w/cable. We have a $25 Dish TV package that includes broadcasts from ATV (Hong Kong), Phoenix (Taiwan), CCTV (China) and other Asian services. You can also get Japanese, South Asia, Southwest Asia, and (I think) Latin America and European packages for a similar price. We benefit from the different news broadcasts, dramas, educational programs, etc. plus it's helped me keep up my language skills. -- Regards

FYI - Get free-to-air receivers, dishes, etc. here...

I have been stationed overseas since 1998. I am due to return home to Virginia in Jan. I called the local cable company and they want 70 dollars a month for basic expanded cable service. No premium chanels like HBO are included. A tivo is included though. I saw on the net I could get a dish set up for 35 a month. I think they charge an extra 5 dollars for local chanels.

I also saw a free to air box. Not sure what that is. It says that I wont have any monthly bills. The one I was looking at is a Tristar MX. Does this tristar mx box work with cable or dish or both?

I already own my house and I will be living there for the next ten years. What is the best value for me? I dont need or want any adult chanels. I would like Discovery, A&E, History Chanel and the local chanels though. Thanks for any help.

Pat

i am a old timer with dish for about 10 years and am largely happy

I had a Dish from 1999 until May of this year when I could no longer get a signal due to trees in the way. I live at 3000' and we get a lot of snow and the only time reception was an issue was when it was blizzard or hurricane like. Usually the power went out too so I couldn't watch it anyway.

If you go for a dish - they're usually cheaper than cable - mount it on the south side of your home. If you have a clear shot at the sun at 3pm you're good to go. I mounted mine under the eve to help the the snow from covering it up. Some spray (like PAM) or pantyhose stretched over it can help. Like another poster said you can mount it to a post out in the yard (which is what I'd do if I didn't have a bunch of trees in the way).

I'd rethink the locals. Unless you're out in BFE you can get them with an antenna. Think about how much you watch them, you might save yourself 5 bucks/mo.

Pricewise when I got dish it was 20/mo, when I left it was 24/mo or so. The Dish package is nice if you get the one with the radio stations on it.

komobu wrote:

WHATEVER YOU DO GET A DVR IT WILL CHANGE HOW YOU LOOK AT TV FOREVER!

Yes Prices are very high they are really putting it to us Congress said they were going to force them to let customers pick their own lineup so you could get rid of all the kid channels if you didnt want them or get rid of the fashon or rap stations if they didnt fit your needs

but big money stopped them from doing that

Cable Big advantage is you can get a cable modem and if you get basic you can put basic on every tv for free. You dont need a box for basic analog channels you probably will need a box for HBO or other addons

Dish Every tv needs its own box most dishes can onlly support 4 tvs No internet So if you have 1 living room 1 kitchen 1 mom dad 1kid thats about as far as you can go you cant have one in the basement or in the other kids rooms.

its not a big deal for a single person who probably only has one or 2 tvs one in bedroom one in living room

so if you live alone and live in an area that can get DSL get a dish and save some money

if you live out of town and have a large house with a family get cable and cable modem

I wish i could get dsl but I cant so i get the Basic and Cable modem and I am getting REEMED just like everyone else.

...and it was a *stupid* idea. DO you think tracking separate menus for every consumer is cost effective? Perhaps you'd like to talk to the car manufacturers about their options packages too.

Your tinfoil hat is inside out.

NOT TRUE! Dish has a variety of ual tuner receivers with UHF remotes that output 2 channels to 2 seperate TVs at the same time.

this saves the extra receiver fees. Dish also cascades switches so you can have 6 or even 8 tvs if you want all watching different programs.

there is no 4 receiver limit!

Nothing stupid about it. I'd gladly give up about 50% of the stations available to save a few bucks. I never watch many of them. The technology is available. If you can do VOD and PPV, you can easily do a menu system.

As for the car manufacturers. some of their option packages are a good deal, others are plain stupid. Like on the Altima, if you want the optional side air bags, you have to get the satellite radio. Does that make sense to you? Really, go to their web site and try to "build" your car.