Slashdot Mirror
Cable TV Versus Satellite TV?
rufey writes "In the next few weeks I'll be moving and am thinking about getting either cable TV or satellite. I don't need broadband Internet (I use DSL), so getting cable TV bundled with broadband is not an option I'm considering. Comcast is the local cable provider in my area, and are playing TV spots about how satellite TV signals can be lost when it rains, when the wind blows, and even when the dog sneezes (I'm sure the dog sneezing excuse in the commercials are more for humor than fact). What has been Slashdot readers' experience with cable and satellite TV? I'm looking at trying to balance cost versus quality of signal and picture. How much does the weather affect the signal quality of satellite TV reception? Some satellite packages include a DVR (Comcast doesn't offer one yet in my area). Is it worth getting the DVR supplied by the satellite company (DirectTV, DishNetwork), or is buying a separate TiVo a better option? As a geek, I'm also interested in getting NASA TV."
I've only had experience with the DVR Time/Warner cable was offering and it wouldn't let you time-shift anything but PPV content, but I don't know if that applies to Comcast as well. If it does, you could stick a TiVO or your own DVR into the equation, but then what you're doing is decoding the MPEG from your cable provider, then reencoding it back into MPEG when it gets saved to the hard disk, which sucks. This is assuming you're getting digital cable of course.
The satellite DVR packages on the other hand will save the MPEG stream directly to the hard disk, so you can view it later without loss of image quality.
This is all the more important if you're thinking about going with HDTV. DirecTV is about to come out with a HD-DVR made in conjunction with TiVO. DishNetwork's HD-DVR is already out, but it will set you back a cool thousand.
If there was actually something worth watching on TV beside porn, I'd get the latter, if for no other reason than that DirecTV won't carry porn, but seeing as how Murdoch has bought DirecTV from Hughes that's probably about to change.
The consensus on rec.video.satellite.dbs seems to be that weather really doesn't affect image quality (though this may not be true for HD content) but that airplanes, helicopters, birds and people falling off of your roof can and do. That said, it supposedly causes only minor artifacting (which you're going to get anyways given the aggressive compression the providers use... watch Star Trek: TNG on Spike TV sometime and watch the signal lose sync everytime somebody fires a phaser.)
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
I use DVR with Time Warner Cable, which has always been just great for me. It has an 80GB HD and most features that you'd find in a Tivo.
Domain name registration for $8.79 per year
879domains.co
I don't need broadband Internet (I use DSL),???
I thought DSL was broadband?
I've had Directv for about 4 years and overall I'm very happy. Around here (Northern Virginia) our cable provider sucks and I don't have to give them a cent for providing their usually lousy service.
Directv signal is usually very good but I have had problems with loss of signal during severe thunderstorms and when snow covers the dish.
Other than that, I'm pretty happy with my satellite service.
Don't anthropomorphize computers, they don't like it.
Come on slashbots, and set yourself free - Kill your TV!
I've been tv free for 4 years now - and would never consider going back.
there is much more to life than watching a piece of furniture.
... hi bingo
...neither? Sell the TV, and where your entertainment center would be, put a bookcase. I cut back to basic cable and though i "miss" some shows, I dont miss wasting countless hours on the couch .....i cant even tell you what "reality shows" are on these days....
I lost my concept of community when my community lost all concept of me.
Get yourself DirecTV with Tivo built-in. I bought one nearly 2 years ago, added another hard drive and
truly enjoing it. Plus DirecTV is better then cable..... Thats my 2c...
As long as your dish is secure and the transmission is working, you will have virtually no problems from weather. This is BS from the Cable companies.
I've never had a problem due to inclement weather although we don't get fierce lightning storms where I live so I don't know if that makes a difference.
I would choose the service based on the programming.
M
I have comcast, and they took Tech TV (ZDTV) out of their lineup about a year ago. If you like that channel, you better call and see if they have it. Since then, I've got 3 telemundos, 4 'womens' channels, the golf channel, etc. They don't even have tech tv on digital cable here either. I'm interested in seeing what other people post about this, because I would like to get tech tv again!
I have dish and I love the fact that they cost so much less than Time Warner cable in the Austin area. I recently moved into an apartment and unfortunately it faces the wrong way apparently and I can't get reception. I wish the dish could point somewhere other than southwest because then I'd be golden. And for about the same service dish costs half what cable does.
I'm a student living in an area with Comcast.. For the first two years we had Comcast because we're all used to having cable. It was okay, nothing special.. Eventually, I got fed up with Comcast not carrying some channels I wanted (Food Network and TechTV) and they kept inching the price up. I found DirecTV had a deal for three free months and a monthly fee less than that of cable.
Installation was a slight pain because we live in an apartment and couldn't mount the dish onto the building.. I bought a $25 tripod and a $3 piece of pipe (as the installer suggested, since it's cheaper than buying it from them). The reception is clear but you do notice some artifacts once in a while (similar to what a DivX looks like) in the picture due to the compression. The local channels are actually clearer than they were with cable and we get a lot more good channels. We've only lost the signal twice from two bad storms when our tripod literally tipped over. None of this "vanishing signal" like the cable commercials imply. Heck, we lost the cable signal at least once or twice a year during a bad storm. It doesn't degregate during storms, but we don't get snow, which I hear really kills the signal.
Overall, I'm glad we switched.. If you're happy with basic extended cable channels, I'd stick with comcast. If you want some of the extra channels, go satellite. I'm not sure which has NASAtv or if it's an add-on channel or something.. I see now that you can get a Tivo for cheap if you sign up for satellite and I think the Tivo monthly service fee is less also.
I've only had one outage in the year and half that I have had Dish Network, and that was only during a bad snow storm. I've heard other complaints about losing signal during rain, or cloudy days, but have not experienced them myself.
My parents have Comcast and it glitches out all the time, with the screen pulsating with lines across the screen. They've also had random outages for no apparent reason. Comcast just replaces the reciever hoping to fix the problem, but it never does. I've also been told by Comcast installers that most of the equipment they're using is refurb and they have troubles all the time.
I only need the Preview button when I haven't used the Preview button.
I've had DirecTV in the Seattle area for years. LOTS of rain and clouds. The only times I've lost signal is when the rain and clouds were so thick that it was dark at noon. Usually I had other problems occupying my attention at those times... :-\
I recently added a DirecTIVO (HDRV3) and added a 160GB drive to it. This makes a GREAT setup. Anytime I sit down, there is something that I WANT to see on. I do get NASA TV as well.
I'll put it this way: my cable modem has had more downtime than my satellite TV over the last two years, and every time I've checked, the cable TV feed has also been messed up whenever the cable modem has had trouble.
Plus, if you get an integrated DirecTV/TiVo receiver, you get to time-shift your shows with zero quality loss. With a standalone TiVo there's an extra D/A conversion between the satellite receiver and the video cable, then an A/D conversion and a lossy compression step to get from the cable onto the TiVo's hard disk. I quite enjoy being able to make pristine archive DVDs of my favorite shows without any re-encoding at all.
I was looking at this too - but mostly because I wanted HD. Comcast doesn't offer high definition everywhere yet. As I keep hearing, it'll be "by the end of this year" (three years and counting). Satellite appears to offer HD much sooner, but for much more money. I stuck with cable for the price - which is awfully sad, considering how expensive it is. Look at the commercials: cable says that satellite is crappy and satellite says that cable is crappy. That should be enough evidence for this conclusion: don't judge based on commercials.
One major problem with that. DirecTV most certainly *does* have PORN. Something like 6 or so channels, plus it's offered on a few of the PPV channels in addition to Spice, Hot Network, Playboy, etc. Good stuff too. Not just the HBO/Skinimax R rated soft-core crap, but real honest PORN.
And yeah, I posted this anonymously for a reason. :)
Weather doesn't necessarily cause problems for satellite channels. I paid a little extra to install oversized dishes (30" - 36"), and during the worst rain or snow my reception is always good.
I've had a DirecTV DVR for about a year now and have never lost a signal through multiple windstorms, heavy rain, etc. On top of that, I live in the rainy northwest...
you can get your locals. (or any locals). Get a Direct Tivo. Align your dish properly and you wont lose signal unless the storm is so bad that cable would be out also. Sat is up 99% of the time. Only during the worst rain or snow does it go down. Now if you mount you dish like they show them in the cable commerical expect trouble....do it right the first time and never screw with it in Lets see 6 years and counting..... There are lots of PVR and DVR's but there is still only one TIVO!
. I love the sound of burning women and screaming rubber....
I've got DirecTV with a DirecTivo that was provided in a package deal (Sony T60). It has been a wonderful combination. I have yet to be unhappy in any way, shape, or form. At the time, I got the DVR for $99 as I was a first time DirecTV subscriber. I would encourage you to get some similar deal. I had digital cable before and couldn't stand it after sampling DirecTV at a friends house. You will NOT be disappointed. Now, I understand that the HD Tivos will be coming out soon (the current Tivos do not support High Def)...you might want to wait until one of these hits the market (quite possibly combined with the rather new feature of being able to burn your shows to DVD). I'd guess this happens in the 2 to 6 month range, though I'm not sure how long (if ever) the combo HD/DVD/DirecTV units will be in coming.
About two years ago, I got extremly pissed off with Cox Digital Cable (Every day for an hour or so, all the premium movie channels would go black; they kept sending techs, no one could find a problem)
I switched to DirecTV and haven't looked back since. Now, granted I'm in Phoenix so weather isn't exactly a factor here. But, even with the monsoons in the summer, i've only lost picture about 1 or 2 times, and that was only for a short duration.
When I saw that Best Buy was selling a DirecTV receiver/Tivo unit for $99, I jumped on it. We had a Tivo already but this was one unit, smaller, bigger drive, two inputs, and dolby built it.
I couldn't be any happier, and i'm glad i went this route.
In the United States cable owns 75% of the market, while satellite only has 22%. 10 years ago cable had pretty much a monopoly on non-broadcast channels.
The only time I loose satellite signal is when a tree grows in the way (happened last year, cut down the tree no problem) or when there is *very* heavy rain on the way. Mostly when it is still dry at the house, but the BIIG storm front is between the dish and hte satellite. Knocks out reception for a moment, and then all is fine.
Cable isn't an option where I am - no cables.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
If the sun is out, and the weather's beautiful, dish works beautifully. Under these conditions you probably won't be inside watching tv.
I switched to cable from direcTV. The rain, snow, wind, vibration, installation limitations due to authorized "line of sight", distant tree limbs, and plain bad luck, all caused bad, horrible or no reception. After a rainstorm, my signal would stay at 60% or less because of heavy cloud cover.
I switched to cable, all problems disappeared. Also I noticed the bandwidth on the audio portion was much improved quality and intensity. In retrospect I was not happy with direcTV at all. Couldn't imagine having an Internet connection on it.
If you happen to be in the hinterlands (more than 60 miles from a > 500,000 population area) you may not get local channels with directv or dish. You can get a separate antennae and switch back and forth between noraml and sat tv. The only annoying things is you have to turn off you sat receiver because of RF interference. This is a real problem if you get TIVO with your sat dish since the TIVO device has no off switch (why would you ever need to turn TIVO off??). Since the TIVO is integrated in with the Sat received, you cannot turn off the sat receiver and then have trouble seeing local channels 2 to 6.
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
No I'm not a paid endoreser of them, nor do I wish to Spam, but in my experience, for $45/month for 150 channels (including NASA TV, all the basic channels but no premiums like HBO) amongst other wonderful channels with real content, I stay happy. Good value for my $ if you ask me.
Adelphia is the local cable company in my area, and while they have a promo rate of $19/month for 3 months I'm awfully suspicous of that rate after my 3 months are up and they are not willingly disclosing it. They seem kinda scummy to me.
Near as I can tell, weather conditions don't affect Satellites much either. My Satellite was doing just fine in big rainstorms here (I was a bit nervous about turning on my equipment in a big thunderstorm here not too long ago tho so I can't vouch for thunderstorms). My Dad who lives up in the mountains and has had many snowstorms has never complained about any issues with his Satellites (tho in all Fairness he's a DISH subscriber).
DVR? Can't help you there, people have been telling me to get one but they're appeal to me is limited.
Internet access? I've been told it's ok if not quite a bit laggy, but no firsthand experience myself either. For my high speed Internet I use DSL quite happily (again avoiding Adelphia like the plaque).
In short Satellite I think is a good value for the $. However your experiences may vary.
...in bed
Cable has a better chance of having local channels, most of the time. Sattelite does indeed go out during bad weather, both Direct TV and Dish have that problem. Otherwise, the dishes were slightly cheaper...
My personal experiance on this (DirecTV Subscriber 7 years, Time Warner Analog and Digital for 5 years) is that Digital Satellite beats Digital Cable hands down.
Everything that the cable companies say (with the exception of the dog sneezing) may be true, but it's exaggerated to the point of borderline lies.
If your dish is aimed to achieve a signal in the "85%" range, which is quite easy to do, you won't have much of any problem with rain or weather fades. With mine, a 90% signal, I was able to watch TV reliable during a tropical storm in Houston. The few times I have lost signal, it was back up within minutes.
With Digital Cable, I discover that I lose signal anytime they're working on a line, construction hits a cable, flooding at their office, you name it. *At Least* a full day outage every month or two.
As for channels, Who has what depends on what day of the week it is. I believe NASA TV is carried by DirecTV. I'm not sure about Comcast, as they don't sell in my area.
Cable touts how owning your own equipment is bad. This reminds me of the old AT&T / BellSouth argument that they should own the phones and lease them to you. Guess what, Cable companies aren't supplying that digital converter for free. It costs more to rent that box than the extra that local channels cost on Satellite.
As for DVR, the DVR's supplied by either cable or satellite companies are low end models. If they fit your needs, go for it. If you want the latest and greatest, buy or build your own.
I say DirectTV is the way to go.
I have DishNetwork and Comcast (long story). I find that the picture is (usually) clearer on the dish, and the sound is much better (from the major broadcast networks). On cable stations, it's about the same, though sometimes certain channels will lose a bit of a color late in the day or for some reason on the Dish (I have a 56' inch widescreen so I'm a bit picky about my picture quality).
I should note that there is a good three second delay on the Dish, which is kind of annoying when you are on the phone talking to someone about a football game and they know the result before you. I'll talk to my father about a 4th and goal and he'll say "Touchdown!" before the ball even snaps on my Dish feed. A few seconds later I see the play.
Yes, rain messes things up, but we're talking big time thunderstorms (not just your normal USA rain). If it is really bad, you can lose the signal for a while (it comes and goes).
My dish also offeres both the East and West Showtimes/HBOs which is nice when you miss something you can see it three hours later (not sure if your comcast does that).
My reason for Dish was Fox Sports World, which my local comcast didn't get. I never would have gotten the dish if the local guys offered that channel, but they didn't so tough.
Whatever you chose, get a TIVO like PVR. It rocks.
We have Charter Cable in Long Beach, Ca. Basic cable tv for us costs $16/month, and includes History Channel, Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, Court TV, Tech TV, Spike, ESPN, and many more. Cable internet service through them costs us $40/month, for 2mb downstream. So far, I've been extremely happy with them. We were paying for the 756k down, but a few months ago they bumped all current subscribers to 2mb down free for 6 months.
My only complain is that they limit newsgroup download speed to 256k, and block port 80.
Over all, their downtime has been minimal over the past year, and service has been excellent.
We use them with Vonage for our phone service. For what our POTS cost at our last apartment, we now get the phone, Cable TV, and broadband, and it is still a little cheaper than the POTS was.
In some apartments (in what I feel is a violation of FCC rules but what the FCC feels isn't) they require that you place large amounts of money down on a "deposit" just to put the dish on the porch (regardless of the fact that it might be free standing).
See here for a quick link I found. Note: (2) unreasonably increase the cost of installation, maintenance or use, or
Forcing me to pay $350 deposit (of which only $75 is refunded at the END of your renting) seems to push the FREE installation costs over "reasonable".
So, Comcast is prewired into the building and I have no choice but to use the good 'ol rabbit ears.
I have been a Dish Network customer for over 6 years, and prefer it over cable. I have an 80 Gb PVR with my system, and get 180 channels for under $45/month. The signal used to go out (but only during HEAVY rain) with the older systems, but since I upgraded to their 500 network, I cannot recall a single outage.
The only drawback with the DSS systems is that local channels may not be available (or if they are available, will run you an extra $5 per month)
From what I have seen, the DSS and cable companies offerings are pretty much equal. it really will boil down to what channels you want, at what price each service offers that selection, and then the service of those companies. Dish had soem serious growing pains a few years ago, but they seem to mostly be over them (or I have just gotten used to them).
My local cable company (TWC - who provides my internet access at home) has a terrible track record for billing issues, and if DSL were available where I live, I would dump TWC in a heardbeat soi that I don't give them any more money.
I'm currently living in an apartment, and a dish is not an option, due to my unit's facing/location.
I used to have DirecTV when I was a homeowner and married, and was very happy with it (the service, not the marriage part *grin*) I can only remember one time where a severe thunderstorm temporarily knocked out service as the storm passed.
I've never had a problem with Comcast re: video programming or service, and currently using them as my ISP as well.
If I move and it became an issue again on which to pick, I would go with DirecTV again, only because NHL Center Ice reruns games overnight and in the morning, whereas Comcast's version of Center Ice does not.
Seriously, my advice is to look at the price and programming. Everyone has their horror stories which will make either cable or dish service look bad, but it's usually not the norm.
I'm pretty happy with cable and now that a friend who workd for AOL/Time Warner pointed out a little secret, I'll be even more so.
Cable companies make money by selling those pre-configured 'packages' of channel choices. With digital cable, however, it's quite simple for them to control which channels your receiver displays. By law, the cable companies MUST allow you to pick and choose which channels you wish to pay for.
Finally, being able to get all the Discovery channels whilst avoiding the shite like AMC or other such ilk.
is here
seriously though, a friend of mine used to have tv smashing parties every fourth of july (independence day) for about 10 years. He just stopped having the last year which totally sucked because so many people always looked forward to that particular party.
personally, I don't watch tv unless I'm at a bar or someone's house that has one on. I have an eyetv hooked up to my mac, but only use it as a device to play vcr tapes.
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
As a prime example, last weekend we had the mother of all blizzards blow through south Saskatchewan. (I had to spend 2 hours shovelling out the next morning, almost couldn't get the front door open). However, I never once lost the satellite signal. From my experience, the only time I have lost signal, is when there are electrical storms overhead, or in the direction your dish points. Aside from that, I've watched TV in most weather conditions that the praries can throw at you.
Sat is MUCH cheaper compared to cable, especially digital cable. you can get everything for about $75/month from either company where it would cost me around $120 to get everything on comcast, and its not as many channels.
:)
YES you WILL lose signal when it rains hard, but I keep a signal strength in the 93 range in clear weather, and it has to be coming down pretty hard to take it out. a light rain won't mess with your signal at all, nor will wind as long as you have a solid mount point for the dish.
I'd get the dvr that comes from the comapny, you can get them free if you sign up for a year of service, so why not. If you just want to get one to geek out then set up a linux box and run mythtv.
Hope this helps.
Just three more hours seapeople and you can finally take me away from this crappy God Damned planet full of hippies
I use an antenna on my tv, so I won't be too much help. But, comparing packages in my area (comcast vs. dish network vs. direcTv) dish network and directv are the best. Basically w/ 1 premium channel and w/ a comparable lineup the dish averages out to $15 - $20 cheaper a month, includes multiple rooms, and DVR. Cable doesn't require a contract though which is a huge plus. So basically if you get the dish and it sucks you are stuck with it for 12 months. Or you can use this new invention called an antenna and you can watch TV for free!
Since you already have DSL, you're kinda set. However, you may not have local stations with your satellite service -- I know one service here in Maryland/DC area doesn't carry a DC area station, and was advertised as such on that station.
However, cable is comming back though. Most service providers use "digital cable" which means the signal from the provider's regional HQ to the localized distribution node is digital. That also means HDTV signals can come in, as well as more channels and Internet service. Comcast is advertizing that now. So, there's a bit of a match.
The only difference is if you do not have broadband access. A good amount of customers can't get DSL (including me). We have to use cable or dialup. Thus, cable it is.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
I dropped cable many years ago and have four DirecTv boxes in the house so I can record multiple things at the same time and watch different channels in different rooms. Channel lineup is important to me. My favorite channel, Tech TV (with The Screen Savers show), is only available on DirecTv in Indianapolis. A heavy, wet snow will sometimes pack in the dish and I have to sweep it out. A heavy thunderstorm can sometimes black the signal out for a few minutes. The picture is typically better than cable. The DVR version required a dual-LNB dish and two cables routed from the dish to the box. Enjoy!
I've used both satellite (dish network) and comcast cable. Let me tell you, I've had more outages with comcast than with dish. The dish only went out when it was an ice storm. And let me tell you, I didn't even have power half the time. Every time it rains here, literally my cable goes out. Don't believe the ads saying they lost the "pitcha".
Cheaper more channels with Sattalite
Better quality with digital cable.
But it was fun with satalite to use the reception as a weather predictor. It didn't go out every time it rained or snowed, only 5-7 minutes before a big thunderstorm or blizzard. So it gave me enough warning to check my car windows. Insight cable is just now starting to offer some channels that I loved on satalite, but I think this is more due to the historical reasons in my area (rockford, IL).
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
I don't know much about digital cable but I can tell you a few things about DirecTV having been a subscriber for several years. I live in the Seattle area and it rains here a lot. We have never had a problem with rain fade. The only time my signal drops to a unwatchable level, it is due to someone bumping it on the way up the stairs (dish is in a bad location and easy to bump if you are carting stuff up the stairs.).
The down side is the year long contact you must agree to for service. If you want to cancel early they charge your something like $12/month left on the contact. There is a $5/month charge for equipment per room. And finally DirecTV has had great problems getting me a bill in the mail each month. I don't really know why, but I had to start paying my bills online just to make sure they didn't try to ding me for late fees.
Finally, I would like to point out DirecTV's private war on piracy. You might want to check out sites like Freedom Fight and make sure you morally agree with DirecTV's methods of (IMHO) extortion.
Str8Dog
using System.Darkside; public
In the year that I've had DirecTV, the only outtages that I've experienced have been during the strongest of electrical storms. This winter's snow systems haven't even slightly affected our signal.
Of course, YMMV.
I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep Dracula and Superman away.
Used to live in a house where I had Dish Network. It was fine, carried NASA-TV, etc. EXPENSIVE though - my bill for 'most everything was more than $100/mo. It would rarely go out -- usually not -during- storms, but just before -- anywhere from 30 sec to 30 min. It'd have to be a pretty good sized storm coming in, though. Moved to the city and now I have Time Warner Cable. It's cheaper (about $80) for everything, AND YOU CAN GET A DIGITAL CABLE BOX WITH A BUILT-IN DVR. Very very useful. Works in all respects similar to TiVo except for the automatic taping of things it thinks you'd be interested in. There's an additional $6/mo charge to use it... That being said, channel choices are not as good - no NASA TV. All in all, I'm impressed with TW. Their customer service is pretty good, the installer was plesant and on-time when the service was set up, and in six months of service (knock wood), I've not had a single outage on my cablemodem or TV service. Cablemodem is FAST too - 3mbps down, 384kbps up.
I've got Dish Network and I'm generally happy with it: the picture is a lot better than cable in my area, and the HD channels are nice.
During bad snowstorms, the snow piles up on the dish, which can cause outtages. During heavy rain, I tend to not watch TV anyhow, but I do get some rain losses.
As for DVRs, with DirectTV, you are in luck, since they have Tivo as a partner. However, Dish uses their own PVR, which is not nearly as nice as Tivo. However, Dish does have their HDTV PVR shipping, but Tivo doesn't have its offering available yet.
I use a standalone Tivo with my Dish receiver, though, and it works just fine. However, in general, getting the built in PVR is better for picture quality: the DirecTivo can save the satellite signal digitally, while a standalone Tivo would have conversions in between.
Vincent J. Murphy
Spandex Justice
In Canada, our dishes have to be pointed so close to the horizon that snow never stays on them.
You sly dog: you got me monologuing! - Syndrome
My research shows that if cost is your concern, you should get a dish or directv system. If you are a new customer, you can get the DVR or Tivo for free, and you pay 5.95 or so per mo for the service. It is a great deal compared to what I pay now for standard cable.
I'm in Central New York, and my cable provider is Time Warner. I also have Cable modem with them as well. I recive no discount for having both. I pay 42 for the CM, and 42 for the standard analog cable (under a 100 channels). For 34 per month, you can get a comprable digital package with the sat. companies. Add the 5 bucks or so for the DVR/Tivo service and maybe another 5 bucks for another reciever and you are just barely above what my cable company charges me for analog cable.
In central New York, we have weather that is not very desirable. From what I hear of Sat. owners, it has not been a problem getting reception, although the installer who came to my house spend a half hour looking at trees and trying to predict where the trees will bloom in spring so that I could get a decent line of sight with the SW skies. Seemed really picky. (Of course, as I mentioned, I never got it installed, so I don't how it would have worked)
I've been a very satisfied directv customer for 2 years now. The signal has never gone out even in heavy snow. Customer service is very good and their web site allows you to change your programing on the fly. As well, the Directv Tivo ROCKS because it is an all digital signal AND has two tuners. HD is rolling out now and the HD tivo is going to be available shortly. Seriously, it's a great value and a great service, IMHO. Never had reception issues and I live in Philadelphia where we get plenty of snow!
Have a Happy.
I have had DirecTV for over 4 years and am verry happy with it. I also have a Tivo DTV receiver. I have not had any problems with either service (unless you have heavy cloud cover). I am able to record anything that I want from the dish (including PPV).
For the price, I think dish is much better. I have 4 receivers in my house, the Tivo, and Direct Plus programming (NASA TV, Local Chans, everything but the movie chans) and I'm paying a tad under $50.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T after you."
I live in Idaho so it doesn't rain that often here, but it has rained hard before and it does get windy. When I did have cable I had to have the Cable Guy come out at least 3 times (about once a month) to fix my cable because it was fuzzy. With the DirecTV I've had for about 2 years I have only had it have problems about 2 times and it only lasted about 15 minutes each time. (Bonus is I didn't need the "DirecTV Guy" come out to fix it) I'd go DirecTV again without a thought.
I've also got a standalone Tivo and a Replay. I think I would prefer the DirecTivo over the standalone. The MPEG from the reciever is saved right to the HD instead of being reencoded, so it saves space and gives a better picture. Also I don't like the IR Blaster method of changing the channels and the Guide data in the standalone doesn't include the PPV channels. Using a serial connection (which is how my Replay is setup) actually works well, but still the same guide problems.
I just wish I could pick which channels I got, as I only really watch Discovery, Sci-Fi and I'd watch a few of the network stations if I could get them here.
The local provider has changed hands too many times to count. Time/Warner was okay. MediaOne was Okay. AT&T was terrible -- so bad it renewed my vow to never go with their services in ANYTHING again. It was so bad, I was planning on moving to satellite as soon as I had time to deal with it (and change my Internet, but even though I'm in Richmond, the capital of VA, I can't get DSL in my neighborhood from the local phone companies -- only Covad).
Comcast and AT&T Cable merged and, basically, Comcast took over. I noticed a difference soon. Whereas AT&T seemed to push giving us as little as possible, Comcast seems to do more (that's why the stories about limits on "unlimited use" surprised me). Comcast offers video on demand --- not just for Pay-Per-View. I've watched most of "Jeremiah" through on demand. I like picking a movie and watching it when I want, instead of when HBO or Showtime schedules it. (I also like being able to sit down whenever I want and having a choice of something like 8 Monty Python eps to watch!)
While Comcast may not offer DVR yet (they're promising them in our area soon), my experience is that when Comcast starts adertising, the service isn't far behind. Their techs seem to know what they're doing and phone support is pretty good (and I know Comcast treats the employees much better than AT&T did). (AT&T is so bad, some cities passed resolutions and were about to yank their franshise rights unless AT&T fixed things!)
One last note about Comcast: Richmond got cable in 1985 (or so) and had a local call center for billing and tech support from the beginning. AT&T came in and suddenly my calls went to Newfoundland -- not even on the same continent! Comcast came in and one of the first things they did was bring back the local call center for billing. I still get Toronto or Newfoundland for tech support, but I can get local help on billing and other questions.
I'm sorry that I have no experience with any kind of dish, so I can't speak to that, but my brother in law said when he used a dish (forgot if it was DishTV or DirecTV), he hardly ever lost the picture.
Since I moved to the boondocks a year ago, and no cable available, I recently signed up for DirectTV and got a DTivo unit ($75 installed with a one year contract).
Overall, I'm quite pleased. Satellite is NOT the same quality as normal (analog) cable, and I can see a difference between the two (then again, I do a lot of video editing, so MPEG artifacts are very obvious to me), but the image quality is quite watchable on my 26" TV at close range. Note that most cable companies are moving/have moved to 'digital cable' as well, which should be comparable image quality to DirectTV.
What I'm REALLY happy with is the DirectTivo unit. I got the Phillips DSR 7000 model, which is a Series 2 model, and I'm overjoyed with it. Does everything it's supposed to, is very hackable, and once you enable the USB ports, for $20 you can get a decent ethernet adaptor for it.
As far as losing picture, I've only lost it once, and that was for an hour during an ice storm which was covering the dish with ice. It cleared up on it's own, however.
I've had satellite service for about five years. I get one or two outages a year due to heavy snowfall. These are easily resolved with the high-tech dish-snow-removal tool (the Mk.I broom duct-taped to a pipe). No other weather-related outages ever.
Judging from neighbourhood heresay, this is orders of magnitude more reliable than Comcast's cable service (I'm in Salt Lake City).
I've had plain DirecTV, Comcast digital cable, Comcast digital cable + TiVo, DirecTV + TiVo, and now an integrated DirecTV + TiVo (Sometimes called "DirecTiVo"). I have to say that nothing/ out there compares to having the TiVo and the DirecTV receiver combined.
We had Comcast digital cable for 1 yr, as it was "free" when we moved into our new house. It was a horrible experience for us. The quality was terrible, the UI was slow as hell (even when compared to satellite recievers). It was always going down, and there was noticable blockiness in their MPEG-2 streams even for HBO and other pay channels (meaning they chose low-bitrate streams.) They even have the gall to run "TV Guide" adverts in the UI -- FOR SOMETHING THAT I ALREADY PAY FOR. Captive-audience advertising is easily in my top-10 pet peeves, and that alone would have been enough to make us switch, had the quality not sucked.
Before Comcast, we had DirecTV for 3 years, in two states (NC and CA). Their service has always been wonderful, and I have always liked the thought of being able to comparison-shop for my equipment (you lucky people in Europe with your DBS standards!) We went back to DirecTV once we realized what we had been missing.
TiVo (I only have limited experience with other PVR's, but I consider TiVo to truly be different than PVR -- think PVR++) completely changes the way you watch TV. Other than watching live sports broadcasts (ice hockey, mostly) my wife and I watch TV when we want it, often even waiting 1 hour until it's completely recorded, just so we can skip the commercials.
Overall, I'd recommend DirecTV w/ integrated TiVo (they're cheap now) if you watch a lot of TV, and just a plain DirecTV system (they're even cheaper) if you just watch TV occasionally.
Cheers,
Ken
Good points:
Bad points:
That is about it.
I hate my sig.
I've had Dish Network for about 7 months now, after to moving to a part of the world where the local cable company doesn't carry Fox Sports World (which is essential for my fix of English Premiership Football). Before then I had Cox Cable, with a Digital box.
One advantage is surely the fact that all channels are digital. This is a trade off given that a good analogue signal is better, but my cable company could never feed me a decent analogue signal, it was always snowy on at least a few channels.
I have never noticed any signal reception problems, even in rain. I'm not saying rain fade isn't real - but I think in these days of digital signals its less of an issue. One caveat is that I live somewhere where the weather is fairly nice (California).
The dish network PVR "does the job", but is nowhere near as good as Tivo. The one I have (508) has absolutely no conflict management for example, and can only record shows based on timeslot, not name. However it's still revolutionised the way I watch TV.
One down side to satellite is that alot of the cable stations are East coast only, like Comedy Central for example.
I went with Dish BTW because the place I rent already had a Dish Network dish on the roof when I moved in.
In case you are wondering, I started out with DISH (because it was slightly cheaper), but after a year my wife made me switch to DirecTV so that she could get NFL Sunday Ticket.
Now, with a disk on each corner where the roof slope meets the outside wall, my garage looks like Mickey-Mouse.
___ I don't respond to Anonymous Cowards, and I Never Mod them UP.
We had DirecTV while in Virginia, and Bell ExpressVu up here in Canada. In broad terms there really is no difference - lots of channels with nothing worth watching.
If you have very specific needs, study the channel lineups from each provider to make sure that you're not missing something. Also, if you feel a need for local channels, you may be limited to cable.
Yes, in heavy snow or rain you can lose the satelite signal, but then I've never had a cable provider that didn't also lose service from time to time. Try to mount your dish where it can be reached with a broom if you live in a snow prone region.
Two more thoughts:
If you move frequently it is easy to pull down and re-install a dish at your new house. Sat coordinates can be found in a number of places on-line.
My other suggestion, recently implemented here, is to take only the basic cable or Satellite service, and instead sign up for netflix or a similar DVD service. You'll get better selection than satellite or cable for movies, plus you're able to rent most popular series as a package and avoid the hassle of trying to see them when they air on the networks.
Three Squirrels
Go outside and take in the sunshine. Read a book.
If you are so dependent on TV that you need an "emergency backup", you have problems indeed.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
One BIG advantage that DirecTV w/TiVo has is the ability to record two shows at once.
F AQ.htm
Can the Direct TV Digital Satellite Recorder with TiVo record two shows at once?
Yes, the Direct TV Digital Satellite Recorder can record two shows at once. In fact, it can even record two shows while you watch a third, previously recorded show. To take full advantage of this feature, you'll need to ensure that two (2) satellite inputs from a dual-LNB Direct TV System dish antenna are connected to the Direct TV Digital Satellite Recorder.
http://www.free-satellitetv.net/direct%20tv_tivo_
Can't do this with regular TiVo.
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
I have three complaints with Charter Cable which apply to most cable providers.
1.) Outages. Too many of them, and too little explanation.
2.) Customer Service. Always seemed annoyed to talk to you. Never appologized for an outage, never offered refund for extended outage, blantantly lie when you bring up their performance vs. Satellite performance. Seems to be a bigger problem than the customer service reps themselves, more like a "mindset" I've seen this with other cable providers too.
3.) Digital Cable boxes. They are slow, takes FOREVER to see your ad-filled tv guide, and ever longer to change channels (They insist that Satellite is slower, even when told from first hand experience it isn't), and you CAN'T upgrade to a faster box to fix this even if you're willing to spend the money. You can't use them with TiVO to get your extra channels (can only get basic channels... diminishes the use of a PVR).
I've been using Dish Networks' PVR for a few months now and I'm very pleased with it.
The customer service is great, though I've only needed to call it once. The PVR and non-PVR boxes they GAVE me with my subscription (1yr contract) work great and change channels very quickly. Their TV Guide is ad-free and works great. Oh, and I can record shows on HBO which I coudln't do with Digital Cable+PVR.
I'd rather use a coathanger as a TV antenna than go back to cable.
--Jamon
I can count to 1023 on my hands. Ask me about #132.
I live here in Colorado. When cable was owned by TCI/ATT, we had an outage about 1-2 a year. It did not last for long. In contrast, since Comcast has bought it, we have monthly outages where they can last as long as several days. When I called for service, they said that they would have someone to look at it in a few days. The sad part is that there was no real weather problem. It was a clear day. When I complained, they suggested that I buy a business package for the network portion.
Go with Satellite.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
I live in southern Illinois and the reception is great except in the most severe Midwest thunderstorms. The menu system is by far the best I've seen, with programming information up to 48 hours in advance and an in-menu tv screen. My friend has digital cable and he likes our DirecTV much better. I highly recommend it.
I installed my own dish, on a wooden swingset and it was fine. Once you find the satellite, a little wiggle / wind / rain isn't going to hurt anything. Cable people complaining about lost picture is pure and utter BS.
Plus: DirecTV + 2 channel Tivo is gods gift to TV. Record one thing while watching another is fantastic. Cable Companies are lying pigs that will eventually go the way of the Dodo.
And no, I do not work for any TV related company.
I currently have Comcast service (if you can call it that). If it weren't for the very high price and continuous increases it might actually be an ok service. At least in my area they have a decent channel selection and several are high-def. But in my opinion the worst part of Comcast's service (for digital cable) is the poor and totally inadequate guide. In my area you cannot browse backwards in time. >50% of the screen is given to advertisement and you can't see more than 30 min segments without limiting your view to one channel at a time. Add this to it frequently being wrong and not having data for 7pm on at noon the same day, (And it's the TVGuide guide) and you have a basically useless feature. I wish I could switch to satellite, the guide alone is enough for me, not to mention it's 20 bucks cheaper. Lucarts out.
As for satellite tv, take extra care to make sure your dish and its hardware are mounted extremely well so that a slight wind won't cause a loss of signal. As for storms and such, yes anything that causes a huge degredation of signal will of course cause the signal to drop off. Ever notice how cell phones degrade during a storm? same thing. As for cable tv, where do you think the cable companies get their signals? SATELLITE!!! Its only CABLE from their station to your house.
I've been using Dish for a couple of years now, here in SW Florida, where it _really_ rains (2" in an hour is not uncommon in the Summer). The signal might go out for 5 minutes when the heaviest rain clouds intercept the satellite direction; I've noticed it maybe 5 times a year.
What is really noticeable is the enhanced quality of the local channels (in most areas, Dish now offers a local channels option). The last 30-seconds of the Superbowl (all I watched of it) were incredibly clear, compared to Comcast, which I had for local channels until a few months ago.
The one thing Dish doesn't have that Direc does (other than being owned, or about to be owned, by Rupert Murdoch, purveyor of censored news to China), is a baseball package, if you're into that.
I switched to satellite (dishnetwork) after getting fed up and giving up on my local cable company.
It took them more than 6 weeks to get the cable installation the first time. I moved out of my apt after the lease was over and decided to go with satellite. I've never had weather affect any quality.
Also, the interactive TV guide turned out to be a blessing. Watching TV is so different when you can read about the show and also know what is coming up instead of just flipping through. (I know IO cable has the guide feature too.)
My biggest plus was the instant PPV. I watch sports (not just regional) and you can order sitting there using your remote.
The only problem I had with the satellite was that it lost the sound (you can see the picture on TV though). Turned out that all I needed to do was to switch off the damn thing and switch it on back again. (Talk about reboots!!)
Free XBox, PS2
Comcast is running commercials about how easy it is to lose a satellite connection? I find that amusing because I just canceled my cablemodem net service because I was fed up with all the outages on it. We didn't have cable TV, so maybe that was never impacted when we had the problems, but I never found Comcast to be overly concerned about uptime.
When we first got the cablemodem it was great. That was when it was Excite@Home. The first year we had no outages at all, it was rock solid. Then after AT&T bought it out, it was still ok, but IIRC we had an outage or two during the next year. The last 8 months of Comcast has just been horrible though.
Anyway, I know you're not looking for cablemodem information. It's just that I choked on my lunch when I saw the thing about Comcast saying the satellite systems suffered from severe outages.
The people I know with satellite don't complain about having problems, and haven't switched to other technology over the the years they've had them, so I'm wondering if it's really anywhere near that bad.
Sean
In Tampa we have Bright House Netowrks (a division of Time Warner) and I have to say service is bad. I generally have an outage once a week for Cable TV, and at least once a week on Road Runner (cable internet). While I know that having 3 hour downtime a week isn't horrible, it's anoying when it happens during your favorite programming, or when you really have nothing to do.
I used to have Dish Network for about 2 years. I live in Iowa, and we can have some very fierce weather, only a few times has the signal gone out. When the signal did go out those few times, the disruption only lasted a few minutes. Recently I switched to cable (cableone) due to the fact that they gave me an insanely good deal to trade in my dish. I have broadband through cable, so I am getting a great price now. I really miss Dish Network though, as the reception on my cable is far from satellite quality. Even digital cable doesnt look as good for some reason. I don't get near as many choices in programming for the price I did with Dish. Speaking of signals going out, since I got cable several months ago, I have had more disruptions in service than I ever had on Dish Network in 2 years. I am really thinking about giving up the great deal I'm getting on cable to switch back to Dish Network. It is a great service that I highly recommend.
I've been very happy with DirecTV over Comcast cable. We have very few outtages (I can only recall 1 or 2 in the past year) and the picture doesn't break up as much as it seems to with digital cable. The DirecTV Tivo though is the deciding factor. For $100 + $5/mo you can get a 35 hour Tivo with 2 recievers from Hughes. This allows you to record 2 channels at the same time. Now, there are limitations to the DirecTV Tivo - it will not work with anything but DirecTV and it seems to be stuck at version 3.x (no Home Media Option).
Also, a DirecTV HDTV Tivo is about to be released (for about $1000).
Lord, bless my users that they may stop being such fucking idiots!!
For the channels that my (live-in) girlfriend and I would want (Independent Film channel, Discovery, Bravo, Cartoon Network, etc...) the necessary package with Comcast was almost $60/month, when getting the same channels with DirectTV wound up being in their $32/month package.
After some thought we decided that if we had either, we would watch much more TV than we really want to, so I went to Radio Shack and bought a good outdoor antenna and some cable (total cost $80). Now we get all the local channels (including MTV 2) with perfect reception.
With the money I saved on the monthy fees, I built a MythTV box so we can have a variety of things to watch (without commercials) whenever we do want to watch TV.
Maybe, but once your power goes out, your cable connection is gone too... with a generator, your DSS will work just fine.
When your son is older, think about a vacation out to San Francisco.. It's easy to get tickets to see the screensavers live and it's -very- fun to watch.
I've had DirecTV for years and it's great. I live out in the sticks in Washington State and the signal is great; it will get glitchy maybe twice a year during heavy storms. Also occasionally a bush or tree will grow in the dish's line of sight to the sky and has to be trimmed.
I personally don't care for most dish systems (like DISH-on-Demand or whatever) and I really dislike digital cable. Some relatives in the city got digital cable and they seemed to like it, but every time I go over there it seems to be giving a poor signal, or the box takes forever to respond to the remote.
I'd propose a 10-second test. If you can test drive your cable and satellite options at a store or friend's houses, push the "Info" button to try and retrieve program information (synopsis, review, rating information, cast, etc.) In my experience, good quality systems, whether dish or cable, will return the information under 10 seconds. Crappy systems will take 20, 30, 60 seconds, or will just hang and never return. Good luck!
Do you love freedom??? Do you love freedom!!! DO YOU LOVE FREEDOM!!!!!!!!
My only beef with my cable (I have digital-cable) is that changing the channels is quite slow. It seems that SAT is a little more snappy. Now this probably doesn't seem that earth-shattering but you used to be able to bump-bump-bump through channels real quickly and let the blended images burn your retinas until you found something that looked interesting. Which brings me to point #2:
...
The guide. The menus with digital-cable using the remote provided me is quite lacking. Often, as you delve into your system to check options there is no Go-back-to-the-beginning button. So you end up repeating the three or four keystrokes to get from the main menu (of anything) to where you can branch into several options. Of course, this leads me to point #3:
Uptime. I can almost guarantee that cable will not make it through a thunderstorm with winds in excess of 10MPH. It's just impossible. My cable did make it through a thunderstorm once, but I just assumed it was like an amputee who still feels the sensations from a limb long gone. This of course brings me to point #3:
The cable guy. Installations and repair windows are scheduled over like a 3-day 24-hour period, and "we won't call before we come.". Naturally, they'll come at the most inconvient time.
I really think satellite is the future, but cable's got the high-speed cable modem and that's a pretty big carrot
Peace out.
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
The upshot is that the signal can be interrupted by lots of water. Heavy snowfalls in the air can drop your signal by a significant amount. Oddly enough , you can get good reception through a frickin' MOUNTAIN but not through a thick stand of trees.
So if you get a reasonable installer to do the job he'll make sure you get a good solid connection which can stand a 30% drop in signal strength. So long as it doesn't drop below 40% of optimum ( or so , it was a long time ago ) you'll never notice a loss of quality.
The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
After moving a few years ago, a "professional" Dish installer put up a new dish for me. I would lose signal in heavy rain. This had never happened to me before. I corrected the problem by A) adjusting the dish, so that it actually pointed at the satellites (One satellite dish - two satellites. It's a good thing), and B) replacing some corroded connectors. Never had a problem since (even in Rochester, NY snowstorms). And yeah - NASA is channel 213.
Don't trust anything that bleeds for a week and lives.
I've had DirecTv for 3 yrs here in Massachusetts. I've only had 1 service outage in that time and it was for about 5 minutes during a crazy thunderstorm. I've never lost service due to snow or other weather events.
dont let comcast screw you. my friends have them and I personally hate their digital program guide. Slow as molassas in the winter
I've had comcast in the past, what they don't want you to hear is the truth.....
DTV is only out when we have *very* heavy snow or rain...wind dosen't seem to effect anyting for me. (In the Detroit Area)
While on comcast I experenced outages monthly that lasted at least a day, and several that where hour long stints. I have to say that DTV (aside from being corporate bastards) has been a hell of alot more reliable than cable has ever been for me.
The DVR really helps too....just incase of a big snow storm..heh.
That's just my two cents.....
There is one aspect of this debate often overlooked: the quality of the tuner box. With digital cable, you'll often find that the tuner they rent you is a piece of crap. The built-in program guide is very sluggish to respond to commands and is usually riddled with little thumbnail ads.
With DirecTV, I had a Hughes tuner box that was great. The program guide was very responsive. I could scroll through it quickly with no time lag between my remote presses. Also, it would put a small zoomed out view of the current channel in the corner, so I could still watch TV while looking through the guide. That's a very useful feature.
Overall, I felt that the cable TV companies are trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you while keeping their own costs rock bottom. DirecTV on the other hand cares about the user experience of their service.
Also, as far as the dish loosing signal during weather -- I've never had a problem. On the other hand, I installed the dish myself. I imagine the "professional installers" often don't point the dish very accurately.
Plus, for the cost of a second PVR card, you can watch one live show while recording another, or, more importantly, record two shows simultaneously on two channels. I saw "more importantly," since with a quality PVR, I find that one tends not to watch live TV at all.
Personally, one PVR card seems to be enough for me, given the number of times that shows are repeated; there's only the odd time there are two shows on at the same time that wouldn't be repeated any time soon.
Definitely a better way to watch TV; I watch more of what I want to watch, spending less time doing so. When you have a library of your favorite shows automatically accumulating, you tend not to watch something because "nothing else is on." Your standards rise, and you watch more quality, less quantity, of TV.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
but I'm not gonna read through all the comments...
Most cable providers will have the exact same problems in extreme weather as satellite has.
The cable providers fail to mention that they get most/all of their feeds from satellite. A properly aligned dish will not go out unless under the most extreme weather, in which case the cable satellites are also having problems.
I had crap cable. It was crazy-expensive. We got
less than 60 channels. Some stations came in
fuzzy. And when it stormed, we often lost all
signal. I had a cable modem. I also had a tuner
card in my computer.
Finally I was able to get DSL in my area. I got
DSL, and Directv with Tivo. It's a beautiful
thing. Even if I get all the pay channels, it's
cheaper than my old shit cable company. It's more
reliable. It works during blizzards. And the
limited space of the tivo I selected isn't a
bother, it's a help. If I want to preserve
something, I run it to tape.
Compare satellite to cable and you'll see all the static, ghosts and other visual artifacts cable TV provides. There really is a noticable difference and satellite (DirecTV) provides a superior picture. Go with DirecTivo!
I've got Comcast cable and I hate it (I live in an apartment so a dish is not an option, unfortunately). It's terribly expensive and I don't get many channels. If I want to get the digital cable box (with no digital subscription) it's an extra $10 a month. So, I'd basically be paying $120 a year for the privillege of being able to order pay per view movies at $5 a pop.
My parents have Direct TV (or DirecTV, whatever) and have no problems with it. They pay the same amount I do (about $45) and get about 100 more channels (around 160 total) and have two receivers (bedroom and living room). They also pay for Tivo service.
My parents also live in a *very* windy valley (daily winds during the summer of 35mph with gusts up to 65mph) and have never lost their signal due to weather. The only time they've lost their signal was due to a programming error on behalf of Direct TV (one time in 3 years).
My lack of God, it's Trotsky!
I got sick and tired of my previous cable company jacking up the rates every 3-6 months. It was never by a lot, but over time I realized that suddenly I was paying more than $60 a month for the _basic_ digital package (no movie channels or anything). Worse, I thought about switching to standard (non-digital) cable but they priced it such that it was only like $5 difference.
So, switched to dish network, now I'm getting pretty much the same channels, + PVR etc and I'm paying about $40. You'll probably want to make sure local channels are offered over the dish in your area. Usually it's just like an extra $5 or $7 and well worth it especially with the PVR. The weather can affect the signal in very extreme bad weather, but in my experience the cable usually went out under such conditions (and less) before too. I never thought that was a terribly effective FUD tactic on the part of cable companies.
DirecTV has several HD channels available, including ESPN, HBO, ShowTime, Discovery Channel, a couple of low rent movie channels, and a PPV. It's about $9 / month extra to get the HD.
I got a Samsung HDTV tuner for my DirecTV system, which combines off-air HD channels, cable (if you've got it too) and standard local channels into one seamless guide. With it I can spend countly hours watching mindless programs without even realizing it.
653899 - Another prime Slashdot UID
In milwaukee I have Time Warner cable because our apartment doesnt allow satalite, and I have had nothing but problems with noise on the line. They have come out to fix it a few times but nothing seems to work. Seems at peak times the higher channels become blocky and sometime dont 'download' for a few seconds.
:D their satalites will go out also.
OTOH, my DirectTV in chicago has only had a problem once and it was the biggest storm in chicago i had seen in awhile.
I believe that cable also has satalites, its just not at your home, its at the recieving station. So if there is a big storm, or the watch dog at the cable companies broadcaster sneezes
it makes a difference.
Satellite TV has drawbacks. btw you forgot to list whiteout, too much sun light.
but, if you are in a rural area many times cable is just as bad or worse. our neighborhood has cable but no one uses it because it is that bad.
I've had the sat long enough (6 yrs methinks) that I'm grandfathered in for the distant network feeds. I love having both east and west timezones.
As a new subscriber - look into the hassle you will need to go through for the network channels where you are moving. If it's in the boonies you may be able to get them off the dish. Otherwise you will also need an off the air antenna to get the networks. (The other trick is to tell them that one of your recievers is for your RV - Remember to vote out the wanker's that created this dumb-ass law!)
BTW I have one of the high end dish PVR's (721) and it rocks!
"Smile, listen, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you wanted to do anyway." ~Robert Downey Jr.
It's at the mercy of the sky. There could be weather interfering with the signal. The electromagnetic interference from the sun we had a little while back no doubt interfered with satellite tv. The dish could be hit by lightning, hail or high wind. A tornado could move it for you but where it would end up is anybody's guess. You can't get local channels which is another thumbs down in my book. Aside from the equipment, you have to get a subscription to satellite channels. You might win a satellite system but you still have to purchase a subscription. And the people that contact you on the phone to tell you that you've won, won't tell you about that hidden cost.
EVERYONE I have heard has said that they moved to satellite and have had none of the problems they mention on TV. The fact of the matter is that satellite is the future and newer technology. Cable is expensive as they have to lay all the cable. In a few more years the satellite dishes should get smaller as tech progresses. Just look at satellite radio (XM). The antenna for that is about 3 inches square. In 5 years or 10 years satellite tv will probably be able to do something a little larger or even that size that you don't have to mount or point in any direction.
I have seen satellite antennas get smaller. They used to be 10 feet across and now they are 18 inches and shrinking. My cable box has not changed in 4 years.
GO FOR SATELLITE, cable blinks out and on too.
Only 'flamers' flame!
Does slashdot hate my posts?
It's been a tough winter, with lots of snow, but there has been no problem with my reception. And the convenience of TiVo was totally worth it. Beats the hell out of cable, at least in my area.
I have DISH in southern montana, and it is great. The picture quality and sound are great, and the only time the signal drops is when you have a few inches of heavy wet snow on the dish or there is a moose standing in front of it. I put my dish on a post in the ground almost under a big spruce tree, which shields it from the snow, but leaves you vulnerable to moose interference.
1. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.
2. Do not eat iPod shuffle.
I had Direct TV for two years. I had so many problems with it I lost count. I had 4 different installers come out to look at the issue. They replaced the cable, the LNB, everything but the recievers. I would come home to find 'black screen' for shows I TIVO'd. Very unhappy. Perhaps it was my location(this was Alamo Square in San Francisco). When I moved(still in San Francisco), I switched to COMCAST digital cable. The cost is about the same, and they offer almost as many channels as Direct TV does now(they DO have TechTV, but that is in SF, check the channel line up in your area). I had a bad experience with them as well though. Right after installation, they did an 'upgrade' in my neighborhood. So I had horrible service for a good 6 weeks. I called COMCAST and had them take that off my bill. My only remaining issue is 'ghosting' on local channels. I plan on 'fixing' that by getting HDTV from COMCAST. So I guess the best advice is to inquire about service in your particular area. Don't take someone's word for it that DIRECT TV is great...they most likely live in a different area, with different conditions. Or...just Kill your Television.
"I'm making gravy without the lumps baby!" -- Mad Bomber Which Bombs at Midnight -- The Tick
I was a cable customer (TCI, ATT, COMCAST) for three years and after switching to directv I can easily say that the quality of the picture, service, user interface on satellite are much better than cable. In 2 years that I've had satellite, I've had no more than 1 hour of interruption. And I should add that I live in seattle, which means rain, rain rain and more rain on top of cloud covered skys. The user interface is much faster than cable and better organized. Especially tivo option with directv is the best investment you can make.
In short, other than the fact that we live in a small town and don't get local TV over the dish (although we expect to soon), I can't think of a single thing I miss from our cable days. The service is cheaper, the picture quality is better, the DVR rocks, and the reception is excellent. I won't be switching back.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I've had DirecTV for two years. The signal was always great even in light storms (Florida). Heavy thunderstorms have killed the signal on a few occasions... most of those times the power failed soon after anyway.
One problem I did have was: after a very windy storm, the dish moved slightly. The DirecTV people wanted $80 to re-align the dish. I had a "talk" with their Customer Retention department and they fixed it for free.
www.thejulingtoncreekplantaion.com
Picture is awesome, about one artifact a month and no lost signals yet (even during a three-day ice storm).
Just be sure to read the fine print on any special offers first, they're generally decent but (like all good capitalist companies lately) do try to get hidden fees and commitments past you if you're not careful.
At least where I lived in the Philly suburbs, Comcast digital cable had an abysmal signal. It was constantly breaking up, dropping frames, etc. I worked for a while at a video equipment manufacturer, and the techs used to use the local cable signal as a demo for their signal metering equipment, because it was really obvious something was wrong, and the equipment would show it. It really was the suxxor.
When I had Dish Network, on the other hand, the signal was great.
Now I have RCN cable, and the signal is good there too.
So, in summary, Comcast makes the Baby Jesus cry.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
I have had DTV for about 3 years (in two different houses). I have only had a (noticeable) signal loss from rain twice (I think), and I've had more signal loss from snow it seems to be only very short periods of time (I don't lose an hour show, I have 5 seconds of screwed up video and the audio is OK...or maybe I lose video for two minutes and audio for 90 seconds). My DTV outages definitely haven't added up in length to a single outage from my former cable TV provider, which seemed to be something rain related and if it happened after bisness hours they didn't fix until the next bisness day (so a Friday outage killed cable for the whole weekend).
As far as DVRs go before I had DTV I had DISH and a "stand alone" TiVo. I liked it so much I eventually got DTV and the "all in one" TiVo. The down side of the all in one is it won't let you record the audio-only music channels (you can watch them live), if you don't care about such channels then no problem. If you do it is a pain because you TiVo might change channels on you while you watch because you havn't touched the remote recently and it knows there is something on you asked it to record (or it thinks you will really want, and there is some free space on the drive).
I've also been told none of the "home media options" are currently only for stand alone systems. Also there is no combo DVD-writer and Sat-reciever.
On the upside it can record two things at once. Which is great because it means you can just tell it what you like and it can "just do the right thing" without have to tell you "I'm sorry, you are already recording FOO on Chanel X at HH:MM...do you want to record FOO or cancel FOO and get BAR?". Well, at least not as offen. More then two tuners would be nice :-) For me that is more important then the other stuff (esp. since I have had mine long enough that there was no home media option, or DVD writer when I made my choice).
The other upside is once in a while my stand alone TiVo wouldn't quite be able to change the channel so I would get the wrong thing recorded. I tried moving the IR transmitter around, and even at one point making a tinfoil IR sheld/guide. I've never hade that problem with the DTiVo (unless you count when DTV changed FX's channel number and a bunch of my seassion passes stoped recording anything).
Good luck with your choice.
P.S. I pretty much only switched away from DISH to DTV because of the TiVo. If you decide on another PVR or a standalone one I have no real reason to recomend DTV over DISH. I was pretty happy with the service from both.
We've got Dish Network, and in the 1.5 years we've had it, I can't remember ever seeing a bad picture due to the weather. We also have a Replay 5080, and they play nice together. Only bad part is that the Dish box we have can't be controlled via serial cable. We have to use the IR blaster. It's never missed a channel change though, so it isn't a big deal. The picture looks fine to me, but I'm not that picky.
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
Digital cable will have problems with signal from time to time as well so don't let them lie to you about signal quality. I was at a friends house last night for the SuperBowl and he had all sorts of pixellation problems with the signal to his new LCD set. In my county we have Comcast as the only cable provider and they constantly have outages because the system they inherited (bought) was never built correctly to service the capacity of residents here. My sat (Direct TV) has only had problems when VERY stormy to the point where you shouldn't be watching the TV as lightning may take out more than just signal. Even the recent hurricane didn't disrupt my signal more than 1/2 hour. The service I've had with Direct TV is WAY better than calling the cable company as well. The cable company here doesn't even have a way to speak to a human on the other end. You only get recorded "we are experiencing outages in the following areas (name of cities) and will have them fixed as soon as possible." They don't even give you a realistic timeframe!
Do really dense people warp space more than others?
I find that cable reception is generally very poor at best. Even when you go digital cable, most of the lower channels still come in as analog so they don't look all that great. With DirecTV, all of the channels are digital so there is never a problem with that. As for the satellite signal always going out, yes it does go out in heavy rain but my cable box goes out for no reason at all. It just says "Service will be available shortly". If there is a major problem with DirecTV, you can bet that it will be cleared up real quick cause the whole nation is waiting. With a local cable service, it may only be a small neighborhood and they can afford to take their time. As for the internet, Roadrunner is the best way to go in my area. It is only $45 a month for 3mbps while DSL is like $35 a month for 384kpbs. Which would you choose with 5 people in the house on 8 different computers, all downloading different shit, and occasional Lan parties all connected to the net?) I say for TV go to DirecTV, internet, go cable unless there is a decent offering in your area. My local cable provider is Time Warner Cable in the South Texas Rio Grande Valley region.
I think this is a pretty valid inquiry, with the cost of cable increasing in direct proportion to the availability of satellite, cable vs. satellite is probably the biggest budget/tech decision for the average person right now, with "replacing my land line with my cell phone" coming in second.
The plus about comcast is OnDemand - while you can simulate that with TiVo - the quality is better, plus you have a higher capacity than TiVo since the stuff is stored on the server. The minus is that the content does not change as frequently as I would like. ... we need more HDTV channels and content. I now have 7 and I hate when I have to switch to the lower res.
They do have some cool stuff like Atom TV.
I found that if you have old cableing in your house - make sure they replace it when they put it digital cable. Also quite a few chanels are not digital quality. The plus on that is that you don't need a DVR to watch them - just plug them in any TV and at least you'll have the basics. I wish they would rebroadcast ALL (not just the premium) analog channels in digital. Oh
-- &&
Yes, the installation monkey aligned the dish in such a way that they had a signal on the day he came and went. That's just so they would sign the form, saying that it was correctly installed.
Have them align it correctly, or get someone else to do it for them. A couple of degrees off in either axis (Or worse, both axis) can make all the difference in the world.
When my DirecTV dish was first installed, I had transponder strengths in the mid-60s. When I realigned the dish myself, most of my transponders are now in the high 80s - low 90s.
I haven't had an outage since. Rain-fade almost never occurs with a properly aligned dish.
For those that would die defending it, Freedom
has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
Are you assuming that your new place doesn't just come with either service? I bought a townhouse and was suprised to find that the HOA fee included a negotiated low rate for basic cable. Everyone in the subdivision gets it whether they use it or not. So have you asked about this possibility?
I have used Cox and Comcast and both are the pits. Especially Comcast. I noticed a dramatic improvement in quality between Cox and DirecTV and DirecTV is much cheaper. In my experience, the only time cable is cheaper than satellite is when you have multiple services bundled (local phone, internet and tv) but IMO it's foolish to have too many critical utilities from a single supplier. If cable goes out or you have a billing issue, you lose 3 major services instead of one.
As for Comcast, trying to get a DVR to work with their network is kludgy at best. They are going out of their way to make their system un-compatible with Tivo. People hack their units using an IR signal box that is slow and often doesn't change channels properly and you end up recording the wrong shows. In contrast DirecTivo works perfectly and is fully-integrated and elegant.
It's also become apparent that Comcast has its own plans for launching DVR service which involves a heavily crippled system in comparison to Tivo. Their intent is to move regular programming into a PPV model by not allowing customers much freedom over what they can record and how long they can hold these recordings on disk. Comcast seems to have the brilliant idea they can charge their customers $2-$3 each to view regular programming 48 hours or more after the broadcast date.
Then there is the issue of Comcast being one of the largest sources of spam in the United States. I can't do business with them until they get their act together and offer their customers more reasonable choices and solutions.
Mix in the progressive scan output and the cheaper price, and case construction that looks "less cheap" than Tivo, and I say you've got a nice product. I've never used a Tivo, and from what I understand, the UI is better than replay, but I'm very happy with this product right out the box (no extra Home Media Option to network). I should point out that I don't have a land line and home networking was a must to get the guide/updates.
I am switching to DirectTV this week. I did a lot of research. Here is what I discovered.
I currently have Comcast cable/internet. I will get jammed another $10-$15 per month if I have internet without cable TV. This was initially what stopped me from switching, but I'm so fed up with Comcast that it doesn't matter anymore. In the end, I will pay about the same as what I pay now. However, I will get 1) more channels, 2) a DVR, 3) a receiver for 3 rooms/TVs. Try getting that from your cable provider.
So my buddy just switched, and he loves his satellite. I just saw the who thing (DirectTV, DVR, the works) in action as his place this weekend. I was impressed. I asked about how the weather effects his signal, and despite having some heavy snow storms this past week, he has had no problems. For the record, even with cable TV I occasionally lose my signal or get "noise". (This is digital cable I have, and it can be ugly at times). So as far as I can tell, cable is just as likely to experience signal problems as satellite.
As far as the DVR goes, I recently read an article about the options consumers have these days. You can buy a unit yourself or get one through your cable/satellite provider. Over a 2-3 period, getting your DVR through your satellite provider was the least expensive. I believe the monthly cost is $5 for the Tivo feature. I can do that.
I am currently investigating wether customers can upgrade their DVRs at a later time. It sounds to me like in the near future these will include an interface (USB?) such that you can save your recorded shows to PC. Nice. I want that capability!
I, for some reason, always believed the hype about satellite fading, etc. But I was really wanting a Tivo, and managed a free DirecTivo reciever for signing up with DirecTV. btw, in case you don't know, the DirecTivo has no built-in encoder, so it can't record off-the-air shows. No biggie for me.
Anyway, back to the topic, I was amazed at just how good the sat picture was compared to cable. Digital cable's compression scheme is *horrible*, and I had no idea. The best way I can compare it, is the difference between DVD and VHS. Seriously. Whether you compare the regular cable channels or the digital channels, I think you'll be shocked at the difference.
Also, I installed my own dish, which wasn't very hard. I shoot for an 80 or higher signal on a few random transponders, and it works fine. In the Oklahoma thunderstorms I'll get some dropout, but I'd say that is only once every few months. And if you really want to compare, 'rain fade' goes away within a few minutes, the Cable stays out for hours at least before it's fixed.
Honestly, the cable companies seem like political candidates to me. I originally looked at switching because their commercials were really getting on my nerves. The Tivo just added value.
I might be the only one who cares, but DirecTV has the ever evil monopoly over showing all the NFL games and this year is even showing all the NCAA games during NCAA tourney. Not to mention they showed some Fox NFL games in HD, where as my local affiliate has no intentions of upgrading to HD anytime soon.
That being said, getting a satellite at an apartment didn't seem like it was worth the effort.
I was able to get analog cable last year through Comcast, even though they stopped publically advertising it. Digital TV has completely destroyed the art of channel surfing. The horrid delay in waiting for the next channel to come up really forces you to use their 'preview' screens, which coincidentally also take forever to populate with information.
Lastly, I can do whatever I want with analog -- all my TVs are ready for it and I'm not forced to buy or lease boxes. Sure, you may no longer be able to get HBO-4 through HBO-92 on analog, but it's got nearly everything.
My parents use the Dish Network PVR back home, and they love it. I would say that in the case of a satellite provider, purchasing their PVR is a much better solution than purchasing a standalone TiVo. From what I understand the tivo will pretty much be relegated to only recording when you tell it to, where as the satellite provider's PVR will allow for easy scheduling based on the built in program guide.
However, I must suggest that you purchase a small UPS for your PVR receiver if you go with Dish network. My folks went through 4 PVR units before they bought a UPS for it. The software just isn't robust enough to easily recover from the daily (seriously!) power outages they have back home. Also, the software seems to have trouble when you fill up the HD to near capacity. I'd suggest leaving a buffer of about 2 hours just to be safe, but your mileage may vary. Again, this seems like it may be a software problem caused by the software's inability to handle extremely low hard drive constraints. Those issues aside, the PVR receiver is awesome. Scheduling a show to record is much easier done than, say, when I use the Guide+ software for my AIW Radeon. Playback is made easy by the inclusion of a button dedicated to taking you to your recorded library. Basically everything is simple and easy to use.
As for signal, we really haven't had many problems at all. Really severe thunderstorms seem to be the biggest signal loss culprit... or the only signal loss situations I've experienced with the dish. The only thing that gets on my nerves is that occasionally macro blocking can become an issue when watching very dark movies or television shows. The macro blocking usually isn't too severe, but just the fact that it's apparent at all gets on my nerves.
Anyway, my folks are happy with the service, and that's what matters. Dish was a very good alternative to their local cable provider and their old C-Band satellite dish.
If Murphy's Law can go wrong, it will.
I work for Comcast cable here in CA, but not in any way am I trying to pump up my company. The service here has for the most part any channel I could ask for, from Tech TV to G4TV, Discovery Sci, Food Network etc. Almost every one of them is on a Digital tier which will give you pretty good video quality, I do alot of PVR stuff on my PC & it comes out almost a DVD quality ( the recording, using my Leadtek TV card ). Now, DVR boxes, we are in a trial mode at the moment, the biggest problem is the converter provider, the issues they are having is being worked out, I am hoping we will be able to get them out to the customers in next couple of weeks. But when it comes to testing it, I really liked it, in my opinion it is easier to use then my TiVO. Pause, Rewind etc. with the 2 hr buffer you can pause your TV for up to 2 hrs ( which I do often ). At this moment we provide around 10 HD channels, however there is more coming. Now, I do have alot of friends that have DirectTV or Dish Network ( keep in mind I am not trying to dog their service in any way, because I work for a cable company ), their biggest complain is that they get alot of pixeling on their sets, alot of freezes, they had couple of techs out there & each time they were told that there is not much they can do about it. From what I have seen DirectTV is over compressing their signal which will cause the pixeling. Now, onto the DSL service, now with the 3M down & 256K up on a cable modem I would never trade it for a DSL, here locally some of the DSL providers charge $45/month for a 128K up & 384K down, that is a rip off, especially that cable modem costs $50 per month & your get nice speeds. Even if I would not be working for a cable company I would go with the cable modem with out any questions in mind. Working for the cable here I wear their shirts with the logo, from time to time being at a grocery store I get some comments from people I dont know that our cable modem service kicks butt over DSL service ( this is not a joke ). Anyhow, it is up to you, you are the consumer, choose the one you want to go with, above are just my two cents. Mark
nice tight integreation, all in one box, one remote and the quality is great--DTiVos have no MPEG encoder, they just save the MPEG stream straight off the satellite, so whenever you watch, there is no genereational loss. (Not that there's much (or any noticeable) with the regular ones, but the geek in me likes the fact that there's no needless digital-analog-digital conversion happening.) Plus, a 40-hr Series 2 DTiVo is (or was recently at least) $99 at Circuit City.
With DTiVo, the scheduling service (so you can do season passes, etc.) is only $5/mo, not $13. Yeah, there's the lifetime stuff, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the $250 covers you for the lieftime of the box, not your's, TiVo's, or DTV. A friend who has one with the lifetime thing will have to pay again when he gets his HD DTiVo (whenever that comes out.)
PS--if you get a tivo, google for the codes and activate a) the 30-second skip and b) the one that lets you sort shows by record date, alphabetically, or by expiration (if you keep a lot of shows.)
Oh yeah, and the TiVos are really easy to safely hack. My main one has two 120 GB drives and they went in as easily as you can imagine.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
I have comcast at home and to be honest, the quality really sucks. It is like a regular TV with an average reception. every now and then you will loose either picture or sound or even both. Last time it lasted a few minutes but the time before that, it lasted two full days: We lost half of our channels. The decoder sucks ass as far as features and usability are concerned. It heats up a lot and freezes from time to time so you have to reboot it. Not too annoying unless you're not at home and are recording (PVR, VCR, etc...).
I really expected a lot more from "digital cable".
I don't know about the satellite though.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
I am a DirectTV customer and have been for around 8 or 9 years. I started out that way here in AZ because cable wasn't available in my neighborhood. I wouldn't ever consider switching to cable, even now that it is available. I like the flexiblity in programming options. Also when I move, I just take the dish with me, and set it up at the new place. No calls to the cable company necessary. As to signal quality, I lose my signal 2 or 3 times a year during a really heavy snow storm, or during our monsoon season. For the most part no problems though.
Having used 4 different TV broadcast methods, I've gathered a good amount of experience and knowledge of the pros and cons of each.
Satellite:
Pros
Good Image and Sound Quality
Easy Timeshifting
PVR capability
Easy to use
Can be self-installed
Good packages that often include installation
Availible wherever there is a view of the southern sky
Cons
Signal can be lost in very poor weather (usually takes a heavy snow/lightning storm)
Crappy broadband
PPV is over Dial-up (except for newer 2-way systems)
18" dish sticking out of some part of your house
Routing to another TV requires another reciever unit
Analog Cable:
Pros
Uses Tuner built into TV
Easily routable to another TV without expensive equipment
Half-Decent broadband
Availible in most neighborhoods
Cons
PVR requires external hardware (or you can use a VCR)
No on-screen guide
Expensive for # of channels you get
Mandatory installation, usually expensive ($60+)
Fewer channels
Digital Cable:
Pros
On screen guide in PIP
Creme-de-la-creme tech support
Uses existing cable wire (nice if upgrading from analog)
Older Analog channels + Newer Digital channels
Very good picture and sound quality
Cons
Very expensive
Bunny-Ears reciever unit
Pros
Cheap
No monthly costs
Local channels
Cons
Local channels only
Shaky image quality
Shaky sound quality
Few channels
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
I have had Dish Network satellite service for about four years now. In that time I have lost my signal a total of 5 times that I can remember, and I'm sure a few that I cannot or was not home for. Each of those times there were very heavy storms and tornados reported in the area. My friends with Cable seem to have their cable out far more often then my satellite goes down, and when I lose the signal I don't have to wait for them to fix it, just for the storm to pass by. I also pay much less per month than my friends do. The cable quality and price are probably area dependent. As for DVRs, I have not had any direct experience with using them on Satellite so I cannot really say anything on the matter. For me it was not a matter of choosing between the two because I cannot get cable at my house, but based on what I have seen I would choose Satellite over cable. Oh, and I do get NASA TV.
Or did a few years back when I lived down there. Hey - do they still use the two cable system? I've never seen such a piece of shite in my life! Two cables for 1/2 the reception quality.
I have had both Comcast (AT&T Digital cable) and DirectTV with Tivo. In my opinion, DirectTV with Tivo is the way to go.
In terms of signal losss we had more problems with AT&T Digital Cable then we have ever had with DirectTV. I can think of one or two times we lost the signal from DirectTV which wasn't clearly a problem on the source transmission end (i.e. fuzz/blank out form the field in broadcast during the SuperBowl).
With AT&T Digital Cable, we lost the signal a number of times a month. One time we lost it for an entire weekend, because some took out a power pole. Our power was up, but we didn't have cable.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Tivo fanatic. I love Tivo and how it has changed how we watch TV. One of the things that drove me to DirectTV with Tivo was the level of integration of Tivo into the system. Tivo is your set-top box. It is the control panel. It is where everything comes together. There is no trying to mate up things not designed to interoperate.
What clinched the deal for me, was reading an interview in Forbes where the head of Comcast described Tivo users as, "Thives and pirates..."!
I have seen the Comcast DVR, and it just doesn't compare to Tivo. The combination of great service and a great system makes it a no-brainer for me.
Another great experience I had this weekend, was on their web site. I saw through the Tivo showcase that the Sundance channel was offering some movies I wanted to see. But the Sundance Channel is a premieum channel, and I don't receive it. So, I went to the web site, and ordered "Showtime" set of premieum channels. I spent a minute on the web site and three minutes later, things were up and running on my system!
Yours,
Jordan
Loved DSS when I was in UT.
Best Slashdot Co
Fragmentation is the rule now with our options to get TV. However with the increasing ability for smaller cities to get locals via Dish Network increases the pluses for it. Only time I've ever lost signal is when a giant hail storm super cell came by and I was far more worried about my windows being broken than watching TV. The shift likely will continue towards dish technology because of the inherently cheaper infrastructure of a dish vs. all the cable and fiber a cable company has to lay and maintain. The question for me is do you want that local cable access channel or not.
Honestly you would get a more accurate answer from the people living in your area. I happen to have Comcast and get excellent service. Only times I have had outages in past year was due to the fact that my entire neighborhood was without power. But I have a friend in a town 2 hours away who had tons of service problems with Comcast. I think when it boils down to it it's a matter of how well the techs in your area maintain the plant.
I have several friends with satellite and i'm impressed with the pics. Only issues I see with sat is if you dont own the place you might have trouble mounting the dish in the best location.
I would talk to some of your new neighbors and see how service has been for them. If service is great go with the cheapest. Just make sure you compare regular rates not some promo.
As for the commercials. There have been ones against cable too. Both sides exagerate claims. That's the nature of advertising.
This isn't true. A standalone Tivo will work anywhere - cable, sattelite, antenna, whatever else somebody can come up with. I personally have used my series 1 Tivo with both analog cable and Dish sattelite with zero compatibility problems with either.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I'd recommend you have them deduct your bill each month from your credit card. That's what I do - I never worry about paying the bastards. No worries.
DirecTV
Initially, I got DirecTV. The only trouble I had with reception was during terrible snow storms. Otherwise everything was just fine. In the end though, I hated being limited (as I was at the time) to two receivers. So I got digital cable.
Comcast
The program guide that ships with Comcast digital cable boxes is so horrible that it drives me absolutely nuts. Fortunately, on one of my TV's I had ReplayTV and could effectively ignore the Comcast program guide. On the others, however, I had to live through its slowness and the fact that ads take up a majority of the screen space.
Very few channels with digital cable are actually digital. There is a noticeable quality difference between satelite and cable, even if you are not big into home theatre systems. I especially had problems with ghosting on one of the local channels!
DishNetwork
When I moved, I went back to satellite. I went with DishNetwork because I could get four receivers and not pay for the receivers. It was the best of both worlds. Honestly, now that I believe DirecTV offers similar deals (up to 4 receivers, no paying for the receiver), I doubt there is any difference between the two services. I like the program guide for DTV best, but DishNetwork is good enough--especially that I now have two ReplayTV units. I would flip a coin between choosing which sat network, but I would never in a million years go back to digital cable.
I had a relatively big dish 120cm (4' -for you non metrics) back in europe for some years
...)
...) .... he had a 2.5m dish... I remember watching channels on his thing coming from completely outta footprint sats :)
It has to be DAMN big rain to disrupt the signal (In Hungary it happened let's say 2-3 times a year)
However snowstorms suck bigtime, and In heavy snow I found myself several time on the balcony, scratching ice & snow from my dish in -20C in underwear in the middle of a movie..
Digital channels: good quality to a certain pont, after that, unwatchable (picture stalls like a bad encoded or scratched DVD or divx.. sound skips.. than you see green squares & numbers)
Analog: quality drops with signal loss, but still able to see pics and soud in the heaviest rain/snowstorm
I installed everything myself, It was a polar mount (turns to different geostationary satellites ) polarmount tilts the dish and head slightly moving E or W from so the polarisation sucks
my advise: buy/build a non polar mount 2 motor system that turns and tilts
My friend had 2 same brand receivers on top, and when hitting the remote, the 2 receivers turned the dish's two motors to the desired (recorded) position
1) The signal _rarely_ gets effected by weather.
2) "electromagnetic interference from the sun" has yet to mess with my DirectTV rececption.
3) "The dish could be hit by lightning, hail or high wind": Ground it during installation (as directed). I've had siding come off twice but my dish has never been hurt. In 4 years I've never even had to readjust it. Still get 90+ signal strength.
4) "You can't get local channels": Pure bs. I get all the crappy local network TV in my area. Check out the DirecTV web site for local channel availability.
A big cable TV friend of mine recently changed to satellite. The picture quality of non-HD channels was awful. I got better of my roof antenna.
Look for rebates and other deals on DirecTV equipment. My friends hardship with switching was the cost (he has like a jillion TV's) of buying all the equipment. It ended up costing him like $200 to change, and he got HD and DVR's and the whole works.
Also consider the multisatellite system, as that's where yout HD channels come from and some other spanish and chinese-language programming, and the NASA channel. I guess they didn't have the bandwidth on their main satellite, so they off loaded it to another which the regular 18" dish equipment doesn't work it.
Also, call DirecTV and say you are considering switching from cable and they will probably give you a few extra months free, which isn't all bad...
-m
http://www.invisik.com
No, really. What do you want with a TV? See films interrupted every couple of minutes by advertisements? See FOX news? See any kind of news?
Have you ever looked at people watching TV? Their mouths hanging open a bit, a glazed look in their eyes... try it some time.
Throw it away. Read a book. Gain several hours PER DAY in free time in which you can code, play computer games, go for a walk, talk to people, read slashdot...
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
...or just get rabbit ears. The only things really worth watching are the occasional DVDs.
The reception with rabbit ears varies with location, but even if the new season of "Friends" comes in all snowy - is that really a problem?
A lot of worthwhile PBS is available via the net now. Or just read the transcripts.
(Please note: German situation - US may be a little bit different)
Cable advantages
Cable disadvantages
Satellite advantages
Satellite disadvantages
Weather problems? Guess where the cable providers get the TV program from! Right, a satellite antenna. Their's may be slightly larger than yours, but in bad weather, cable will also be disturbed. Lesson learned: Buy a BIG satellite antenna and good equipment. There is no need for gold-plated mast, but you should have a high-gain antenna, combined with low-attenuation cable. And you shold remember that the best amplifier is a good antenna.
Looking at TCO, cable wins only if you need it for only a short time (say: a year). The longer you use it, the lower is the TCO for satellite compared to cable.
Tux2000, forced to use cable
Denken hilft.
I subscribe to Comcast cable in Montgomery County, Maryland...for now. Comcast is run very independatly between diffrent areas. For example, in my area they cannot schedual service more then one day in advance. I called on a Thursday and was unable to get a service appointment on Saturday. Even talking to the manager was no help, he verified that in my area their managment software wouldn't allow them to make any appointments in advance. They also cannot re-send an incorrect bill. They sent out my bill, before the end of the month, and I called to change some of my subscriptions shortly afterwards. When the bill arrived, it was incorrect and a call to Comcast quickly verified that. I requested that they send me another, accurate, bill. A week later I received a print screen of their accounting software which makes no sense to someone un firmiliar with their software. A manager confirmed that bills are only sent by their corporate headquarters and only at a monthly interval, reguardless of circumstances.
I've had many other spats with them over the course of my service, but don't know how long I'll be at my current address so I can't sign a contract with a satalite provider. But my simple answer is "Say No" to Comcast in Montgomery County Maryland. I've been told by friends that these sort of problems don't exist in Prince Georges County, Howard County, or in Arlington, VA. I can't speak for the rest of the country
Here in Brazil we have 2 major pay-tv options. Both sells cable (NET and TVA) and satellite (SKY and DirecTV) options. Basically the channels avaiable are equivalent, the first is slightly better for movies and the other for variety. But both are very good options.
I've already tried three options, in both technologies (cable and satellite), and I prefer Cable.
Why cable? Because Cable internet access is sheaper here in Brazil. Another point is that I can use my cable with more then one television.
So I still prefer Cable.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
My sister has comcast. She has one of those big plasma TVs, and we watched the super bowl last night (yay Pats!).
My sister subscribes to their "Digital" TV service. The picture was GREAT. It couldn't be beat, except when it freaked out and then the picture "regenerates" itself (the pixelation thing).
We lost the signal two or three times during the game. I'm inclined to say that the total experience was "poor to fair", as losing a second or two of video three times over a 5 hour period is "lousy quality". I can't say if satellite is better or worse.
Issues: I've been a DirecTV subscriber for 5 years. The only problem I have is with SEVERE electric storms here in the Midwest. Sometimes my Microwave will scramble the signal, but I thinks that's the microwaves fault. Customer Service: At one point when I had a cable package for internet at the same time as satellite the people at the cable company cared very little for their customers. The DirecTV reps always work with me when I RARELY have a question or problem. (I've called DirecTV maybe 3 times in the last 5 years.) Quality: I was never impressed with cable. The quality seems more grainy. I also couldn't stand not having immediate on screen menus. All in all I perceive my satellite as being crystal clear. Cost: I've always paid less for more with satellite.
Video On Demand. And I am not talking for PPV. I have RCN and HBO on my package. So with VOD I can tune into a bunch of HBO or Cinemax movies for free whenever I want to watch them. I can also watch eps of tons of HBO series(Sex in the City, Sopranos, Curb, Arliss, Real Time, etc), some of their comedy specials, some MaxAfterDark*cough* all for free as a HBO/Cinemax customer. I also get access to a lot of free content like ADV's anime channel, ESPN is getting into the act too. The abilitiy to pause, FF, and rewind are great too. VOD is something Satellite companies can't do at all, and it is so addictive. :)
Getting back to your original question, the debate on whether Cable or Satellite is better very much so is determined to where you live. I suggest trying cable first(since you don't need to buy equipment or sign contracts), and if you aren't happy, try a Satellite provider.
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
I can pause live TV (up to 30 minutes).
I can do a quick rewind of live TV for those WTF moments.
And of course, I can easily pick shows to record, so I can watch them according to my schedule.
Also, the quality is generally better than what I've seen on cable.
However:
The occassional thunderstorm can block your signal partially or completely.
You have to pay extra for local or broadcast channels, if you can get them at all.
Also, I've noticed some what look like compression artifacts while watching live TV, not just recorded shows. This seems to be new in the past six months, and I have not changed my hardware...
And here's a tip: unless you intend to mod your DirecTivo, get the 3 year warranty. I've had mine about 18 months, and already the hard drive sometimes makes a loud grinding noise... and once or twice random characters appeared on the screen... I just hope it dies before the warranty is up.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
I love, or should say "loved" Tivo. Unfortunately, it DOESN'T work with all cable boxes. Here in Colorado, at least, Comcast uses crappy "General Instruments/Motorola" digital cable boxes that don't accept Tivo's remote commands properly. (Actually, they don't even accept their own very well- very slow). There have been discussions in the various Tivo forums for years about work-arounds. The most common is to tape the Tivo IR sender directly over the IR receiver on the cable box, and then cover the front of both the Tivo and cable box with black electrical tape.
Apparently the Tivo itself has an IR sender built into the front, and the cable box gets easily confused by any other IR activity besides its own remote (and simply locks is IR receiver temporarily), so the extra Tivo IR activity, along with the Tivo remote, really screw it up. Even doing this, Tivo was only able to change the channels properly about 50% of the time at best. With channels above 99, it had less than a 10% success rate. So- I ended up with hours of crap I wouldn't want to watch if I was paid to, while missing my favorite shows.
On the other hand, I had a DirecTV receiver (by Sony) before that worked flawlessly with Tivo, and had a DirecTivo (also by Sony) that worked fantastic. With the exception of a couple of really nasty thunderstorms (with hail), I had no problems at all with my DirecTV system for over 3 years.
The only reason I have cable is my significant other gets it for free because she works for Comcast. If I had to pay for one or the other, I wouldn't hesitate to get DirecTV again and dust off my Tivo.
DirecTIVO is where it's at. As long as you have at least a dual-LNB dish, you can record two channels simultaneously (something the standalones can't do). The TIVO service is cheaper due to DIrecTV's deal with TIVO (IIRC 5.99/mo). The only time I've lost the signal was during a heavy snowstorm when snow built up on the dish. Even then, it was only some the channels. Since my dish is on the roof, I wasn't about to climb up there during the storm, but about five minutes with a supersoaker filled with windshield washer fluid did the trick. The one downside is that DirecTV is only selling series 2 TIVOs now and the 2's aren't as hackable as the series 1's. That's a minor quibble tho'.
I rarely post on here, but I go out of my way to harp on Comcast every chance I get. Their service is really, really terrible.
I'm getting really pissed off about all these "Ditch the Dish" commercials they show, talking about how you lose signal when it rains or the wind blows or anything else. Truth of the matter is that I lose my cable signal everytime my neighbor checks his e-mail. Standard digital signals cut in and out, and the HDTV never works during the evenings or on weekends. They simply don't have enough bandwidth in my area to handle the demand. But since my deck faces northeast, I'm pretty much stuck with this crap until I move in August.
My parents still have the big huge dish in thier yard. You can get some pretty interesting stuff if you are willing to pay for the tech. Of course it IS a dying technology, but it is pretty interesting how they are trying keep it alive through things like 4dtv and mpeg sidecars.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
OK, I changed to Directv about 5 years ago when I was completely fed up with my local cable company. TCI became AT&T which became Comcast...blah blah blah and I still couldn't get any decent channels. Since then I just have to laugh every time I hear one of the radio ads for the cable company talking about how much sattelite sucks because it can go out because of "rain fade". All I have to say about that is my DSS has NEVER gone dark due to rain...AND I LIVE IN SEATTLE!
"There is always an easy solution to every human problem -neat, plausible, and wrong." - H. L. Mencken
I have DirecTV, and am at a pretty sharp angle from their satellites (longer distance, in Michigan). I also have an oval dish instead of a round one in order to get "Para Todos" service in Spanish for my wife. This means signal meters for both satellites. I get about 68/100 on both satellites. When I had just the round dish, I usually got high 80's. Despite that, I only usually get a broken/lost signals in super-heavy downpours of rain -- maybe three times per year. It could be more, it's not like the TV is on 24-7.
Additionally I get free basic cable from Comcast, who provides my internet connection. So I save a couple of bucks by not getting DirecTV local channels (although Telefutura'd be nice [soccer]).
I use it with an original Sony-built TiVo series 1. It nicely integrates the cable and DirecTV receiver so that I get a single stream of channels, i.e., it's smart enough to use the built-in tuner for cable and to control the DirecTV box for the higher channels. The guide and everything is similarly unbroken. The nice thing about the TiVo series one is it's a geek haven -- it's YOUR box and you can do with it what you will. Checkout "Hacking TiVo" over at Amazon, reviewed here sometime in the past.
My decision is based mostly on the languages and channels offered (i.e., all the Spanish stuff for my wife), so I'd never, ever consider Comcast for all my needs here in Michigan. I imagine that in downtown L.A. the cable options for my needs would be better. But still, I was a DirecTV customer since before I met my wife, so I guess I'm just overall really, really happy with it.
--Jim (me)
I got one of these a few months ago, and even though we don't have some of the features that the stand-alone boxes have, I really enjoy it. The local cable company is about $65 a month for the same channels I get for $45 (including Tivo service) from DirecTV. I get all of the locals that are worth getting, and if I was outside of the area for my locals, I could get national access to ABC,NBC,CBS, etc. for either no cost, or $5 a month.
I have Dish Network, and all of the evil things that Comcast says about rain and wind and leaves in fall are true. Having said that, I have been pretty happy with the PVR they offer. Not TiVo, but sufficient.
Depending on what you watch, and how important picture quality is to you, cable may actually be a better bet. I am in a Comcast service area and am seriously considering switching. For one thing, the local channels on Dish are horrible. They compress them to the point of being unwatchable. This just became clear to me when I bought a big screen television.
The same holds true for the less popular cable channels. Most of the popular channels are pretty good quality. I don't know what bit rate Comcast uses for their channels, but I thought that I would give them a try for a couple of months and do a side by side comparison.
If you have a clean plant, the analog channels are actually much better quality than the digital ones. (I know... flame bait). In a big market, the cable companies take a lot of their feeds directly from the station. A good clean analog signal has 10 to 20 times more picture quality than a compressed signal from Dish network. OTOH, a crappy analog signal is unwatchable. Since they just rebuilt the plant around here, the analog signals look pretty good.
As for the PVR issue, Comcast has just started rolling out the Motrola DVR box. They only have the single tuner model available now, but that's all I have with Dish and it hasn't been a problem. Most programs that I watch are repeated many times so there is always a time when I can record them when I am not watching something else.
Of course, if you are a realityTV or sports junkie, even two tuners may not be enough. In that case, both Dish and DirectTV (and Time-Warner Cable) have dual tuner PVR boxes. You can actually record two channels while you are watching something that was previously recorded. Pretty cool, but a bit much for me. Motorola is coming out with one (HD as well), but it's probably a ways down the road. Comcast is almost totally Motorola.
As far as the broadband issue, I also have DSL, but if I switch to Comcast, I will probably switch to cable modem. Again, it don't cost much to try it out. They offer 3 Mb/s downstream, while DSL limits me to about 1.2 Mb/s.
We've had DirecTV ever since and have had very reliable service -- more reliable than (analog) Comcast, to be honest. We lose the satellite signal in very heavy rain, and usually for only fifteen minutes at most. (We're more likely to lose power than satellite, to be honest.) We've never lost signal due to trees, clouds, wind, ice, snow, steady rain, dogs sneezing, cats coughing, kids screaming, birds crapping, etc.
As for DVRs, we do have a DirecTV TiVo. It's probably not as good as a standalone series 2 TiVo, but I don't know how well a standalone TiVo integrates with DirecTV as compared to a DirecTV TiVo. Works fine, regardless, and we wouldn't give it up.
My parents live in the country (in the midwest) and didn't have the option of cable, so they have directv. During very heavy rain storms they will lose their signal. It's definately the heavy rain, and not the lightning. The rain is rarely that bad, so my parents feel like the service is still worth it. It's also pretty funny to see Matlock freeze in the middle of a cross-examination.
-- Give us your technology and we'll give you all the cow lips you want.
I've used comcast digital cable in Tuscaloosa alabama and I loved it. My parents house where I've spent much time over the years has a dish network receiver, in a very very rural area, a BAD storm will interrupt the satellite. I'd make the call based on the kind of weather you have in your area, and cost. I loved the digital comcast cable, but it was expensive, satellite isnt much better, just make the call on the weather you have and the best programming package for the buck, I'd go digital cable with comcast, it just had more options, it did have service outages because of weather also at times too.
Dish has a new box with two tuners, and built in PVR. The built in PVR is actually better than TiVo brand PVR IMHO. The two tuners don't work well together yet, but they update their firm ware all the time so its just a matter of time before the system starts to work perfectly.
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
At my parent's house, we occasionally have problems with the weather, but only with severe storms that are likely to knock out the power half an hour later anyway. At least the satellite gives us a nice 30-minute warning that we're going to have bad weather.
In other words, we only have had problem with satellite in the same situations where we would've been without cable too. I agree with the parent. Pick the service based on the programming.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
I in a Comcast area (suburban Illinois) and have been through almost every configuration they have both regular and digital. I had DirecTV and Dish Network back in Phonenix, but now I just moved back to DirecTV.
My biggest desire to move back to DirecTV was HDTV. I feel that DirecTV in the long term will provide better HD options that local cable. Couple that with almost every HD DirecTV receiver able to tune to HD over-air broadcasts and provide local channels via Satellite or over-air, there is little that cable can possibly offer over DirecTV.
I did lots of studying. The most annoying thing is that Comcast doesn't even want to begin to provide you details about when they will offer HDTV in my area, though they advertise it on TV.
As far as reception. I was a bit concerned about the "we loose our signal all the time" and all I can say, mounted on my roof, I get strong signal all the time, even in the snow. I know that heavy weather (it is the water) can distort the signal and you have to be careful if your dish builds up snow, but if that does become an issue, there are several workarounds including sprays, covers and other items that make sure your LNB doesn't get "watered" down.
I totally hated the Digital Cable. They over compress the channels and the receivers were about as slow as molassass.
My DirecTV install experience was excellent, a lot better than my cable, where they didn't even know what they were doing. I expected to have to educate the DirecTV guy (since I have quite an extensive custom built whole house distribution system) but he didn't have a problem and did a very professional clean install. The cable guy just did his thing but the DirecTV guy asked permission before doing any physical changes.
I am VERY happy with the programming selection on DirecTV versus Comcast. They just are damn good at what they do. Calling them recently about getting CBS-HD for the superbowl was super easy and very friendly. Lot better than calling my local cable franchise.
Well, there are my two cents...
D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
I have DirectTV and am very happy with it. Time Warner supplies cable TV in this area and I have found they are a horrible horrible horrible company to deal with... so I don't deal with them. I lose a satellite signal occasionally when it rains, but the outage lasts only a few minutes and it happens so infrequently that I don't care. I had more service interruptions when I had actual cable service than when I do now with DirectTV.
is only available with an extra dish, as it's on a totally different satellite...
also, I have had ReplayTV for years, and the combination makes it hard to visit other's houses without DirecTV or Replay...
Comcast Sucks. Google had over 31,000 matches on how bad Comcast sucks.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
The only difference, in my eyes, is that Direct TV has the FOOTBALL Package, and Cable doesn't. But your a nerd, so maybe that won't matter!!
I love my DVR Cable Package.
The only plus is my Wife works for the cable company, so I have all the channels for free!!
It's left blank because I have nothing to say to you punks!
to DirecTV in mid-December. If you watch the local ads, Circuit City usually throws in an extra on top of the free system. I ended up getting a 3 room DirecTV system w/ TiVO and a free home theater in a box (AMW, not top of the line, but good enough for the small room where we have our TV,) for $99 after rebates. The quality of the signal is great. We have not had one problem.
One thing you need to ask yourself when you see the cable company spots about satelling quality is "Where does the cable company get their feed?" The answer: Satellite.
The DirecTV w/ TiVo is awesome, but 40 hours is a bit low. The good thing is the Hughes box can be upgraded w/ minimal difficulty (I haven't done it yet, but weaknees has upgrade kits.)
-- Charles A. Plater
One advantage to cable is that they usually have to provide a 'low cost' option, aside from the $40/50/60 'basic' package.
We have this, it's $8.95 per month, and has about 28 channels, including NASA. Technically it's supposed to have less, but they just give you 'basic' with a filter to block channels 24+. In practice 25 comes in snowy, 76 is snowy, and 77-116 are fine. (Albany NY area, Time Warner -- your milage may vary)
You have to push and prod and get the cable company to admit to offering this, but it's worth looking into.
Of course you don't have the 100+ channels and endless opportunities for pay-per-view, but then you've got an extra $40 a month to buy DVDs or use for other entertainment purposes...
"But actually trying to use m4 as a general-purpose langage would be deeply perverse" --ESR
Several posters have commented that the DirecTV TiVo units are great. There's a catch with them, though. They only work with DirecTV. If you ever decide to switch to a different service provider, such as cable or Dish Networks, your integrated TiVo unit will become useless.
I've been using a separate TiVo unit with my DirecTV service and have not had any problems with picture quality. Then again, I also don't have a 54" HDTV plasma TV, so picture quality isn't my highest concern.
I'll also support what other DirecTV customers have said here: In Pasadena, CA I've never had a loss of signal due to weather. The two times that I've had reception problems were caused by my buggy RCA DirecTV receiver.
and are playing TV spots about how satellite TV signals can be lost when it rains, when the wind blows
Cable companies like to use this as a marketing point, and there is some truth to it. As the worst part of a heavy storm blows through, you may lose satellite reception for a half hour or so. But it's not exclusively a satellite problem.
I have DirecTV and also basic cable for local channels and a cable modem. One night during a particularly nasty storm, I was trying to watch cable, and all the channels had a "searching for satellite signal" screen. Cable companies use satellite dishes within their infrastructure too, they're just big 6 foot ones instead of 18" dishes for the end user. Harder for a storm to knock out, but it can happen.
We live in the Silcon Valley (Milpitas, CA, on the northeast border of San Jose), and we had Primestar from the beginning when we bought our house 6 1/2 years ago. After a couple of years, DirecTV bought Primestar and upgraded our equipment (receivers and dish) for FREE. Over the years, we continue to get better and better service (on the TV, on the phone, and in person) at absolutely no additional cost over what we pay monthly.
The DirecTV/Tivo integration is the absolute best because it's direct digital recording of the MP2 DirecTV feed. I haven't seen anything close to as good as when you get a combo DirecTV/Tivo device.
On the weather question, it's funny that this came up on Slashdot now because we're having a severe rainstorm here this morning. The only time we *momentarily* lose signal is when we have extremely heavy rain (the kind where if you walk outside for 10 seconds, you're utterly soaked). By "momentarily", I mean it periodically pops in and out digitally while you have that extremely heavy rain.
Otherwise, normal rain and wind don't affect the reception whatsoever -- after all, we're not talking about an old fashioned roof-mounted TV antenna, the technology is quite a bit better than that.
On Comcast digital cable, I can only repeat what my long-time friends at work have to say -- it's generally better than older cable service, but they have much more frequent digital glitches (similar to what we get on DirecTV during heavy rain) than we do with DirecTV. Also, remember that Comcast is still the same cable company with horrible service (i.e. GLACIALLY slow). DirecTV service is always there to help quickly partly due to the fact that their customers have far fewer problems to complain about.
We have Cox cable where I live which I get both broadband and cable tv from. I've had nothing but problems from them. Disconnections about once a week, their prices keep going up, and to top it all off, there's nothing I can do about it because they are the only provider in town. Plus, living on the bottom floor of an apartment eliminates the use of a dish.
The truth is my father used to sell satellites, back in the day when they were 12-16 foot dishes so I just have to laugh at the cable companies that do this. I see these commercials all the time talking about how much better Cox is than satellite when the fact is they use large dishes to receive some of their signals which is why they also can lose their signal in bad storms.
I live in Philadelphia which is Comcast country. They offer every bell and whistle to their customers since the city is a flagship city for them. My area of the city does not have Comcast, we have Time Warner. Time Warner could care less about Philly so we dont have all the bells and whistles of its flagship city, NYC.
I had DirecTV for a month and dropped it b/c they did not carry the local SportsNet in Philly. But Time warner has been great so far, the Road Runner service has run excellent, the TW digital cable guide is great, as is HDTV.
I would say if the local provider in your city sucks then go with DirecTV. I think the local cable company should be first on your list though.. IMHO
I ask for a car and I get a computer. How's about that for being born under a bad
My family has had DirectTV for about 7 years, and we've experienced signal fade at least a couple of times a year. We live in the Northeast and if you get a pretty heavy snow or really strong thunderstorm the signal can drop. Heavy rain can also cause loss of a couple of transponders, so some channels will feature random drops of pixels in the channel or the loss of some channels. If the weather in your area is generally pretty mild it's fine; but if you are looking for 99.9% reliable, then digital cable may be the only game in town.
From the DirectTiVO perspective; never tried that, but I think I would prefer to get a seperate TiVO box. Then modding is an option if you want more capacity and if anything happens to the satellite box or the TiVO, the broken component can be repaired or replaced without completely losing the ability to watch programs (assuming you have a big TiVO backlog of shows). I also don't mind trading some space for the ability to upgrade components seperately as needed.
======
In X-Windows the client serves YOU!
I have Dish Network, which I bought through Dish Planet. I heard about my deal through my cousin, who heard about it on local radio. I get something like 70 channels, plus local, two boxes, $17.98/mo. They have different promotions going on at different times and generally you might hear their ads on FM radio, but I haven't found a better deal.
No signal problems either.
TV sucks, it's just an ad-fest.
I just went through all this myself, with a survey as of eight weeks ago, and I can say that the satellite providers ran on a monthly average $15 cheaper than any comperable package cable could put together.
After having each of the Sat providers for over a year at previous apartments I can say that we lost signal perhaps three, maybe four times in as many years, each during thunderstorms. If it is of any help, I am in the NE U.S.
Most importantly!! - NASAtv is free on C-band. I just put up a 7.5 foot dish in my yard for that exact purpose, to watch the Mars expeditions. And it is analog, uncompressed, and gorgeous!
Kulakovich
I totally agree. Digital cable and satellite look terrible in my opinion. Compression artifacts galore. I can only imagine what super-compressed HD will look like once it's available. Analog cable is smooth and crisp -- and cheap! The only thing I miss is the occasional decompression error, rendering someone's face as a moving mass of DCT garbage. But then, I still get that sometimes when a station's Digibeta deck hits a glitch, so it's all good...
Another vote in favor of the DirecTV/TiVo combo receiver unit. I installed a 4-line dish myself on the roof of my Brooklyn building and connected two lines in, so I can do all of the TiVo tricks on dual tuners.
My wife failed to understand when I tried to explain what a TiVo was and what it could do, and how cool/necessary ownership was, until I handed her the remote. Her parents still don't get it, despite our best efforts..
hth. -mj
you need to properly mount the dish (so it will not move in the wind) and adjust for the maximum signal possible, this will reduce weather effects. However downpours (like multiple inches of rain/hour) or very heavy snow will block your signal. I live in southern Alberta (very windy - often 60 kph, peak 80-100) and have never had wind effect my dish signal (see note on proper mounting above)
I've had both (used Bell Expressvu Staellite in the US as well as MediaOne/AT&T/Comcast cable).
More or less, it comes down to which service has the content you want most. However there are several differences that make satellite a better choice for me:
I absolutely hate Comcast's digital cable channel surfing interface. I like to flip through channels quickly, and the digital cable interface prevents me from doing that because it's so slow and difficult to navigate. The guide screen is much quicker to respond, more intuitive and more informative with DishNetwork/Expressvu IMO (both are based on the same hardware/software -- just different branding).
As far as the weather goes... don't believe the cable companies' hype. I subscribe to NHL CenterIce on Comcast cable right now (not due to choice mind you), and believe it or not, I experience more blips and outages on these channels as I did with satellite due to the fact that the signal is travelling mostly by satelite from the game locations to the cable operator before it's ever placed on a cable to get to your home.
Also picture quality stinks with comcast digital. They must be pushing the mpeg compression really high, because the artifacts are absolutely noticeable on anything larger than a 27" TV and fast moving sports plays often show noticeable blockiness. Expressvu is much cleaner on large screens.
I don't trust Comcast - they have a tendancy to turn your cable off without telling you, just so you are forced to call them and they can upsell you on their new services. This happened recently to both myself and a friend of mine. In my case, I waited a few days to call because I thought the cable might come back on on its own. When I finally was forced to call, all they had to do was throw a switch and my cable was back on - they were just waiting for me to complain.
Comcast tells you that they provide digital cable, but all of your basic and extended basic channels (up to the 100s) are still analog. As far as weather goes, Comcast still goes out when a storm rolls over their local property. DirecTV did go out a little bit more often when heavy precipitation occurs, but it's nowhere near ss bad as the cable ads put on.
Comcast also gives me ads on their slow, oversized program guide (provided by TV Guide). When I get program info or use a full-screen menu, they greet me with two. You can even select them with your remote to get more info! Whoopee! They also transmit slowly. At least people who don't purchase any digital packages don't have to put up with them.
As far as picture quality goes, DirecTV still wins. Comcast's signal strength is a problem in my area. They have to work on the area lines about once every three months, and you're generally at their mercy for anywhere from a few hours to a few days. In fact, the analog stations often look better than the digital ones, and sometimes certain digital channels won't be able to find a signal at all. My place had the coaxial cabling rewired throughout when I first moved in, too. There are a lot of blurry edges around objects, much like you'd see with a poorly compressed MPEG. DirecTV's picture is better, although there is about a half second's delay in transmission compared to cable.
Last but not least, Comcast charges more for less. The channels are worse and the packages are grouped so that there's a little bit of everything in each one, rather than grouping them by genre (except for the movie channels). We don't even get basics like the Travel Channel yet. They just now gave us E! and FoodTV.
The only reason that I can see for going with Comcast is to receive local channels in better quality (although DirecTV is picking up the slack in that area). If that isn't a huge sticking point, go with DirecTV.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
I personally have no desire to use any of the satellite TV providers. I've got Comcast in the western Anne Arundel area and I've never had them screw me over ever. We've got a decent movie package (HBO, SHO, Skinemax, etc.), VOD and increased broadband bandwidth along with very good local coverage and two digital converters for less than $95/mo. And starting in a couple of mos they're also going to have HD-equipped converters/DVRs.
Sanity.html - Error 404 not found
Really. Comcast stinks. Cable internet goes out for about two days a month (I know this isn't your question) and my cable tv reception (analog) consistently gets captioned jibberish along it (maybe 1/5 shows). Further, it's twice the price of satellite with half the channels. Oh yeah, and if I want HDTV, it costs an extra $15 per month + $5 per channel, whereas for satellite it's $12 per month for all channels.
True, you will have to hook up a seperate antenna for network HD, but that is *so* worth it. I'd already be over to satellite if my apt didn't come with free comcast. I'm getting what I pay for, but those poor shmo's putting out $60/month for comcast sure aren't.
if the Phillips Direct TV Tivo supports the home media option?
Neither offers anything worth watching, with the possible exception of the sci fi channel which I wish would switch to the Internet. Its getting harder and harder to justify paying for TV.
Cable companies are FOS about satellites, if you go to the central cable station you will see that they get all their feeds by satellite and are vulnerable to inclement weather. Why pay a middleman?
love is just extroverted narcissism
I have had Direct TV for 4 years now. I have NEVER had a problem with reception, whether it's in high winds or in torrential rains. Sounds like your cable company is selling FUD.
The next reason is simple, you get more options. If you like the NFL, you can only get NFL SUnday TIcket through Direct TV. It's really nice being able to bring up any game I want on Sunday. Further, with TIVO, I can record my favorite teams games for the entire season! They also do March Madness, Basebal, and Hockey int he same manner. The Sports pay program is awesome.
Finally, Direct TV will be bringing you more HDTV stations faster. They are committed to HDTV, and although the programming is now pretty slim, they are digital ready to broadcast all HDTV stations when the time comes.
My recommendation, get Direct TV with the Tivo box and buy an inexpensive HDTV. That package will set you up for the next decade. It's that good. Enjoy!
"Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."- Steven Wright
...other tech zealots. I don't have a preference for one or other other (my wife, however, has rejected satellite because of the dish on the roof..), but I seem to run into satellite zealots who insist that cable is always evil and inferior to satellite.
I'm not a cable fan, but Crime-Warner cable where I live is priced competitively with packages I've been able to compute for satellite, service has been good the two times it was needed (one time was when we buried our service), and I don't have to make an investment in hardware or fsck around with a satellite mount my other half doesn't want.
Will your homeowners association/condo complex/apartment complex let you install a dish? That's #1 to look at. :)
Otherwise, I'd go with DirecTV. Better channel lineup and they're not raising rates every 6 months like Comcast has been doing in the Bay Area. =/
I'll just chime in by saying that anything that would knock out your satelitte picture would knock out comcast too...since they get their good channels from a satelitte feed ;p
Also unless you have more than 2 tv's going satelitte will be cheaper...
We've had DirecTV sicne December 2000 and it's been great, haven't had a single outage that lasted longer than a minute (i think we only had it twice because of those pesky solar flares). We have 4 DTV boxes, one is a TiVo, one is a RCA HD receiver, and two are Sony SAT-B55s. They all work great, and the sony set top boxes have no problem being controlled by Windows Media Center.
I'd recommend DirecTV in a heartbeat, their service is excellent and their customer support is also excellent; I've only ever had one technical question and it was solved in a 5 minute call to them (almost no hold time).
Hope this helps in your considerations!
Before going to a satellite, be certain that you either have an antenna capable of getting local broadcast channels or that your satellite provider will carry the local content you want.
That said, anybody who's posted here that your best option is to quit watching TV altogether is probably right.
"Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray" (Bob Dylan)
The head-end does use satellites for sending original signals, but in all fairness, they have much better antennas with better ability to withstand winds and with much more power.
But to be fair, it is also easier to fix problems at home using an antenna then to have to trust a bunch of screwed up companies such as comcast.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Well, here's my $.02 and personal experience.
At the moment, I have Comcast digital cable. Whoopee. For one, the basic cable box that they give you (in my area) is crappy. No S-Video out, no digital sound. AND, you cannot preset shows to watch, in case you will not be home, or want to record things on different channels while you are on vacation. Now, I thought that would be a standard, no-brainer feature. I mean, since the first time I got DirecTV 8 years ago, that was a standard feature. With DirecTV, if you want to set something to watch later, you look at it in the program guide and click on it. A checkmark appears, viola! Timed programming. Oh, and comcast is charging several dollars a month for every other cable box in the house (what the hell for?), whereas DirecTV no longer does.
Picture quality. Comcast heavily compresses their video. So much so that when I am watching a movie on HBO, and there is a scene that takes place in the dark, black isn't black. It has ghosts and compression errors and color bands. Which show up really strongly on my 27" Trinitron. My analog channels don't do that, though, go figure. DirecTV uses mpeg2 compression, very similar to that of DVD, very high quality. The DirecTV box has S-Video standard, and the last box I had had optical audio out.
Reliability. In the 11 months that I have had Comcast, I have had 10 times as much outage than I did with 8 years of DirecTV. I lived in an area that quite often had inclement weather, lots of snow, wind, etc. For one thing, those commercials that the cable companies have about DirecTV are just BS. (Like the one where the guy had to put it on a pole, so he duct taped it to a stick. Hey buddy, you're an idiot! You're too stupid to own DirecTV. Mounted mine to a pole that I mounted to the house, and put a small bit of concrete (about the size of a coffee can) as an anchor, and it never moved.) The only time I had signal loss was when we had lots of heavy, wet snow that coated the dish. Then I went outside with a broom and brushed it off - signal was back. Often these days, with Comcast, the signal will just go out for no reason, or all of a sudden all the channels become the TV Guide channel. Or, somehow the box will start begging for the parental control password (there isn't one) or telling me that I need to subscribe to every channel that I am subscribed to.
In conclusion, I would have to say that for the most part, DirecTV is vastly superior to Comcast Digital Cable. (Oh yeah, the channels even change faster with DirecTV!) The only thing Comcast has going for it is Broadband Internet.
Oh, you may be wondering why I have Comcast at all? It's because the roommates I moved in with already had it - and the broadband internet. Oh, well, I guess I'll have to deal.
Why oh why didn't I take the purple pill?
DirecTV offers HBO, Showtime, ESPN, and some others (Including some PPV; Total of like 9 channels).
They lack local networks in HD though, and that's a gripe I've got. It's a bandwidth issue on the satellites. They simply can't carry all of the local networks with their current capacity.
For those that would die defending it, Freedom
has a sweet taste that the protected will never know.
I switeched to DirecTV four years ago, and my service has gone out only three times, for a few hours at most. This is in the worst weather Chicago has to offer. If you securely mount your dish on a vertical post or wall (instead of on a roof, where snow can't drift up to it, and water can pool up and foul your cables) weather is not really a problem. If you do see rain fade, you can get a larger dish for less than $100 that will fix the issue.
I have heard anecdotal evidence that service levels have gone up in Chicago since Comacast took over AT&T's network, but I've also heard anecdotal evidence that things have gotten worse in the Chicago suburbs. So who knows.
Just wanted to chime in after seeing all the anti-cable posts. I used to have DirecTV and DSL from my phone company. It was expensive, and it was decent but not without its problems. My satellite would definitely go out during storms.
I moved, and now have cable. One nice thing is that I get my TV and internet through the same place and it is dramatically cheaper for me (YMMV). The speeds I get with cable internet are a lot better (again, you might see different results). And I have never had the cable TV signal die. As far as quality, the satellite picture might be a little better, but for my purposes I can't really tell the difference. I'm not even getting digital cable though, I just get the basic analog package and it works great (and is cheap). Just my 2 cents,
Mark
My Grandparents in Southern California have satelite tv, and it was horrible when there was wind. 10-15mph winds made it impossible to watch. I would definatly go with cable if you have that option. I would only every use satelite if there was no cable that I had access to...
If you are expecting something here, I don't know what to tell you...
Do something worthwhile. TV is for the same people who: - Never win the lottery. - Have nothing better to do. - Have no love life. - Have no money. - Stiff the pizza delivery guy. - Drink their sorrows away. - etc.............
I live in southeastern Virginia in the Hampton Roads area. When the hurricane hit last fall, the rain was barely sprinkling and the cable TV went down for over a week. My phone service is also tied into the cable so was also down. However, cellular pretty much survived throughout the entire hurricane with only minimal downtime. I laugh everytime I see those cable TV commercials saying their landlines provide better signal quality, etc. After the main storm was over and all the power was out, my family and I sat in our living room and watched DirecTV powered by our generator. :)
If you're unwilling to let go of your TV, then a nice substitution I've found for cable is Netflix. Let's face it. Out of 100+ channels, how often is nothing good on anyway? At least with a DVD subscription you can watch exactly what you want to watch whenever you have time to do so. It also can limit how much TV you watch during the week (which is a GOOD thing :).
I used to have DirecTV satellite service and enjoyed it a lot. I certainly did experience rain fade and loss of signal in heavy snowfalls, but this was in New England where it is always either raining or snowing. I think I probably lost a signal maybe 5-6 times in a year, and usually only for a few minutes.
I've since moved and now have digital cable. I hate it. The quality is lousy compared to my old satellite, and the Motorola cable box is a joke. The on-screen guide is not very useful (only shows 30 minutes at a time) and is very slow and painful to use. Given the choice, I think it's a no-brainer. Go with the satellite.
I've had DirecTV for probably 6 years now.
In the six years, they've only upped the prices a couple times...compared with our local Comcast which changes a couple times a year it seems. In fact, last week I got a notice for rate changes from Comcast but fortunately it doesn't affect the cable modem which is all I get from them.
As for weather, I live in the midwest and a couple times a summer I get rain fade. Actually it is a good predictor of weather, becuase it will fade before the storm hits. And when it does lose the signal, you know you are in for a heck of a storm. I will say that it is a lot more reliable than cable ever was.
Combined with Tivo..whether a standalone (which is what I have because DirecTV doesn't have our locals yet) or the integrated one, it is a nice combination to have.
Pixelation does occur...it is very noticeable in scenes of fog and smoke. But all in all it is a decent picture that always put the analog cable picture quality to shame.
I was traveling in Costa Rica. When I was in a small town on the West Coast, there were little stores with Satelite Internet hook-ups. The only time they went down was when a Rainy Season downpour was in full force. So, unless you are talking about truly extreme weather, I wouldn't worry about SateliteTV, since, I would imagine, the Internet Connection would probably be more sensative to outages.
First, I am an advocate of diversifying my connections, I would never consider allowing my voice, data and television communications to all come over the same wire or even provider. One cable cut or power failure and you're completely cut off from the world with the exception of radio. I use QWest for voice, cable for data and satellite for video.
More directly to your questions:
What I've used and why I chose satellite for video
I used to use digital cable for video, and gave up after lousy service from two different cable operators in my area (Mesa, AZ) and switched to Dish Network's Dish 500 system (a 4900 receiver) about 5 years ago. I don't think I'll ever go back to cable. It wasn't just the low quality and unreliable nature of my digital cable; the ADs in the program guide really pissed me off also. Dish doesn't have that. One of the providers was taking up about 1/3 of the screen for ad space on the program guide. It might not have been so bad if it were just ads for pay-per-view, but I was getting ads for beer, cars, etc. Dish does put ads on the "Open-TV" based interactive content, but I really don't use that and it seems to be just pay-per-view ads anyway.
Quality of signal/video
My dish is not exactly line-of-sight to the satellites, it's partially blocked by the house, but that's because I prefer the dish to be completely hidden from sight from the street. Still, I've only rarely had loss of signal. All of my outages were when a major thunderstorm cell moved directly in my dish's line to the satellite. Even then I usually only lost one of that sats or just a few transponders. I have not yet lost all reception from both sats. I've never lost video in a simple rain storm, one of our famous Arizona dust storms or the like. There was one freak-ish time that a low-flying(~1500ft) bomber blocked my signal for a few seconds, but how often does that happen? Considering I live 2 miles from the final approach of a Confederate Fair Force wing and see low-flying bombers almost weekly and only had one signal loss: not that often.
There's an aspect to digital satellite video that can be viewed as either a positive or negative: Unlike analog signals, Dish's signals are either on or off. You either get a pristine image or no image at all. There's no snow, static, ghosting, etc. This leads to very abrupt outages when they do happen. The video will play fine, then stutter or pause for a few seconds while audio continues, then it all goes out an you get the "aquiring satellite" page. The only way to ascertain the signal strength is to go in to the "setup" menu of the reciever and look at the signal strength bars for each transponder from each satellite.
PVR/recording options
As for the recording option: go with the digital recorder offered/authorized by your digital provider. Recording the direct digital signal from the sats is a much better way to go than a separate Tivo with the extra digital->analog step and extra cabling. I know that Dish's PVRs are now all Linux/GNU based and Dish's source is posted on their site, so hacking should be more interesting if that's your game.
Science television
NASA-TV is priceless, but at least on dish the Reasearch Channel out of University of Washington and the UCTV feeds are also tremendously interesting and educational. There's a few other channles with some neat science info, and Free Speech TV (FSTV) is educational on an entirely different level whether you agree or disagree with the messages in the programs.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
...and the fact that there is a near monopoly in the satellite industry, I would still say that satellite offers a significantly better alternative to cable. Where I live I can only choose from Cox digital cable, and I have to say... they should spell their name differently.
Cox charges $59 a month for digital cable (no internet bundled in, if you want that it's $89 a month). Although they claim an unreal number of channels (500 I think), when it comes to most people the reality is that there are only 48 channels. PPV channels should never be counted as actual channels since most people never watch them unless they are either rich or stupid. (These days, those two seem to be mutually inclusive)
I chose DirecTV and have been about 98% satisfied with it. Yes. When there is a good rain storm, the signal dissappears. I will say that this happens maybe four times to me. Based on my average of 2-4 hours of TV watching per week, it may happen more frequently for a real couch potato. It can be pretty frustrating if you've scheduled a show to record and instead you get the "signal not available" message for the first 10-15 minutes. But it's a nuisance I can live with considering that I get a great signal when it does work and I pay a lot less than digital cable. (More on the cost in a moment) Again, DirecTV claims som ungodly number of channels (by skipping large ranges). For example the music channels are in the 900s. But again, the reality is much lower. About a year ago I counted 67 actual channels I might have an interest in watching. The number of channels applied with the cost per month ($42 per month if just a basic subscriber vs. the next level up. I wound up going up a level). After taxes, the monthly cost is still $52 a month for my expanded package. So.. it's obvious to see the better value in DirecTV. That's why I can live with the occasional signal loss.
Un-news
I can see a difference even with Digital cable and Direct TV's picture quality. Had Dish network previously and Direct TV was better then that too. (i.e. Direct TV has the better Picture) I do not use HDTV yet so that is not an issue here. I also have outages rather RARELY. in fact I think the cable when I had it was out more then my Dish seems to be.
Doug
I recently bought a house in a neighborhood where "free" (i.e., subsidized) cable is part of what your HOA dues pay for. I pay nothing extra for "extended basic" cable from my local cable company. Because of this, my cable modem service is discounted by $10 per month, and I could upgrade to digital cable for $11 a month.
However, I have DirecTV, and have had it for about 7 years now, and I'm very happy with it. I recently bought a couple of TiVo-integrated receivers, and the convenience and picture quality is excellent.
I've retasked my standalone TiVo (formerly connected to a Sony SAT-B2 DirecTV receiver) to connect to the "free" cable. This TiVo has been upgraded to 193 hours of basic quality, so I record nearly everything on Best quality. The picture quality still sucks. The picture I get from my cable company is significantly inferior to what I get from DirecTV. Before my wife and I got married, she had digital cable in her apartment, and its picture quality was not as consistently good as DirecTV's is.
I know that even by cable company standards, my lousy analog cable picture is abnormally bad. I also know that with Rupert Murdoch taking over at DirecTV, things are likely to go downhill in picture quality there. It's a tough call to make, but for now, I'm sticking with DirecTV and I'm not impressed with cable in my neighborhood.
Before I moved, I had comcast cable. I wasn't thrilled with it, but I was even less thrilled when I found out how much just basic cable costs (I had been living with in-laws for a short while) When my wife and I moved out, we went with DishNetwork. It's been RARE for anything to happen with the signal. Even during those famous Texas storms. It might blink a little now and then, but never as much as eve the cable did back in Maryland. Plus, the features are MUCH better than cable. No more waiting (and missing) to see what's coming on with the scrolling TvGuide channel. I just type in what channel I want to see in the guide, and there it is. I can even see what's on for the next two days without having to go and get a seperate TV guide or anything. DishNetwork all the way...
*slight crashing sound*
The reason all satellite tv requires the dish to point south is that the only way to get a geostationary orbit is over the equator.
I think you're confusing digital cable and HDTV.
It's pretty well known that satelite compresses their HDTV feeds more than cable or OTA.
As for analog sucking, that's probably due to the horrible Motorola boxes that Comcast uses. It's also pretty well known that they have horrible analog tuners in them.
I had Comcast digital cable for a several years because I couldn't get Satellite until I moved into my house (no view of of the South in my apt).
Their claims about picture losses are very exaggerated. Here is what I found when I had digital cable:
1) Not all the channels are digital. They don't tell you this upfront, or at least, they don't make it clear. The local stations were analog and the picture looked only marginally better than broadcast. For some reason channel 4 always looked the worst.
2) Outages were common. The excuse was always "we are working on the lines, etc..." Sometimes they would give me a service credit. At least once a month I would not have HBO or other channels available, for no well defined reason other than "we are working on the lines".
3) Prices keep going up. The cable company raised my prices about 8% this year just before I moved, and I saw nothing from it. Just more of the same crappy service and not good channel reception.
I'm moving to satellite as soon as I get settled into the house. Screw the cable companies.
So you can watch favorite shows "at your convenience" ONLY if it's "convenient" for you to watch them within 24 hours of their original airing, unless you want to pay $2.95 to view it after that time, and that's subject to availability.
TiVo negates the value of all that crap. This is why Comcast doesn't want its users running Tivo.
So in essense, Comcast is going to force an inferior product and a more expensive service upon its customers and they'll have to deal with it.
If there's anything positive that will come out of this, maybe Comcast's crappy DVR and mafia-regular-programming-PPV services will make consumers aware of the value of DVRs and then they'll seek out other cable and satellite companies that aren't trying to rape their customers with inferior services and higher prices.
DirecTV is the way to go. It's cheaper than cable across the board, and I argue that cable is better quality than satellite - I think it's the other way around. I got a tri-LNB DirecTV setup with all the HBO and very cool channels like LinkTV and TechTV for $30+ less a month than I was paying for cable with less channels and only one receiver. DTV installation was $14.95 and I even got a free DVD player. On top of this, Comcast has one of the lowest customer-satisfaction ratings in the industry according to JD Powers & Associates, and DirecTV has the highest customer satisfaction rating.
I'm currently a subscriber both to Dish and Comcast cable, and I was also an early subscriber to DirecTV. Dish is best, if you want access to the broadest range of programming, and quality is unmatched, even by good cable. Comcast here in Sarasota actually has more movie channels, but that's because they toss in some west feeds not offered by the satellites. They don't, however, have TechTV, CNNfn, or any out-of-market stations, which give you additional viewing options on sports events and syndicated shows, etc. The PVRs are life-changing, enabling you to skip 20 minutes of commercials per hour (!), as well as watch what you want when you want. You might also look at VOOM if you've got HD, but Dish and DirecTV are unlikely to let them stay ahead in that arena for a long time.
For me, weather is not a problem. Rain fade affects me perhaps a few hours every year. I have friends who have had their cable knocked out for longer than that. Just as long as you have your dish well aimed, you will not have a problem with clean signal.
But the _real_ selling point for me is that with Sattelite TV *ALL* channels are digital. This means no noise in the picture. Sure you can get digital cable... but even with digital cable only _some_ of the channels are digital. The rest are still plain old analog along with noise. Currently I get High Definition DirecTV (5 channels HD) with the rest of my HD content off-the-air (local channels) and this setup gives me a better picture than anybody else I know, even people with Digital Cable (COX).
Now when HD DirecTV with Tivo comes out, I would be completely content.
I have found that ice on the sat dish will cause signal lose, and heavy thunderstorms at the uplink site (Toronto area I believe for Bell ExpressVu - BEV) will cause few outages for me over the past 1.5 years. Compared to cable outages, I'll take sat in rural Canada, thanks.
The available bandwidth (due to numerous new satellites) at BEV means that they use lower compression and as such, you see little compression artifacts, especially compared to some of my previous digital (and analog) cable (CATV) companies.
The cable set top boxes seem less powerful than the sat boxes, or at least I that it that is why I find that channel surfing much faster with sat then digital cable.
Any services out there have a decent listing program like this?
"Thanks to the remote control I have the attention span of a gerbil."
I use Time Warner Cable and it makes me sad.
I had Dish Network a few years ago. The satalite digital picture kicked the crap out of the cable picture quality and cost less to boot!
Due to my location and the location of my neighbors trees, I had to give it up. I cried.
We signed up for digital cable (which had become available in the 4 years I was on satalite) which was comparable to the satalite digital. The cost was about the same as I was paying for satalite. Due, no doubt, to the competition.
When we moved, I did a lot of research and I could not work out a satalite plan that cost less than cable for similar service (including access from 3 rooms and local stations). The satalite killer is the per box charge and the extra charge for locals. I could stomach the cost for local stations (they have to pay them), but I cannot understand $4 per box past one. What is the cost to them for my additional boxes? All they ended up doing was pricing them out of my house!
I would love to give the finger to Time Warner, but I'm not going to pay extra to do it.
BTW, For the same cost as Dish was going to charge me (without PVR -additional fee-) I was able to get the Time Warner Digital Cable AND DVR box. The Box is SLOW, but the service is SWEET! Better than my friends Dish PVR boxes.
So the bottom line is: Thanks Dish, I loved you when I had you! And thanks again for forcing my local cable company to price competitavely. Lower your prices and I'll switch over a weekend.
=Shreak
I have Dish network and Love it. I probably have had maybe 5 outages in over a year and a half. I get LOTS of cloud cover here is Nebraska sometimes and still get a great signal. We get 30+ MPH winds and still no signal loss. The keep adding channels and the price isn't too bad either. I wouldn't switch to cable ever, unless their quality went in the toilet! I have one of the 501 PVR's and their are nice! (Some hacks so you can transfer the video files to CD out there even! (Win2K needed though for the software.)
Now, for internet Starband I would stay so far away from it isn't funny! (This is Dish Networks choice for Internet if you want it). ONLY get this if you have no otehr choice. I have had it for a year and a half ( no other choice catn' get DEL or Cable internet only 28.8K dialup way out in farmersville). Starband SUCKS! Their techs don't know their head from their ass and I have all 10 of their solutions on their scripts down pat! As soon as Qwest or Charter get DSL/Cable near me I am SO off starband! Starband charges $800 instalation fee!
The Truth is a Virus!!!
Hi, I am not much of a TV watcher but I have a question about picture quality. This is kind of a mini Ask Slashdot.
A few years back a roommmate had some sort of satellite TV (don't know which brand) and one of those hacked cards so we could watch everything. Notting Hill at 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30, and 10:00. Yes, they had five channels just of Notting Hill.
Anyway, the channel selection was great, the price was even better (tee hee), but the picture quality itself was LOUSY. Especially in something like The Matrix, dark areas became HORRIBLY splotchy and pixellated. This I assume has to do with the compression used by digital satellite, something analog cable isn't crippled with. I have seen similar artifacts on digital cable systems of a few years back, but they weren't as noticeable. That may be because the satellite system I was watching was on the top of the line Sony HD projection model, and digital cable on some 27" JVC.
Do these artifacts and such still exist? I found them incedibly annoying, to the point that if I were going to enhance my TV options, I would completely avoid digital in any form and stick with analog cable.
Thanks.
-- This
Get DirecTV with the Directivo. The dual tuner
option alone is worth it... and soon they will be
releasing an HDTV version of Directivo (2Q 2004 is
my guess on this).
Cable and Satellite both have ridiculous amounts
of compression though, but it isn't too annoying
most of the time.
Most places broadcast an analog signal along side the digital, so you might be able to just plug the Tivo directly into the cable feed and use the analog. This also saves unencoding MPEG and then reencoding it again. Analog is crappier sometimes, but I would think actually getting the correct channel recorded might be more important.
Okay, I will go ahead and heartily recommend the dish. It's more hassle to set up initially, but it's a far better value. It costs just barely more than basic cable, but it comes with about twice as many channels (including some good ones, like TCM, BBCA, etc).
And I honestly have no idea what Comcast's ads are talking about. I installed the hardware myself (since the guy who came out for the 'free' installation was stymied by the fact that my house has sloped facia boards and wanted to charge us $45 to come back out again after we'd bought him the stuff he would need to correct for that). Not including trips to the hardware store to get a couple of tools I needed (drill bits and sockets, mainly) the whole process took about an hour. It was misting lightly when I aimed the dish, and was about to rain, so you know there was good thick cloud cover. Despite that, I was getting signal strengths of 90-100 on many of the satellite's transponders. Even with heavy rain it stayed above 70.
Just remember, a signal strength of 10 will give you just as good a picture as 100 will. I imagine it'd take quite a lot to drive the strength down to 0.
We've had cable for years, probably due to the fact the cable company succeeded in brainwashing our family into believing cable was so much superior to satellite. It wasn't until we moved into an area that cable wasn't offered did we start looking into satellite options. Well to make a long story short, I can't believe how much money we've wasted on cable over the years. Let me try to dispel any cable/satellite tv rumors based upon REAL LIFE experiences... 1. Immediatly, once we plugged it in, the first thing we noticed was that the reception was FAR superior to cable television... and this was accross the board, local and premium channels 2. On average, we'd loose the cable signal at least once a month and need to have the cable guy come out about once every couple of months. Well, here I sit looking at about 3 feet of snow outside and thinking about how many windstorms and blizzards we've been through so far this past year and our satellite has NEVER gone out. 3. Finally,,, thank GOD for PVR... did someone say Janet Jackson anyone?? So, what would you do.... the reception is better, its by far more reliable, you get to keep the equipment, and it costs less.... hummm what is there to think about??!!!! To borrow from a popular mag, satellite->wired, cable->expired.....
It depends on what you care about. For me, that ended up being Comcast basic cable. For you it might be something else. Here are the factors you should consider:
- Price: If all you want is a basic lineup, cable wins hands down. Once you add in the cost of the satellite dish, plus the fees for having your local channels plus programming fees for additional receivers, cable is a lot cheaper. If you want the "premium lineups" satellite and digital cable are a wash as far as cost is concerned.
- Channel Surfing: If you like to channel surf like I do, satellite and digital cable can be very annoying since you have to wait at least 1 second between flipping the channel and it showing. Also, forget about PIP since your TV tuner can't tune into satellite or digital cable signals. Basic cable is the most friendly to channel surfing and PIP (which I can't live without)
- NFL Direct Ticket: Only available on satellite
- Channel Guide: The digital cable box caches the entire channel guide. The satellite boxes I've seen only cache part of it and you have to wait for it to download if you're trying to see what's on in a different segment than it has cached.
- HDTV: You can't watch your local channels in HDTV via satellite. With digital cable you can and it's no additional cost.
Mmmm.. Donuts
I switched from Charter Communications (a Paul Allen company) to Dish after they dropped CPSAN-2 in favor of a 24-hour Spanish informerical channel.
As for picture quality, satellite is a little worse than standard cable due to MPEG compression of the satellite transmission. This is particularly noticeable during very fast action or film credits on a black background. However, most cable companies are switching (have switched) to digital cable which also uses MPEG compression and suffers the same fate.
signature pending slashdot approval
I live in southern Maine. I currently have cable. I used to have Dish Network (in the one satellite days).
The satellite was very clear, probably clearer than my cable is now (digital fed through fiber-optic runs to the pole, normal cable to and in the house).
But at that time, I couldn't get local channels. I could get a Boston station, but that's an hour + south of me.
When we had torrential rains (very rare in Maine) or medium to heavy snow falling (not rare enough), we'd lose the signal. The signal, being digital, was either all there, sharp as a tack, or no signal-no picture at all. To Dish Network's credit, if we were watching a pay-per-view movie and we lost the signal due to weather, we were ALWAYS credited and never charged for the movie/event, even if it was nearly over.
We financed the first year as part of our package, and I was surprised when Dish Network wanted all the second year up front, no monthly payments possible. This is when we parted company.
To be honest the loss of signal thing, though usually rare, is what would keep me from going back. Though rare, it always seems to happen during something you want to see the most.
Cable is good enough for me for now.
Best of luck.
For digital cable, another cable box would be required, not just a cable splitter.
I still use Cable modem as it's the closest thing to getting a fixed ip address, routable, without paying for Business class DSL. I'm not running a business.
We just got Direct TV with Tivo. Can record two programs while watching a 3rd simulataneously.
The Hughs HDVR2 we have also has a 120GB hard drive. A good website on Tivo is http://www.tivocommunity.com
Peter AI6PG
In Denver (home of Echostar), you do get the occasional satellite signal loss (like during a REALLY heavy snowstorm, the signal will get lost for 10 seconds or so), but my friends with cable often tell me about how their provider (Comcast, here) will inadvertently disconnect them due to a hardware upgrade, etc. for hours at a time.
No problems noted with wind (could that just be a bad install job with the coax running from the dish to the house?), or 99% of the weather around here.
So, I'd say go with satellite. You may get an occasional outage, but not for long.
I've had my dish for six months now. We get severe thunderstorms, and the dish is currently covered in snow. I'd say it's about 2 inches worth of ice and snow, covering the dish and the feedhorn.
I haven't lost signal yet. Ever.
I did, however, lose my Comcast cable service roughly a dozen times over the two years I had it, once for two weeks. (And it took my internet access with it.)
There's still time for DirecTV to catch up to Comcast's level of shit, but so far it's been fantastic.
And there's no beating a $50 all-digital tivo with two tuners. Solved all of the "whose recording gets priority" arguments with my girlfriend, and we can record two things while watching a third prerecorded show.
My only warnings: Make sure your installer does it right-- he needs to ground the lines. And don't let him drill through your shingles. That's just retarded. Your mileage will vary greatly on the quality of installer you get.
My main problem with any cable company is inturrupting a program for sports, news, or weather (and the occasional non reason, just to inturrupt for the sake of doing it). Sure, those things are important sometimes, but DirecTV gives me hundreds of channels where that stuff is on all the time, so leave my regular scheduled programming alone! I can see the weather get bad and I'll check the weather channel if I want to.
On a more technical note, most cable companies still use an analog carrier even with their digital programming. This creates a slightly less clear picture and is just tacky. DirecTV is all digital and I've never had a better looking picture.
Although at times I've had weather issues with DirecTV (heavy rain is the only cause really, snow has never knocked me out) - my Cable internet has had 10 times more outages because of physical line issues where cable TV would have gone out as well if I had it.
Lastly, I can't watch tv without a DVR anymore and DirecTV made that very easy to do. The reciever was only $180 and the subscription is only an extra $4 a month. With a cable version, the box is $250 and the monthly price is $13.
There's my nickel... accepted everywhere Visa/Mastercard/AMEX isn't.
[ http://www.dvigroup.net/self ]
We had Comcast (formerly AT&T Broadband) two years ago. I didn't like the cost (~$40) and the digital cable wasn't responsive. I despise commercials, so I tend to watch 3 or 4 shows simultaneously, constantly switching to avoid ads. It took sometimes 2 sec. to switch a channel.
I was lured away to DishNetwork by 3mo. free, same price, and more channels. They had to install the dish, run cables from the dish, and I have to have a special receiver at each TV. With cable, I could at least watch standard cable in EVERY room, and only digital cable where I had a receiver. I found the picture quality to be *lower* with Dish, even after many technicians out to check the signal. It was visibly pixellated. Also, it would choke up *during* shows, while digital cable only seemed to choke when trying to change to the channel. Dish would also charge premium movies to our account during times we *knew* nobody was watching. They refused to block them.
Anyway, I found our family was watching WAY too much TV with all those channels. We switched back to Comcast, got the basic cable (they don't advertise it, you have to ask specifically) for $13/mo. and subscribed to netflix for $20/mo.
We now get a better selection of movies, get local channels and some of the cable channels (TBS, TLC, etc), pay less, and have no 'boxes' on top of the TVs.
Also, with fewer stations, we often find ourselves thinking there's nothing good on, so we read a book or do something more constructive anyway.
u "don't need broadband"? what on earth are you doing here...?
I love my directv with tivo (and it has nothing to do with my roommate working for tivo). Previously, I subscribed to the Dish Network and it was ok. I'd take it over digital cable, but not over the directivo I currently have (I've never tried Dish's PVR). From my experience with comcast digital cable, the interface is slow... maddeningly slow. Going between the guide, descriptions, and shows takes forever. You can search the channel selections and prices to see what fits your viewing habits, but I'd recommend satellite tv over cable any day.
Definitely get a DTV with TiVo. Dual Tuners so you can record 2 things at the same time. The weather isn't that big of a factor with satellite. During BAD storms you'll lose picture but it's got to get pretty bad for that to happen.
J
Abiit, excessit, evasit, erupit.
GO READ A BOOK
Speak truth to power.
We are currently having one of the worst storms of the season in the bay area and there is not any problem with reception.
Buying a non-integrated TiVo is a bad idea. With integrated, you can use two streams at the same time. So you can:
1.) record two shows while watching a third
2.) watch a show while recording another
3.) picture in picture
As mentioned, the upcoming Hughes HD-DVR250 DIRECTV HD DVR which does HDTV seems the way to go.
I've owned both, although the SA box has gone back to TW. The DVR has/d a similar function, but it broke constantly.
If, for instance, you changed out of a recording that was going on, to watch something else (say, switching from a Simpsons episode you've seen 100 times to an NBA game), the future recordings under the TW's season pass would also stop at that time.
That's just one example. I don't know if they've improved things over the 3 months we haven't had one, but that's the way it was.
Just a note: I thought I would miss the second recorder ability, but I was wrong. Having two things worth watching on at the same time nearly never happens.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
In my town, we have Cablevision. We had one cable box and a second set connected without a box (translation: no scrambled content, even if included in our package, was available at the second set without the box to descramble it). We were paying about $55/mo. for extended basic + Encore and Starz.
I had been a happy DirecTV DSL customer until they dropped that service but I wasn't about to go to them for TV due to their recent litigous nature. I looked into Dish Network instead. From what I could figure out on their website, I could get both TVs set up and end up with a bill within a few dollars of what I was paying Cablevision. In the process, I'd get both MSG and FSNY, local channels, 8 Starz movie channels, plus over 100 channels from the middle tier package.
We've had our dish for about 4-5 months now. We're paying less than two dollars more per month for Dish Network than we were for cable and have twice as many channels and many more premium channels. Our reception has been excellent except for one night when we had heavy rain and extremely strong winds. We had no reception for about 20 minutes that night.
I suspect that some of the war stories about poor reception are probably about people who installed it themselves or had someone that didn't have the proper equipment install it. I truly believe we had more outages when we had cable than we have since going to satellite. We'd regularly lose our cable in heavy rains.
Dish Network also offers a TiVo equipped box for an additional fee. I don't know anything about it since we didn't get one.
I live in a 276 unit (34 buildings) condo complex. Right now we have Comcast, but we're supposed to be getting a deal with DirecTV where they put one dish on each building if people want it.
Until a few months ago broadband internet wasn't available here although we did have digital cable. BellSouth SlowAccess DSL is so bad that I would have considered switching to Comcast if they didn't also suck.
Since Comcast started upgrading our service we've had very frequent outages, sometimes lasting several hours. On several occasions they also broke water pipes when they were burying cables. Last Thursday evening, the entire complex was without water for more than 3 hours.
We pay $66/month for basic Digital cable with no premium channels, and it's missing a lot of channels I would like, such as the Sundance channel. DirecTV offers more channels for a lot less. I could even get two premium packages and still pay less.
sure beats jersey. But it wasn't my decision, it was the us army's. Now its off to korea for a year. I'm looking forward to all the wireless access points I can find with my laptop and pda. I shudder to think that I'd have to live w/o broadband for a year!! I'd love to visit sanfrancisco!!
I've been using Insight cable here in Indiana for several years, and I've been generally happy with the service. Growing up, our house out in the country did not have access to cable, so we had a DirecTV dish. During heavy rains, snows, and generally bad weather, we would lose our signal. We didn't mind so much, as we would usually turn off everything during a storm for fear of electrical spikes.
We've experienced very little downtime with Insight. My wife is an avid television watcher, and keeps the set tuned most of the time we are home. Picture quality is very good, and the rates are almost identical to those from a satellite provider. One thing that I really like is that we don't need a tuner to pick up the classic cable stations on any TV in the house. With DirectTV, every set would need a STB to tune. With cable, as long as you don't want to watch HBO or some other premium station, you don't need any equipment. The equipment cost with Satellite can get quite high, even though most will give you the equipment for free now.
Our bill is high, but it would be the same amount regardless of the provider we use. Here is a breakdown:
HDTV/Digital/DVR Receiver: $13 per month
Digital Package (basic and classic) $45 per month
HBO and Showtime channels: $20 per month
Broadband Access: $45 per month
Discount: (-$10) per month (for having digital service coupled with the broadband access)
After tax, a typical bill runs around $110.
Since you mentioned that you are not interested in broadband access, you could get service for much less than we do, as you could eliminate the premium channels and broadband service.
I receive a handful of stations in Hi-Def (NBC, CBS, ABC, HBO, SHO, PBS, BRAVO).
Dish actually has the decoders outside, on the dish! If you want 2 tvs, you have to have a dual receiver on the dish. The installer told me that If I wanted more than 2 tvs, I'd need two separate dishes. I can't imagine it is much of a technical challenge to put the decoder in the house, and split to the various rooms.
What possible reason is there behind this?
No Simpsons? No way. Nuff Said.
postmodernsideshow.com
i have owned analog cable, digital cable, and digital satellite. i prefer analog cable. digital satellite: the cable ads are correct. you lose satellite signal during rain and snow. and you have to have the satellite sitting on a pole in your back yard pointing to a geosynchously orbiting satellite. digital cable: the signal is just analog signals converted for digital transmission to your house. so you still get fuzzy pictures. its not like youre getting hdtv. also you have to have a separate cable-settop-box for each tv in the house. analog cable: you get good reception and you can wire it all over the house for free. the only downside: the damn cable company requires you to wait by the door of your house until they arrive (sometime in a 4-hour period) and in some areas they insist on coming into your house and verifying that the connection works - which i believe is a violation of the FCC cable laws. currently: i use digital cable in the living room and analog all over the rest of the house. i got the digital bundled with high-speed internet for a low-low price.
As much as I hate my cable company, I can't justify hooking up a land line just for DirecTV...
I currently have digital cable but was interested in finding out what else is out there, so I have done a little research on this recently.
First off, let me tell you why I considered changing, cost. We currently pay Comcast just over $60/month for their extended package covering everything but the movie channels. A couple of years ago we got everything we have now, plus the big HBO pack for about $55/month. You can see why we looked elsewhere. Do the satellite companies keep jacking up their prices like this?
I found that a lot of the programming I like isn't available on the Satellite channels. I like Discovery Wings, but it's not on DirectTV, and I like the SPEED channel, but it's not on Dish Networks. Which one would I have to give up? However the Satellite networks all offered 3 room systems as a basic package, right now we're paying extra to have cable in our extra rooms. Also, I already have a Tivo so that wasn't a really big selling point for me either way. The biggest advantage teh satellite providers had was cost. They were in the $60/month range for TV in three rooms and getting HBO back.
In the end, we decided that the hassle of losing channels we had grown to like, and having to change everything over wasn't worth the cost benefit.
Just one person's take on it. Maybe one system will offfer you all the channels you want and you don't need three rooms, maybe you're in it to save every penny. Your call.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -RAH
Your main point -- that unlike DirecTV or Dish, most channels on a "digital cable" system are, often, still analog -- is right, and important; but I just have to add that in neither case are we talking about "HDTV". The picture DirecTV puts out looks much better than my old analog Comcast service did, but it's not even full standard-def resolution; it's SVCD resolution, 480x480.
HDTV, by contrast, is typically 1280x720 or 1920x1080. Some digital stations also broadcast in 704x480, but that's just considered DTV, not HDTV.
Where cable may have an advantage nowadays is precisely in its ability to deliver true HDTV locals. DirecTV and Dish don't do it -- and CAN'T do it, because it would take so much bandwidth (they have enough trouble delivering their 480x480 locals). There are some workarounds -- you can get CBS, and soon Fox, via national feeds in areas where the network owns your local station. But for the most part, you'll have to pick up HDTV locals off the air if you want to stick with a satellite provider. Fortunately, the HDTV-capable satellite receivers are also OTA-capable, and can integrate off-air digital channels into their lineups.
Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
I had horrible experience with cable back when DirecTV was starting up. I had the cable de-installed and the service man said "Well there are two choices for cable here, OURS or YOURS." I took the DirecTV boxes out of my car at that point and said "I'll take mine."
I wouldn't ever go back to cable. I now have multiple DirecTiVos. The integrated receiver/TiVo is better in that it has two tuners so watch one, record two more at the same time is possible. Unlike the standalone, however, you can't record local off-the-air, or video in. It is generally cheaper than standalones as well, and the subscription may be moot depending on what channel package you order.
TiVo is very hacker friendly (network options and upgrade disk capacity cheap and easy, and web access, etc.). DirecTv enables all the DirecTiVos from one master subscription. I originally choose lifetime, they've since made TiVo service free with most of the "packaged" services.
Now as to weather. We get some severe weather in the Puget Sound convergence zone. I get maybe 2-3 minutes of bad (LOS) rain fade a month for the six rainest months. The signal on the spot-beam (local channels) has never disapperaed. I get occasional macro-block errors (looks like bad pixelation on part of the image) another 4-5 minutes a month. I could correct all these problems by going to a 1 meter dish now that the Channel Master "Gain Master" antenna is around. I didn't want to go bigger earlier because previous 1 meter dishes mounted a single LNB assembly (still dual channel, just points at one sat.). The Gain Master supports all the satellites. It should eliminate all the rain fade issues. I should also point out we are in a non-optimal position as a ridge with trees and houses blocks a portion of the sky where the sat. is. Cable is just not truthful. I have less outages now than anytime I've ever had cable and I am in a very poor site as far as the satellites are concerned.
The last point is that regardless of cable or sat. you will lose signal twice a year for a few minutes a day for 1-3 days as the sun is directly behind the sat you are pointed at. For cable this is spread over a wider range as they point at multiple sats. DirecTv hosts the majority of their programming on a single "slot" at 101.5 degrees. However HDTV (and some other local and foriegn language programming) has program content at 110 degrees and NASA Select (and some foriegn language content) sits at 119 degrees. So to get NASA you'll need multiple LNB assemblies, but it is still one dish (although if you wanted the maximum signal strength with reasonable install and cost, you could point a 1 meter dish at each sat. If you are in a real fring area, like Alaska, there are 2 meter, 3 meter and larger dishes, or you can fixed mounth a C band bigger dish and mount the LNB to it. Hope this helps.
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
Comcast Digital Cable: Had it turned off after 6 months. Only a few of the channels are actually digital and even those sucked. Static was somehow introduced in the signal before the digital encode step. The analog signals were almost unwatchable. The service went out from time to time. Lousy customer service.
DirectTV: I had it for 2 or 3 years. It started out great, but over time they seemed to increase the level of MPEG compression (to add more channels is my only guess) and picture quality went down eventually becoming rather poor. I only ever lost service once for a few hours in a major storm.
DishNetwork: Going on 6 months now. Similar to DirectTV in features. The PVR functions are very nice. Picture quality is noticibly better than any of the others (but still not great). Requires 2 dishes in my area rather than one to get all channels. My only complaint is that it seems a bit suseptable to weather. I've had it cut in and out in moderate weather. That could be my particular installation. Hard to say.
I have the Starchoice satellite up in canada (Red Deer, Alberta). We just recently had a hugh snowfall and temp of -50 C with winds. With all of that it was up 99% of the time, just like normal. I found no interuption due to weather. However starchoice is very behind in thier service and can't even keep up with Bell ExpressVu. I am switching to local Shaw digital cable with a broadband internet connection. This saves me alot of money, even with just the cable and allows me to have regular cable on any other TV's I want (I have 6 TV's in total). I find the service to be the same quality either way, and the signal around the same as well. Thats my 2 cents worth (want change?)
Steven Bengtson steven@mcomi.com
I own Seasons 1-3 on DVD, as well as the treehouse of horror eps.
its about control. i dont have to be home at 8pm on sunday to watch the simpsons.
... hi bingo
Much of this has already been covered, and it looks like the clear answer from Slashdot is already "DirecTV beats Comcast Cable in every way", but since I have DirecTV ( have had it for years ) and my neighbor has Comcast digital cable, I think I can answer that DirecTV clearly wins on many points when compared to Comcast digital :
1) Downtime much less than cable. Seriously. Although rain fade does happen, it's never for more than a couple of minutes even in the *most* severe of storms. It's a matter of *extreme* downpours causing some signal loss, not a matter of it going out constantly. Not a problem, really. A well-pointed dish and clear horizon help, too, but my dish is pointed right at a tree, gets 80% signal at best, and it's still almost never a problem. The cable companies lie, of course. When Comcast's cable goes out ( it definitely does happen ) it's for hours and hours at a time, not minutes.
2) DirecTV has a _great_ program guide and lots of cool features built into even their most basic set-top boxes, *especially* when compared to Comcast.
Comcast's program guide is hard to read, and worst of all, has HUGE advertisements that take up half the screen or more!! It's barely usable. It's just a channel with a scrolling loop. DirecTV's is actually an interactive program guide which is layered on top of whatever channel you're watching, it has _days_ of programming. See if you can find someone who has it and try it out- you won't need a TV guide ever again.
3) DirecTivo is the best! Cable Tivos can't even tune two channels at once, and don't integrate with the cable set-top at all. DirecTV also offers their Tivos cheaply - you can get a complete multi-room system *with* installation and upgrade one room to Tivo for $99 bucks. Compare to $200+ for other Tivos. Also, probably since the program guide comes from DirecTV, the Tivo subscription is only $4.99, not the normal $12.99.
4) More channels, more flexible channel packages, actually cheaper than cable in every configuration as well. If you're a sports fan ( I'm not ), DirecTV is where it's at, you may never leave the house again.
5) Local channels are better quality. Maybe a small point, but someone who has cable recently pointed this out to me. I think it's because DirecTV charges $4.99 to give you locals and can sell them out-of-market ( I live in CA but could in theory get NY channels if I wanted to pay for them ). Cable _has_ to carry the locals by law and can't charge for them, so put the minimum of effort into doing so- they stick up an antenna wherever is convenient and give you that signal, which may well be worse than what you'd get on your own.
Seriously, if you find someone who has DirecTV, especialy with Tivo, spend 15 minutes or so having them demo it for you, compare it to someone else who has Comcast digital cable, and you'll understand why the vast majority of posts here are singing the praises of DirecTV. I hate them for their evil smartcard lawsuit ways, but they're easily the best pay TV service around, and I'd rather be their customer and send them letters telling them how bad a mistake their legal guys are making on that front than pay a cable company who's even worse to their customers. It's much like picking a political candidate to vote for... and DirecTV is clearly the lesser of the evils.
Almost forgot- this varies greatly by area of course, but Comcast only recently went digital in my area. On all fronts tech, HDTV rollout, everything, DirecTV has been way ahead of them. I'm sure there are more ways DirecTV is better than Comcast, and there _might_ be a better cable service than DirecTV, but I haven't heard of it.
I will soon be an ex-Comcast user now that I finally have a DSL option at my home.
..
- The Digital Cable box is incredibly slow to surf
- They keep up a "Chinese water torture" approach to raising rates.
- Outages are a once every couple of months event (TV and Internet)
- Customer service is incredibly shitty
Good ridance
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
I've used both Comcast and Dish Network, in fact, I'm using both right now. Dish or DirectTVs digital channels are far clearer with almost no artifats in the picture. For instance, TechTV. On Comcast TechTV has artifacting out the wazoo. The bug on the screen looks like a puzzle that was put together wrong. On Dish, the picture is nearly clear. You should have few problems with the weather. You'll probabl-i lose your signal far fewer times than the cables goes out. If your Dish is mounted well, it won't be a problem. I remember the satellite installer telling me that there only needs to be 70% signal to have a picture. The picture shouldn't change at any signal level. So, either you have a clear picture or nothing. Our satellite has not gone out in several months mostly even with all the snow storms. It is actually not the clouds overhead that cause the signal loss the most. It's storms approaching or going through the signal path from a distance that make signal go out easier. Personally I would buy a standalone DVR like a TiVo. You can upgrade and replace the hard drive in it if you choose to. Well, if you're into hacking that is. I don't know how often the satellite or cable company will give you upgraded ones if you feel the need to upgrade. Also, if you plan on getting a HDTV sometime in the future. Doing research I found that cable companies also compress that signal a little. Dish does not do that. We have HDTV and we did notice that on cable the picture had some artifacing during HD programming. Barely noticable, but it was there. Programming, the only thing I will miss once the cable goes is the International Channel, the talk shows are hillarious. You get far more interesting channels on a satellite that cable just doesn't have. Comcast here has TechTV, and so does Dish and DirecTV. But Comcast has it in their highest digital tier. That costs $65/month! TechTV on Dish Network comes in the America's 120 pack. That's $35/month. The 180 pack is $45/month. and their give you a 1, 2 or 3 room setup for free. The programming pakages from Dish and DirecTV are virtually identical. Check out their sites and your cable company's site and compare them. I my opinion Satellite ends up costing about as much as cable in the long run. With programming charges for your receivers and whatnot.
Thats right, when you move out, why dont you try living WIHTOUT television at all.
You'll find you have more time for other interests and more time for new interests.
Instead of lusting after a more broad connection to the collective conscience, why dont you try and understand your own? Television is a waste of brain cycles friend, resist the temptation to allow this device (and its programmers) to do your thinking for you.
You sound like this might be your first place On Your Own (?), try moving somewhere urban and interesting. Live life, dont be a passive observer.
Happily Television free for 4 years.
If you're a big NFL fan, there really is no choice. DirecTV is the EXCLUSIVE proivder of NFL Sunday Ticket (where you can watch every regular season game) and the NFL network. Not just for NFL junkies, it's also for fans of out of state teams. E.g., you live in Illinois, but want to see all the Falcons games. With network or Cable, you're stuck with whatever the networks decide to play. With DirecTV, you can watch any game you want (unless it's blacked out in your local area).
I also remember there being radio transparent plastic domes available to protect ground mounted dishes from the wind. So were even made to look like a big rock to conceal the dish for the landscaping gurus.
Is the cable TV offering digital? In my area (southwest CT) we have cable that is a mix of digital and not. We tend to have more issues with the digital than anything else. Seems like it just can't keep up sometimes. The picture and sound on those channels is nicer, even on TiVo.
I can not say enough good things about TiVo. A DVR is a god-send for those of us who are never home before 8 or 9pm. Added a 2nd hdd, and have never looked back.
I have no experience of my own with a satellite system... but I don't like the dish thing.
Good luck.
Screw cable.
That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze
Yeah it really sucks. Just yesterday, last seconds of the game, kicker is going for the field goal and BLAM! some guy impaled himself on our antennae. Peeled him off but it was no good, the game was over.
I've had satellite for 2 years now. I've lost my signal maybe 2-3 times total during VERY HEAVY rains... We're talking monsoon style rain... It sucks when it happens, but I've had cable go out before in the middle of a football game for no apparent reason.
No reason blackouts Weather related, rare blackouts
If you're gloating over your clear digital cable signal after a pre-emptive nuclear strike,I think you deserve all the leather clad mutant bikers from the Wastelands that spite can suffer.
Direct TV.
Tivo.
Cable bites. (accept my cable modem!)
Quack, quack.
You should have gotten your dish re-alligned. There is never interference with mine or my extended families dish (nearly everyone I know uses Dish or DirecTV if they have the choice) due to rain, clouds, storms, or snow. That sounds like an install problem. Cable, as others have mentioned, has way too much compression and artifacts as a result. Stay clear! I dumped Comcast Digital Cable in a heartbeat. Not to mention the outrageous price increases!!!
I speak from experience when I say that Comcast can bite me. They were the provider in my area too, and when I finally got fed up with service outages, poor picture quality, and ever increasing price hikes, I signed up with DirecTV and have never looked back.
:)
I had a Tivo before, with Comcast, and I never had any problems with it. But when I switched to DirecTV I picked up a DirecTivo and I've been *very* happy with it. We use the old Tivo on our second tuner in another room, but the DirecTivo can record two signals at once, while you are watching a previously recorded show (which as someone else mentioned, is damn nice!). It also integrates seemlessly with the program guide and PPV, so recording anything is a cinch.
As for picture quality, I live in Chicago, home of snow and thunderstorms, and aside from when my _power_ has been out, I've *never* lost the satellite signal or had a problem with reception. In fact, the picture looks 1500% better than Comcast ever did.
I don't know how DirecTV currently stacks up against Dish, but as far as satellite vs. cable goes, I say satellite all the way, and tell the cable mofos to stick the cable you know where...
The world won't end in darkness, it'll end in family fun, with Coca-cola clouds behind a Big Mac sun.
this is true. you forgot to mention how comcast doesn't have dual LNB inputs. which means only on a directivo can you be recording two shows at once and watching a third previously recorded one. that is an amazing feature in my book
I wasn't sure myself until I saw their latest commercials touting I-Control over the 'hectic hassle of movie rental'.
That put everything in perspective for me. It's one thing to totally FUD something only a few people have experience with (Satellite), it's another thing to try it with something common (Renting at Blockbuster). I think they're going to lose customers to Satellite now that they've shown how far they'll go to put the competition in a bad light.
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
Absolutely right. One Comcast cable-using pal of mine had his cable out for over 32 hours this past year. Compare that to 3 minutes of fade during a *severe* downpour, which I've seen once this year with DirecTV, and you realize the cable folks are spreading FUD because they just can't compete.
What's more, they're still not used to competing. What happens when an artificial monopoly is exposed to competition? We're seeing it...
It has everything including international channels.
It has NASA and many tertiary channels (Discovery health, science). College course channels, NGO channels.
There are two times a year the signal goes out for a few minutes per day (because the sun is directly behind the satellite). I've never noticed it though.
A larger dish helps, but you need a really bad storm to weaken the signal to the point of loss - something a very ugly color on the weather map. Snow isn't very bothersome.
I don't have problems, but in spring and fall I tweak the alignment of the dish, and the only other big thing is to keep the path clear - I had a tree grow into the path and reduced the signal - a laser pointer on a protractor with a plumbline helps - the beam was hitting the leaves.
I've had far worse problems with (Comcast) cable, but I'm a long distance from the tap. Also they save money by using cheap coax that doesn't survive weather - the first few feet gets filled with water which becomes ice after a few years and the signal decays. With the center wire hanging down from a long length of cracked coax between the poles they were telling me it would be some high per-hour fee because "It is probably something inside your house".
Even when cleaned/replaced there are channels that still look much better on the dish.
Then there was the defective power supply that killed 2/3 internet packets on a warm day (I actually correlated packet loss with temprature) which took 2 months to find, and I couldn't use my internet during 11am through 8pm most days. Of course they would send the tech out at 10am so there was nothing to show. When I did, they replaced the cable-modem 7 times. They also would insist that I connect something (my iBook) with internet explorer to "prove to them" there was a problem although my linux firewall would show the lost packets. Beyond the 7 modems, every piece of coax and any other thing like couplers or amplifiers for about 1/4 mile toward that booster box was replaced - many twice. They finally replaced that box (which was overheating and adding noise but leaving the carrier or other test signals alone) and it worked. But that was internet.
With cable, plan on being home for several multi-hour periods ("sometime between 1 and 4" which can mean after 5:30 in practice if they come at all) if you need them to do anything. Dish service isn't perfect, but has been far better than cable and I can generally do things myself since I own and can access all the pieces.
Did you try adjusting how fast the Tivo tries to change the channels? I had to slow mine down a little...and then it worked perfectly!!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I have used both DirectTV and DISH network satellite TV and have had cable in the past. I have had few problems with either service. If there is a thunderhead or similar type cloud between the dish and satellite, you will loose reception for a period of time. The most time I lost signal was about 45 minutes, when a tropical depression passed overhead. Conversely, when I had cable, I would frequently loose signal for several hours, in sunshine or rain. Cable is also suceptible to traffic accidents or the occasional cut loine by the local utility department when installing water, sewer, etc.
I have left looking for me. If you encounter me before I do, stop me until I arrive at myself...
Thank you so much for that last paragraph! Lest we forget...
...
"Backed by a legion of lawyers and empowered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, former FBI agents in the company's Office of Signal Integrity have staged raids against businesses that deal in piracy equipment, seizing customer lists and inventory with armed law enforcement officers as backup.
Targeting pirates for their piracy is difficult, if not impossible, since receiving DirecTV is a passive operation. So instead the company is going after people like Sosa, who have purchased hardware from one of the equipment vendors shut down in the DMCA raids. Critics say that approach is misguided, and is snaring innocent hobbyists and security researchers, some of whom have never even owned a satellite dish."
- Poulson's article
<grrr>
After reading the replies here, I see a lot of people who use satellite, so I hope I don't get flamed for being a cable user. But I'll just share a bit about cable TV from what I know.
My cable provider is Time Warner. And I must say that they are pretty good. We only have a basic cable TV package, but that's good enough for me. Because of the increasing competition from satellite companies, they keep adding more channels. Most I don't even watch, really. I stick to around 5 hours a week or so of TV, so it's not a big deal. I don't have digital cable, so reception is good, but not perfect. I've seen both digital cable and satellite, and they are both better than regular cable. But heck, it keeps me from watching too much.
One thing that cable TV is nice for is convenience. You just plug in one cable and you're ready to go. No cable/satellite boxes necessary. You want to add another TV, you just plug it in and hook up the cable and you're good to go. So that's always nice. And I have to say that Time Warner has been top notch for support. One call and they are out there fixing the problem. They even ran a new cable from the phone pole to our house to fix some bad reception we were having once!
We also have our Internet access through Road Runner, which is owned by, of course, Time Warner. So even if we wanted to switch to satellite, we would STILL have a Time Warner bill for our cable modem. Not only that, it'd go up because we'd be doing without Time Warner to provide TV. So you really can't beat them for convenience in that respect either. And Road Runner's been nice to us. I can host my own web/email server off of it, and they have never complained. RR's support is pretty good as well, as long as you get past level 1 support. They are in Texas, and it doesn't help that I'm in New York. Level 2 support, which is local to our area is actually helpful. I see no reason to switch from them, considering we have no other Internet options aside from dial-up access.
So I guess it boils down to the fact that cable TV isn't perfect, but it sure is convenient to say the least. And I don't know how much work setting up and maintaining a satellite dish involves, but Time Warner takes care of pretty much everything as far as the cable end of the setup is concerned. I've been pleased every time I've contacted them so far. (3 times total in being a customer for the past 6 years or so) If you need the perfect picture clarity, go for satellite. If not, go with cable. It's very easy to use and "good enough" in most cases.
-Through the server, over the router, off the firewall... Nothing but 'Net!
Buy a bigger dish. Here in Alaska, 18" dishes wont even work. Minimal size is 30". Personally, we ended up with a 1.2 meter dish which is more immune to weather. (Our Dish network transponders vary from 60-80 in strength, with 125 on the spotbeam.) My friend went for the gold and bought a 2 meter dish. ChannelMaster makes all of these dishes for consumers to buy.
Also, not sure how long your cable to your dish is? Buy some Belden 1694A cable, low loss serial digital interconnect RG6, and have it terminated with Canare F connectors on both ends. Doesnt make much difference for signals under 1 ghz, but can make a huge difference for higher signals depending on your existing cabling. I've ran my Dish on 350 feet of this cable with only a few points of signal loss on the highest frequencies coming from the LNB. (Check www.bluejeancable.com for a pre-made source of these cables. Or www.haveinc.com if you want to build it all yourself.)
Cable - Good
------------
Video On Demand
(Awesome service, like having a movie store at your fingers)
Subscriber Video on Demand (Same as above but content is based off of premium channels (HBO, Cinemax, etc.)
Telephony (Voip is here to stay)
DVR (Cable has them too, love mine.)
Local Channels (Weather, news, school closings, community channels)
Local employees (Most satellite companies don't have offices in your town.)
Cable in the classroom (Cable provides free service to schools, and goverment buildings (police, fire, city hall))
Local contracts (Your town signs a franchise agreement with the cable company stating the conditions the service needs to maintained in)
Cable Modems (Do I need to say more?)
Weather (Typically doesn't effect your service)
Analog Channels (Just plug into the coaxial and you got service on all the tvs in your home.)
Cable -- Bad
-----------
Outages (Not that it happens much, but it can and probably will. Sat. is a direct feed to your home, so if someone cuts a fiber 2 miles away it's probably not going to take your service down.)
Oversold Nodes (Too many subscribers, too little equipment. This isn't typically a problem either but it could be)
Sat -- Good
-----------------
Digital picture, digital sound (Looks good, sounds good)
Get it anywhere (Don't need to be on the plant)
DVR (Yep they got it)
Price (It may or may not be cheaper, especially if you start tacking on all the extras. If you got all 500 channels its over $1000 PER MONTH!)
Sat -- Bad
-----------------
Weather (Weather can and probably will effect service from time to time. Especially if you live in an area where it snows frequently.)
Clear Southern Exposure (Gotta have it to work)
Not upgradable (Invest now, if you want a new feature, gotta invest again.)
Local Channels (Most areas still don't have this, you pay an extra $5.00 a month, and reception may not be as good as cables (some sat services use an antenna on the dish to get the channels.))
Boxes needed (Each tv needs it's only box, and most dishes support 3 tvs. So if you have 4 tvs you need a bigger dish and 4 boxes.)
Internet (22,000 miles makes for a LONG ping)
Just my thoughts as I do this stuff for a living.
Ie: The one where they say you cant use dishes in multiple rooms with one box, then they go and release digital cable boxes that have the same flaw.
Then there is the one about weather. I live in Canada, we get snow up the bageezus and it doesn't interfere with the signal that often
And Dish signal is much better than cable. My TV guide channel is barely legible (it used to be on a clear channel but they got rid of it to get a staticier (s?) one)
whatever you do dont get comcast(in brighton, Ma), i just got a letter saying that basic cable was only broadcast cahnnels and i was getting the other "basic cable" channels by error. A quick look at their site says basic cable includes a lot of other channles. When comcast was called the people said something similar to the website. The letter threatens to cut all but braodcast channels on march 2nd.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
No doubt about it, in Long Island the cable company sucks (bad reception, ghosts, monopoly pricing) and DirecTV with Tivo built in (HDVR2) is outstanding. We don't even think about the TV and its care and feeding any more, just tell it what you want and you get loads of it in high quality video. Cable should be very scared.
I have used both dish network and time warner digital cable, and in my experience the less exspensive choice is best. Dish network gets new channels quicker, digital cable has on demand movies. Another answer is which ever one gives you a pvr for free is the best.
lose != loose
Here's the reality:
DirecTV: You have a really bad thunderstorm. During the worst part of it, you lose your picture for about 15 minutes.
Comcast: You have a really bad thunderstorm. During the worst part of it, you lose your picture. It comes back a few days later.
Oh, and the one where the guy has only one satellite tuner for multiple TVs is pretty silly, too. Most people just pay $5 a month for an extra receiver for each set. Which is a nuisance, I grant you... but I had exactly the same fees when I was with Comcast, and that was with analog cable. (It was a two-line system, with almost all channels scrambled; you couldn't realistically use it without renting a box.) For digital cable, they wanted $13 per box per month! With most channels still analog!
Share and Enjoy: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Those "Professional" installers are contractors who are getting paid by the job, paid again to come back out if there's a problem, and rarely quality checked. I wouldn't discount the loose dish possibility quite that quickly. That's the #1 thing they have to go back out and fix, but nobody seems to care. (I recently wrote the equipment tracking software for one such contractor...) Fortunately, you can often fix the problem by simply going out and tightening the bolts holding the dish to the mast, and the mast to the mount. (If you've got a tall mast, they may not have buried your guy wires properly, which is harder to fix.) Or, call and complain and a technician will come out to tell you everything looks fine to him. He may or may not tighten the bolts for you while he's there. I'd be horrified at the lack of quality at that place if it wasn't pretty much the same standard as every other business I've consulted for.
I have had directv for 3 years now, and I never had any problems with weather or trees getting in the way of the signal. Granted I live in southern California, where 2 inches of rain is enough to make the news.
As far as the ads where they show the morons adjusting the dish every day to get a good signal.. that's pure BS. I've lived in 3 different houses with the dish, and I've not ONCE had to re-adjust the dish once I put it up, even after being up for over a YEAR. Just make sure you have good southern exposure from somewhere on your house and you will have zero problems.
Beyond that, directv's user interface and usability is WAY better than comcast. Navigating the program guide in directv is super easy, and it fits an hour and a half of guide for 8 channels on the screen at once. With comcast, you get an ad for TV guide that takes up 1/4 of the screen, an ad for a current movie that takes up another 1/4 of the screen, and whatever's currently playing this half hour on the other half of the screen. Not only that, but the remote is not ergonomic at all, and it's extremely frustrating to navigate through the menus with it.
Signal quality? Well, directv is full digital for everything.. whereas your comcast is most likely a hybrid system, with all your locals and most of your basic cable as analog, and the additional ones as digital. You don't get the full advantage of digital quality for the channels you end up watching the most, which is pretty ridiculous.
If you're at all considering tivo, get one of the directv/tivo combo units... you'll never look back. Because they're integrated into one unit, the signal stays digital all the way from the dish to the hard drive. There's no conversion to analog and then back to digital again, and then back to analog AGAIN to get to your tv! Suck. I bought the directv/tivo combo unit when they first came out, and you can have it when you pry the remote from my cold, dead hands!
I've noticed a lot of people in this thread saying how much of a waste of time television is.
What about:
- History channel
- Discovery Channel
- PBS
- Home and Garden
TV is not all crap. You just have to be selective about what you watch.
"You cannot find out which view is the right one by science in the ordinary sense." - C.S. Lewis on Intelligent Design
a) which one has all the channels you want?
b) which one is cheaper?
I had satalite, and it was greate, except when it snowed. Snow would stick to the dish. Fortunaly I live near portland oregon, so it onle snow once every couple year, usually for 3 or 4 days.
Persoally, I got rid of satallite and cable because my kids seems to be watching it too much. I'll probably get it again when they're both in school.
God I miss TV...
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Here in Florida, we had timewarner (not brighthouse) cable for years. About a year after DTV came out we switch because of the "better picture" ads, and the quality was much better. At the time we still had to keep cable sicne we could not get locals and antenna was terrible where I live.
Of course since we dropped to "Basic cable" they came out and installed these huge ugly filters on our line to prevent us from reciving anything above channel 11 (it was suppsoed to be 13 but 12 and 13 got fuzzed out by he filteres as well, but we did not care.)
Once DTV got local channels and we switched from cable to DSL for internet, we dropped calbe entierly and have neve been happier. We now have 1 2d gen DTV Tivo and 3 (+ 2 1/2s) 1st gen DTV Tivo's (had some issues with two but managed to combine and rebuild thanks to the dealdatabase.com forum.)
As for signal. If heavy rain is coming in fro mthe west coast of florida we tend to loose signal for its duration (of being heavy not for the entire rain period), but we use this as an early warning device to know when the rain will be heavy. Ufortunalty it is the opposite on those rare occasions that the rain is comign from the east instead.
All in all, we are very happy with the service. There tends to be more of an initial cost than cable, but given how slow most cable companies are for fixing/replacing equipment, it is nice to be able to go out and buy new stuff if you "have to".
I sig therefore I am...
I have DirecTV with TiVo (commonly called DirecTiVo), the dual-tuner box.
I'm not a big fan of Rupert Murdoch, and he's either in the process of purchasing, or has already completed his purchase of, DirecTV. That said:
1. I've had years of mostly trouble-free service. No (zero) outages due to rain or wind. Since I'm in southern california, I can speak to windy days and days-long rain deluges, but I can't speak to snow. YMMV.
2. The problems I have experienced have been with the TiVo unit, but those problems have been so rare and so easily fixed (usually without calling tech support; I just go to AVSforums and check out their DirecTiVo forum for advice) that I can't say it's been anything but a delight.
3. Once upon a time, I worked for a cable company. Having been on the "other side", I can honestly tell you that I avoid cable like the plague unless there's a compelling reason not to. There's always the possibility that the same kind of shenannigans go on at the satellite providers, but it's kind of like KNOWING someone spits in your food at a specific restaurant, vs. merely suspecting it at another -- you're gonna stop going to the first restaurant, even though you might or might not keep going to the second.
I looked into satellite a few months ago after Cox upped their rates again, but after pricing out what I get for my digital cable plan on satellite TV, it looked like I was going to have to pay $20 or so more a month and not get Fox Sports World, one of my favorite channels (which may be a bit atypical for the Slashdot crowd, though I know there are at least a few Rugby fans here). FSW is not available at all on Dish Network, and is only available in the "Total Choice Premiere" lineup for DirecTV which is $89 a month. My advice is to look at what channels you watch, price out all options with those channels, and go with whichever one is cheaper. Satellite is (from my experience) MUCH more expensive to add channels to than cable, though the entry price is lower. TiVo is nice, but the money you save on cable will most likely pay for a TiVo over the course of a year easily. Of course, YMMV.
Maybe off topic but it seems that the cable industry is pushing referendums in several states to impose a tax on satellite services.
On topic, I have Dish Network and I am happy with it. I do wish there were better programming choices (I'm forced to take the golf channel along with the rest of the "package"). They recently added all of our local channels, which is good because I live out between two large hills and only get one fuzzy broadcast channel.
I did make the mistake of mounting my dish on a 4x4 wood post set in concrete to get it higher off the ground. Heat and moisture would warp the wood enough to throw the dish alignment off. Once I went back to a metal pipe where the dish doesn't move rain fade is a thing of the past. About the only time it's been unwatchable in the last couple years was during a hurricane. (And cable was out long before and long after)
And then there's Comcast's "Channel not available, please stand by", occasional dropouts on their digital cable, their "Dolby Pro Logic" label on the decoder (which only became available after they replace the box).
One stupid argument is how digital cable is so much better than digital satellite. IIRC, both systems use MPEG-2, does anyone know what the actual quality levels are between the two encoded streams and transport method?
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Ther biggest problem you'll face with weather-related signal loss has to do with a dish that isn't solidly mounted. It takes a whole lot of snow, rain, or clouds to obscure the signal. The more common cause of signal loss is a dish that gets blown off its pointing angle, or one that wobbles in the wind. You can be as creative as you want with mounting (mine is tethered to the side of my brick chimney with two nylon ratcheting tie-down straps.) Just give it a firm shake with your hand (stfu) and make sure it's not going to wobble in a strong wind.
As far as satellite vs. cable, satellite all the way. It's better service, better technology, and you'll be dealing with a far less scummy company.
And I went with cable. Part of my choice was because I prefer cable to DSL, but I would have gotten cable anyway, and here is why I chose that way-
1. I have an HDTV. I want to watch HD. I can either get DirecTV and get HDnet and HBO/Showtime, or get DISH and get CBS/HBO/Showtime. If I go Comcast, I get all the locals except for ABC, now in HD (Fox, CBS, NBC) and ABC will likely follow soon for me. As well as HBO and all that. Cable has Sat beat right now for HD content, at least in the case of Comcast, and at least in the case of the networks. I don't care much about PPV HD.
2. Cable does not require me to install anything on the outside of my house (townhouse), which I have to get approval for WHERE the dish goes and whatever. They can't REFUSE me, but I do have a hassle.
3. Dish would have been cheaper. That is true. Would have to pay extra for the local channels. I also would have had to install either multiple dishes (E*) or one larger than normal oval monstrosity (D*). HD requirements again, multiple satellites, etc.
4. HD equipment costs a ton for Sat TV. You are talking ~$500 for a receiver, cheapo one, not counting the nifty newer ones. I get an HD cable box from Comcast for free... well, $5/month. Upgrade whenever I want too, if they come out with a new one.
5. WAF (Wife Approval Factor) considerations. It is hard enough with a receiver remote, TV remote, cable remote, for the wife to know which channel to turn to for what. "Flip it to channel 113 for the Superbowl honey... we want to watch that in HD, not channel 4." That would only get worse with the HD receiver/DirecTivo setup I would have had with Sat. Switching input options on the TV also would have been too much for her to deal with, and I don't care to have that conversation. Again.
Bottom line is, cable is less hassle, Sat gives more options. If you can get Comcast or Time Warner cable though, then you are better off with cable if you want HD. Soon though, that may change with Sat and new sattelites, but I doubt getting all the local channels in HD will happen in Sat... you will get one for your timezone at best.
HD is starting to look bad for Sat now that the big cable guys have passed them up.
Have seen my share of weather problems with the DirecTV. The whole picture goes out and you get "Loss of Satellite Signal" for a few minutes until the storm passes. Annoying but still better up-time than cable.
It seems to be cheaper than cable. Cable goes up 5% every year and daytime reception is non-existent as they're constantly taking down the network to reconfigure individual tenants. Of course, most mortals live in north facing apartments so we can't have satellite and don't have much flexibility in dish positioning.
I've had DirecTv since it was virtually brand new. I can't think of a negative thing to say about it.
The weather outages are virtually a non issue for me. It only seems to happen during heavy snow or during heavy thunderstorms, and its typically not for longer than a few minutes. It happens maybe a few times a year, that I notice. I can't recall ever having an outage for any other reason, which is more than you can say for cable.
Another thing I have to say, is that customer service has always been outstanding with DirecTv, in my experience. You can pretty much do everything like pay the bill and change programming online these days, but in the few times I've had to call, the service was good and they didn't treat me like I was wasting their time (another area where cable lacks in a lot of cases).
When my local cable company calls to ask me to switch from Dish Network to digital cable, they frequently cite the "bad weather" problems that satellite subscribers can experience. I politely remind them about the "good weather" problems that I've experienced with cable. I've been with Dish for nearly four years now, and I can honestly say that their service has been far better than any cable company I've ever dealt with.
I have had DirectTV since early 1996 (BTW - I lived in an apartment at the time and had the dish on my balcony) and will never give it up. The satellite picture quality is far above cable (even digital in my area) - with an occasional artifact (very rare). I purchased a 57" 16:9 TV and the local channels (which are cable - I have Road Runner) come out fuzzy compared to the DirecTV signal. If you think about it, where do most cable providers get their signal from? Satellite...
The choice of stations is also far beyond cable. You get East Coast and West Coast versions of most major movie channels (HBO, Cinemax, Starz!, etc.) as well as uncommon channels (Sundance, Independent Film Channel). It was also one of the few stations which carried BBC America, FX and SCI FI until the cable company picked some of them up as well. Cost of these channels from the cable company is usually around $50+ more than what you pay for from DirecTV.
Here is a program listing of channels available:
DirectTV Programming Options
I updated my satellite receiver to a Sony SAT-T60 DirectTivo a few years back and this thing rocks! With a little linux "magic" and Google searching you can have a large MPEG recorder that allows you to dump shows to your PC for editing (bye bye commercials) and burning to DVD or CD. The satellite signal comes in digital format to start so no analog to digital conversion is needed. You can also record two shows at a time or record a show and watch another...
The only downside was the lack of local channels in some markets, but this is being addressed for my area and local channels will soon be carried.
As for blackouts, does not happen unless you screw up the dish setup. As long as snow or rain or ice do not build up on the dish (which it shouldn't if mounted properly - you don't lose the signal, even in heavy storms.
I will never use cable for anything other than Internet access. I plan on upgrading to a HD DirectTV for the HD signals when a decent HD DirectTivo unit comes out.
BTW, if you have kids - there are always good kid shows on the Family Channels (Noggin, PBS Kids, The Science Channel, Nickelodeon, etc.)
BTW, if after all this you buy cable, tell them you are considering getting satellite cable instead and they will most likely cut you a good deal on your subscription costs...
What I want to know is, has anyone here had VOOM satellite service in their home? I've seen it at Sears (AMAZING hdtv signal) and I've been on their website but I'd like to hear from some actually users of it. Anyone?
From satellites!
I drive past the local cable baron's antenna farm every workday. They use bigger dishes, so they can withstand a bit more rain fade, but I do see weather-related signal loss on their system. Often it looks just like the problems in the FUD ads they show against satellite TV.
"But all your emitter and collector are belong to me!"
I cancelled my ExpressVu almost a year ago because they kept raising the minimum package price and had just added a 2.99 "system access fee" (read stealth inflation) to my bill and that was it. One option was to go antenna, I have one but I only get 5 stations (CBC, GlobalTV[like fox], CTV[like CBS], TVO[like PBS], and CKNX[WB/UPN content, a local independent]. Most of what I like is on FOX and Global didn't come in very good for me, so I had to look at something else, so....
I had been experimenting with Free-To-Air satellite TV for a while before that and decided to go ahead and take the plunge. See www.lyngsat.com for more information but here is the gist:
FREE SATELLITE TV!
Get a DVB PCI card for your computer and make it into a tivo AND don't pay for TV. On Ku band with a motorized 90cm dish you can get: ABC (1 affiliate), NBC (1 affiliate+net feeds), FOX (3 affiliates), WB (2 affiliates), UPN (4 affiliates), PAX (5+ affiliates but PAX sux), a few news channels (Fox News, MSNBC, Bloomberg and a few others), NASA TV, and tonnes of news/network feeds, foreign channels, religious channels, etc. But suffice it to say you can still watch the Simpsons and other staple geek television. Upfront cost about $350 for a 90cm dish, receiver, and motor. Substitute receiver for a similarly priced PCI DVB card (make sure Diseqc 1.2 support to move the dish, and that it will work with whatever PVR type linux software you're going to use!)
If you can put in a big C band dish you can usually get them for free and that gives you even more "real" TV including but not limited to, most networks in the Alaska time zone, TechTV, Independent Film Channel, Fox Movie Classics, CNBC, another NBC affiliate, CBC Newsworld International, CTV network feeds (Canadian tv network), ASN (another Canadian TV station that carries a lot of WB/UPN type content), TVU (a Christian MTV of sorts if you like that kind of music) and lots more foreign channels, feeds, shopping channels, and religious channels. Upfront cost: a big C band dish, actuator (motor arm thingy), dual-band LNBF -- all that you can usually get for $0-$150 from someone who thinks there isn't anything to watch on it anymore [they probably have an old analog/videocipher system] and they've switch to directv or whatever, $300 for a Satcruiser 2040ACE (does Analog [Techtv, ABC East/West, wildfeeds, etc) to move the dish and decode the DVB signals, a couple splitters and a 2 port diseqc switch to go between C and Ku band digital and away you go.
YMMV, but to me I get more than enough TV, all my favourite shows I used to watch, and no monthly bill. I invested about $500 Canadian into my system about a year ago so I'm probably at the break even point now vs paying for a comparable package on expressvu. If you live in a city or real close to a city an antenna might be fine, especially if you can get good digital OTA TV which is available in some large markets in the US, but I'm at least an hours drive from even the smallest city so satellite was the only way for me if I wanted a decent selection.
BTW, in Europe Free-To-Air is basically standard and almost all channels are available that way, have a look at Lyngsat.
Hope this helps...
I had Time Warner digital cable in Austin, TX. Excellent. Never an artifact or dropping of channels.
I lived at a place in NJ with DirectTV. Good. Few dropped signals, but never for more than 30 seconds.
I currently have comcast digital cable in NJ. Same situation as in PA, but worse. A few times a week at random moments (especially during a critical point in a movie), ALL channels become the Home Shopping Network for a two minute span. Very annoying. Lots of MPEG atifacts, three seconds to change a channel, and the channel lineups have changed three times in the past 4 months.
Moving to atlanta soon, going with the b/c only comcast is available.
moral of the story: Avoid Comcast
Upload is via dial up. Does anyone have satelite upload capability ? Does it even exist ?
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
The FUD about satellite reception going out often is just that. I switched from cable to satellite three years ago - the cable signal was much LESS reliable than satellite, and would go out for hours at a time even when weather was good.
Initially, I had Dish Network, but switched to DirecTV with the integrated TiVo. I live in snow and ice country, and I rarely lose signal. When I do, if ice builds up on the dish, I clean it off with a broom out the window and it's fine. In most climates, you won't get "rain fade" with a properly installed dish - if it is a problem for you, you can get larger dishes that give a stronger signal. I have yet to lose the signal once this winter.
My cable provider (Comcast) increases rates twice a year - it most recently went up 28%. I do use cable for the cable modem, and, due to Comcast's screwy prices, it's cheaper for me to get basic cable (and not use it) than not.
Well yeah. That's why the world needs Tivo, and/or Video On Demand.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
In suburban Atlanta, we typically have a rain hard enough to knock out satellite about 3-5 times a year. Outage is typically 10 minutes or less.
Previously, we lived in an apartment 10 miles south (ergo, roughly the same weather). These same rains were perfectly capable of knocking out the cable for days.
In short, the cable companies are lying - satellite handles adverse weather conditions better than cable, in my experience. Of course, how much would you expect from a government-enforced monopoly like your local cable system?
Also, nothing is as cool as DirecTiVo.
-realinvalidnameI had DirectTV installed last week, but kept Time Warner around until this week because we wanted to see the Super Bowl in Hi-Def, and didn't get a hi-def receiver from DirectTV (we're waiting for the HD Tivo units).
So far, DirectTV is superior in nearly every way to Time Warner cable in Austin.
We've had a standalone Tivo unit with a digital box from TW for a while now. DirectTV is cheaper, has better picture quality, better sound quality, records 2 shows at once, and doesn't suffer from the problem where TW reboots the cable box - leaving it powered off - and Tivo records several hours of a black screen.
Not to mention that Tivo via DirectTV is $5/mo, and it's $13/mo for the standalone.
Cable companies are trying to spread FUD with their anti-satellite commercials. Some people may have problems, but for us at least, satellite was definately the way to go.
If you are comparing analog cable to digital satellite service, don't -- there isn't any comparison.
If it's digital cable, bet a complete channel map for the cable and satellite options, along with pricnig, and compare.
I compared my digital satellite (DirecTV) to my girlfriend's digital cable (Comcast) and found that she got about a dozen video and about 20 audio channels I don't get. On the other hand, I got about 20 video channels she didn't. Quality was about the same for both, but selection and pricing differed.
I seldom lose my DirecTV service due to weather. Torrential downpour with thunderstorms can knock me out for 5-15 minutes, usually less or not at all.
Also compare customer service. My cable company people are bastards. The DirecTV people are nice and easy to work with. YMMV.
Finally, look at the cost of equipment. Most of the satellite receivers are given to you cheap with a year-long subscription to almost everything, while the cable boxen are usually leased for a monthly fee. You have the option of buying your own satellite receiver to get the features you want.
If it's DirecTV you're considering, ask if HDTV and DVR matter to you. With DirecTV, you can get either, but not both, in one box right now. With cable, you can get both now.
http://drteknikal.blogspot.com/
I was in the same situation. I just moved also. Two reasons why I stick with cable (Brighthouse/TWC):
1. No phone line.
I did not get a local phone line because my wife and I were able to get two cellphone lines for less money. Local phone is $50 per month here in Florida. Dish requires phone(at least thats what the website says). I use an RR cable modem anyway, not DSL.
2. Rent the hardware. Don't have to buy it.
In my house I lease a DVR box and a HD box from Brighthouse. $8 per month per box ($96 per year, per box). Satellite would require that I purchase a HD receiver($300) and a TIVO($200) which a lot of money to drop, plus they likely will be obsolete in a year. If my leased box goes obsolete, or breaks, I just ask, and get it replaced for no extra charge.
It was a no brainer, especially since the cost of the programming tiers are essentially the same, offering the same channels in the same digital quality. As my coworker pointed out, however, DirecTV does offer the NFL Network and has an exclusive deal to offer NFL Sunday Ticket. But this is slashdot, so who cares about football here anyway?
From my experience with Sattelite TV, signal quality depends a lot on where you are in relation to the sattelite. At my cabin in upstate New York, we get great reception, even in storms, because we are on the top of a hill, with a large valley around, and a great direct line to the sattelite. In Boston, however, there are several tall buildings between my dish and the sattelite. The signal is usually pretty good, low artifacting, but rain at all, even heavy cloud cover, knocks off my signal completely. Usually I'll get a few blocky images at best during a good storm.
So if you are moving out into the country, I'd recommend sattelite (probably easier and cheaper than running cable out to your house in some areas), but if you're moving into a city or anywhere there is not a good line of sight to the satellite, then go with cable.
If you can read this then I forgot to check "Post Anonymously"
I have Charter, not Comcast, so YMMV. For the last several months they have had problems with their equipment at the local office. I still have analog cable. The DA converter in their office for Bravo is bad. Lots of tileing, complete loss of souce/picture... I have had many calls to customer service. They are not local, and their only option is to schedule a service call to my house. The day of the call the local office calls, tells me it is not at my house, which I already know, that they are having problems in their office, and expect it to be fixed soon. I have visited the local office a couple of times also, and they know about the problem, but apparently cannot fix it for one reason or another.
They have also changed the channel lineup without notice fairly regularly.
I am seriously thinking about switching to satellite, but I have a couple of problems. My wiring isn't up to satelite standards, and I have five connections.
I rarely watch the talking heads on the local channels, so not getting them would not be a big deal, and the satellite offers many more movie channels.
i've got cox digital cable in the DC area, and pixelation is horrible at times, particularly on the odd HBO channels (HBO2, HBOF, HBOC, HBOWHATEVER). i don't seem to have problems on the main HBO channel however. i haven't been able to tie it to the weather or dog sneezing or anything particular. but it should be illegal for them to flame satellite reception when theirs is so bad (at times) too.
I prefer the dish. Preferably the Dish Network. Even though you may loose the signal when it rains the quality is much higher than cable. And even digital cable can go out if the satelite at the cable company gets blocked by a cloud or a cable falls off a pole. The difference is you don't have to wait for a repair man to fix the cable. You have the dish and you have the digital signal pumped directly to your box. Not only this, but on digital cable, the first 99 channels are not digital. They're analog. It's not until you reach channel 100 do you start getting the digital channels. Every channel on the dish is digital. I'm not quite sure why people worry so much about getting local channels through the dish also, I mean they're local channels, you can turn the dish off and pick them up with an antenna. The type of antenna that snaps to the back of the dish works just fine for that. And you might be able to get a reasonable package that includes local channels. But honestly, I'd rather have around 5 crappy channels with 300 digital channels than 99 crappy channels and maybe 100 digital channels. And no matter what people say cable is just as fragile to weather as the dish. There are miles of cable that can be blown down, and interference and neighbors who steel it from you.
---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"
Cable companies get their digital sources(if they even have upgraded to digital) from similar flat panel high frequency satellites. So if rain effects yours, it will effect theirs. Snow does cause some problems if it builds up on 'the fake rock', but if it is in an open area (no trees in the way). It should be unnoticeable as digital is actually pretty tolerant to bad signals. I know most small town US cable TV is still using large dish analog feeds which are more prone to sun spot problems.
On a related note, the closer you are to the equator, the more likely your signal will suck and therefore be effected by rain, sun spots, etc. This is true even for digital low orbit satellites as they only cover specific areas of high user density.
In Singapore, our starhub cable has many outtages due to the sun and rain interference (it is illegal for consumers to have satellite receivers here so censored cable is the best we can get). The signal is definitely digital, but I suspect that to even get this crappy of a signal in this region it is something other than a flat panel dish. Most telecom dishes in this part of the world are gigantic(40+ feet) to reach the northern hemisphere parked satellites. Even to reach Australian (Murdock TV) positioned satellites must take effort. It is equally bizarre in that many of the viacom, hbo, news channels are locally originated in S'pore for Asia.
I agree that comcast customer service is poor, and you had better watch their techs like a hawk and do a QA test on everything before they leave. However, barring having any technical problems I find cable TV far superior to dish tv. I have had both (I live in Philadelphia). Dish TV would go out on numerous occasions (bad weather or good weather) it would just go. Sometimes it would go out in one room, sometimes in both, sometimes for a few minutes and sometimes for days. When the service was brand new Dish network's first answer was to charge us (literally) and we didn't even have the service for a month. They will not install any wiring in your home (they will lay the cord in the middle of your hallway). I prefer comcast. I hate their service reps, but as long as i do not have to deal with their CSR's (generally i do not once the service is setup) it is a beautiful thing. The highspeed also beats DSL by far :)
Hope that helps,
Avi
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
I've now had DirectTV for about 6 months. For about $50 (plus about $30 shipping) I received an integrated DirectTV w/ Tivo (HDVR2) which allows you to record two shows at the same time.
With BOTH Dish Network and DirectTV I did NOT have problems with rain fade, wind, etc. I live in the Seattle area and with the rain we get I just don't lose my reception.
I do like DirectTV better than Dish Network mainly because of the integrated dual-tuner Tivo (although I don't like the menus as much as the PersonalTV from Dish Network).
Also, at least for me, with DirectTV I only have to point at one satellite. With Dish Network, I had to point at two. What that means is that with Dish Network I did have to tweak it quite a bit to get BOTH signals above 85% so that I would never lose reception during wind/rain storms. With DirectTV, I get over 90% and have never had any issues at all with reception.
I also have noticed that my local channels (Seattle) are more clear than with Dish Network (less compression) but that may vary with region.
Oh, with DirectTV they have a great package (Total Choice Plus Locals) that's about $40 (a bit cheaper than Dish Network with locals).
I've never gone back to cable and have been 100% satisfied with Satellite (especially with the dual tuner Tivo built in).
My $0.2
"There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
Just to be clear - this is only true of Comcast's non-digital cable. Comcast digital cable has exactly as you specify above - multiple days, no ads, interactive, and you still watch your current channel while browsing the guide.
You can use a normal standalone tivo with any source. A dedicated satellite tivo (currently) has several advantages over using an SA tivo for satellite, though:
1. No need for any sort of control cable or "IR blaster" or serial connection to make your standalone tivo control your cable or satellite tuner box.
2. Two built-in tuners. Record two shows at the same time, while watching a third that you've already recorded. This is freaking fantastic, and I hope we start seeing 2-tuner SA tivos as well.
3. Pure digital recording. With a DirecTivo, it records the digital stream straight off the satellite. If you use an SA tivo and a satellite tuner box, the stream gets decoded by the satellite box and then re-encoded to mpeg by the tivo. You'll see quality loss.
Anyway, just wanted to lay it all out. An SA tivo works with everything, and is truly in its element with analog cable. A DTivo is fantastic and has several advantages, but is can't be used for anything but DirecTV.
That's right, when you move out, why don't you try living WITHOUT internet access at all?
You'll find you have more time for other interests and more time for new interests.
Instead of lusting after a broader connection to collective conscience, why don't you try and understand your own? The internet is a waste of brain cycles, friend; resist the temptation to allow this device (and its webmasters) to do your thinking for you.
You sound like this might be your first place On Your Own (?); try moving somewhere urban and interesting. Live life, don't be a passive observer.
Happily Internet free for 4 years.
I fixed your post for you! There was a lot of incorrect punctuation.
But seriously, a while back I noticed that I wasted a lot more time on the internet than watching TV (yes, with a cable connection). Then a two-week long DSL outage occured; at first I thought I was going to go insane, but since then I've found a lot more free time for other activities, such as reading books, practicing Aikido, and learning to make chain mail.
At least television is passive, so I can work on something else while idly paying attention to it; the internet demands that you pay full attention to it while you waste your time.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
In my area (Delaware) Comcast does not have NASA TV available. I know it is available on the various satellite services.
The DirecTivo is by far the best deal in TV. The killer part is that it records the exact signal from the satellite to disk. It's already a digital signal, so it's very easy to just store it. A regular Tivo will take analog input and digitize it using a $20 encoder, while here you record what the DirecTV $10k (wild guess) encoder produces at uplink. The bottom line is that DirecTivo gives you perfect picutre quality with no compromise.
Dish has its own similar PVR system, but it's much more primitive than Tivo. You can find people saying it's just as good as Tivo, and the thing they all have in common is that they've actually never used one...
It can also record two shows at the same time. While you watch a third recorded one, if you so wish.
(I live in southern Minnesota, where tornados like to play.)
Our local cable co. called a month ago, and was trying to sell me on cable. They said, "What about when the weather is bad?"
I said, "When the weather is bad enough for my satellite to go out, the last thing on my mind is catching the end of "Iron Chef". I get my ass in the basement. I hardly want to die watching "Friends" reruns on cable."
She didn't really have a response to that. Guess it wasn't in the script.
I'm very happy with Dish Network. Comcast is the only option in my neighborhood, and is probably $20 more per month for basic service. A ripoff. Weather is not a factor for me, as I am in the Los Angeles area. I took advantage of the free equipment/free installation Dish is offering until Feb 28. So I got the receiver/DVR option which has a 100gb hard disk. It's been great and I see why everyone loves TiVo so much. Now I'm just waiting for someone to figure out how to extract video from a DishDVR. Bottom line, the cable adverts are bullshit. Dish/DirecTV seems to have the better value nationwide as far as packages go.
I didn't need to call Comcast to get the Super Bowl in hi-def. Comcast provides CBS in hi-def by default.
............. kris
I have an RCA MM36100 hi-def set and I am using a Comcast-provided Motorola HD receiver. I get all the major networks in hi-def, two "show-off" channels that basically show flowers and other scenery, a local PBS station that broadcasts hi-def part-time, and hi-def HBO and Showtime. The big fun is that my wife and I get to watch Law and Order variants in letterbox format with blindingly clear resolution. Plus the Tonight Show hi-def is broadcast in letterbox format. NBC seems to be pretty good about letterbox. For some reason CBS isn't--for example, Letterman is broadcast in 420p in 4:3.
All of this said, If I didn't get a better deal using Comcast HDTV with the cable modem (it's a screamingly good deal to combine the two here in the North Bay of SF) I would have selected DirecTV to get the occasional terrestrial over-the-air broadcasts in addition to the major network channels. You don't get terrestrial over-the-air broadcasts with cable, and Comcast doesn't carry UPN in hi-def, so Star Trek: Enterprise (and Smallville?) doesn't (don't) look any better to me, which is a bummer.
"I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me."
We got the Comcast PVR as soon as the trials started here. The remote control is cumbersome (and a cheaply built piece of crap), and the box will crash if you try to do too many things at the same time. It is also very sluggish once it is getting close to full. Except for these things, the box pretty much rocks. You can record anything except the on demand channels.
Another thing that can be a problem is that it only has two tuners, so if two channels are being recorded at the same time you are stuck watching one of the two.
The software interface is so-so, and it does not let you pick a show and remember to record it every day/week at the same time/channel. You can tell set it manually to do this, but it would be nice if you could just click on the show and have an option to record that same show once a week or whatever.
Ours takes a royal beating. Out of the 50 hours of programming my wife has at least 30 hours with kiddie programs for our son. He totally shreds to pieces VHS tapes and DVDs, so in a few months of having him just watch the PVR instead of tapes and DVDs we have saved a bundle.
It is very expensive, but to me a platinum package with Comcast (which includes all the on demand channels) plus the extra fee for the PVR is cheaper than what I was spending on Blockbuster late fees. I had Netflix for a couple years but now I prefer on demand.
As for service stability, the damn thing is rock solid. I have never been out of cable except for a couple hours during the last hurricane (I am in the DC metro area).
My main beef with Comcast is the issues with the non-published internet caps. If I only had to deal with them for digital cable I would be 110% pleased with them.
Pedro
----
The Insomniac Coder
i have brighthouse networks pervisoly time warner in the central florida aera and i dont have any proable with server at all great coustmer service the dvr they over is great and we get nasa tv witch is cool got it when it was timewarenr 2
We got a DirecTV dish when we bought our house seven years ago, after having cable for 15 months in a rental apartment. We're quite happy with that decision:
1. NFL Sunday Ticket is wonderful for transplanted football fans, and is currently only available from DirecTV.
2. The DVR combined unit is excellent - it encodes the direct MPEG satellite feed, so you can time shift with no loss of quality.
3. The picture quality of satellite is far better than basic cable.
4. The cost is likely lower now. We actually paid for our equipment (they weren't subsidising multi-room systems when we bought), but we still feel we got a better deal than with cable.
We do sometimes have weather issues. A very heavy thunderstorm or a lot of wet snow piling on the dish can cause you to lose signal. It's kind of amusing seeing the pixelation just before the signal goes - it's an odd collage of superimposed frames. The rain outages are usually very short - sometimes as little as a few seconds, and rarely more than five minutes or so. The snow problems can last a bit longer if you can't get the snow off the dish, but a few hours is the longest outage I've seen. With our last cable service, however, we had three outages that lasted a total of three days, so I can still say we had more downtime in 15 months of cable than in 7 years of satellite. What do you prefer, more frequent brief outages, or fewer very long ones ? YMMV, but I am *much* happier with satellite.
My sister pays about 80+ bucks for digital cable through Comcast. She does NOT even get a broadband connection. My dad pays about $50 to Dish and gets more channels, including all local channels.
I also think that Dish's picture is a lot better than Comcast's.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I'm throwing my hat into the DirecTivo camp. I've been a customer for about eight months, and while I can't speak to snow interference (I live in NorCal), I can say that rain has little to no effect.
Digital Cable here is a total joke, compression artifacts and noise on the video stream are so bad that DirecTV (which still looks cruddy) looks great in comparison. In both cases you're going to notice a serious drop in video quality over DVD or even OTA broadcast with a good antenna, but it's better than VHS.
TiVO changed my damn life. That it comes with DirecTV is a plus.
If High Definition matters, most cable systems now get the local stations in HD, but DirecTV doesn't yet do that, and only certain markets can get CBS in high-def (Fox, ABC, NBC, UPN are all unannounced, although Fox should happen sooner than the rest). HDTivo for DirecTV should be out in April / May timeframe, and uses tuners to pull OTA HD broadcasts. Both systems already get (for the most part) the movie stations, ESPN, and HDNet in HD.
On the whole the DirecTV with Tivo option is really your best bet, I can't stress enough really how much having a Tivo will change your life if you watch 4 or more hours of TV a week.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
I can only speak from personal experience, but I have never had a problem with Satellite. I have had DirectTV for around 5 or so years now and the only time I have either lost the signal or recieved too many artifacts in the picture for coherent viewing are in major storms. The kind of storms where you turn off your TV to be safe. I've also had a problem when there was about 3ft of snow on the dish from a recent snow storm. Depending on where you put the dish, I've found out that shoes + broom = fix.
Give it a try, save some money, and get some serious bang for your buck out of that DSL connection.
Good luck!
I live in a COMCAST area.
When Dish got our local channels , goodbye Comcast.
I picked Dish over Direct because Direct seemed
more oriented to sports.
We had both Dish and Comcast before the locals.
It turned out we never did watch the locals very much when they were on comcast.
I had one sat system installed by a dealer, did a
good job. I put in two myself. Care is the watchword.
Signal loss does occur, but usually briefly at the equinoxes. The sun transits behind the sat and
floods the amp. I have had some problems but it has been equipment failure. The gear is 5 years old.
If you think that weather, what ever, will be a problem use a bigger dish.The standard one works
fine over most of the US but you can use a bigger
one, infact they recommend it here in Western Oregon for getting the foreign programming. The sat is quite far to the east (69 degrees) so you look thru a lot of atmosphere.
The Canadian sat services are also somewhat available, Express Vu has quite a bit of French
language programming. Yojimbo with french subtitles is interesting.
I'm approaching the first anniversary of my switch from Comcast to Dish Network and couldn't be happier. In the past twelve months we've experinced exactly two weather-related outages - Comcast's track record was much worse in my area (North Dallas).
Quality of the satellite signal is on par with digital cable and noticeably cleaner than analog.
I'm getting more channels for less money. I just saw an article in the newspaper that Comcast is asking for yet another rate increase.
- For me DirecTV was marginally cheaper. I also just sort of like the idea that I'm watching TeeVee froma satellite. YMMV.
- The integrated Tivo has two main advantages. [1] The Tivo records the original digital stream so the recordings look as good as the original. There is no quality setting at all like on the standalones. [2] The monthly fee is half that of a standalone ($6 versus $12).
Caveats
- Integrated unit means if one thing breaks, the whole box needs to be replaced or fixed. The is countered by the HDVR2 now costing $99. These things are about in the "disposable" device range now.
-DirecTV is dragging its feet on the Home Media Option. I personally don;t care about it, but, again, YMMV.
--- Ban humanity.
If it's at all possible at your new home, I highly recommend getting a big dish--you know, the 6-10ft (or more) dishes that are still a relatively common sight in rural areas. I know what you're thinking: big dishes are analog dinosaurs, and DSS is superior because the dishes are smaller. Imho, the small dish size is just about the only thing superior about DSS, as I intend to prove. :)
Signal quality - These days, big dishes can receive both analog AND digital signals with the right equipment (yes, it's affordable). These days, the digital signals are typically encoded in MPEG-2. Think it doesn't get any better than DSS? DSS signals are relayed through an interceder. With a big dish, the signal you get goes from the originator to a satellite in space (Telstar/Galaxy/etc.), to you. And HDTV isn't just a promise from your cable company, it's readily available.
Programming - One of the coolest things about big dish TV is that there's so much great free programming, especially for discerning geeks. Of course, you can also get the same kind of programming that's available on DSS (actually, far more). Some of it's encryped and some of it's not ("free-to-air"). Music channels like as found on DSS are also available. For me, being able to access international programming is one of the most attractive features.
Interestingly, in addition to dedicated channels on designated bands, you can often catch "wild feeds," which are one-time broadcasts on a certain band and channel that one can watch for free. If that doesn't have geek appeal, then I'm in the wrong club.
TCO - Yes, the hardware is initially much more expensive than DSS and cable, but once you own it, the operating cost is very, very low. If you subscribe to DSS for more than two-years, I think you'll find the cost of big dish hardware competitive. Since you can subscribe pay channels a la carte, monthly fees can be negligible.
Geek factor - Owning and maintaining a big dish makes for a really cool on-going project. Personally, I also like learning about satellite communication technologies. Everything about the dish can be DIY, although I highly recommend assistance with the initial installation. After that, most slashdot readers should be capable of performing their own upgrades to accomodate different signal types. Some people also paint their dishes.
Where available, DSS and cable are probably preferable for non-tech types. Big dish technology has a learning curve, and your living arrangements must be able to accomodate the dish, but I think it's worth it. If you're intimated by the technology but you've got the cash, you can certainly hire pros to do nearly everything, and subscribe to programming packages like DSS owners do.
I've had both DirecTV and Time Warner cable, and I'm currently a digital cable subscriber with a Time Waner DVR. I would go back to DirecTV in a heartbeat but, alas, my apartment faces the wrong direction.
The only time that I ever lost signal on my dish was when I had set it up myself and didn't know what I was doing. Once I RTFM'd, I never lost signal even in driving rain or snow. The only time I can remember losing the signal is when a power surge came through the wall and fried the box.
I have had far more outages with digital cable, the DVR is very slow when changing channels, and the service is far more expensive. You'll get more basic channels (already in digital) for much less with DirecTV. By way of comparison, I was paying roughly $50/month with DirecTV for the basic, movie package and local channels. That same package with cable costs me $75/month, and they recently put the Speed channel in a special sports block, so I am now paying $80/month for cable. The money you save by going with satellite can pay for the TiVo fees.
That has been my experience. May you have better luck with your entertainment options.
----
Wyntermute, resident psychopath
"Remember that you're unique - just like everyone else!"
I suggest rying your cable company first. The reason is it usually doesn't cost you much if anything to get cable, and you can usually cancel at any time with no penalty.
Digital cable channels are typically about the same or slightly less quality than a DBS system. The problem is most of your channels on cable aren't digital. They are analog. While analog can actually be really high quality, on most cable systems it isn't.
DVRs is a different topic. The cable company usually has a free or cheap DVR solution, however, the interface usually isn't the greatest.
Tivo is the Top dog for quality and interface. Dish Network (which has more DVR's deployed than anyone else) is second, cable is third. For best (non-HD) picture quality both Dish and DirecTV's DVRs are the best. DirecTV get's a boost because they license Tivo currently.
HD is a different story. You have Voom, DirecTV, and Dish Network to choose from on DBS and your local cable company. Your cable Co may or may not have a better selection of channels based on your location. The DBS provides will all require an ant for local reception. (Exception, Dish Network offers a National CBS feed in 14 O&O markets).
For HD Dish network costs the least. You should be able to get Dishnetwork with a HD STB for free, however, because of it's popularity it's back ordered in many places. The cable company should also be leasing a HD STB for next to nothing. If you have Comcast demand the Motorola 5100 series, and for Time Warner you want a Scitific Atlanta 8000 series. Anything less worthless.
But what if you want HD DVR?
Okay, right now, one choice, Dish 921, for a mean $999 you can get this linux powered DVR that will record both local OTA HD and DBS HD (3 tuners total). DirecTV should have a DirecTivo HD Q2, voom is going for a media center approach, one main box with tuners and a hard drive, with small boxes connected to the main box on other TVs. The cable company is test marketing HD-DVRs in certain areas.
Only the Dish Network STB is confirmed to have firewire out for digital archiving, but some of the cable STBs are supposed to have firewire. HD Tivo is confirmed not too.
Still, try the cable company first, see what they have to offer. Wait until Q2 to compare DBS offering.
I recentally went through the same thing. I moved from California to Florida. In CA I had Dish Network and never had a problem. I put it up in FL, and it would work fine through most rain, but the really heavy, hard, tropical depression stuff would block the signal. The bad thing about that is you really just want to sit inside and watch TV on days like that. Its a frustrating time for it to be down. During the summer I had another problem with my dish in that the heat of the sun cooked the electronics on the dish. It was 4 years old by then, and Dish wouldn't give me a replacement for free so I cancelled the Dish and went with Cable. Our cable service here (BrightHouse) is great. I get more channels than I did with basic Dish, plus they have icontrol for their PPV movies, which lets you start them when you want and pause and rewind. This is with the basic cable box. You can upgrade to a full DVR cable box which is like TIVO. Another advantage is that I can get regular non-digital cable on all the other TV's in my house without the need for extra boxes. Overall I've found BrightHouse Cable, here, to have several benefits over Dish. Of course all cable companies are different, and all weather situations are different.
I can host my own web/email server off of it, and they have never complained.
They never complained to me, either, they just quietly and permanently blocked port 80 during one of the IIS worm outbreaks. That's fine for a webserver that only sees infrequent personal use - I can just give people port 8080 URLs instead. For an email server that might see incoming mail, having a port blocked without warning (which they've reserved the right to do for their home users) could really suck.
With comcast cable, every time you change a channel or hit the "info" button to return to viewing a channel, a "flip bar" covers the lower third of your screen for the next three seconds. This "helpful" feature tells you the time, channel, and name of show you're watching, along with a banner ad, the real reason for the feature.
They used to have a configuration option to turn off the flip bar, but that mysteriously disappeared after a year. Now all you can do is reduce its duration (from 6 seconds to 3 seconds).
Fuck you Comcast, overlaying your own ad on my screen on a service I'm paying for. Do the satellite services weasel in their own ads this way, or do they stay out of the way?
Remain calm! All is well!
- Both Digital Cable and Satellite require a decoder box. Same per month cost for additional receivers. However, my Digital cable guide sucks horrendously compared to DirecTV or Dish or ReplayTV. No picture-in-picture mechanism to allow me to see a thumbnail of current channel while scanning guide, lots of ads (3! they eat over 50% of the screen space!) and a horrible horrible user interface that shows 1 timeslot x 8 lines, compared to the 3x8 or better view that DirecTV guide has, that my ReplayTV has, etc. The digital cable box also has braindead programming. It loses current defaults a lot: I'll scan thru the guide, find something on channel 20 that might be interesting, select it...nah, don't want to watch that... hit the guide button and I'm back at the beginning of the list. Page-down, page-down, page-down (did I mention, it's not the fastest guide?) until I get to where I was, then start browsing again... find another prospect, select it, decide no,
...Fsck! I'm back at the top of the guide again! I can work around this by using the 'single-channel mini-guide' that shows at screen bottom while watching a program, but that pretty much sucks as an alternative. I so completely hate the huge ads and the crappy guide that we're discontinuing digital cable in the next weeks. The guide is a hinderance, not a help, in my opinion.
- From what friends say, DirecTV and Dish integration with their built-in DVR devices is crisp and righteous. Infrared control connections like mine with Replay work about 95% of the time. Sometimes I miss a program due to the Replay not doing it's little Infrared thang, but rarely enough that I might still recommend the separate PVR if there was a near-term chance of changing providers: a DirecTivo cannot work without DirecTv, and a DishPVR is similarly single-minded.
- Video on demand: sounds cool. We sure don't have that here. How widespread is that and when will it roll out to BF Nowhere?!
- If everything seems equal and getting cable gets you $10 off a cablemodem connection, that might be an advantage over DSL. Total cost is worth at least glancing at here, since DSL and cablemodems are about the same in uptime/quality.
- Cable company buried their cable 3 inches below ground thru my back yard. Phone is down at least a few feet. But which one whines loudest about not being taken seriously as a Utility? Cable guys. A word to the cable industry: if you want to be taken seriously, stop being so cheap and do things up to the phone or power company's standards. Act like a utility!
- Even with a HUGE cable bill and a DVR, I don't have time to sit around scanning guides to find stuff to preprogram to watch. If I don't preprogram it, when I finally get an hour to unwind in front of the TV, I generally can't find anything good. My PVR is polluted with my daughter's favorite shows (and I'm NOT going to argue that issue). So I'm ditching half the movie channels, the digital package, etc. And we're trying out Netflix. Between that and the 30 non-digital cable channels, I'll be more certain to see What I want, When I want to.
- Fadeouts: it takes some HORRENDOUS stormage to take out DirecTV signal. Seldom lasts long, but sometimes thick snow will kill signal until you climb up and wipe the dish clean. My digital cable garbles more often, to be honest. And unlike Satellite, if your cable provider is lazy/cheap, you can't fix the signal problems. We cancelled the wireless cable because their HBO
Oh, and the come-back-please offers alone make it worth the experimenting. A year ago I called to cancel a land-based alternative we have called 'wireless cable'; they offered to shave $8 off our bill per month. A friend regularly gets calls to resubscribe to his cable company. I'd be amazed if DirecTV didn't do the same. And my brother saved $400 when he upgraded his DirecTV hardware by cancelling his account. Existing account price for adding receivers was triple the come-back offer's total for 3 receivers and he got 3 months free deluxe programming.One thing that is worth pointing out, even though it seems obvious: If you get a dish, when you or the tech are installing it, you should consider that the bare trees that don't block the signal right now will have leaves on them in a few months, which effectively block the signal. Also consider that most trees will be taller next year than they are this year.
I've seen it happen, and my buddy had to switch back to cable because there was not a suitable alternative installation site at his apartment.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
If you want Nasa Tv with Directv, you must have a multi-satellite elliptical dish.
Television isn't all reality TeeVee or sitcoms. The whole point of going to cable or satellite is to get all those more interesting channels, like Discovery and History and so on.
--- Ban humanity.
I have Comcast in one place and DirecTV in another, don't ask why.
As far as I can tell you, DirecTV has been a better services provider and the signal doesn't cut out as they claim, the commercials they show, the dish is always mounted on a pole or they don't mention that install is free now a days.
Comcast in the other hand, are rude. Signal goes out for no aparent reason, and they have problems upgrading their recievers. Their channel guide is always on the brink.
This is no attack on cable, cable it self could be good, but this is about Comcast, its a horrible service provider, and it is a bit more expensive. I would go with dish, its cheaper and they have a better customre service record.
DovWolf
Say what?
DirecTV's HD offerings are better than the Time Warner options. One thing I learned is that where I live, in Minneapolis, most of the local channels are already broadcasting digital channels with a lot of HD content. I got the Zenith HD-SAT520 combination DirecTV and love it. Plug a UHF anntenna in, and depending on your area you may be all set to get a wide selection of HDTV programming. You have to get the triple element satellite though, which will cost a little more. I added this set up to my new Samsung HLN507W DLP and I'm in HDTV heaven.
Satellite is best because when a new free to air channel begins to broadcast, you don't need to pay more for it.
It's digital too, so the picture is very good. My experience is that it's ok when it rains too.
When there is lightning you shouldn't be watching tv anyway because it could blow (especially with cable tv wiring) and you should switch off appliances, PCs etc and disconnect them.
SCIREV.NET - fanfics,reviews & more
I live near Seattle and hgave DirectTV. The rain has NEVER cut out satellite TV reception. I've had it about a year and a half. It sucks for my ISP, which does cut out in the rain, but the TV half has always been perfect. FWIW
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
As someone who has used all three of the providers you've mentioned, my vote is for DirecTV. Here's my rundown of the pros/cons of each.
DirecTV
When I lived in Atlanta, the signal would get knocked out during a severe thunderstorm. Now that, I'm in LA, I never had any problems with the picture (but now I have to get off my butt & water the outside plants). And they have real good service as well.
Dish Network
These people were the biggest pain in my ass from day one. Their installer blatently lied to me (and serveral of my neighbors) on what we'd get with our system. The final straw with them was when they tried charging me for porno movies when I was actually out of state when the charges occurred (and no, nobody snuck into my house to watch any). Summary is that customer service with Dish Network sucks.
Comcast
This is who I currently have for cable, the only reason why I have them is for the cable modem connection, so much faster than DSL. However, the quality of the digital cable lacks in comparison to satellite. I tend to lose the picture on nice sun-shiney days. Using pay-per-view to watch college football games doesn't work (I usually miss the first 15 minutes of the game & get pissed off, I now just walk to the bar down the street to watch games). Avoid them unless you want a fast internet connection.
Since you're talking about a TiVo, I'll assume you're not in the market for 4DTV or any other C band sattellites. The TiVo can't control a decoder that needs to move the dish to point to a new sattelite.
I entered the satellite market when I moved to an area of Burlington, VT (the biggest city, if you can call it that, in the state) that was not serviced by Adelphia (the regional cable operator). I priced my two satellite options with the idea of going for the cheapest plan that had my needed subset of channels, namely SciFi, Comedy Central, History, CNNHN, etc. I found that I could get Dish Network's America's Top 50 plan for $19.95/month (or close to that). Currently, that plan is $24.99/month. Dish's AT100 plan competed with the base offering from DirecTV, but I really didn't need to fork over the extra dough for that. I've since moved to an area of the country that allows me to pay extra to get local channels over my satellite feed, so I pay $29.99/month for AT50 Plus Locals (or something like that), still with Dish Network.
Before you look at your options, sit down and record the channels you need, and the channels you want. Then go find a plan that you can live with at a price that makes you happy.
Quality: I read the specs long ago, but have not found them repeated-- Dish and DirecTV have higher horizontal resolutions than any analog solution, but I've never actually noticed this in practice; I assume the MPEG compression makes blocks that can't take good advantage of the extra pixels. In good weather, they will compare favorably to digital cable, which it seems like everyone has seen. In bad weather (heavy snow, rain), sattelite signal will degrade, meaning that the MPEG blocks will get bigger, sometimes the wrong colors, and the MPEG sound will be distorted-- if it's bad enough, the entire image may pause or give you a "lost signal" message. On the other hand, I've had cable outages that last for days, unexplained cable downtime that the companies never acknowledge, etc., so I don't fall for the cable ads that say how bad sattelite reception is. If you've ever been to Northern Vermont in January through March, it tells you something that I only lost my satellite signals once or twice a month that I acutally noticed. Aiming the dish is very key to keeping the signal through bad weather.
PVR. Yeah, you can go for a non-TiVo PVR, maybe your cable company will get one soon, maybe you'll try out the one from Dish, but you will be disappointed. If you go DirecTV, your quality and recording times will be better getting the DirecTiVo-- it just records the raw stream, it doesn't need to encode. If you go Dish, like I did, the TiVo still works great. There's a doohickey (technical term) that fits over the IR receiver so the TiVo basically is its own remote (IR LEDs hooked up to long wires). I was very satisfied with the quality from the DIsh through the TiVo.
Cable companies are becoming great broadband utilities, but I don't like their FUD and sometimes outright lies about the satellite providers, so anymore, I can't bring myself to support them for TV service.
Who was the hot chick? All I saw was Janet Jackson's.
--- Ban humanity.
Finally he made the switch to the dish and loved it! All the channels, music, movies, porn and whatever else you could imagine.
In the long run (twelve months later) he dropped the dish and went back to cable. If I remember correctly he did it prior to his contract being up.. I seem to remember a promotion that comcast was buying out (paying off the remaining contract for you) if you switched back... and he took it.
Now don't get me wrong ... this wasn't a money issue. He didn't switch back since the cable compnay was offering this special... the switch simply made it easier.
The two MAIN reasons for switching
- No local channels - not sure if you could pay extra to have them, but I remember him needing to hookup rabbit ears in order to get the local channels.. wow.. 2003 and someone still using rabbit ears... I think he found them at the junk yard
:)
- Second and ever more of an issue - [picture this] sitting down at the tube, maybe even with a large group of people, watching intently of an important new bradcast from spirit - which has supposedly found life on Mars...the first braodcast coming live and >poof
Now I have heard of other that have had the dish and microwave on opposite ends of the house and have had no problem, but damn! With current technology and the cost to have something that can be so easily interupted - that suck. In my fathers case he had no choice to have it counted outside the kitchen wall. But what happened if you live close enough to someone else.. what happens if they run a microwave?I hate comcast with a passion, but until I have a choice of cable providers I'll have stay with them (comcast).
Never try to beat a professional at his own game!
I canceled my DirectTV service after one year. I did so because of signal loss. Planes DO block signal, but only for 1-2 seconds, the screen freezes up, and then it starts up again. The major problem wasn't planes - I can live with one or two second pauses - it was due to bad weather.. actually, not even bad weather, but any type of rain would cause complete signal loss.
SearchIRC - Now with live chat directory!
Television is bad. Don't waste your money on something bad. Don't pay for TV. Don't even watch TV.
Really, it's the best thing every for TV watching.
The cable TV companies may run these bullcrap adds about rain killing the signal... in truth in 3 years I've had a pixellated picture a couple times during REALLY hard rainstorms (the ones where you want to stare out the window and say "woot!"). Cable goes out much more often.
I'd NEVER go back.
It lets you record 2 shows plus watch a third. I don't see how you can consider that an advantage to a sat vs cable especially when the Tivo services are available for both.
SearchIRC - Now with live chat directory!
Having said that, let me also say that I've had far less dropouts and interruptions on my satellite signal than I previously had on my Time Warner digital cable. I recently had the privledge of telling a Time Warner door-to-door sales person that I would put up an old rusty coat hanger before I would ever spend another nickle with Time Warner.
Don't take life too seriously; it isn't permanent.
The cable vs satellite issue is like Microsoft Word feature bloat:
In my experience, satellite has a wider selection of niche channels than cable, so satellite wins. For me it was SpeedVision (now Speed Channel) for Formula One and Fox Sports World for soccer -- only available on satellite in my area (part of an extra sports package, but available). My wife loves BBC America; I'm constantly tempted by the NHL Center Ice package. We get local channels; the only thing missing is the local cable access channels, so we can't watch town board meetings and so on.
On a related but unasked tangent, DirecTiVo (DirecTV w/ TiVo built in) is the best overall TV watching experience; just listen to me and get it -- my personal 100% satisfaction guarantee.
I prefer the free cable that I get by splicing my internet cable connection :P
I have Dish Network, and I am very pleased with it. I am currently running a 301 receiver (the entry-level model) with a Samsung HDTV and a line doubler. No, this setup is not HD. I am planning to upgrade the receiver shortly to fix that.
Before I start my story of TV service shopping, let me point out that I was, as of the start of this experience, already a customer of Time-Warner's cable modem service, Road Runner. I don't know if the cable was carrying live TV channels or not, I have never hooked it to a TV, because I'm a good boy :-)
When I initially went shopping for such services, in order to compare apples to apples, I did a workup of costs. Dish Network was at $31 for 100 channels at the time, DirecTV was $32 for 100 channels, and Time Warner (cable) was $59 for 100 channels (digital).
Dish network required me to lay out $200 for equipment. Installation was free. Setup was free (they sent a guy out to do it, but you can also DIY if you fell like it). First year of service was discounted $22/month (making it $9/month). This made the first year service $200 for equipment + $0 installation + $0 setup + $108 (12months * $9) = $308. The second year of service would be simply 12 months at $31, or $372.
DirecTV would discount the equipment to $50 with a one-year contract. Free installation. Free setup. $32/month. First year total is $50 + $0 + $0 + $384 = $434. Second year total is $384.
Time Warner would discount the installation to $25 (normally $50) and zero out the setup. They would discount $20 from the first month and $10 from the second month. They own the equipment, so you don't have to buy that. First year total is $0 (equipment) + $25 (installation) + $0 (setup) + $39 (first month) + $49 (second month) + $590 (remaining months) totalling $703 for the first year, and the second year is 12 months of $59 for a total of $708.
I still remember the conversation with the Time Warner CSR. She told me the price, and I said, "Oh, wow!" She said, "Isn't that great?" I said, "No! It sucks! That is totally out of line with both of your competitors!"
Needless to say, I got Dish Network.
I also started getting visits from Time-Warner's door-to-door salesmen, who saw the dish on the front of my house and wanted to convert me. I told them what I have just told you all. They offered me a better deal, but I told them that it was too little, too late. They told me all about the beauty of Road Runner, and that I could have that if I converted. I just laughed and told them I already had it. Each time this happened, the salesman expressed surprise--it seems none of them knew that you could get Road Runner without getting cable TV.
Oh, two last notes.
Anecdotally, I have heard from people who are subscribers to both Time-Warner and Dish Network. They report to me that Dish Network's picture is better than Time Warner's digital picture. I have not, however, confirmed this.
Also, on the issue of rain fading, since it was asked, I do, very occasionally, lose contact with one or both of the satellites in a really, really, really heavy rain. It takes a pretty hellacious storm to cause that, though. People living in the south may see this happen more than those of us up north (States down the coast from us get much more turbulent Summer storms--we get the hellish winter storms), but people living in the south are also a shorter distance to the satellite, so it may actually be a wash, no pun intended.
www.wavefront-av.com
I had Adelphia cable, their customer service and billing sucks. I found out my town actually has WideOpenWest cable also, who gave me a great package deal with broadband. I am happy with their cable TV service, but they do have very long hold times if you call for customer service. Easy online billing management.
:)
If you have a crappy cable provider like some folks out there do, try out satellite. I will say that I only know one satisfied satellite customer out of a dozen or so friends that have it. Weather outages, local channel issues, and setup fees ($$$) are their biggest complaints. With DirecTV's well-documented shenanigans and few viable alternatives, I sleep better with cable.
Ok, so I'm late and will miss the mod points, but maybe you'll see it anyway:
The integrated-with-the-satellite-service DVRs record data staight from the digital broadcast stream directly onto the unit's harddrive.
This means, they can record two shows at once, and the picture quality will be perfect, and the hard drive usage will be reasonable. Smart computers have already done all the compression for them before uploading to the satellite.
Stand-alone units record analog data by first digitizing with a real-time MPEG chip.
This means, they can only record one show at a time (only have one MPEG chip), and the picture quality will be lower than the satellite version (your cheap chip isn't as good as the pre-satellite-upload computer), and it will use more hard drive space to get that lower picture quality.
So, a "30 hour" DirecTiVo means - 30 hours of high quality picture and recording two shows at once. A "30 hour" standalone TiVo means - 10 hours of good quality picture, or 30 hours of painful compression artifacts, and only tuning one show at a time.
is competition good, or is duplication of effort bad?
My TW cable TV has been rock-solid. I did have serious problems with my RoadRunner cablemodem, bad enough that I switched to DSL. I don't know about satellite, but I've heard people say it's stable even in crappy weather.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
The DirecTiVO is even better because as has been pointed out it will record 2 shows at once while you are watching something that is already recorded. No that's useful as I'm tired of dealing with schedueling conflicts with my old SA TiVo.
If you do buy then I reccomend going to http://www.dell4me.com/tivo and clicking special offers. You can get a DirecTivo setup for only $49 after $50 mail in rebate.
For those of you who already have DirecTV and your account is in good standing I've heard nice rumors that if you threaten to cancel they will offer you a DirecTIVO to be installed by a professional for only the cost of shipping the unit which is roughly $11. That's even hotter IMHO but I have no use for it
Eat more bacon!
I was faced with a similar decision recently, and wound up going with Comcast Cable following three separate (but horrible) experiences with DirectTV Service and Support just trying to figure out what my options were...and more importantly, what my *real* costs would be.
:)
DirectTV couldn't commit to an installation ETA until after I had signed up and been credit-approved (was told by a rude service person that it could take up to three days to get me into the installation queue, and he refused to speculate on when installation might occur following that), whereas I got a phone committment on installation and setup from Comcast on the first call, and a tech was out the next day...just in time for catching shows in the new Fall line-up.
Despite claims otherwise (of course, not knowing anything about DishNetwork), I haven't been able to discern significant price differences for the packages I desire, making my decision easily based solely on a customer service basis.
Your mileage may vary.
I have both Dish Network (for most of my TV viewing) and Comcast (local channels & cable modem-I save $15 on the cable modem in exchange for paying $13.99 for local channels).
Dish Network has been great. I do lose the signal during very heavy rain, and that is only briefly. One disadvantage to the satellite companies: after you've had them for awhile, your equipment becomes obsolete in the sense that it doesn't have all the latest features. For example, my Dish Network receiver is 4 or so years old--it takes forever to obtain information about a show via the online guide whereas the new receivers have enough memory (I assume) that the result is instant. The only way I can get new equipment with out paying $$$ for it is to switch to DirectTV. The satellite companies do nothing for loyal customers.
As far as Comcast goes, it has been surprisingly reliable, both the TV and the cable modem. The picture quality on the cable is not as good as the picture quality on the dish. One big advantage of cable is that if you're a Weather Channel junkie, you get the local weather information & warnings that are not available on the Satellite TWC feed. The newer sat receivers may have an alternative to this.
So, while I've been very happy with Dish Network, I will probably switch to DirectTV just to get new equipment when I move.
The price of Satellite as far as # of channels for your buck is much better than with cable.
The Comcast commercials bashing "the dish", while being somewhat humorous, are pretty much hyperbole at best, and lies at worst. Anyone who would be supid enough to put their dish in a tree deserves to lose their signal when the wind blows!
I live in Texas, where everything's bigger, especially the spring storms. Still, DirecTV goes out maybe 3-5 times a year, mostly during the spring storm season, for 5 minutes to a half hour. All in all, though, it's far better than cable has been to me.
The biggest reasons I won't give up my DirecTV for cable:
Price. DirecTV is about $9 per mo. cheaper than cable, and cable makes you pay extra to get TechTV.
NFL Sunday Ticket. Only on DirecTV, and as a Packers fan in Texas, a must have.
DirecTV TiVo. It really does change the way you watch TV. It may sound like a cliche, but you can't really understand the impact to your TV habits til you have one.
Service. DirecTV, I've had to hold once when I called in, and that was the one time they've had a major outage that I've noticed, affecting locals only for a large part of the country during primetime. I had Comcast back when it was still TCI, and I was pretty much guaranteed a hold of at least 5-20 minutes.
In the past, when I had cable, I had picture quality problems (my cable would go completely out for a couple minutes eery 2-3 hours), and the process to get it fixed was just painful. Call the cable company, wait 45 minutes past the 4 hour service window they give, and the person who shows up is just a customer appeasement engineer who shows up, checks to make sure you're not a total idiot and that everything's hooked up correctly. CAE tells me there's nothing she can do, since it's not shoring the problem now, but tape it when it happens again and call back (tape static. Brilliance.) So, I do so, wait for the next guy, who has the ability to slap a tester on at the junction box and confirm the lines coming in to my apt. are OK. He's done all he can, so I have to get another appointment with the guys who can actually look for the problem, and after 2-3 visits from them, they finally find the poor connection somewhere down the line and fix it. The whole process took about a month.
On the other hand, I've had my dish for 3 years, and the only time I had a problem was twice when the gardening service knocked my dish out of whack (I live in an apartment, and the dish is attached to a pole embedded in cement in a bucket on the patio.) Took maybe 5 minutes to go out there, set the dish back in place, and I was good to go.
I suggest you consider the free satellite TV that is available. C-band and Ku-Band have tons of free satellite signals. There is also encrypted signals you can subscribed to which is similar to DirecTV and Dish. NASA TV is available via C-Band. You can pick up Ku-band receivers here http://www.eyeinthesky.net/ for under $200. C-band cost a little more. C-band Systems are available http://skyvision.com/store/c-band_systems.html. C-band frequency is 3.4-4.2 GHz, and Ku-Band frequency is 10.7-12 Ghz. The receiving frequency range place the limit on the size of receiver. Which basically mean for C-band you are required the big-dish, and Ku-band you just need a small dish that is rather cheap. Bear in mind that when you get a big-dish, you will be able to receive both bands whereby you will only be able to get the Ku-band with the small dish.
While the cable commercials aren't wrong when they say you lose satellite in severe weather, they exaggerate.. php for why
I've had both Digital Satellite and "Digital" Cable.
Digital is almost always just a buzzword to confuse the ignorant. Most cable companies didn't increase their resolution when switching to digital.
Summary is that satellite has 480 lines. (480 in the 640x480)Cable has 240? something sad like that.
If you need your TV during a storm to keep you occupied then get cable. Me I turn mine off so it doesn't get surged.
(I'd recommend Dish Network over DirecTV for political reasons go to http://www.eff.org/directvdefense/20030812_eff_pr
Good Luck!
I've had Dish Network for 4 years now..
In that time I can't remember a single outage.
Prevous to that I had AT&T cable..
If I went a month without a 1-2 hour loss of cable I was lucky.
What drove us over the edge to get Dish was a 1 week outage because they accidently dug up their own lines.
As for Weather, planes and whatever blocking the signal.. I live in Tacoma, Wa in the landing path for Sea-Tac airport. If anyone should have weather/plane signal related problems its me!!
Still it works day after day without issue.
Hell I've had birds sitting on the dish and didn't have any problems.
Worried about the equipment breaking?? $3 a month will get you a full warrenty for as long as you keep paying or go with the Dish Home plan and it's all covered.
If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. --Red Adair
I used to have Comcast. Then I forgot to pay the bill. They un-hooked my cable and I hooked it back. they never sent me another bill. (ah the good ole days). Then I bought a house. Since I was going to have to pay if I wanted cable/satelitte in my new house, I looked into my options. I got a great deal from DirecTV (including TiVo). I get tons of channels for under $100 a month (all the movie channels, digital chanels, etc). To get the same kind of package with Comcast would cost me at least $140 (and no TiVo). Rain and wind have never affected my signal. It may happen one day, but I have had a tree knock out my cable before too. -Jackson
Just a comment that most of these Telemundo and other Spanish-language stations tend to be local, small, broadcast stations. The cable company has to carry them. So some other channels will get knocked off to make room if there isn't extra room available.
As far as the women's and golf channels, well, that you can bitch about.
On Demand Digital cable is Da Shit!
But you can't get it with Satilite.
(I do not work for comcast and I hated them with a passion from the cable internet hell they put me in (SpeakEasy is Da shit btw too), Untill the OnDemand came out)
(Score:0, Interesting)
...here in southern New Mexico, where we get about 340 sunny days a year, weather isn't a problem for satellite reception. If you're going to live in Seattle where it's alway's raining, you may want to look into cable.
Comcast is our local cable provider, and the main draw for me to DirecTV is the Sony receiver. It's way better than any digital cable/dish receiver that I have ever used. I don't have much experience with DVRs but the TiVo w/DirecTV my friend has seems to be a lot cooler than the ReplayTV junk Comcast is trying to sell.
-- Is it a right to remain ignorant? -- Calvin
Snow will if it accumulates on the dish, but that's easy to dislodge with a broom.
The only real problem is wind -- a south wind gust of 30+ MPH can cause the receiver to lose the signal,
and reacquiring it takes a few seconds. Watching a program when that happens every few minutes is no fun at all.
We give up when that happens, maybe 3 or 4 times a year.
Cable here (Comcast) is much more expensive, unless you get the stripped-down version
(I've heard there is a tier BELOW "basic" cable that only costs something like $25 a month).
We are quite satisfied with Dish, but then we don't watch much TV...the only reason we pay anybody for TV service is to get Dish's optional Russian channels, which are the best of any service I'm aware of.
A repeated theme I see is that you need a separate DTV receiver for each TV. This is not necessarily true if you use a multi-room distribution system that typically runs less than $200. You take the output of up to two video sources an plug them into the multi-room box and then you can send up to 5 feeds via ordinary coax antenna cable (rg-59 works okay) to points around the home. The system includes ir targets and an ir blaster that allows you to control the single DTV receiver from any location. It is very clean and works very well. Of course, the video is the same on all the TVs but if you are single this not a problem. You could always add a second receiver with this system for added flexibility. Channel-Plus makes these devices.
I am now on *DISH* Networks and loving every day of it...
Comcast will fuck you with 1) Billing 2) Junk-mail lists 3) Fraud 4) Crappy Equipment.
Digital Cable? Ever heard of it from Comcast? Well it sucks. You cannot flip through the channels, BECAUSE EVERY CHANNEL CHANGE REQUEST TAKES THE SYSTEM 5-10 SECONDS TO PROCESS!!!!
They advertise this as a "feature" ie "Now you won't have to flip through channels!!!" NOW YOU CANNOT FLIP THROUGH CHANNELS.
Dish is badass, WAY CHEAPER, much happier ANIME scene (techTV included for the 33.00 package). Dish gets you PVR! FUCK CABLE FUCK COMCAST FUCK YOU IF YOU SAY THIS IS FLAMEBAIT!! I'M JUST SOUNDING THE ALARM SO YOU DON'T MAKE A HORRIBLE, LIFE ALTERING MISTAKE!!
SCO: 800-726-8649
Verisign: 800-361-8319, 888-642-9675
Diebold: 800-433-VOTE (8683)
Well said.
Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
... because they offer more channels for less money and their encoding quality is (usually) better (my experience based on DISH Network; can't speak for DirecTV.) Satellite wins hands down in almost all categories: quality, value, programming choice, reliability, equipment choice and customer service.
... satellite offers more channels (especially DISH) than most cable MSO's for less money. Locals too in most markets, and HDTV which cable co's have been painfully slow to adopt.
;-) and limited aggregate bandwidth.
Quality and value... satellite providers have more total bandwidth (about 2-4x) to work with than the typical hybrid fiber-coax cable plant. Being all digital they don't have to carry legacy analog channels. So, they have less need to compress heavily than the cable guys do and so can offer more channels at lower cost.
Programming
Reliability... as much as the cable ads make of it, it's a total non-issue with satellite. It's amazingly robust. In the three years on DISH I had one (!) outage due to rain fade, and then only for about 30 seconds or so. Compare this to my experience with cable providers (in my case Charter, now Adelphia) who seem to have several outages a year: distribution amps blowing up, segments taken down for maintenance/upgrades, and so forth.
Equipment... the satellite providers seem to adopt new tech more quickly than the cable MSO's. They embrace newer media (like HDTV, PVR's, etc.) more enthusiastically than the cable heavyweights do. This has a lot to do with the business model: generally, they unbundle the box from the service (you own the box) so you have choice. Some perceive this as a drawback; however when you look at the poor quality of most cable boxes vs. their rental cost you can see you get a better shake from DirecTV or DISH.
Customer service... DISH is awesome, can't speak for DirecTV although I understand they've improved too. In my case DISH patiently worked with me to debug a complex HDTV setup using a 5200 IRD, HDTV modulator and a Mistubishi HD set. Another time they broke 'seamless integration' with a firmware upgrade, they fixed it in two days (!) after I reported it to them.
Now, the satellite drawbacks...
First, there's no 'analog only' option so you're always looking at MPEG-2 and thus have slower channel surfing (not to mention your TV's P-I-P is mostly useless.) I understand there are IRD's with two decoders now.
Second, satellite broadband is poor due to the up/down latency (c = 300,000 km/s, it's the law
Third, you do have to mount the antenna. Some quibble about this but it's not a big deal: installation and gear are free if you buy a package; it's a simple DIY project if you prefer to run your own.
Most users need only one dual-LNB antenna. DISH needs a second one aimed at 61.5 or 148 if you want some of the 'non-core' programming, such as their slate of international channels (including Al-Jazeera and World Link TV - gotta get your Karachi Kops somehow) and some of the HDTV feeds. If your locals aren't on the core sats (110 and 119) DISH will install the second antenna free.
Also, before you commit to satellite, you need to verify that you have a clean sight line to the bird(s.) DISH has a tool you can download to get your azimuth and elevation to each bird. For the continental US the core satellites are at 101, 110 and 119 deg. - generally due south for most people. You do need to mount the antenna(s) on something that doesn't move - a nearby tree won't do it. If you're unsure about any of this have an installer do a site survey for you prior to entering into a contract.
If these drawbacks aren't a concern for you... then your next choice is DirecTV or DISH.
Three things should dictate your choice: programming, equipment and service.
Programming... DirectTV has NFL Sunday Ticket, DISH does not. DISH has lots of international programming, DirecTV does not. Other than that their lineup is nearly identical, but... to
With a properly pointed dish, weather will not be a big problem. The issue becomes when enough water or snow accumulates on the dish to change the shape of the dish for a short period of time. I'm not talking about physically deforming the dish, but just changing the focus point.
Now, I live in West Central Florida which gets a ton of rain, especially in the summer. The only time it gets bad is when the storms are so severe that it would probably be a good idea to turn off and unplug all that sensitive equipment. A passing shower or even an all-day soaker doesn't affect me at all.
There are weather sheilds available that keep the rain and snow (for you northerners) off the dish. That should keep the problem down to just those rare times when the signal just can't penetrate all the rain of a heavy heavy storm.
Of course, that all assumes that the dish is pointed accurately. The picture will be fine with a less than ideal signal on a clear day. But you want to get as high a signal strength on as many transponders as possible. Common sense.
Just spend 9 months in San Francisco, and I'm really glad to be back home with where I have DirectTV.
Yes, the signal fades....Maybe twice a year, with bad/no signal for maybe an hour or so. Usually all it takes, is dusting the snow off the dish.
Comcast on the other hand, had problems daily ranging from loss of sound (minutes at a time), to bad video (about 1/2 the time), to being completely gone for hours (and on occassion days).
I don't know if DirecTV is still like this everywhere, but I can tell you about my own experiences living in Clear Lake, Texas (the home of Johnson Space Center).
My family used to subscribe to whatever increasingly-large umbrella-corporation-of-the-month had most recently bought out our local cable television monopoly. In the eighties, when it was basically a local mom-and-pop provider, it was pretty darned cool. In the early-to-mid nineties, when the string of buyouts really got underway, its quality of service declined while its pricing increased significantly. In the mid-to-late nineties, when DBS began heating up real competition, its quality of service dramatically improved while pricing remained more or less static. And all through those times we received NASA TV, which was great!
Cut to the twenty-first century, and my family switched over to DirecTV DBS. It's been amazingly cool, albeit just as expensive as overpriced cable.
We regularly get nice big wrath-of-god thunderstorms blowing in off the Gulf, and yes, in a *really* bad storm the signal might occasionaly break up for a few minutes at a time, but it's not significantly more frequent than cable television - remember, they're getting their signal from a local satellite downlink, too. I'd rate the reliability as just slightly below cable - it *is* a smaller dish, after all - but not enough to be any sort of a nuisance.
DBS receivers kick digital cable receivers' @sses, hands down, though. The user interface is entirely dependent upon your box, and I've sampled a great many of both sorts of boxes amongst many friends, having lived in five cities in the past four years. Not a single digital cable box has been anything but a heavily-sedated slug by comparison to the DBS boxen. If you enjoy scrolling through hundreds of channels you don't subscribe to in order to find the one that you're looking for, digital cable's all for you, since DBS custom channel lists spoil that sort of fun. DBS receivers are faster, more user-friendly, more programmable, more configurable, more extendable, and not a bloody-closed-platform. You can buy a DBS receiver from any of a half-dozen manufacturers, while digital cable receivers are often vendor-locked-in, and it *really* shows.
DirecTV channel selection is superior to any digital cable system I've since tried as well, and I go for geeky esoteric stuff like NASA TV Worldlink. Bear in mind, though, that that's from the perspective of a global sampling of culture. There's a lot of fringe quirky stuff to be found on DirecTV if you dig for it, but local public-access and community channels are only available through your cable provider, as those aren't even broadcast on open airwaves. That's really the only negative point for DBS - NASA TV used to be a Clear Lake public access station in the eighties!
Local broadcast channels have never been an issue, though. Most major markets now have a decent selection of their own local broadcast stations available through regional DBS programming packages, all the national broadcast networks get DBS feeds from two or three different big cities (which often nets some interesting other-regional programming as a bonus), and a good antenna can pick up most stray channels left out of the mix. I don't know for certain, but I've heard that some of the newer DBS receivers even include built-in tuners so you never have to switch your television and audio source when you want to watch antenna broadcasts. Local broadcast channels just aren't an issue.
Right, the heaving-naked-breasts part. Well, I had great fun browsing DirectTV channel lists upon my first experience in the fall of 2002. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it carried NASA TV of all things, so I dialed straight in only to see two women and a man having what must've been quite a pleasant experience. It didn't look like the usual NASA programming, so I figured something was crossed up in the feed and let it go. Oddly, when I checked back a couple of nigh
Another thing about those pieces of living shit at COMCAST>
They incorporated a pop-up ad delivering mechanism into the "menu" system of the cable box in an automated "upgrade" about 2 years ago.
Now, everytime you simply want to view the menu system, you are bombarded with pop-ups about the new MPAA movie coming to cable or possibly that herbal supplement you've been meaning to get.
They also bundle pre-printed pop-up ads into you monthly bill, for easy access. Open up that $50 mutha and you will be delighted to find ads for Check Printing services. Get your personal checks printed with such endearing figures as J-Lo and Ben Affleck in the movie Gigli (Check Theme 10110 on the order form today!).
Its such pure bullshit... COMCAST, may these micro-aol ass-knats rot in HELL.
SCO: 800-726-8649
Verisign: 800-361-8319, 888-642-9675
Diebold: 800-433-VOTE (8683)
Now I am living in an apartment complex where I can't get my own dish and am stuck with Comcast crappy cable setup. Boy was my mother right. Comcast seems to be jacking the price a little bit more every month or so. There are less channels (and several of the ones that are missing are ones I watched often, like TechTV). I am paying more for "Regular Extended Cable" (with no extras like HBO) than my mother pays for the Dish setup WITH 8 HBOs and 5 Showtimes. I can opt to get the digital cable setup but that costs even more and the "benefits" (if you want to call it that) aren't all that great (and there are STILL no HBOs included, you have to pay even MORE for those). No DVR (yet anyway, they are supposedly working on that) I used a friend's digital cable setup and the menu system is slow and clunky and not very effective.
Weather does not effect the dish either, we live in New England where there are healthy doses of all types of weather. Rain, snow, sleet, wind, three dogs in the house sneezing regularly, anything esle you can imagine, we have never lost our Dish connection, the picture has never suffered in quality at all. The signal is digital through and through whereas cable is analog so it's a better picture with better sound anyway. What else do I need to say? the dish is better in so many ways.
To conclude, Comcast sucks, get a Dish.
I've seen hacking recipies all over plus scare stories about huge fines, but cant relly sort out the truth.
yeh, whatever dude... i did this "just to be different", for the same reasons that i lead an extremely normal, respectable life in just about every other aspect.... wife, 6 bedroom house, boring engineering job, drive a buick.
but yeh - i chose to stop watching tv because i'm such a rebel and an extrovert that i needed to be different, and i revel in my being different than you....
or, it could be that i decided that there was exactly 0 value to be gained from an activity that would suck up 20+ hours of my life every week, and taught me to care about imaginary friends and predicaments.
you know what caused it? i caught myself racing home from work so i could watch the A-Team re-runs at 3:00 on tbs.
quite an odd set of priorities.
i get far more enjoyment out of real activities now, be it excercizing, fixing up my house, making music, working longer, reading, whatever. but - its all things that i control. i am not a slave to passive entertainment.
how sad your life must be that you must live vicariously through mass-marketted crap. sorry if i dont know who got voted off the island this week, or what rachel did to ross. but, i do know what is happening to my family, my friends, my neighborhood and the world in which i live.
but, ya know what - if you choose to sit in front of a tv and be programmed to talk, think, and feel the exact same way as millions of other people, watching the same programming are, feel free, knock your socks off. they dont call it programming for nothing.
you are giving up your free will, and subverting it for the opinions, feelings, thoughts, and ideas that are being spoon fed to you through the television.
but - as i said - if your happy sleep walking through life, have fun. me - i'm awake and happy.
... hi bingo
I have had Direct TV for over a year now. No matter how bad the weather has been I have never lost my signal. We DID have an electrical storm a couple months ago (very out of the ordinary), it looked like a tornado as it passed over my town (Palmdale, CA). That day I lost my signal for, literally, 2 minutes. So don't listen to the hype of the cable companies. You won't have a problem with signal loss. Much better than cable. -Paul
Read Que's HIGH TECH TOYS FOR YOUR TV for some more info on systems.
Went to EchoStar (DISH Network) four years ago, and despite paying $10 for cable modem service from Comcast because I don't get TV from them, will not go back. Had rain fade during really bad hail storms (Portland OR), and when choppers were overhead, but this is *very* rare. All satellite systems have 'equinox fade' for hour at the sping and fall equinoxes, as the sun goes behind the satellites. However, my cable goes down far more often than the DISH systems do.
Both DISH and DirecTV have *integrated* PVRs, which are much more hassle free than an off-the-shelf TiVo or ReplayTV controlling the cable box via the IR blaster.
The TiVo software in the DirecTiVo is much more sophisticated than the software in the DISH PVRs, and if you don't mind that TiVo phones home everything you watch (oh, we will just aggregate the data for marketers, Mr. Ashcroft will never see it....), then, go ahead, go DirecTiVo. My ancestors did not trust King George, and neither do I, so I use DISH, despite the extra features (e.g., 'Season Pass') which make TiVo nicer.
Program guides for DISH are downloaded from the birds along with the rest of the data stream. I have a weekly ritual where I grab the TV section from the Sunday paper, find everything I want to watch, program those in, and then search the channels which don't show up in the TV section for jewels like GUNS AND AMMO TELEVISION, and THE SURGERY CHANNEL from the Univ. of Washington, scrolling through just a portion of the on-screen program guide. Scolling through everything would result in MEGO (Mine Eyes Glazeth Over) as the $33/mo package has about 60 usable channels (subtracting GodSquad & other informercial stations as well as the digital music channels).
These Yahoo Groups will be informative:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dishmo d?yguid=211070 63
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DishPlayer_Explo rer? yguid=21107063
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dish rip?yguid=211070 63
as will USENET groups:
rec.video.satellite.dbs
alt.dbs.echostar
alt.dbs.echostar.hack
DISH allows you 'superstations'; I can get WB and UPN feeds from LA, NJ & Boston. Handy when there's counter-programming going on (like NBC pitting 'West Wing' against 'Angel'); I just record the WB programming from the east coast and get the NBC show from the west coast. LA local news is also a hoot, and NJ news (99% NYC news) is useful.
Oh, yes, both DISH and DirecTV offer 'locals'. Local station bandwidth is not as great as movie channel bandwidth, and if that vexes you, both have HDTV channels. However, should you tell DISH your kid moved to an area without Grade "B" coverage (i.e., Big Spring, TX), but you want to keep paying for the service, they will change the 'service' address and will allow those registered receivers to instead get major network stations on the east coast (NYC) or west coast (LA, IIRC). Bills still go to the 'billing address'.
Gee, would I rather watch LA news or Podunk IA news, esp. if I have decent off-air reception for when I want local news? Hmmm.
Having a service address in Cincinnatti and other specific areas is bad news, as you will not have access to the really good gynecological training films. Know what you will get in your 'service address' before signing.
Self-install is easy. Drill three holes in the south wall, attach the mount, get the mount post VERY, VERY VERTICAL, attach the pizza-pie dish, ratchet the dish around to the right angles, attach the coax and string it over to the receivers. Multiple receivers can require a special splitter available from multiple sources. Multiple dishes, each pointed at a specific bird with signals joined with a combiner ('multi-switch'), yield better reception than one 'does everything' dish.
Lastly, if you live near the Great White North and have friends en Canada, they can bring down the Bel
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
My Directv dish has been on a fence in my backyard, yes a wobly wooden fence, for 3 years and I live in Buffalo NY. With all the snow and horrible weather we get here, I have never lost a signal, not even once. The receiver says my signal strength is 98% on a clear day, with snow it will go down to no lower than 65, but quality is still excellent. Overall ditch cable, especially if you can get a DTV receiver with HDTV and DVR.
comcast sucks big time. lots of areas still use 2 cables to get the damn signal (an A and a B line...).
they keep cutting good channels....i miss hot brooke burke on the "travel" channel =(
they did just recently implement that on-demand digital cable, but it really really sucks. frequently digital breakup and color loss are just some of the problems (the only way to restore it is to stop the feed and restart it again)...that is if you can even get access to it...during prime time you're lucky if you can "connect" because they didnt give it enough bandwidth...typical.
the signal sucks. when i move im getting the dish. can't get it now because of the location and renting policies disallow it.
the horribly-designed remote control is enough of a reason...the numpad buttons are annoyingly hard to press, because they are shaped like the numbers...sure 8 may be easy, but 1 is a pain in the arse.
this is regarding comcast in maryland, especially the dc metro area. time warner digital cable in manhatten rocks relative to comcast...
01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110010 01100101 00101110
Next time a few friends or family visit your place, have everyone sit in the room with the TV. Turn the television on to one of the blank blue channels, or perhaps even to a paused videogame with a boring static image and no sound.
Everyone in the room will watch the television even though nothing is on. People will either stare at it outright, or glance continously during conversation. Try it, you'll see.
=============
Together, we will drive the rats from the tundra.
I've had a dish for 2 years now and I think I had a problem once during an exceptionally nasty snowstorm. Even then, it was very brief. Depending on the programming you want, too. Satellite is usually WAY cheaper.
"According to the Turtle" www.paperbackreader.com
I had Cable TV until a few years ago. Here is my experience and why I switched to DirecTV.
With Cable when it rained it got very staticy due to rain seeping into the crappy cable connections on the poles. Calbe was also very expensive and did not carry very many channels. Finally they got Sci-Fi and then a few months later moved it onto Digital cable so I had to pay even more.
Digital Cable was great wiht the menu but instead of static, it pixelated sometimes so bad the scrren when totally black. Also the menu guide only filled half the screen, the other half was 2 ads for PPV. I thought it was lame I was paying $60 a month to have ads on my screen.
I finally moved to a plce where Satelite was an option and I got a DirecTiVo and loved it ever since. Rain. nor wind affects it. A tree did once start to grow in front of it but a few snips and the picture was clear as a bell again.
I can see wind being a problem if the dish is not aimmed right or not tightened down, but I just paid a guy $60 to install it and he did it all good. Also my Satelite bill is $40 with locals and tivo. No need to premium channels as I have netflix. I get all the channels I want Sci-fi, comedy cnetral, techtv and even the nasa channel. I was super cool watching them land those rovers. Adelphia does not have techtv nor cmoedy central yet.
Obviously you haven't heard of the 3 free deal where you get 3 recievers and a dish. Want another box? Gotta get a new dish coz it only supports 3.
Can't beat Sat. Bad weather is going to be a PITA if you have a small dish- the best amp is a good beam say the HAM's and I guess it hits here too. So get a good dish significantly larger than 1m in diameter, that's best for good reception. And mount it very solidly, avoid any objects in between, even trees... etc etc I'm sure you know that. Don't know too much about sat modes in the US but here in Europe cable usually means offending boredom - if I want any reasonable TV, theres no way around satellite. Subscribing to non-local (i.e. other EU member countries) pay tv packages can be a pain though; thus ... well: I love my box, he he he!
cable companies have a natural monopoly, they own the cables and control who and what goes on them. satellite providers don't (competitors can enter without laying down major infrastructure other than a sattelite launch).
DirecTV with the directivo is the absolute best deal. It has two tuners so its can record two different things at the same time; this feature is something all stand alone tivo users are very jealous of. tivo is also much better than the homegrown dvr that dish network tries to give you.
I haven't seen a single comment that dish sucks, and you should stick with cable. Now, that's interesting. My experience bares with everyone else's. Switched to DirectTV from Cox Cable in Southern California, six months ago. The picture's better, even with the fee for the extra box and local channels, it's cheaper than cable.
Cox's digital cable service is tiered. There's the family tier, the movie tier, yada, yada. You only get one tier with the base price, then each addition tier is extra. So, if you want BBCA, and IFC, you have to buy two tiers. Not so with DirectTV. The basic fee gets all the bloody channels.
The real decision is, do you want to get anal electrocution (cable), or a hammock on the beach (dish)?
One reason: DirecTV is a coast-to-coast standard. No matter where you are, you'll get the same programming (aside from local channels, which will be unique to your area). Including NASA TV.
Another reason: I hate the cable company. Every cable company I have ever dealth with is a huge pain in the ass. I think it's because they usually have a monopoly on a specific area, and don't give two shakes about customer service. Other people may have different experiences, but I've had major problems with both TimeWarner and Adelphia.
No matter which service you choose, however, a TiVo/PVR is a MUST. I never thought I could love a piece of equipment as much as I love my TiVo.
Although the DirecTiVo boxes are cheaper (subsidized by DirecTV), I recommend getting a stand-alone Series 2 TiVo, since it has features that the satellite boxes don't have, such as the Home Media Option and the ability to be hooked up to your home network. If I had it all to do over again, I'd bite the extra-cost bullet for this one.
The Philosophy of Liberty | lewrockwell.com
If Comcast is the cable provider, go DSS. They are the worst cable company I have ever seen.
I actually prefer cable over a satellite reciever. The channels you get with cable depend on what area you live in. In my area (Tampa Bay) we have Bright House (formerly Time Warner). I like the channel selection with cable a lot better than that of DirecTV (satellite). DirecTV has a limited selection of premium movie channels like HBO. Cable in my area has many more HBO and other movie channels, so it suits my tastes better. The prices are similar to DirecTV.
Picture/Sound quality is similar on both. With cable in my area, the first 100 channels are analog, and the rest are digital. Picture quality is good enough on both modes. You are NOT going to get DVD quality picture on any kind of broadcast medium currently on the market (with the exception of maybe HD channels), so keep that in mind. I do notice a lot more digital pixelization with DirecTV though, which is a bad thing on larger TV's. In Florida, where it rains a lot, you WILL lose the signal on DirecTV during the rain. Happens a lot during the summer. This is not a problm with cable.
Both cable and DirecTV have DVR boxes available integrated into the reciever. Both also have HD channels (depends on where you live if you are using cable). I would actually prefer using secondary PC as a DVR box to eliminate the extra monthly fees.
You mentioned you wanted NASA TV. I don't think its available in my cable service area, but check yours.. It is available on DirecTV, but it is on a different satellite than the mainstream channels. To get NASA TV, you will need either one of those new elliptical dishes, and a new reciever (any made in the past two years should be fine). Either that, or get two dishes, and one of them will have to be pointed in a different angle.
The only other real advantage to DirecTV is that it is very hackable if you have one of the older smart cards.
I'm in rural Oregon and have to use pegasus satellite for my directv programing. They charge more and directv still sends me a monthly bill for the PVR. No local programing to boot!
1. I have a DISH for over 3 years now. Even with the big storm the east Coast got last week, I had perfect reception. The only time I can remember losing a signal, was in the summer once or twice for 10 seconds BEFORE the storm actually came. Since getting the DISH 500 I have never lost a signal.
2. You can't as far as I know, use a Tivo you bought at the Wal-mart. Well not at least how you'd want to use a Tivo.
3. DISH requires a Credit card or a Checking account now in order to get the free install. This sucks, but too many people were trying to get free DISHes when the had been previous customers.
4. Locals, DISH has the most locals of the DBS companies. I just got mine and the two which they have a direct optic link to are perfect, the others, which they get Off the Air, are good but you can tell. I blame the locals for not allowing the direct conenction though. It's in the best interest of the locals to play nice with the DBS companies but they all seem to be bought and paid for by the cable companies.
5. Don't fall for any 'deals' that the cable company may make. Winbacks and the like are nice for 3 months but ask what your bill will be like in a year. DISH had for three years, price locked their services, and my last price increase was 2 bucks. I dare you to find a cable company that hasn't raised rates in the last 5 years.
If you care about picture/sound quality, satellite is definitely the way to go. I used DirecTV for a couple years and got used to "digital" tv (not HDTV). My local cable company offered a great promo to try out their "digital" cable. They offered the hundreds of channels that you get with satellite, and it looked like a good deal, so I gave it a try.
What they don't tell you (at least the 2 cable services I tried in Boston and Austin), is that the majority of the channels are NOT digital - just the extra channels that you can't get through regular cable. So ESPN, MTV, Comedy Central, etc (the most popular cable channels) - none of them are digital, and the picture/sound quality suffers very noticably.
With satellite, EVERY channel is digital.
(Oh, and how does the cable company get away with advertising digital cable and state that satellite requires you to pay a fee per TV? It is true, but they fail to mention that you also have to pay a fee per TV for digital cable converter boxes).
Not just the HBO/Skinimax R rated soft-core crap, but real honest PORN.
Yeah, its 'real porn', but they always cut the money shot for some reason... Like its ok to have closeups of penetration and knob slobbering, but some chick taking a wad to the face is a no-no...
Go figure.
Anyhoo, to add something useful to the discussion, I've had a DishPlayer PVR 7200 (the 2nd one that shipped with a whopping 17G disk). I slapped in a 40G and I'm quite happy with it. No limits on timshifting AFAIK. It tends to just work. As for outage due to whether, I'm in Portland OR which I think is 2nd only to Seattle for crappy weather (in the US -- the Brits prolly beat us both) and I rarely see signal loss. Certainly not enough to bother me.
Since I've had it, I've only rarely watched live TV. Everything is recorded and watched later, at my leisure and I go to the can when I damned well feel like it. I'd pretty much given up on TV watching until this thing came into the house.
Oh and if you U/G the disks, make sure you get drives rated for A/V use. I burned up a couple standard WesternDigital 40G drives before getting the word on that. Since then, its been smooth sailing.
-xski
Here in Belo Horizonte (somewhat highland of Southeastern Brasil), in the "monsoon" season (high summer, from xmas to late january) I get many thunderstorms (10 to 20 days/year), and we stay 1-2h each time without sat tv signal (SkyTV). ...
I'm lucky, cause I live really high in the city next to the hills where the local tv antennae are situated, so I have good reception even without an aerial antenna. And more, I am a cable subscriber to have internet, so I have the "minimum package" of tv from the cable co.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
I moved to a rural location last year and got DishNetwork satellite TV. So far weather has had a marginal impact on the use of the product. Basically, if its raining hard enough for me to lose satellite I am either going to lose power shortly or the weather is so bad we are already heading to the storm cellar.
.5 inches. But, no matter how windy it got, I maintained cable service, unless that wind was accompanied by rain.
Average, everyday rain has no impact on the product in my experience.
Ironically, I previously had timewarner cable at my old house. I lost cable service EVERY time it rained more than
Neither.
To put it another way, get past your TV addiction. Read a book or listen to some real music (no, the latest indie band or rap crap doesn't count) instead. Trouble is, those activities require an attention span, something TV robs you of!
RANT: If more people did those things, and if our schools taught people to be free thinkers rather than obedient sheep (when they're not grubbing for money), then we likely wouldn't be in the mess we're in!
I find it interesting: the/.ers who caterwaul and bitch the most about the *AA and Hollywood are the first ones to gladly pony up their scarce money for LOTR, Star Wars, etc. In the latter case, George Lucas is Mister DRM!
I'm sure I've committed blasphemy and will be modded into oblivion, but what the hell, I've got karma to burn.
I tried direcTV to save money. When I installed my the cost was 19.95/month for 75 channels, most of which were shopping channels. About a dozen were of the kind I liked. A few months later they went to 100 channels, plus some digital features, and doubled the subscription fee.
I used to install and tune sat dishes and I tuned my installation to maximum signal strength on the weakest transponder. Some transponders are more powerful than others so the max sig strength varies from channel to channel.
When ever severe weather blew past and the clouds were heavy with rain ALL of the channels pixelated and then went blank. This was especially annoying if there were threats of tornados in the area.
Another problem was tree branches and leaves blocking signals. Even though I trimmed the limbs away to give the dish a clear view of the satellite there were occassions when during strong winds branches would be blown infront of the dish line of sight. This caused annoying pixelation, signal lost, signal hunting... over and over and over.
Another problem was snow and ice buildup on the dish surface and detector components. This would produce a gradual loss of signal strength until pixelation got so bad I'd have go out and use a hair dryer to melt it off.
I'll never return to Satellite TV again unless I move out into the desert away from a cable system.
After about a year I disconnected by DirecTV dish and went back to TimeWarner RoadRunner cable. During the last two years I can recall only one outtage which occured when lightening struck some substation and put it off line for about ten or 15 minutes. During the last year TWRR has increased their download speed from 2Mb/sec to 3Mb/sec without raising the price.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
Wow. Out here in the unfashionable backwaters of the Pacific, where our little TV set's antenna pulled in basically nothing on the airwaves, we're getting somewhere around 40 channels (that's about a half-dozen broadcast stations from the nearest big city, 200 miles away, plus about 4 local public/educational/government access channels, and about 30 cable-only channels... for about $10-$11 a month. And that's after a rate increase last year. ;)
1. Buy the integrated PVR - that way you skip a D->A step, as they record the digital signal off of the bird.
2. Getting satellite TV is like getting a new tv, in terms of picture quality over cable. I kid you not. I thought my TV was going to crap. No, it was the local cable plant and all the junk cable in my attic.
3. NASA Select. Live coverage of shuttle launches and landings [R.I.P. Columbia, Challenger], something you don't get with Discovery Wings
4. Discovery Wings - 24/7 jet noise programming.
5. A kajillion versions of HBO/SHO/TMC/etc., both east coast and west coast feeds.
6. Local channels in crystal-clear reception.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
I used to use Charter Communications with their cablemodem in California. The service was identical to Time Warner/BrightHouse/RoadRunner in Florida, down to using the same boxes, and the same sorry support.
:) You can watch recorded shows and movies on your Linux or Windows PC using a modified version of mplayer. If you do both, you may not ever get any more work done again. You can watch soaps at work.
I bought a Hughes DVR2 (sometimes called DVR3), which is a DirecTV receiver with two connections to the dish (I'll explain more in a minute). I also got the oval dish, with two seperate LNB's, but it has expansion space for the third LNB, should I want to hook it to a HDTV (I don't have one yet).
The bills are very reasonable. I get all the local channels and cable channels for about $100/mo.
I upgraded the receiver with a 140Gb hard drive. From what I gathered on the Internet, that's as big as the BIOS on the box supports, but you can put in a second hard drive as well. As it is right now, I have over 100 hours of recording time, and it would almost be trivial to add a second 140Gb drive. As it is right now, we have weeks worth of stuff recorded.
I strongly recommend the O'Reilly book, "TiVO Hacks". There's lots of fun things you can do with it. I'm working on getting network connectivity to mine, so I can copy movies off to DVD to watch later.
I have absolutely no complaints about reception. It's been perfectly stable even in rain and wind. That's much better than my "digital cable" service was. Movies would always get blocky or go blank, and they just said that was normal.
If you live in the Northern US, you may wish to buy a larger dish. My friend who owns dssaccessories.com sells bigger dishes, and de-icers if you're in a frozen wasteland or something.
I really enjoy watching tv shows that are on when I'm not home, or forget to sit down and watch. I can sit down at 2am and watch my favorite shows, rather than bitching that I missed an episode. The downside to this is that now I've seen every Simpsons and Futurerama, so now I see the description, know I've seen it, and just delete it.
TiVO absolutely rocks for watching TV though. If you pause for a few minutes at the beginning of the show (get a beer or whatever), you can then skip through the commercials through the whole show. It's definately better than watching 8 minutes of commercials every 10 minutes. I didn't realize how short shows really are. Now I watch a 1 hour show in about 1/2 hour. If someone calls, I just pause the show, and I can rewind a few minute (up to 30 minutes) to catch back up with what they were saying. The day I hooked it up, my friend watched the "Fanta" commercial over and over frame by frame, and insisted that the girls were saying "want to f***". I could see it but only after hours of seeing her do it. We're easily entertained.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
One of the worst companies I had to deal with in the past is Comcast. These people are RUDE. Unfortunately there are a lot of high trees around my house. Are there any people who know how badly trees degrade satellite reception ? Would a bigger disc help ?
I was a long-time Dish Network customer until this past christmas .. my receiver (bottom of the line) crapped out and they demanded $80 for a replacement. Turns out the problem wasn't really the receiver but the smartcard, and the gyrations necessary to get them to turn on the "borrowed" smartcard were insane. Given this experience and all my prior bad experiences .. I was also an early Starband adopter, which is another story :) ... I abandoned ship. For $99 I got a 40GB Samsung DirecTivo, dual receivers, very nice. I like Direct's user interface better also, although I'm not sure if I'm looking at the normal Direct interface or Tivo's version ..
I'd like a slightly larger dish to pad my signal a bit "just in case," although I have yet to lose my picture.
I've got the triple-LNB three-satellite dish from DirecTV-- is there any sort of third-party replacement for this? Or would I be stuck trying to convince my girlfriend that three 30" dishes really DO make the house look nice?
I can only say that COMCAST Digital cable has been good to me. I am not happy with the cost, but support has been good (maybe I am lucky). I addition, I am building my own TIVO (sourceforge.freevo) which works great for the first 100 channels, but cannot get the others unless you decode through comcast of course. I do not know if Direct TV solves this however using their TIVO box probably does!
I've had DirecTV for about 4 years now. During that time the signal has degraded because of weather 4 or 5 times that I recall. Once I had to go out and remove snow from the dish. The other times were during REALLY good thunderstorms (nearly dark and droplets big enough to look like hail when they hit the ground). I did have to cut down some weeds last year...
You're no different than the teenaged ELF terrorists who firebomb SUV dealerships. You're exactly like the PETA psychos who storm three-star restaurants and spraypaint fur coats. A fanatic is a fanatic is a fanatic, and you're a fanatic.
You're right: planning your life around the A-Team was sick. You were indeed using television to fill a void in your empty little life, and that's quite unhealthy. But what you're doing now is no different: You've simply replaced watching the television with ranting about it. You're still obsessed with something that detracts attention from other aspects of your life -- only instead of being obsessed with something neutral, you've replaced it with a great deal of negativity. And clearly, from the tone of your posts in this thread, your paper-thin superiority complex is doing nothing to counterbalance that negativity.
You're right: America would be nuts if everyone were allowing television to subvert their free will. Problem is, that isn't the case -- and you're the nut, for believing otherwise. You were a sick puppy, stressing yourself out to catch reruns of a 20-year-old show. And today you're like the recovering alcoholic who insists there's no such thing as a "social drinker." To him, everyone who drinks must be an alcoholic. Likewise, to your pathetically egocentric view of the world: You couldn't watch television without becoming obsessed, therefore no one else can, either.
You haven't grown. You haven't matured. You certainly haven't recovered. You've simply replaced one drug with another. And whatever time you may have gained with your friends and family, you've certainly cost yourself plenty of goodwill with your ten-cent attitude that forsaking TV entitles you to a step ahead of everyone else.
From my own experience, I was on cable (pre-digital days) for years. From time to time we would lose service. It got so bad we finally started keeping track. One month we had been without service for a total of a week (this was only when we were home from work). My wife sent our list of dates and times of outages to the cable company with only 75% of the payment and stated "cancel our subscription." We bought a DirecTV system secondhand and we've never looked back.
Does the weather affect the signal? We live in Texas, and only the most torrential rains of thunderstorms will degrade or cause a loss of our signal. Once in the past 8 years solar activity caused a loss of signal for about 15 minutes. Other than that, we always have a crisp, clean picture.
I can guess where some of the exaggerations cable tells come from. If a dish is not mounted properly, the wind could blow it off signal line. If the inclination is too high, it could collect snow or water and lose signal reflection. My retort for cable companies is, "Okay, weather may have an adverse affect on dishes. It's apparent what causes the problem when it happens. What is cable's excuse for losing signal? Earthworms? Tectonic shift?"
Satellite has no hidden costs. Just like any product, you'll see ads promising such and such for a certain price. Any smart consumer knows to ask all the right questions before approaching the checkout line. Anyone just blindly buying a product as advertised deserves what they get.
Pay extra for local channels? Not really. Dish and DirecTV have bundled local channels into packages. Yes, you're paying some extra, but it's not $5 as most people say. I pay $2.50 for 9 local channels.
Pay extra per receiver? Yes, just like the mobile phone services, you pay for how many devices are receiving the service. I don't even know how to answer the other allegations cable has because I've never heard of them. Insurance? Service fees? Outlet fees? Never seen any of them.
I have little experience with DVRs, but I can support what others have said. TiVO works well with almost any satellite receiver. You have all the choices you want in selecting equipment, however, know that you will not receive any package deals.
If you choose some $99 multi-room, installed deal, you'll get basic receivers with no frills. However, if you do some research of which service you choose and which equipment is preferred, you'll have a wide variety of choices: basic receiver, 5.1 Dolby receiver, receiver with DVR, HDTV receiver, or some combination of those options. (HDTV with DVR is on the horizon.)
When you buy any of these receivers, you'll receive a package of how to sign up for the service. Some stores may offer a sale price if you sign a 1 or 2 year contract. Go ahead if you're comfortable with the committment and it saves a large amount.
As for which service, DirecTV and Dish both have pros and cons. DirecTV has sports packages that Dish does not. Dish has some channels that DirecTV does not. For instance, the Nasa channel you mentioned is only available on Dish. While DirecTV does provide regional sports channels, sometimes a blacked out game may be pushed to an alternative channel which you may not receive, but Dish does. Likewise with HBO and other movie packages, Dish may offer more alternative channels within those packages. Digital cable may offer similar advantages, but all the drawbacks to cable make it a no-brainer for me. Research both services websites. They provide great detail of their package listings. I personally prefer DirecTV because the interfaces (receiver dependent) are newer-looking, better organized and have extra options (searches and block lists) that I have yet to see on multiple Dish receivers.
Good luck.
On the internet side, speed is good, but I don't recall the actual numbers. When RH releases a new kernel, it takes me less than 45 min to download (including source) and reboot. Comcast subcontracts newsgroup access to Giganews I'm allowed 1 Gbyte per month on the NNTP side. Anything over the limit eats into the next month's allotment, any "unused" limit does NOT carry over. Refreshing NNTP headers counts as traffic, so if I just sit around and hit "refresh", I'll eventually use up my entire month's allotment of bandwidth, but my headers would be right up to date! ;-)
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
As for the quality of Satalite T.V, mine is great. (Dish Network) I havent lost any signals (3 snow storms, and a heck of a lot of rain storms) since I got my setup. (Back in November 2003) Of course my signal is maxed out for both satalites (119E and W) =) The overall package is nice (I pay 54.00 for the top 100 plus all the HBO and Cinemax channels) I havent tried their DVR yet, but they are offering a HD DVR package with a HD T.V for $999, just have to convince the wife. ;)
OK, I'm in Canada and use Starchoice, but I think the "satellite is useless if it rains hard" excuse is somewhat overblown. I've had my satellite signal degrade far enough that I had to do anything about it a total of about 4 times (over approx 3 years). Once was due to the object the dish was mounted to was collapsing (resulting in the dish pointing at the ground), an the other 3 times was due to snow piled up on the dish. Heavy rain only degrades my signal from 5-10 points (where I'm usually around 80, and the picture doesn't seem to degrade until under 50....).
Forget cable, period. Check out http://steve.dbstalk.com/dbs/packagecomparison.htm
Overall, Direct is better for sports (they have exclusives on the NFL & MLB packages, if that interests you), while Dish is better for movies--they have several good channels Direct does not have.
Both are MUCH better than Comcast, out local provider.
I got my first dish. Luckily I used to to shield me from EMP when the transformer blew up outside.
I don't know how many other Slashdotters this bothers, but Comcast runs a lot of commercials in our area that focus on how difficult the DirecTV dish is to install. The families that they use for the focus of the commercials leave me dumbfounded as to how people can be so stupid that they can't follow a few directions.
One commercial has this single guy complaining that the dish instructions wanted him to put the dish mounting rod in a bucket of cement. He says, "Where am I going to mix cement? I live in an apartment." So it shows how he rigged the dish onto a small bookcase or shelving unit, and then put the whole deal on his porch. Of course, the wind knocked it over without any trouble whatsoever, and this guy thinks it's DirecTV that's got the problems. Well, the problem is that you are too stupid to figure out how to mix a little bit of cement in a freaking bucket, you idiot. You go to Home Depot, talk to a man in an orange apron, and he'll show you what to do. A bucket, cement mix, water, and a stick to mix it with, maybe, and be sure not to eat any, as it is not the paste that you, no doubt, devoured in elementary school.
Another commercial talks about how the guy had to hook up the satellite dish kind of far away from the TV that he was hooking it to. So in order to find out if he was catching the signal, his wife talks about how he had to set up an elaborate system of mirrors so that he could see the television to tell if the dish was pointed in the right direction. Whatever happened to having your wife yell to you when the signal is right? No, I guess that isn't an option, you probably have her and all of your children busy holding up mirrors.
These are just a couple of examples of the idiots that the marketing people at Comcast think the general public will identify with, and that really causes me to be worried about the intelligence of the general public.
I've had DirecTV for 6+ years. Normally, every channel comes in with the same perfect reception. The only problems I've had are 'rain fade' where I lose reception (down to nothing) just before the rain starts to fall when a heavy downpour is starting. My dish is over some bushes, so sometimes birds will gather around the dish for a second or so and knock it out. A plane flying by will also kill the feed for about a second (very uncommon). My reception is only knocked out for a second or so 1-2 times per week. Half hour outages 1-2 times per year. 30 second outages about 6 times per year. Heavy snow does not do anything to my reception. I'm in Kansas City, so my dish angle doesn't allow for any buildup of snow or rain. DirecTV customer service is quick. I added HBO and had it turned on before the call was over. You can also add channels via the net.
I've always had problems with cable. Signal strength drops because of cable thieves or frugal cable company turning down the power. Cut or fallen cable lines or mistaken disconnects take 24+ hours to fix. It takes big lying balls for cable providers to claim you'll get a better and more consistent feeds from them.
TiVo service only adds $5 per month. Before you sign up for DirecTV, you need to know that their TiVo package doesn't include Home Media Option (HMO) that you may want for transferring DVR material between receivers in different rooms. Not because of any incompatibilites, but because DirecTV are Hollywood Whores (TM) that refuse to add it. I'm personally looking into other providers over this issue.
Dish Network carries the NASA-TV channel as part of its basic package. DirectTV does not, according to their website. It looks like ComCast here doesn't have NASA-TV either. YMMV.
If you open your mind too wide, people will throw trash in it.
I've had DirecTV for about two years now in the suburban Maryland / Washington DC Metropolian region. My roommates have comcast land-line cable via the local comcast franchise. So I've seen both and I'll report on my experiences.
:)
1) Picture quality. I consider the picture quality of my DirecTV system and my roommate's comcast digital cable to be about the same. 98% of the time the picture is excellent and I'm impressed with the sharpness and colors on my Sony 27" Triniton. The other 2% of the time the broadcast provided to DirecTV by the supplier (such as TBS Superstation) is low-quality and pixellation and color problems are noticeable. Note that I can see the same problems with either digital cable or DirecTV when the supplied programming is low-quality. For things like HBO original content, the picture quality is excellent!
2) Viewing Experience: I have two DirecTivo units -- Tivos designed specifically for DirecTV satellite signals -- and I couldn't be happier. The combination being able to easily navigate channels, automatically record my favorite shows, record two shows while watching a third and suggest programs to Tivo that it will record onto unused disk space is a joy. I don't watch commercials anymore and I watch what I want when I want. This means sitcoms take about 22 minutes to watch when I skip the commercials, and I can watch West Wing with 2-3 clicks of a remote control while I'm eating breakfast the morning after it's aired. With my two DirecTivos, that's four tuners available at one time and about 200 hours of available on-demand programming.
3) Cost and Reliability: My DirecTV service costs about $39 a month for basic service and local channels re-broadcast through the satellite dish. I add another $12 for HBO and that's much lower than my roommate's would pay for the same service with comcast. I get a better experience at a lower price. I haven't had ANY downtime with my Tivos or my DirecTV service -- I experience none of the disruption others have complained about during rain or snow.
4) Comparison to cable: While I've had consistent good experiences with DirecTV, my roommates suffer the pains of our local comcast franchise. Perhaps our local company is not as good as others, but I have observed them going through week-long periods of having to call the cable company and fight their way through to clueful people in order to resolve problems with service. We have a long history of our house of bad experiences with comcast and it hasn't gotten any better.
I definitely recommend DirecTV -- especially WITH DirecTivo-style Tivo service -- to anyone that asks. Other than the price break you may receive with a land line cable tv + cable internet + phone package, I can't see why anyone would not want the DirecTV setup I have
Disclaimer: I'm an honest guy -- I receive no kickbacks, funds, bribes or other compensation from DirecTV. I'm worried about Rupert Murdoch owning DirecTV and things might not be as good in the future, but I'm happy with them enough to recommend them right now!
On item #2:
I found that the cable tuner boxes *always* lagged behind the quickness of satellite tuners. I'd press a channel and then have to wait for nearly 2 seconds between when TiVo hit the "done" signal for the digital cable box.
Unacceptable.
Do it for da shorties
well it does, but not how you think.
it's when something gets inbetween the DISH and the LNBF, this is where the signal is focused and most suseptibal; such as raindrops, that causes "rain fade".
to prevent this, you can either put the dish where this cannot happen, or buy a "dish cover".
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
I've had DirecTV in the Pacific Northwest area, and it has never gone out on me (unless I forgot to pay the bill, in which case it was back on immediately after making a payment with their automated telephone system).
I know we don't get storms of the same ferocity as, say, the lower eastern seaboard, but we do get our share of bigguns in the winter. Oh yeah, and it rains nine months a year here.
So the bit about it "going out" is just wrong.
The only minor complaint I have is this: channel switching is slower than cable, and noticeable. This is due to buffer/lag time while your decoder waits for bits from the bird. Unavoidable.
P.S.: I like the OSD and browsable channel guide. There are so many channels now that waiting for the cable "schedule channel" to roll over to the station you want can take ten minutes or more! With DirecTV, you can page (or directly goto by entering station number) to the channel whose schedule you wish to see.
Get a DirectTV with built in Tivo. You will not regret it.
When I lived in apartments I was a longtime Comcast subscriber and had a Tivo. When I bought a house I went with two DirectTiVos and droped Comcast (due to poor quality) for everything excpet the local channels (I still have the old TiVo) and internet connectivity.
I mounted the DirectTV dish at the top eve of my house and ran all new wiring. It took only a couple of hours. Reception is near perfect and it rarely goes out (once last year) and when it does it goes out for only a few minutes (missed about 20 minutes of three seperate shows when it did go out)
Fast forward. My new room mate works for Comcast, so we now get all of the Comcast channels as well as the DirectTV channels so I can compare them both side by side. DirectTV has a better signal, better quality compression, goes out less, and the TiVo built into the receiver is much more reliable than the TiVo using infrared to talk to the Comcast receiver. The infrared works about 98% of the time... which means we miss 1 out of every 50 recordings which comes out to about a show every two weeks or so. Sometimes it is nothig important like the nightly news and sometimes it is a first run show.
Comcast's non digital channels are of poor to great quality - depending on the channel. DirectTV's channels are consistantly great. Comcast's signal tends to go out at least a couple times a year. Especially during storms when lines go down. When it goes out it tends to stay out for a couple of hours.
Adelphia internet service has been pretty good for me, but I liked the DirecTV service MUCH better. It was cheaper, more full featured, and had integrated Tivo service. I miss it.
Oh, and what everyone else said about those ridiculous commercials. Weather had zero effect on my DirecTV signal.
_/\ - Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crud.
I was television-free from 1995 to 2001. I felt self-righteous about it, too. I read books, rented movies, went to the symphony, hung out with friends, etc. Underneath it all, I was wearing the no-TV hair shirt.
.............. kris
I made a mistake not watching television for so long--I missed out on some good shows--I could have always turned the thing off when the show was over. Instead, I felt like a hero for resisting the temptation to watch Seinfeld or Star Trek. It was misplaced self-discipline.
Finally, I figured out that not watching good shows on TV is like not going to good movies or not reading good books. Resist the temptation to wear the hair shirt.
"I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me."
I live in seattle as well and our DTV signal is awesome. We have DTivo in one room and another regular box in another room. We will probably add a second DTivo box too because we use the tivo so much that the housemates are always fighting over it.
We got the DTivo package which I thought included our other box. I also believe that we get NASA TV.
This
When I was choosing between Comcast cable and DSS Satellite in Minnesota, Comcast did not have a published list of what you were getting in their packages (although they would read the list off over the phone). Anyway, a well-aligned dish almost never goes out, I have had much greater problems with cable. There is one top reason though to get DSS satellite. The $99 RCA DirecTivo box with dual receivers. Buddy - once you have dual receiver Tivo you will NEVER go back. Plus only $5 a month for service. There is no better money spent on geek goodness than that!
Jim - your name is Jim...
Satellite receivers are a much better choice than Comcast. In about 1 1/2 years of service from Dish Network I have not experienced any drop outs due to weather, some pretty fierce rain storms blow in off the Pacific during the winter. Only outage was when there was some major glitch in their system that took service down for several days. A receiver went comatose after about a year and a replacement was sent out without any delay. It died within a few days but customer service promptly sent another one out. Call tags for UPS were included for return of the DOA units. Customer support and service has been very good without any delays or being stuck in voice mail hell.
u kt e/DM7000_featurelist.php
Current offers of DVR receivers seem to be a good deal but have not gone this route yet.
In addition to the pay satellite services, you can also receive free digital satellite broadcasts from other satellites. Most notably Telstar 5 in North America. All you need is a receiver, LNB and a 30-36 inch dish pointing in the correct direction. Telstar 5 provides a wide range of programming (both video and audio) from around the world:
http://www.lyngsat.com/t5.shtml
There is quite a bit info available on the net for what is termed "free to air" satellite broadcasts. Software tools ( http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html)and websites will calculate the proper look angles and such for setting up the dish.
In the Linux arena a German company offers several Linux based satellite receivers with quite a host of customizable features.
http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/Bereiche/Prod
There is lot more to satellite programnming and reception than just the pay services.
Don't even think about hacking the systems for free service. EchoStar's crypto system is very sophisticated.
:-)
Bullshit. I was running a hacked Expressvu for about a year and a bit with no issues whatsoever.
A PII will make short work of any encryption that needs to be processed by a smartcard
I've been reading the responses to this thread most of the afternoon (on and off) and have not come across a pro-cable post by anyone.
I think that says a lot.
Do it for da shorties
As a matter of fact, one day after a particularly nasty ice storm I checked the dish (mounted on the south side of my roof) and it was covered with about a 1/2 inch thick layer of ice, but the signal I was getting was still above 100 (usually around 120).
Other friends of mine who also have satellite have not had any problems with inclement weather affecting the signal.
My only regrets with satellite:
My previous bill with Time Warner Cable was $65+ for the standard package (31 channels, analog signal) and with Dish Network it's about $30/mo with two receivers and 50 digital channels. Dish also gives me the PPV stuff that TW never did for their most basic package.
I'm never going back. But then again, I don't watch an inordinate amount of tv either.
...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
I've had DirectTV for the last seven years, off and on, in five different states from Baltimore to San Francisco. While I'm not affiliated with any compnay, DirecTV now considers me a "VIP customer" and I'll share my experiences with both geosychronous and gopher based technology.
Two things first: As others posters have so eloquently said, Tivo and DirecTV is a beautiful, symbiotic creation. There is no reason to consider anything else if you plan on using a PVR of any type (especially if you are a new subscriber due to the fantastic deals on equipment).
Comcast is, again, Satan's revenge. All the horror stories are true, the customer service is worse, and downtime a corporate mantra.
Signal loss is not an issue with properly connected and installed equipment. I lost signal once in Colorado during a record snowstorm that had some obscene rate of fall (in the inches per hour range). Otherwise, no outages other than a cable cut by a cable installer (no joke, he was installing in a neighbors unit and tried to split off of what he thought was an existing cable connection) and a ground that went bad.
Programming availability will be either the same or better than your local cable provider, depending on offerings, and usually more flexible in adding channels a la carte. Prices are better, and you can't get the sports packages anywhere else. I now live in Chicago (still no reception problems) and the only way to see hockey on TV with any regularity is with NHL Center Ice (The NFL Sunday ticket is also fantastic as you aren't stuck watching whatever game the local affiliate is shoving down your throat).
The decision is yours, but I have now been Satellite consistent for the last 3 years and couldn't be happier. I also pay about 10 bucks a month with local channels, tivo, and an upgraded package than my fiance does for basic cable.
All I know is, there was a storm the other week in Ontario, and our cable went out, the only station I got was off of the airwaves, that being a local CBC affiliate.
What commercial do I see when I finally find the only non-fuzzy station on the television? - one from my cable provider laughing at the idiots with satellites who's signal goes down in a storm.
I sat there, with no cable tv, and no Internet (cablemodem down too) gritting my teeth, knowing the gods of Irony would soon shine on my fortune.
Then I read a book. Sweet release.
I simply dread the day when my ISP and my TVsp is also my electricitySP.
Things I liked about Dish Network. 1. Picture quality was generally better than the cable in my area (Cox). 2. Dish was still working when an icestorm took out the local cable system. Only had to go out once and lightly tap the feedhorn with a broom handle to remove ice accumulation. 3. Better channel selection. 4. PPV easier to use. Things I disliked about Dish Network. 1. Upfront cost of equipment (unless you have good credit and can get a system for free if they have a special going). 2. Have to have a separate receiver for each TV if each TV wants to watch a different channel. 3. No locals available (that has now changed in my area - and it happened right after I moved and sold my equipment...sheesh). 4. You DO lose signal during very heavy rain (mainly thunderstorms...normal rain showers will not affect it if the dish is pointed properly). 5. Have to mount the dish itself and run the cables, unless you spend money and hire someone for install. 6. Have to deal with a national call-center instead of a local office when problems (mainly billing - but few problems occurred nonetheless) arise. Things I like about Cable. 1. No big upfront cost. 2. No need for separate receivers for each TV, unless you get digital cable, which I don't have. 3. Got locals and network channels on same service (available on DISH as well in most markets). 4. Wire all rooms and connect them to a single splitter outside. 5. Local office to deal with when problems arise. Things I don't like about cable. 1. During storms, outages occur which can affect entire town or neighborhood. 2. Less channel choices 3. Typically higher rates than Dish for the same programming (at least in my area).
You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
Do you ever have real bad weather - such as REAL heavy rain, REAL hard wind ? If so you will experience small outages with Sat-TV.
I've used both - and I quit Dish because they were always calling me to sell crap even though I'm on the no-call list.
Just like wireless internet vs. dsl and wireless microphones vs. cable microphones - a hard line beats all the others in quality and speed ( but not convenience ).
I have comcast with internet service - a real bargain and very reliable so far ( 3 months ).
I'm a former DSL user who got tired of Earthlink's crap - not a very good service.
Comcast offers the best of both worlds - and will be rolling out HDTV very soon - tho I won't have a receiver to match that for at least a year.
Also - Sat TV has brief outages when their orbits traverse the solar ecliptic a few times a year.
As for technical issues, I've had satellite tv (DSS, Dish, etc) in several locations, and the thing is that it all depends on how securely you install the dish (have done it myself a couple times without difficulty) and how accurately you aim it. As for weather interference, keep in mind that the cable company gets ITS signal off the satellites too, so any weather that is going to mess up your signal is going to mess theirs up too.
I am currently on Adelphia digital cable with their internet service as well. I have experienced outages of a few minutes to half a day at least half a dozen times in the last three months since I got the upgrade to Powerlink.
Objectively speaking, its six of one, half a dozen of the other.
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves
Sorry if I'm duping others answers, I'm heading out the door.
The cable companies are full of shit. If your dish is properly installed, outages are very minor. I lose signal maybe 10 minutes a year, when it's absolutely raining like hell. It doesn't even notice normal rain showers, only torrential downpours.
Also, the picture quality is better on satellite.
I have Dish Network, if it matters. If I was getting new I'd probably look at DirecTV because of their TiVO tie-in; you can get a 35 hour tivo for about $99 or less when you sign up. Dish has a PVR but no TiVO-like service, even though they do charge you to have a PVR hooked up.
The quality is excellent on satellite but if you live in a windy area I'd be careful. I spent 7 months in Wellington, NZ and the wind was so bad I'd have signal trouble at least once a week and sometimes daily. Generally in was intermittent pixelation but at times it went out for most of the day. When it gets bad enough you simply loose the signal completely. Wellington is an extreme case but if you live in an area with a lot of windy weather I'd consider cable. Otherwise satellite would be my choice. In a pinch if the dish is ground mounted you might be able rig a windscreen. I've heard dense fog will cause problems but wind was my biggest problem. Best of luck.
Amen brother! Dealing with Comcast customer service has consistently been a pain in the $#@% for me
DirecTV goes out all the time! Whenever we lose electricity, or if I forget to pay them, poof! it's gone! It's so upsetting.
Seriously (ok, less un-seriously) I used to have Comcast, now I have DirecTV, and I can't see why I would ever go back (although I only had analog Comcast, not digital). Maybe strong winds interfere with the picture occasionally, but the downtime I've experienced is miniscule compared with cable. Cable goes out when the cable gets cut (3 days downtime for cable in my neighberhood), when the satellite acts up you just have to wait for the wind gust to stop (1-10 seconds, usually).
Back when I had cable, it also went out in bad weather. When it did, you almost always needed to request a remote reset from the cable company. They had an option for this in the voice mail menus on the Customer Support number, but thunderstorms often knocked the voice mail offline too, and there were no people answering phones evenings and weekends, so a Friday night storm could hose you all weekend. That's what drove me to DSS, it was only out during heavy rain/snow and came back as soon as the storm let up.
YMMV
In some areas the cable service stinks. Cable in SE Michigan/North Oarkland County is down as much as 10 days in a month with a rare month of uninterrupted service...and it will be a cold day in hell when they prorate billing for missed service. Folks with cable modems and home business's in my neighborhood love reverting to dial-up.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
The only constant is change, padiwan.
--- Ban humanity.
I used to live out in the country in Southern Alberta where it is _VERY_ common for the wind to blow over 100km/h. Never once did the wind affect the signal quality of our Star Choice satellite service. Every now and then durring a nasty snow storm would the service go out for a couple of hours. This might have happened half a dozen times in 4 years.
However, we ended up moving into town and converting to Digial Cable provided by Shaw. The picture is good and all but it's the guide that really shows the flaws of digital cable. With one 30min column of shows and slow menus, picking a show gets frustrating quick! The lack of channels for the same price is also harsh. Less than 100 channels compared to 400 for the same 50 dollars a month.
Another difference is the way Pay Per View works. With both digital cable and satellite you can order right off of the menu. However, satellite requires a telephone connection whereas digital cable uses the coax already running to it. This can be a minor inconvenience if you need the phone.
The only significant draw back to satellite I can see is the equipment and installation costs. But satellite is by far the best choice IMO.
I had a dish. It was installed in winter and all was (mostly) well. Snow messed it up some.
In the spring leaves on a tree in the line of site to the sat completely hosed my signal.
I refuse to use a technology that can be defeated by a leaf!
HDTV for Satellite will run you at least $500 for the equipment, whereas HDTV on Cable is only about a $5 monthly charge.
Plus, you get the local channels in HDTV.
This year there will be Motorola PVR with single and dual tuners. And VOD is also coming within a few months in my area (already enabled in other areas).
and satellite wins (at least in my area). It's cheaper, has more available channels, and more reliable.
As far as the "losing signal when the wind blows" - the only time I ever lost signal on satellite was during a *severe* thunderstorm when the clouds were directly overhead. Generally the signal loss didn't last very long (30 minutes was the longest ever). It would happen 2-3 times a year.
In contrast my cable did, in fact, go out every time the wind blew *AND* every time there was a storm. See, the cable offices receive the signal they're broadcasting through...a satellite dish! But when the wind started blowing and moving the cable on the poles it cause problems and I usually either totally lost signal or had something totally unwatchable. Another problem is that, in general, the digital cable boxes seem to be lagging behind the satellite boxes so I saw a *lot* more artifacting on cable whereas I rarely saw it on satellite.
Do yourself a favor and go w/ satellite. I used DirecTV and didn't have any problems but Dish seems to be OK as well.
ObTagLine: The more you run over the 'possum, the flatter it gets.
It's amazing how much bandwidth a single insulated and shielded 18 gauge copper conductor can handle IMO, cable is the way t go for now. With 256QAM coming in the future, you'll be able to receive 43 Mbps for each 6 MHz wide channel from about 50-1000 MHz. Even with the current 64QAM implementation, there's lots of bandwidth to go around.
With satellite, the problem really isn't the finicky dish behavior (overly dramatized), but the fact that it's a bottleneck. Currently the DSS providers don't have the bandwidth necessary to broadcast local HD programming. The only way to increase the bandwidth is to launch more satellites. That takes time and money, so if you want local DTV channels, you'll need a plain old UHF/VHF antenna to grab the over-the-air signals.
Your average HD broadcast is between 15 and 20 Mbps. 15 being 720p and 20 being 1080i. Should 1080p come along, that would roughly double the bandwidth requirement of 1080i. The DSS providers are going to have to resort to more aggressive compression sooner than the cable providers...
Why is TV so popular and important to geeks?
Let's see. There's never anything on. Reality shows are a constant reminder that people will do anything for money. Its main purpose is to advertise to its paying customers. And its mostly just a waste of time.
I know we are creatures of comfort, but don't you know that TV and the telephone and the people who think these mediums are the future are what is holding us back?
Without them we'd all have broadband connections, free A/V confrencing/chatting/IM software, and access to all the content in the world. With them we have a few hours of garbage advertisements waiting for us around dinner time every night and the opportunity to always pay less but never get what you want.
After reading the posts on here, it's clear that most people have pretty definite opinions on which option is the best. Would it be too difficult to integrate a poll on top of "stories" like this, where readers could add in their opinions when the options are rather limited? Rather than tallying up the responses, I'd like to see how many /.'ers prefer satellite to cable - although, from the posts, it seems that satellite has carried the day.
this is what i first assumed about tivo when i bought one nearly 2 years ago: that you simply plug the cable feed directly into the box and an internal tuner would change channels.
the actual process is far more low tech, however. tivo contains no cable tuner, so it intercepts the analog signal sent between your cable provider's box and your television. it changes the channel via it's own "remote" (either a serial connection plugged into the back of the box, or, for the unlucky many, an IR transmitter i had to tape onto the front of the cable box), and records content whenever it's scheduled to do so. tivo is effectively your own private couch potato.
i lost signal once - something to do with the foot of snow and ice on my dish. it's been *perfect* other than that.
:)
pvr may not be as good as tivo, but it's soooo much better than regular tv. i will *never* watch live tv again - every hour of television only takes me 25 minutes to watch now
j
I've never had a problem with (my roomate's) DirecTV...
UNTIL THE SUPER BOWL
I swear I thought it was Comcast attacking the satellites, but whatever caused it - we didn't see the last touchdown of the game, and were worried that we'd miss what turned out to be the final field goal.
Of course, I'm not really into football, so it was about the funniest thing I've ever seen. 30-something people all in our house watching the DirecTV reconnect to the satellite. Good stuff.
In my experience watching DirectTV is like watching movies on a 256-color monitor. I often wonder if DirectTV even has 256 colors. Shadows are a mosaic of grey rectangles, dark scenes look like shit, you can clearly see the key frames every second, etc. Football is the WORST. On long shots, once a second the players look like players, the rest of the time they are a jumble of pixels with an aura of jumbled pixels around them. NOT big screen TV material.
For all I know digital cable could be worse. I'm sticking with analog cable (which is often free with a cable modem...)
my vote has to go for satilite. if only becuase I live out in the boonies, where I *Can't get* cable.
Cable stops about 10 miles down the road, as does DSL, and any other form of supossed "Civilized" communication...
so I'd say satalite has some big points going for it there
I will not give in to the terrorists. I will not become fearful.
Disclaimer: Until just recently, I worked for DirecTV (left of my own volition for a more flexible job). That said, here is my honest opinion and/or observations about your questions:
;-)
Comcast is the local cable provider in my area, and are playing TV spots about how satellite TV signals can be lost when it rains, when the wind blows, and even when the dog sneezes (I'm sure the dog sneezing excuse in the commercials are more for humor than fact).
This is bullshit. Many cable companies, including my own (CableOne), make similar statements. Consider the source.
If your dish is properly aligned, the weather has to be quite severe to interrupt your signal. If it is quite severe, you will probably get signal interruptions, freeze-framing, pixelization, etc.
A few anecdotal examples:
My grandmother has a sparse tree (not sure of the species, it has leaves so is not a pine) directly in front of her dish. When I visited during the monsoon season, most of her transponders had a signal strength of 75-85. DirecTV recommends a signal strength of 70 or higher in clear weather to prevent signal loss in trivially bad weather. 80, IMO, is a safer number to shoot for. If you are a true geek, you will probably fine tune it to get it in the high 90's.
- I have never lost picture, even in fairly severe snowstorms. I made sure my dish was well aligned though.
If the dish is poorly aligned usually due to a customer self-installation or due to an installation by Halstedt Communications, an installation company known by DirecTV employees for being almost universally incompetent. Unofficially, of course.
What has been Slashdot readers' experience with cable and satellite TV? I'm looking at trying to balance cost versus quality of signal and picture. How much does the weather affect the signal quality of satellite TV reception?
Digital cable and DirecTV have a nearly identical picture quality from what I have seen. Many channels in "digital" cable packages are analog, then you pay to add a set of digital channels on top of the analog base package. Analog picture quality varies based on a great number of factors, and IMO goes from "fairly decent" to "almost as good as pure digital." IIRC, DirecTV's picture is 480^2 MPEG-2 video, but I cannot recall for sure. Digital cable is probably the same or similar.
Weather does not effect picture quality at all. Generally, you either have it or you don't. Freeze-framing and pixelization can occur with very bad signal strength, but I consider this "not having it at all"
If all but obviously severe weather effects your satellite signal, call and have your vendor come and fix it. There is no reason that you should have to put up with losing your signal more than during a couple of really bad storms per year, and even then, not for more than half an hour (unless the storm lasts quite a long time).
Some satellite packages include a DVR (Comcast doesn't offer one yet in my area). Is it worth getting the DVR supplied by the satellite company (DirectTV, DishNetwork), or is buying a separate TiVo a better option? As a geek, I'm also interested in getting NASA TV."
All vendors' PVRs except DirecTV's are very basic. Tivo is, IMHO, simply a superior service, giving you much more than just recording. HOWEVER, it does have a monthly fee. Some PVR services (the very basic ones) do not.
A few important notes:
If you get a Tivo for anything other than DirecTV,
the recording will not really be digital. Non-DirecTV Tivos are designed to accept an analog signal (to be compatible with a wide variety of TV services), so that analog signal is converted to digital to actually record to disk, then back to analog again for playback. If you have a digital connection from your RV to Tivo, only the one conversion takes place.
Tivo for non-DirecTV is also much more expensive. $12.00USD per month last time I checked. It is $4.99 for DirecTV customers (whether you use a DirecT
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
On the other hand, if you use a TiVo, and always record on the lowest quality, you're not going to notice too much of a difference with satellite, though bad weather will noticably chop up the signal (wind and wildlife vibrating or reaiming the dish, dense clouds/fog, heavy rain, ice forming on it in cold weather, snow buildup, etc), I remember when times were better and I shared a 4BR/2BA house with a bunch of friends and we could easily afford every channel DirecTV offered, nice clear warm night, open all the doors and windows, and turn on a movie with a signal so clear you would have thought you were on analog cable and lived inside the headend.
Broadband, however...I've had Verizon and Qwest and some time or another for a DSL provider. They both suck so bad that I don't even trust them with my landline anymore, they lost my business to Vonage. Cable is the least of all evils. They'll let you get internet service a-la carte without television if you want (which is how we did it in said big-ass house, plus half of us worked for @Home, so we got 30Mbps/10Mbps for free anyway). The half of us in that house that worked for @Home, both used and loved @Home. I knew, at the time, about as many people who worked for Qwest and one guy who worked for Verizon. All the guys who worked for Qwest really had a hard time even selling their service to their customers, and were @Home customers themselves and loved cable. The guy from Verizon might know where the power button on a computer is if it's got a big, neon sign flashing, pointing at it, and the button itself is illuminated and clearly labelled.
The correct answer should be intuitive by this point. 8:o)
Help us build a better map!
An important note:
Many problems with installations are from people ordering their stuff from a backwater sleezeball company.
I recommend you get your stuff directly from DirecTV or from a reputable vendor like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.
Calling 1-800-DIRECTV does not necessarily get you to DirecTV itself!
It is a national # setup to route you to a local dealer.
If you want to actually get your stuff from direcTV, call the general customer service phone # at 800-355-5000 and do whatever you need to do to talk to someone from the phone menu. It doesn't matter who. Then, ask for the sales department. They will ask if you have a credit card (say YES) and if you have ever had DirecTV before (say NO).
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
Almost. It won't work with C-band satellite.
Pisses me off, frankly.
--
I don't want to rule the world... I just want to be in charge of mayonnaise.
A friend of mine, had a dish for 6 months, we hang out at his house all the time to drink, watch movies, sports, etc.
:P
Durring this time, there was a huge blizard that rolled through. The picture quailty was really bad, when there was signal at all. We had to keep going outside to clean the dish off. If anything gets inside it, it will start crapping out.
Durring normal rain, you will notice little "bleeps" here and there on the picture. Typically, it only happens 2 times durring a 1 hour show and its very minor. However, durring very heavy down pours, the signal disappears. At times, there is signal but its unbareable to even look at.
The only times wind will affect your signal, is if your dish isn't properly secured. Any movment on the dish will create poor signal. Of course things like leaves, branchs, acorns, etc will create problems.
Now, he moved over to digital cable. It rocks, very little downtime at all. Plus, ondemand is great. Just make sure you get the best package they have. Starz and Cenimax are the best ondemand packages out there. The movie selection is generally much better. Depending on your cable provider, they are usually free access as long as you have the big package. I rent over 100 movies a month with it for free. Beats renting from the video store. But, the video store is going to have a better selection
I would recommend what others have suggested. Get cable first, try it for a few months, then switch to the dish. The dish companys are giving out good deals to people who switch from cable. Try it for a few months, if you don't like it vs cable, many cable companys are giving out the same deals to switch back.
until (succeed) try { again(); }
I've got the Dish Network, and only have problems with reception in exceptionally bad thunderstorms (few times a year at max). TiVo is expensive and redundant. Just get a good capture/graphics card with 1080i support and you can do all kinds of video capture/editing/compression on your PC.
Tivo is great. Can't live without it.
HD is great.
DirectTV will have an HD DirectTivo box very soon, if it's not out yet. There will not be a HD Tivo box for cable for a relatively long time.
I'd suggest waiting for the HD DirectTivo box to come out, then sign up for DirectTv. The best deals and newest boxes always go to new subscribers.
If Chaos Theory has taught us anything, it's that we must kill all the butterflies.
I'd go with satellite TV. The Comcast campaign is ridiculous FUD. I have seen rain outages of competently installed satellite receivers in really heavy rainfall, but just as often (i.e., very rarely) I have seen entire cable systems taken out by malfunction or misadjustment of hardware at the headend.
You usually have a pretty good idea of when a thunderstorm is going to end; good luck trying to explain an engineering problem to the customer service rep who answers the cable company's phone.
(I'm a Comcast customer, but that's because I live six miles from the CO, well out of DSL range, under a lot of big trees.)
Digital cable isn't bad if you can get a good deal on it, or if you're forced to deal with it due to obstacles to satellite signal reception. Satellite is generally a better value though. If you're heavily into sports, DirecTV has a little more to offer, while if you're not, Dish seems like a slightly better option.
One thing to consider is that as DirecTV and Dish have added more programming, they've had to split it up over multiple satellites. Back when I first set up my DTV dish, I only had to point it in one place and I was done. Nowdays, they want to set things up so at least two satellites are being picked up at once, and the receiver switches between them as needed. Someone across the street from me has tall trees in their yard that block out my reception on one of the additional satellites -- so I can't ever get some of the newer channels they added. (Luckily for me, it's not yet a big issue. The stuff I'm missing is nothing I'd watch anyway.... but it will become a BIG problem if I upgrade to HD and want the special HD stations they added.)
Just FYI, too - there have traditionally been lots of people getting satellite because they had intentions of hacking it and getting "all the channels" for the price of just a basic subscription (or in some cases, without one at all). Right now, it's a *rough* time for people trying to go that route. DirecTV, in particular, has gotten VERY aggressive at prosecuting vendors of the programming/hacking tools needed to pull it off. Dish recently sent down card/firmware updates that knocked out some of the long-standing commercial "hacked cards" you could slip in your receiver and unlock all the programming. The folks supporting these hacks have largely sold their U.S. or Canadian operations to off-shore groups of unknown trustworthiness, too.
And turn on real life.
On the other hand, cable is a chaotic beast, if you loose signal with cable, and you will, trust me, you will have no idea what is going on because the cable lines are under the ground where they could be cut into with a shovel or something of this manner, OR in the worst case scenario, it's something on the cable company's side or has something to do with your local city utilities cutting into the ground and cutting some wires which could be fixed in an hour, or a week; it really just depends upon how many people there are with cable in your area.
So ultimately, it's your call. You WILL get a better picture and more choices in viewing options with Dish Viewing, or you can have the "always on" (pun intended) cable signal that looks extremely pixelated with little blocks of color that are annoying as hell.
I hope this helps with your decision making.
I live in Berkeley, and we suffer serious "rain fade" during the winter. I've been without signal for a whole night during "hard" rains (and this is Berkeley, where we don't get flash floods). If the winds are strong, that might create problems too.
Dish is far from perfect, but I'm happy enough with the quality to avoid dealing with cable outages.
And yes, my incoming signal is about 99/100, for those who are about to tell me to adjust my dish.
Cable is reliable, assuming your local provider is above the sham level. If you're a "bring it on and I don't want to deal with it" kind of guy, you'll prefer cable.
Satellite has advantages, mostly in the way of programming choices over cable. With cable you're stuck with whatever deal your local provider offers; sat offers choice and in my humble opinion should be seen as programming options rather than service options.
Number one, as always, is cost. Where I'm from, cable and sat are pretty much identical; so it's a push. If that's not the case with your providers, it's gotta be a consideration.
Sat can be unreliable if the dish isn't installed properly.
The sat companies tend to underplay the installation issues. "Buy the dish, throw it up damn near anywhere, you're good to go" is the mantra. They're lying.
You want a solid dish mount. The sat companies tend to suggest that you can just use the cheezy mount that comes in the box and go. In my experience, a handy person can do better and it pays off. My sat is stabilized with "aircraft cable" and turnbuckles, and doesn't move a fraction of an inch in 60 mph winds. It's also mounted on a pole that puts it above power lines and the neighbors. The mount/dish they give you will wallow like jello in a decent wind and you will notice it.
Sat is a kind of digital link, in that as long as you get 55% or so signal, it's fine. Drop below that even a bit and it starts to crap out, and in a digital sort of way it's all good or it's all crap. I get 85% plus and in a 60 mph gale or solid downpour I still get over 60%.
Even if they swear the little dish they give you is fine, you can always do better with a bigger dish. The improvement in signal strength really matters if trouble-free is important to you. Spring for a larger dish and you will never regret it; it does make a big difference.
People who lose reception due to snow, rain and obstructions are people who bought the party line and use the dish that comes with the cheapest bundle, and mounted it the way the instructions said to. I live in a heavy snow zone and it's less of a problem than rain or wind. You can buy a cover that is signal-transparent but keeps snow and rain off the dish. They work fine.
Don't believe their lies (and by "their" I mean the dish networks, not the users, who, after all, just trusted the sat company to tell it like it is).
If that's too much trouble or not a viable option due to your location or whatever, then go with cable. Personally I despise the cable company, but I'm not too proud to suck it up when they're the best option. If I lived in an apartment I'd go cable without a second thought.
Okay, slightly off topic...
Is there any secret to getting the cable company (Cablevision here in Westchester County, NY) to fix the local infrastructure?
The first broadband available was cable, and while it worked, it was great. But I would lose the signal at least 3 times a week. Sometimes on weekends (when we would notice it) the signal would go up and down every five minutes.
Yep, we had all the Cablevision idiots out every other week. And of course, when they showed up, it would be working. Or they would replace coaxial cable, and show off their technical skills but showing me that the center conductor moved ("yeah, last guy already showed me that...")
I finally noticed that when my digital cable signal was lost, channels 2, 4 and 5 would get fuzzy or worse.
Every "technician" would claim it was the cable running from the basement up into the house, but with the cable modem at the Cablevision demarc point in the basement, I would drop the signal.
Neighbors across the street haven't reported similar problems, so I assuming (yeah, yeah...) that it's not the entire neighborhood loop.
I'm trying to balance having to take 4 hours off work every other week to stand in my basement and watch some knucklehead replace coaxial cable vs. wanting that faster access back. But I can't seem to convince anyone at Cablevision that it's out there (*pointing at the pole across the street*) and not in my house.
Twenty miles north of Times Square and I can't get more than 128K....sheeeesh......
Um, there's no monthly fee for the Dish PVR. The one I have (think it's a 508) occassionally ends up in a software loop that requires a reboot (maybe every 2-3 months) but otherwise works quite nicely. Image quality is much better than normal cable. The features on the PVR are fewer than on a Tivo, but then I find Tivo's graphics and sound effects annoying. As for outages in bad weather - yes, in severe thunder storms the signal can be lost for some minutes. Funny thing is, here in Vermont the local Adelphia cable also gets its signal via satellite, and also goes out in those storms. Snow has never affected my signal - and we do see a lot of that.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
On the Dish network, you can create a number (forget how many) of custom lists that you shift between by hitting the "Guide" button more than once - with the last one you used as a default so you don't have to keep hunting down lists.
I have an HDTV and a normal box, both do the same thing though the HDTV box does not offer a live view of the current channel while you are selecting in the guide.
My only beef with Dish is that I wish a lot more channels were in HDTV, I would go with Voom in a heartbeat if the price dropped below $500. Paying $10 a month for Discovery HDTV just to get one decent channel of HD is rather pitiful. I also get Los Angeles CBS in HDTV thanks to a special waver, though they are shifted about two hours from my timezone so I have to watch stuff late if I want to see it on HDTV.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Sure some of their stuff is behind, but sometimes you catch news on things you missed. And TechLive is only a day or two behind Slashdot usually, not three months...
But really TechTV is worth it just for XPlay. Once you get beyond the hokey 8th-grade camera work, it's a pretty good show with decent reviews and the hosts are pretty good as well.
I'm sure I'll run into some die-hard haters of Xplay from posting this, but a few other people I know also really like it, so it's not just me...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I hate cable (Time Warner) for a variety of reasons, let me share a couple.
Last year, there was lots of press on the DishNetwork Direct TV Merger. This would have resulted in better coverage for both Direct TV and Dish Customers = More Local Channels, more overall channels better service options. This was a nightmare to the cable companies, because all they had over Dish was local channels. As it turns out, the Cable companies lobbied enough to Washington to get the Feds to not allow the merger.
The current Cable TV Plan to foil the Dish services is to get the Feds to put a Tax on Satellite services so that the price is closer to the cable prices. The scary thing is that they are making progress in some states.
Dish Network or Direct TV are cheaper, superior products.
Back when I lived in that big house with a bunch of friends, satellite was dirt cheap. Just kinda sucked if a storm hit right after everybody left for work, or a goose re-aimed the dish...would crap out, and we'd draw straws to see who would go climb for it. Not a fun prospect when icy. Now I just can't get it where I'm at...I'm downtown, the south side of the building faces a skyscraper, I'm on the north face, the landlord wouldn't allow it anyway, probably some city code, and the resistance to want to hang out of a third-story window with heavy equipment above concrete, a traffic light and a parked car.
Help us build a better map!
I have Dish Network. I chose it after looking at several of my friend's installations. One of them has digital cable from Comcast. The big trouble with Comcast is that they force commercials on you while you are in the channel menu screen. I see enough commercials already without having to watch more while selecting what channel to watch!
In addition, Comcast menus are awful. Hideously aggravating to navigate and slow to respond. The screen of channels and show times is not at all easy to use. It is not simple to find what shows are coming up. The menus on Dish Network are far simpler and saner.
The awful menus turned me off from cable, but the advertising they put in the menus sent me running.
I work for a national CE chain and sell DirectTV, so maybe I am a little bias, but having had cable for so long I have to say DTV is better than cable. I pay $45 a month for two boxes, one with Tivo, and get as many channels (if not more) than cable. The only time I have lost my signal has been in extremely cold weather, not snow or rain. And as a new customer you can get your equipment for cheap or even free on a promotion. There is also a wider selection of HDTV programing too. Did that sound *too* much like a sales pich? ;)
i love the VOD service, no emabarrsing moments ordering porn, and it's great being able to fast forward thru the bad parts :), I also love my RR, fast and pretty relible....but in maine we were (are) the test market for their 'digital phone' basically it's a voip phone that uses their rr network....it's killer
I am a satellite installer. I have been installing both Dish Network and DirecTV full time for about 4 years.
In my area, Western Washington St., the biggest drive in the satellite market over the last year has been Comcast. About two years ago Atnt changed to Comcast. I have had countless customers tell me there bill when up $20-$40 with no change in programming. Second biggest complaint is that they loose all or some of there channels on a daily to monthly basis. Next is probably that they just hate comcast.
As far as signal loss is concerned, a properly installed/aligned dish should VERY rarely loose signal. I have had mine for about 4 years and have seen my signal go out once for about 5 minutes. About 2 months ago we had the heaviest rain day on record for Washington St. What I have heard from most customers is that they lost their signal for about 5-15 minutes total over the whole day. I have cable Internet (Satellite Internet sucks) and it is out much more often than my Dish.
Also if a dish I tightened down securely It shouldn't move even in a very strong wind. It should take a 100+ MPH wind which would more likely bend it and/or rip it off your house.
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
Gee that's funny, I know of at least two people happily using that exact setup in the Denver area.
They haven't done anything special to their boxes (including not covering anything with tape).
Maybe Comcast loves their employees so much they sent your g/f home with a refurbished hunk of crap that has a bad I/R receiver?
+++OK ATH
$83.44/month gets me 170 TV channels and 45 music channels with Adelphia (Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, but not HBO). It's a lot of money, but the same price would bring me fewer channels with either DirectTV or DISH. Outages have been about 12 hours a year due to trees falling on cables & similar events.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
1. Why are you tied to DSL. I'm aware of some of its theoretical advantages, and in my market, its the only way to get more than 128 kbps up, but technology evolves, as does the way companies tune and deploy it, so it may be worth looking at a bundle of Cable IP & TV again.
2. Cable systems and satelites are both bandwidth constrianed, and HDTV takes a lot of bandwidth. Even before HDTV, satelite and digital cable providers were overcompressing stuff just so they could fit in a few more pay per view channels. One result is that their HDTV quality is often below that you could get with a decent broadcast antenna. Not only that, but it might get better or worse depeding on whatever else they are trying to cram down the pipe.
It depends on price, really. What ever is cheaper there. Just make sure you get digitally based satellite (asif anybody does analogue anymore) Here in South Africa we can buy only satellite for R350 (aprox. $50 US) per month. We also used to have free analogue satellite, but the SABC scrapped it because nobody was watching anyway. With the digital platform we have here, video is encoded into MPEG2 (at reasonable quality) with stereo and all such, and then encrypted with Irdeto2 crypto to try and stop people stealing the content. The decoder I use is manufactured by a local company (I think called UPC) and comes with a particularly handy feature, ie, it has statistics on signal quality and decoded stream quality, etc etc. Generally, even in heavy rain, signal quality rarely drops below 85% or so, and stream quality never drops below 100% unless signal quality goes below 70%. This has only happened once, in a particularly violant hail storm that managed to knock my LNB out of alignment. You are bound to see some compression artifacts with explosions and fast moving objects passing, but that happens anywhere when things get compressed. The only other times I've ever seen much artifacts is when the stupid irdeto system goes cranky and "forgets" to decrypt some part of the stream, leaving the MPEG decoder with garbled MPEG to try and work with. The digital system (like DAB radios) is also resistent to polyphase interference (ie, signal bouncing off nearby buildings, mountains, etc) so as long as your dish has a clear view of the sky, you need never worry about such things. Stay away from analogue satellite though, that is very vulnerable to interference, even complete cancellation of the signal, and goes very snowy when it rains. Low flying aircraft are an annoyance, but something flying low enough to disrupt your signal will generally mess up other things too (interference with hi-fi gear, TV, computers, etc) so the same thing will happen to cable, although the signal will not be disturbed, your TV tube will probably be doing hoola hoops if a big chopper flies over the roof.
I have seen all the channels on both and DISH has better stuff. Directv only has porn certain hours of the day, whereas DISH has it on 24/7. Thats kinda cool for Sat morns with the wife.
_damnit_
It's my job to freeze you. -- Logan's Run
I agree about not watching live tv. What did we do before the DVR! My model will timeshift backwards up to an hour. I really like being able to decide 20 or 30 minutes into a show or program that "Hey I want to tape this" instead of "man I wish I had taped that!". I do have the "boober-bowl" on tape for that reason! And it was my wife who said "we HAVE to rewind that!". We recently changed from DTV to dish because of the free install of the dish with 2 rooms and the DVR, which was much better than the one room DTV receiver we have had for 6 years!
IMHO... "If your opinion were truely humble, wouldn't you keep it t yourself?"
Ive had both Digital cable and Sat Tv over the past few years and i have to say i much more satisfied with my Sat TV. I have Dishnetwork and i have one of their PVR's that thing makes me so happy. I can let my wife watch anything she wants and still record all my cartoons and geek shows i want to see for later viewing. The only time my Sat TV has lost reception is when there is a really major storm, im up near DC in virginia so it doesnt really storm around here to much. As for which Sat TV provider you should use it depends on exactly which channels you want dishnetwork and direct tv both offer decent packages and there pretty close on price so you should look and see what channels you want.
Me i have 150 channels plus 8 HBO channels and i pay about 75 bucks a month for 3 rooms. i get all the channels i really want cartoon network, all the history and discovery channels, nasa, and some other geek channels.
ender_pete
I haven't tried satellite TV, but my Charter cable TV has gone out a couple times during inclement weather, and more often bad weather causes a deteriorated signal.
Doesn't cable TV get to regional offices via satellite and get sent from those offices to the customers by cable?
-Rich
But it's not. It's a patch of trees in the park next door. In summer, when they're all leafed out, the signal is degraded enough that it isn't worth trying.
Best Slashdot Co
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa119.shtm l
PS: If you have just one oval dish, chances are you are receving Direct TV only @ 101.o degrees wich is Direct TV preimum channels.
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/directvusa101.shtm l
You want the ChannelMaster GainMaster triple-LNB dish. It's a direct replacement for the DirecTV Phase III tri-LNB dish, and will give you 65% more signal while only annoying your significant other 25% more than the normal dish.
This place has it available in a variety of packages with multiswitches and diplexers, etc...
I have Dish Network, and I'm pretty happy with it. It does lose signal during _very_ intense thunderstorms, but usually not for long. It's actually a nice warning - the TV signal blanks out about 5-10 min before the deluge comes - just long enough to get the dogs into the yard to do their business. NASA is on channel 213, and rules! I have one of their PVR's - it's not as nice as an real Tivo, but it doesn't suck. It really does change the way you watch TV.
The best reason to choose satellite over cable is the ability to watch TV during power outages/natural disasters. I have a generator, and as long as that puppy is running, I've got satellite reception and local channels. When hurricane Isabel whacked the Richmond, VA area, cable's TV and 'net access were both out for 3-4 weeks! Ouch!
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Hilarious.
I *am* lazy, but no, I didn't make it up. You can thank my spending too much time in the tivocommunity.com forums, where everybody types things like "standalone tivo" and "DirecTV DVR Powered By Tivo" so much that it kinda makes sense to abbreviate as "SA Tivo," "Dtivo," "DirecTivo," or "DirecTV Tivo".
I didn't notice any smirking about my mislabeling of the DirecTV DVR Powered by Tivo-- too hard too correct me on that one, too? Half-assed nitpicking, at best.
here in the uk we have sky and when it rains heavily we can lose the reception. at another house i was at it was worse but it really isn't an issue
-- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
I have a DirecTivo. I set it up the week of Christmas, in the dark. I didn't have the correct mounting bracket (actually, I'm renting it from a friend), so I used duct tape to secure the dish in place. I am shocked at how effective this kludge actually works. I made one adjustment (after I hooked up the second tuner) and it's been fine ever since.
We've had several major storms, only one caused artifacting in the signal on a few of the channels. I can only imagine that a real mounting bracket would eliminate that problem.
YMMV, of course, but I've had absolutely no complaints about the reception.
In a really hard rain/snow fall here in Cincinnati, I lose some signal strength, but it hasn't lasted more than a couple of minutes, yet. The Apocalypse, of course, is due any day, which wil certianly put a damper on things. My only gripe with my service (DTV) is when I try to run more than 2 boxes at a time, in different rooms. The unit in the living room freezes up almost completely. Their techs kept saying my splitter was to blame, but since it was their equipment, they installed it, replaced it (2x) and they are all in-bred, I still don't have a solution to that. I put up with this truly minor inconvenience because our local area CTV provider is Adelphia, which sucks. TW is in the area, but we're a small pocket of resistance to that sort of assimilation and I don't want their service, either. Overall, I like the bird and if I didn't have DSL, I'd probably get their sat delivery of service. Regards, harleyb
Well Any Problems you see with a dish you can offset by Using a bigger dish or Making the platform its on more stable (I am talking about the mounting platform here :) ).. So your only other Thing is Pricing for the channels you want... Sit down with Listings for the services and Add up charges for what ya want... and choose based on Price of services.
:) Alot of people say they are hard to setup.. But you on /. so if you don't know the ins and outs to build one yet.. Chances are you have the basic skills to learn..
As for a PVR... I would stay away from a intagrated PVR as it does not follow the KISS concept. Not to mention the Homebrew PVR's are really starting get to a stage where they are stable enough competeing agaist commercial ones and don't seem to have the Privacy invading "features" and don't get scrutenized by Companies about their commercial skipping/deleting features..
For the most part I see the homebrew PVR's as being your best bet (Mind ya they can get a bit pricey to build when comparing against commercial ones) but your never stuck with monthy subscriptions ect. Not to mention you will end up with a product that has all the features you would want and not the features they think you want that wont cause legal battles
Who needs WiFi when we can have Packet Over Sheep! http://datacomm.org/PoS-InternetDraft.txt
I also used to do directv and um they are right about the dog sneezing, when it comes to directv. As far as the DISH Network SAT I don't even think the four horsemen of the appocylypse could take it down, and I for one think they tried. I had a storm a few months ago that produced hail, lightning, rain, snow* No I'm not kidding. Any way it still tracked the SAT signal.
I thought Slim Shadey was nuts, then I met my ex-wife.
Changed to satellite a few months back (DishNet). One day we had a brief episode of nonreception. No other problems. Previously tried Comcast. They seem to bill and bill and bill, regardless of the status of your connection.
Between the rampant silicon implants, and the ULTRA shaved region (so hair down there is now "gross" or something?) and the excessive use ot ponytails by guys who look like softcore movie rejects) most o fit is way to slick but mostly pretty uninspired.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
One disadvatage of Direct TV which I forgot to mention was that on Direct TV, we don't get the Community Cable stations, e.g. Cable Access channels. Thus, I can't watch reruns of Alderman meetings or get the no school and winter parking ban notices. I have to go to the web for the winter parking ban notice or wait for and watch the damn news.
That's key as here in Somerville Mass, they recently ticketed 2000 autos and towed 300 cars in anticipation of a storm that didn't arrive.
Credit to the city and tow company is that they decided to refund the tickets/fees. A snow emergency is declared if there is a warning of more then 4 inches snow accumulation.
Peter
Peter AI6PG
The thick clouds that come with heavy rains and/or thunderstorms are what cause signal degradation. And yes, snow on your dish will do the same thing. Why? Because in order for the dish to work the signal has to reflect off the dish to the antenna. If you remember your high school math, every ray the intersects a parabola get reflected through the vertex. Translation - every signal from the satellite that hits the surface of your dish gets reflected to the LNB at the vertex. If part or all of it is covered with snow it will not reflect properly. Bigger dish = bigger area = more signals getting reflected = more strength at the vertex. I've been a happy DirectTV subsriber since 1998. Why did I get it? FOOTBALL. DirectTV is the only provider that offers IMHO the BEST programming package anyways - Sunday Ticket. For $140 you get every NFL game every Sunday. And as of this year they showed 3 of them in HD (two 1080i, one 480p) every Sunday plus ESPN Sunday Night Football in HD. The Samsung HD reciever that I got as part of a $399 package deal for existing DirectTV subscribers is pretty good. It will decode OTA, satellite, and cable HD signals and has both component and DVI outputs.
"Trying is only the first step towards failure." - Homer
Is Porn the ONLY motivating factor in getting Cable or Dish?
Dish Network and DirecTV both get their signals from a Digital Signal off a Ku Band Satellite.
The Cable Co. also gets their signals off of C Band and Ku Band Satellites analog and Digital besides the local signals it gets from Terrestial Anttenas. I've sat here and watched my signal go out when it rained due the cable co lost the signal. The cable co also jacks up prices and has a monopoly. They only have certain packages. While good ol' C Band has serveral providers that let you pick the channels you want besides the ones in the free. While Dish and DirectTV provide you with the packages they have, but you can hack the card and get all the channels for free if you was a less scupulous person. DirectTV and Dish Network are providing free installation and free system for 3 rooms. Which consist of a Dual LNB or Dual LNA Dish and a single LNB/LNA Dish and 3 receivers. There is also the fact that TV's and TV Cards are cable ready for ease of recording on the 1984 case of the VTR with Sony. Digital equipment is being blocked by adding a flags. Then there is the fact of HDTV having cards in the sets to enable the use of Digital Cable so there will no longer need to be a Digital Cable box. While Satellite will still need the receiver to get the signal off the satellites. Cable has also a what they think they need for channels on your lineup while Satellite carries all of them.
There is the info I can best give you as watching Satellite on big C Band dishes as a child and the new DirectTV dishes when I visit home. While I have cable at my house.