| Author |
Message |
    
themp
Citizen
Username: Themp
Post Number: 140
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 18, 2003 - 11:06 pm: |     |
Any opinions? They are running a special lately that has me tempted to dump Comcast. Reception? Service? Selection? |
nova87
Citizen
Username: Nova87
Post Number: 258
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 9:22 am: | |
Oh, and we also have DirecTv and love it. Our package is around $75 per month and we have only experienced reception difficulties a handful of times since '99. The downside is that we have to pay $50 to get cable internet access thru comcast.
I think that the services are slowly becoming comparable in terms of selection, but the service I have received from DirecTv has been great, not so from comcast. Also, if you like sports DirecTv offers packages that I don't believe you can get on comcast.
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growler
Citizen
Username: Growler
Post Number: 219
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 2:01 pm: | |
DirecTV rules. We dumped cable the first chance we could get. We pay around $59 for Plus with Local channels. HBO we only get one 6 Feet Under comes on. Reception is great, audio fantastic with movies via TV or theatre system, only a couple of outages but nothing major.
Yes, you'll have to pay for cable modem however we went DSL and may consider one day going with the internet service they offer once you can send through the dish.
All in all, get it. You'll be much happier. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 68
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 2:50 pm: | |
Starband Dish internet is pretty cool. It's a little bit harder to set up then DirectTV, but well worth it.
$49 per month and about 10 times faster then DSL.
It's a little less reliable, drops off once in a while but then connects right back. |
jfw
Citizen
Username: Jfw
Post Number: 29
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 4:15 pm: | |
i've had directv since 1997 and would never ever go back to cable. picture and sound are great, and i get lots of channels for $34 a month. (my monthly bill has gone up $4 in six years.) i don't get any premium channels for this and i use an antenna for local channels, but just try to get a deal like this from comcast.
other positives: customer service is great, you can add/drop packages with a phone call, they offer packages for every major pro sport plus college football and hoop, and best of all, you can now buy a directv receiver with TIVO built in. if you like tv, i can't say enough about TIVO. it will change your life!
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sylad
Citizen
Username: Sylad
Post Number: 11
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 9:11 am: | |
I am a very happy Direct TV customer since 1996. I love it, but am tempted to dump and go to cable. Cable has made big improvements recently with on-demand viewing and free DVR. Direct TV charges for DVR which is a joke, but once you get it your hooked. If I did not have so much invested in the equipment, I have 4 receivers, I might switch. But another huge plus of Direct TV is the sports packages, you can only get the NFL package with Direct TV. You can also get west coast network feeds for $1.99 extra, each a month, which is good if you miss the east cost show and for out of market sports. |
ronzio
Citizen
Username: Ronzio
Post Number: 28
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 9:26 am: | |
I just signed up for DTV. Getting it installed tomorrow. I can't wait. My wife and I have a large TV (64") and the poor reception we receive from Comcast on the local channels was enough to send us looking for alternatives.
That, coupled with their current deals, made it an easy decision for us.
One note, to Sylad...TiVo charges a monthly fee for their DVR service, as well. Granted, you can get a lifetime subcription with TiVo for standard cable boxes, but it's the lifetime of the equipment, not your subscription. They say the boxes last around five years. |
Yossarian
Citizen
Username: Yossarian
Post Number: 2
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 10:22 am: | |
I've been a DirectTV subscriber for five plus years and overall I'm very pleased. We just moved to SO from NYC, where we had the dish mounted on the roof of our building. However, DTV's "standard" installer says we have no line of site to the satellite here, so he refused to mount a new dish on our new house. As a result, we're going to use a "custom" installer, who I'm sure will find a line of site. Of course, this will cost us big bucks for a custom install, but it's worth it.
If there really is no line of site, we'll have to switch to cable, which means getting all new equipment. But even more so, it means going to a bar most fall Sundays to watch football, since cable doesn't get the Sunday Ticket service.
We have Tivo, and like others have said, it's simply amazing. It will change your life for the better, as you can easily record and playback programs at your whim. (Typically, I Tivo football games, avoid all media on Sundays, and settle in to watch my beloved Eagles after the kids have gone to bed. It's great not having to sit through all those commercials and half-time!)
As for DirecTV service, they are not really very good. I have had numerous problems through the years with DirectTV as well as Sony (our Tivo manufacturer). Even so, the TV watching experience is so good, the service headaches are worth it.
For more info on Tivo, check out:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/
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ashear
Citizen
Username: Ashear
Post Number: 676
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 12:53 pm: | |
sylad - don't switch to comcast for video on demand. My experiance is it sucks. After having several movies feeze or just disappear in the middle I've given up on it. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 77
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 12:59 pm: | |
Tivo is the coolest thing in the entire world! |
xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 237
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 1:21 pm: | |
Even better than Tivo...Replay TV, which has one major advantage--automatic skip commercial feature during playback. It's a feature so good that Replay TV recently agreed to drop it from future models, under heavy pressure from the broadcasters. Good thing I bought my model last year... |
robdan
Citizen
Username: Robdan
Post Number: 345
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 8:49 am: | |
Tivo can be easily programmed to skip 30 second increments. |
DWA
Citizen
Username: Dwa
Post Number: 3
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 9:59 am: | |
We really like DirecTV, especially the NFL package. We have had more reception problems in the last six months due to rain, but I had more cable problems in NYC. |
Maplewoody
Citizen
Username: Maplewoody
Post Number: 286
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 7:10 pm: | |
Another home with DirecTv. Comcast's service sucked when we first moved in. We were tired of them coming into our house and not doing anything to fix our reception problems. We've had DirecTv now for 2+ yrs., GO FOR IT! We put their dish on the rear of our house, you can't see it from the street out in front... |
OK, it's Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 393
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 1:03 pm: | |
Does DirecTV have the Maplewood channel for municipal broadcasts? I would guess not.
I still haven't gotten TV service. I'm not much of a TV watcher, so it will be mostly for my kids. As such, I'm a cheapskate and would prefer to spend less than $40 per month. What does DirecTV give you with their smallest package? Hmm, I'll go check their web site.
Comcast's web site is worse than useless. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Tom Reingold
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AZ
Citizen
Username: Azaltsman
Post Number: 183
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 3, 2003 - 7:57 am: | |
Anyone have experience with Dish? There are some international channels on there that I want to get that DirecTV does not have.
Also - In either case - Where is the best place to order these? Do you just sign up on the web site or shop around at retailers like Costco or Best Buy? |
OK, it's Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 626
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 12:47 pm: | |
I finally got TV service. I had been dragging my feet. I decided on comcast, despite the warnings. I have Verizon DSL for the internet, because of all the warnings here about comcast. I decided on comcast for TV because I wanted the municipal channel, and I wanted the very cheapest package I could get.
I heard that comcast's technicians are not so great, and this one lived up to the reputation. My wife had to show him explicitly how to route the cable, because his ideas were pretty lame. He left with the TV not working properly. He blamed our setup, but it was because he had inserted the cable into the wrong place. I was able to fix it, and the service is working fine, no thanks to the technician.
I'm not unhappy with the choice I made so far, but I thought I would relay the information.
Tom Reingold
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themp
Citizen
Username: Themp
Post Number: 167
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 5:58 pm: | |
I had digital briefly, and I though picture quality was really bad.
We hooked up our roof antenna (we are one of the few houses with an antenna, I'm sure)and were amazed at how much better our picture was (not to mention it was free, and not having choices reduce our viewing tremendously).
I asked the technical director at work about this (I work in TV) and he said "yeah, no kidding - cable in practice is generally terrible."
Seeing the broadcast picture was a flashback to watching golf or football on a big, stable floor model in the late 70's. Really nice, with none of that noise and jiggle that cable has. |
AZ
Citizen
Username: Azaltsman
Post Number: 196
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, September 26, 2003 - 1:07 am: | |
I was pretty disappointed that I could not get Dish. They did a survey and said there were too many trees and could not catch the signal. I guess I'm stuck with Crapcast.
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ecat
Citizen
Username: Ecat
Post Number: 2
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - 10:32 pm: | |
I've checked out Dish tv and Direct tv. For the same $ as comcast I'd be getting digital on both my TVs instead of just one. Does anyone know if Direct or Dish is better than the other? Service, reception?... |
ronzio
Citizen
Username: Ronzio
Post Number: 35
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 1, 2003 - 10:04 am: | |
I can't speak for Dish TV, but I'd like to sing the praises of Direct TV. My wife and I had it installed a month ago and we've been very pleased. The picture is far superior to what we were getting from Comcast. We have an HD TV, and while we do not have the HDTV dish from Direct TV, the picture we get from their regular signal is still better than what we got from Comcast's HDTV feed.
We have their TiVo system, as well, and absolutely love it. You can TiVo two programs at the same time now, and while this may not appeal to you, as TV junkies, it has been great for us. 
I'd have to assume that Dish TV has a comparable product, but, to my knowledge, they do not offer the NFL Sunday Ticket. If you or anyone in your house is a football fan, this could be the deciding factor.
I hope this helps. |
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 110
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 2, 2003 - 10:29 am: | |
I also received DirectTV two weeks ago with the NFL package. So far, the service is great, you get all the Sunday games either locally or from the NFL package. I think the digital picture on Comcast was better but not enough to go back. Especially to pay $50 more per month. I also was worried about "Isabel" effecting the dish, no problem. |
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