Community weekly poll: Which is better, digital cable or satellite?
- 6/27/05 3:24 PM
I've had them both. Satellite is much better.
by rffg - 6/28/05 4:02 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
With satellite I get to pick one of several hundred channels. I get local programming from three separate cities (New York, Los Angeles and San Diego). I watch the New York feed for shows I do not want to stay up late to view. New York feed come in handy especially when there are programs competing with my wishes that are on at the same time. I saimply watch one at, say 5 o'clock and the other at 8 o'clock. No problems with conflicts and I don';t have to worry about the recording device malfunctioning if I record and want to watch later, which I usually never did.
I never had that option with cable tv.
Internet access however is a complete different story. Cable/DSL is much better in terms of reliability and speed.
Satellite
by tenorg - 6/28/05 4:16 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
Even though it is much higher than cable, with Tivo the satellite offers far more choices at better reception. So far (2) years I would not go back to cable. no scheduling farces and hardly no maintenance. It can be disconcerting in the summer during storms, but even then I am willing to put up with that rather than be treated the way cable companies treat me.
Satellite is best in my area
by Structuralist - 6/28/05 4:19 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
I live in the desert surrounded on three sides by mountains. I have a clear sky virtually every day of the year. I had to make the decision between cable and satellite and I choose to save $120.00 a year by installing Satellite.
Immediately on the down side - I lose local channels because I am in a black out area about 150 miles east of Los Angeles. However, my viewing habits tend to stay with Discovery, BBC America, Starz Network and TCM. My service, including the savings in cost includes one TIVO unit and boxes to two other televisions in the house. The TIVO is splittered to another TV (the DVR units are hooked up to a 26 and 27-inch wide screen HDTV even though I don't take advantage of the HDTV yet.
Reception is and has been excellent. Control over what we watch and the ability to choose and block out stations is really great. I don't rely on Pay per view but occaisionally if there is a $0.50 movie that I haven't seen, I'll order it.
I spent a week in the hospital and they were hooked up to the old cable that I had before switching to DirectTV. I couldn't wait to get home as the programing - even on local stations, did not reflect my viewing habits.
I also do not watch news stations on TV - I invested in Satellite (Sirius) radio where I have more choice of world events than the contrived television media that is the same no matter if you watch MSNBC, CNN or FOX. The difference it the spin and the intensity of the "screamers" on air. Late at night - I will review my Tivo's or will lay back and listen to Classic Radio - a much more soothing way to wind down.
It's a close choice, but once you program your system for your own viewing habits, it's hard to beat satellite in my opinion.
SATELLITE
by jappy - 6/28/05 4:28 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
SATELLITE is Better,Cheeper,Faster,More reliable,
And in MY opinion Bright house cable sucks.
Digital cable is better
by jtg61 - 6/28/05 4:30 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
1) There is no unsitely dish on my house
2) Cable runs month to month - no contract
3) Broadband cable is cheaper if you get both
4) Digital set top box communicates over the cable
Switched to Dish
by CWatkinsNash - 6/28/05 4:38 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
We used to have Comcast which used to be something else, and cable service declined not too long after Comcast took over. Service was unreliable, channels would just drop out, and customer service was nearly non-existent. For the amount of money they charge, it was unnacceptable.
My roommate and I discussed it one night, and decided to call Dish Network. They gave us a great deal, installation was scheduled immediately, and the installers didn't leave until the signal was perfect (which took a long time due to trees). We've had it for over two years, and we only occasionally lose the signal due to bad storms. We had one really bad storm last summer, and the signal outlasted the phone service and was on right up until the power went out. We get three times as much programming for only a little more than we paid for cable.
We had problems with his DVR, and later on with my standard receiver, and they shipped us new units overnight. Their customer service is amazing. Even if I didn't despise Comcast, I'd never go back to cable. The only time I've noticed compression artifacts is when the signal isn't quite as strong due to heavy cloud cover, but it doesn't happen often. I recently upgraded my receiver to a DVR, and I couldn't be happier.
Satellite only option
by lwayne - 6/28/05 5:10 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
I live in a rural area where there is no land based service other than dial-up for internet. With the satellite internet we have very good download speeds and acceptable upload. We have only occasional rain fade with either service. Usually the rain fade comes during our thunderstorms and the electronics get turned off because the electric coop has a problem controlling surges. The lightning is more fun to watch anyway.
We had satellite---
by Carol77garr - 6/28/05 6:15 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
Every time it rained, we had no TV. And last year in VA. Beach, it rained a lot so we yanked it out.
I know cable is expensive but when Cox had a special for internet, TV & the phone, we grabbed it.
And the station we liked the best, changed owners & all they did was sell stuff. So, with those two things against it, we decided to never go back there again.
In my case, cable
by cnorisez - 6/28/05 6:19 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
Simple, I have cable internet access and when we built we ran cable everywhere thus IP access too. Service has been satisfactory so far.
C/KU band satellite is best
by SDphoto - 6/28/05 6:24 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
I've had a 10' dish and C/KU for over 20 years. The picture quality and price still beats DBS and cable!
I love my Sat
by mattkenseth17 - 6/28/05 6:37 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
When my houshold switched to DISH Network, the cable provider (CableCom)had a very limited selection of programming (about 17 channels including HBO). I will never go back to cable because the current company (Charter) charges way too much.
Dish Network Beats Comcast
by shimma - 6/30/05 7:53 AM In reply to: I love my Sat by mattkenseth17I had basic Comcast cable for 16 years. The picture on my beautiful 1988 Mitsubishi Diamond Vision monitor was pretty good I thought.
Over the years, however, serious reception problems with certain channels arose as Comcast changed the lineup. The last reconfiguration was a nightmare as three good channels became unwatchable.
Repeated calls over several months to the local office resulted, finally, in an acknowlegment that "We're working on the problem."
On top of the 6-7% annual increases, this was the last straw with Comcast.
Dish Network cleanly installed two dishes on the chimney and I love it. True, I only receive five HD channels right now, but the overall picture and sound quality on my new Panasonic plasma beats Comcast hands down. The price is better and customer service is great.
Digital Cable is better, but let me qualify...
by trspizza - 6/28/05 6:45 PM In reply to: Which is better, digital cable or satellite? by Marc Bennett
I tried satellite for a year, and it always went out when a storm rolled through in the summer, or when it snowed heavily in the winter. They could probably alleviate this problem if they put out a stronger signal and/or used a bigger dish. My cable has only gone out once since I had it installed 3 years ago.
I agree - digital cable has one major advantage...
by thekidrocks - 6/28/05 7:21 PM In reply to: Digital Cable is better, but let me qualify... by trspizzaI have to agree that cable has 1, maybe 2 key advantages over satellite. No issues of a blackout during a severe storm, and cable Internet works excellent.
I have had Satellite for years, then switched to cable as my local provider had the price advantage over satellite for HDTV. Also cable was significantly faster and more reliable than DSL Internet. However the cable provided slammed us HARD with a major rate increase... now I am back to Satellite for television and DSL for broadband.
If cable wasn't so costly, they'd have the edge IMHO. Clearly that is an area to area issue.
On Demand Impressed Me
by Rotordog - 6/28/05 8:05 PM In reply to: Digital Cable is better, but let me qualify... by trspizzaI been a subscriber to DTV for 5 years and I made the switch to Comcast OnDemand. Why???
Here's Why...
* No DTV local HD in the Baltimore market. Yet, Washington DC 30 miles away has it. (Wrong Answer DirecTV.) The best answer I got for when local DTV HD coverage will be available was ''in a year or 2''
* Start Up cost. My Samsung DTV HDTV receiver stopped decoding the HD signal from satellite 119 after my warranty ran out. I didn't feel like shelling out $700+ for a DTV HD-DVR.
* With Digital Cable I pay $9.99 a month for a dual tuner HD DVR and if it malfunctions you just call them up and they'll bring you a new one. So by my estimate in 70 months the price advantage will even out. (and yes, you can watch the program you are recording while it's recording on my Motorola DVR)
* AWESOME deal from Comcast for Broadband Internet & Digital OnDemand w/premium channel package AND 2 movie channels (I picked HBO and Showtime with all feeds for each) for $69.99.
The trade off was that I have analog signals for 15 channels most of which I don't care about but the ones that do matter are Discovery channel, Discovery military, Sci-Fi, Spike, History channel and Speed. They will be digital before the years end.
I have just as many channels in HD as I did for DTV before you include local channels.
*But, This is what DTV can't touch!*
- OnDemand has a TON of free content. Hundreds of free movies, car reviews, news content, dozens of TV series in their entire run, Discovery channel shows, current movie trailers and much much more.
You just find what you want, pick it and watch it.
The movie channels (HBO, Showtime, CineMax etc.) all have content. All of their original series and specials are available OnDemand. When you want to watch Pay-per-View you just pick the movie and watch it whenever you want. You don't have to wait until it cycles to the beginning to watch it.
I never thought I'd say it but -- Comcast wins.
* I will seriously miss the DTV NFL ticket tho' *
*sniff sniff*
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