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Comcast, Directv, or Dish Network??

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I'm hoping someone here can give me some advise. I live in Murfreesboro, TN (close to Nashville) and have 3 alternative ways to receive tv. I have just purchased an HDTV and want to utilize it to it's capacity. Which service would you select and why? I would like to have either a DVR or something like Comcast's On Demand. I've heard good and bad about Directv, but seems like I never hear anything about Dish. Please help.

~Wayne
 
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Ok, I now have Comcast Cable TV. And as far as TV watching, I miss Directv sssoooooooooooooooooo much. (with the DVR of course) Its just so much better. The channels are mostly the same from what I see, but the interface, and just overall tv watching is just so much nicer. The receiver "box" just seems faster, and much easier to use. And I dont remember any real advertisements while surfing through the guide. I am fine with their internet service, in fact, I almost always receive much higher download speeds than promised, but as far as their TV......well, I guess its not so bad, considering watching less TV is a good thing.

Just how I feel.....
 
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Ok, I now have Comcast Cable TV. And as far as TV watching, I miss Directv sssoooooooooooooooooo much. (with the DVR of course) Its just so much better. The channels are mostly the same from what I see, but the interface, and just overall tv watching is just so much nicer. The receiver "box" just seems faster, and much easier to use. And I dont remember any real advertisements while surfing through the guide. I am fine with their internet service, in fact, I almost always receive much higher download speeds than promised, but as far as their TV......well, I guess its not so bad, considering watching less TV is a good thing.

Just how I feel.....

I couldn't agree more. Even though I had to switch from Directv TIVO to the Directv HD-DVR, Directv navigation is way better than cable. If you are into NFL or Nascar you'll love it even more.

You can also hook up the DVR to your broadband connection and get all sort of interactive features as well as movies and shows on demand.

The only downside to satellite is that if it is heavily storming you loose your connection. If all of your shows are recorded that really isn't a big problem, unless it was storming while your show was recording. That is any satellite service though.
 

dtravis7


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I MUCH prefer either Direct TV or Dish over a Cable system like Comcast. We have all 3 here in my city. I have used all 3 at one time or another and agree with the other two posters. A satellite system is much better overall. I do like Comcast's internet though as it's quite fast in my area anyway.

I personally use Dish Network and have had no issues with them in the last 5-6 years I have been with them. Some close Family and neighbors have had Direct TV. Some switched to Dish and preferred it. I do like Dish better from all I have seen and like I said, no issues with their service or billing either.

Either way I recommend a satellite over Comcast.

My opinion anyway.

I am not using Dish HD but have friends who do and they love it and love the DVR that comes with the package.
 
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1. Comcast where i live sucks. the infrastructure that was already laid when they took over was bad to begin with. their rates keep going up.

2. I loved Dish Network because their on screen navigation and other little things are a lot better than DirectV.

3. DirectV advertises that they have a lot more HD channels. However, i can not prove it because i do not have an HD receiver. the channel selection is definately better for their lower end packages compared to Dish Network. My wife just brought up the point that DirectV gets better reception during rain storms. during a heavy rain, you will still lose signal, but when we had the Dish, it would go out when it rained period.

Hope this helps.
 
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I've never personally used Comcast for cable TV. There's a reason for that; it's so expensive. In Chicago, the basic plan with very limited cable channels is $30 a month. Standard cable is $50 a month. I could see their on demand digital type service being $100 a month.
I used them for Internet and service was decent. I have no complaints except for their prices.
 

bobtomay

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I have used all three of these systems.
They're all expensive. You'll not get away with less than $100 a month with any of them if you want their HD and premium movie packages.

Comcast can and quite often does bite the big bullet.
I gave them up for DirecTV around '95 or '96. Tried them again for about a year when I moved to Dallas - and just as bad here.
If you are interested in HD content - Comcast is not for you. They just do not have the content available that the 2 satellite providers have.

I started using DirecTV back around '96 I think. It's a great service. And overall has excellent customer service. At this time they are the leader in HD content available.

I am currently on DishNetwork - for about 2 years now. Made the move at that time due to their HD content and the excellent Voom channels they picked up. Their customer service is also pretty good.

To decide which one of these two is for you, really depends on what service you plan on getting. Have to recommend DirecTV if you plan on getting their HD package along with all the premium movie channels at this time. They have several premium movie channels in HD that are just not offered by Dish. DirecTV also has the SciFi channel in HD. And if Dish doesn't add this one soon, I could be making the switch back to them very soon.

Dish still has the old Voom channels not available to anyone else. Also, if you are not planning to get the premium movie package (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz...) then the standard package of Dish includes all the Encore channels (gotta have my westerns) only available as an upgrade with Starz on DirecTV.

Bottom line - I would definitely steer you away from Comcast and toward the satellite subscriptions. Customer service of either one is vastly superior to Comcast. Took me 2 years to get Comcast to fix my internet connection I am using now. They act like the old monopolies of AT&T and MaBell when you have problems with their service.

If you're mainly interested in their HD packages - you'll really need to visit both sites - make a list of the channels each offers that are of interest to you to make a decision. Once you've decided, do a google search for satellite dealers in your area and call one of them rather than calling Dish or DirecTV directly. You'll get the same deals available, but you'll be talking to the company that does the actual installations. These are typically the same folks that will be coming to your house when you deal directly with either Dish or DirecTV.
 
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i have never used a dish i am on comcast. I got the special year long package that is cable, phone, and internet for 100 a month. I don't watch a lot of tv so the the lack of movie channels like HBO, cinemax, etc doesn't really bother me.

My gf has a netflix subscription that she prefers over spending the money on a movie channel.
 

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I can only speak for Comcast, but they terrible. Unfortunately, I have a lot of old, mature trees around my property (even though it's a fairly new house, it backs up to a wooded area), so dish is not an option.

Comcast loves to play games with billing - you have to watch your bills like a hawk. They increase rates for no good reason, shove as much advertising down your throat as possible, and in general are underhanded in their business strategies.

I currently have standard cable, plus digital, HD and DVR. I also have high-speed Internet. My bill comes out to about $140/mo. I have no premium channels.

Before I got an HDTV, I had standard/digital and DVR. After I got the HDTV, I called to ask about HD and was told that I already have it - it was included in the DVR service. As it turns out, that's a lie - it's a separate package that they've been charging for me since I got DVR, despite having asked me if I had an HDTV when I first picked up the box.

The HD service, until recently, was a complete joke. They had about 5 sports channels (most of which ran SD content on an HD channel), the locals (which are available over the air), and two or three cable networks. Just recently, they added Sci Fi, HD Theater and a couple of others, but I find it laughable that they're running ads saying that they have more HD channels than anyone else.

My high-speed Internet runs at 6Mb/s. If I had the phone service, they would give me anoter 2Mb/s. Apparently in areas where FiOS is also available, Comcast miraculously jumps the bandwidth up to 16Mb/s for the same price ($42.95 - the "performance plus" tier). Otherwise, since they know your only other option is crappy Verizon DSL at 3Mb/s (if they can actually get that to your residence - the fastest I've ever seen even at that tier is about 1Mb/s), you're stuck at 6Mb/s with an occasional "performance boost" up to about 8, but that only lasts for a few seconds until they throttle you back down again. Oh, and don't try doing any P2P, because they've instituted "traffic shaping", basically spoofing packets to tell Bittorrent that you don't actually want some of the packets you're requesting.

Anyway, as you can tell, I hate Comcast. I could rant on and on about their slimy tactics and poor customer service, but the truth is, I still shut up and pay my bill every month. Occasionally I attempt to cancel and get put on a temporary promotional rate, but in general it's expensive.

Oh, and for those of you on the "triple play" package, be prepared for $180/mo once your promotional package ends - and keep in mind that once it's over, you won't qualify for another promo until you pay the normal rate for about 6 months.
 

eric


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i have comcast and like them quite a bit though it is pricey. internet is speedy. uptime is very good.

the dvr is ok, but i have had a couple of them die on me (replaced at no cost). the last tech even let me have a spare remote. and occasionally if you have low-ish disk space and have had it on for a long time it can get very slow. turning it off and on or doing a complete power down from the physical switch on the back usually fixes that right up.
 

cwa107


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i have comcast and like them quite a bit though it is pricey. internet is speedy. uptime is very good.

the dvr is ok, but i have had a couple of them die on me (replaced at no cost). the last tech even let me have a spare remote. and occasionally if you have low-ish disk space and have had it on for a long time it can get very slow. turning it off and on or doing a complete power down from the physical switch on the back usually fixes that right up.

Don't you find the DVR to be slow and clunky (interface-wise)? My wife is constantly complaining about the remote "locking up" (basically the system is non-responsive and starts queueing key presses). It also LOVES to record repeats when it's set to only record new episodes.

We too have had to replace our DVR box on multiple occasions, and quite often find that it needs a reboot when it starts behaving weirdly. Right now I understand that Comcast is also offering to graft the Tivo interface onto your DVR in selected areas (for an extra monthly fee of course!) to alleviate these kinds of problems.
 

eric


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well, you do have to get used to it.

and that slow down in response time usually clears up if i turn it off and on. then it'll be fine for days.

i think as they update firmware and hardware, it'll get better and better. as of now, i find it completely serviceable. obviously it's nto as polished as it could be, but not everyone can make OS X ;)
 

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