Satellite vs. cable

[reyd reid reed]

Thoughts, anyone?

[taterguy]

1. Sort of depends on where you live and your lifestyle

I think dishes are a bit unsightly and I honestly don't watch enough TV to make them worthwhile. However, my inlaws live in the wilderness and I'm really glad they have satellite when I visit.

For me personally, a basic cable package works fine. Your mileage may vary.

[reyd reid reed]

4. We've had a cable package

for the last twenty years. Our local company recently turned into Comcast, though...and it's been a nightmare. One thing after another and then they want to raise the rates -- so I called a satellite company. Enough is enough. But now I've got to learn all new channels.

[NewJeffCT]

2. I prefer satellite

Yes, you have the potential of disruption of service if the weather is really windy & rainy... however, I've found satellite service to be more reliable overall than cable. I've had cable go out for long periods many times over the years, and have rarely had that problem with satellite.

Besides, George Soros is an investor in DISH Network, while I think many leading cable companies are Republic-oriented.

[reyd reid reed]

5. That's always been a concern...

but the first thing that Comcast did was to 'upgrade'...and when they 'upgraded', they did something and my cable went out on a Thursday -- wasn't back until Monday morning and then went out again at noon. And they're not 5 minute outages...they'll last for hours and days at a time. And when I call to report the problem, they tell me that the service will be restored that day -- but it's not.

Come to find out, if your service goes out after 5 p.m., you're screwed. They don't even look into it until the next day.

[stirlingsliver]

12. Comcast Sucks

Comcast's customer service really sucks.

If your cable goes out, and you call Comcast, expect to wait 45 minutes or more until you speak to someone.

Comcast recently decreased the number of stations on its cable service, while at the same time raising the rates!

[SoCalDem]

3. Dish beats Direct & cable

I love it :)

[reyd reid reed]

6. That's what I've been trying to decide between...

why do you prefer Dish? Direct was out yesterday -- said they'd be 30 minutes and they were still here four hours later.

Didn't really seem to know what they were doing.

:shrug:

[NewJeffCT]

7. Having used both recently...

I've found DISH remotes seem a bit more user-friendly and intuitive.

And, Direct TV usually requires one box for each TV... with DISH, you can have two TVs hooked up to one box (or, four TVs to two boxes, vs Direct TV having four boxes for 4 TVs)

Also, as an example, we can only record via DVR from one TV in our home on Direct TV. Meaning, if I forgot to record something and my wife is sleeping, I'd have to turn the TV in the master bedroom on while she is sleeping in order to record the show, because that is where we have our DVR for Direct TV. When we switch back to Dish, I would be able to use the second TV to set up the recording on the DVR and not risk waking my wife up...

[eyepaddle]

10. DISH absolutely abused my roommates and I

The price was high, the equipment unreliable, customer service was absolutley, irredeemably atrocious--when they first installed the gear one receiver quickly stopped working,and after a few months of the ol' runaround one of their "customer service" agents slipped up and told us we had received stuff that was obsolete, and if we wanted DISH in that room we could always go ahead and buy a new receiver at full price.

Over the course of two years the receivers one by one stopped working and the only re-course was to buy entirely new receivers! :mad:

I apologize for the way this may seem to directed at you--for it surely is not, and I am glad your experience has been positive (I would never want another anybody else to have to put up with BS just so I could have company)

But DISH network can kiss my ass.

[NewJeffCT]

11. One of our receivers died as well...

We called up customer service and they shipped us a new one for free, and had us send the old one back to them - at their cost. When I went into the UPS store to send the receiver back, the guy there said they get one in just about every day...so I can't imagine we were alone in that regards.

[LSK]

8. cable

Satellites are sensitive to storms. At least my sisters was.

[ghostsofgiants]

9. I miss having satellite television (though I don't watch TV at all these days).

Cable is lame.