DirectTV? Better then cable?

[gregshin]

I pay 50 bucks a month for cable and i use a dial up modem...and then one day i see this ad for Direct TV and DSL for $50.00 a month...should i go for it?

 

[Bulldozer]

I'd make the switch. Channel selection will probably for the most part be the same (if you get an equivalent package from DirecTV). Satellite seems to lose signal far less frequently. I believe they claim that on average you lose the signal 24hrs or less each year. You get digital quality as well.

Do you have standard cable or do you have digital cable right now? Keep in mind you need a receiver for each TV and if you have more than two receivers you need an additional component that costs about $100.

I'm assuming you are already familiar with the advantages of DSL over dialup.

 

[OutHouse]

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

Dish rocks. Cheaper, more channels, Digital picture, digital sound.

I have lost my signal 3 times and on each time it was spring and big thunderstomrm blew over. but in 15 min storm was gone and had tv again.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

The only drawback I notice is paying for cable usually includes all the TVs in the house and local TV channels, whereas the DirecTV/Dish you have to order a different dish/adaptor and have a separate box on each TV, plus pay more per month for those and pay more for local stations.

 

[Balt]

If you like watching Star Trek/Enterprise or any other UPN shows, you should know that DirecTV won't give them to you.

That kills me every time I go home. :|

Edit: Also, as far as I know, if you have any local network stations, those might be blacked out on your dish if they haven't started broadcasting them yet. Which means you get to view them via antenna (or get a release from the local station). :|

 

[jsbush]

Personally, I love satellite because of the channels I get. But I lose signal a lot more on satellite then I do on cable. Cable is much much much better signal wise then a dish. If it snows in the winter where you are, keep in mind that your gonna need to clean your dish after each snow fall.

 

[PlatinumGold]

I have Dish not DirectV, but i can tell you, the satellite we get here is MUCH better than the DIGITAL cable I had.

digital cable is just a cable company that has a big satellite dish, it then sends that signal via cable to homes. think about it. which would be better their satellite signal over cable? or your own satellite signal?

 

[OutHouse]

I have dish network and i get UPN. granted i have to pay extra for it but i do get it.

dish network local stations

 

[Balt]

Citrix, for now (unless that merger is allowed to go through), DirecTV and the Dish Network are two separate entities, right?

 

[OutHouse]

yes

 

[jsbush]

I have Dish not DirectV, but i can tell you, the satellite we get here is MUCH better than the DIGITAL cable I had. digital cable is just a cable company that has a big satellite dish, it then sends that signal via cable to homes. think about it. which would be better their satellite signal over cable? or your own satellite signal?


Well if I think about it, a cable company will have MUCH more power full and high tech satellite equipment, then we could ever afford for personal use.

I get a 92% signal on a good day, on a bad day I can completely lose it, when theres snow on the dish the signal is gone until I clean it. I don't know what your cable company is, but it must be pretty sh*tty one. Here we have digital cable and it's hardly ever down. But the channel selection is poor.


gregshin: To answer your question, If you can get DirecTV and DSL for 50$ a month, then go for it. Seems like a great deal.

 

[Tripleshot]

If you have more than two sets in the house you want seperate viewing choices for,you need another dish. You need a dual head dish to provide seperate viewing on two sets.

Also, don't bother using it for the internet if you plan to do any on line gaming or such. The lag will kill ya.

 

[PlatinumGold]

jsbush

i had comcast digital from Philadelphia. I never got the CBS stations in cleanly. I had lots of problems with static and poor reception.

i've had my dish in for about 2 weeks now, granted that's not enough time to have a good sampling, but in the time i've had it, the reception has been SUPERB. during the same period of time i had many more problems with digital cable.

 

[worth]

Don't get DirectTV, get Dish Network. I had both and Dish Network was far superior. DirectTV is full of billing problems and bad customer support. They're the AOL of satellite TV.

 

[bluerpk]

I had dish network in my old apartment..great picture..only started noticing how good the picture was, when i switched to cable in my new apartment

where unfortunately, i do not get reception due to some trees blocking the signal
i really wanted to continue with them