Just Curious: Cable TV vs. Direct TV.

[bcmind]

Aren't they the same?

Also, which combo sounds better?

Charter Cable TV + Cable Internet OR Direct TV + SBC DSL... that's if the monthly bills are the same...

why? why not?

EDIT:

sorry, it's Digital Cable TV....

 

[shopbruin]

is it digital cable?

i have direct tv and more channels than i'll ever watch. i'd rather get digital cable than deal with this box - i can still order the same packages.

i also have DSL with verizon (helloooooo rip off)

see if there is a deal with cable + cable internet. some companies provide that.

 

[ScoobMaster]

NO!!!!

Not even close!!!


Cable = most channels analog (quality varies greatly with condition/length of cable run)
DirecTV = ALL channels digital (same quality picture as long as signal strength > 30% or so)

When my neighbor and I switched to DirecTV from our local (Time Warner) cable we had the opportunity to check them out on his new HD-Ready digital TV. Since it took the cable company a few days to pull the plug, we had a few days of overlap to hook both sources to the TV (it has a GAZILLION inputs). Switching from satellite to cable on the SAME channels yielded unbelievable results. The DirecTV satellite feed was sharp, clear, crisp, and had amazing color richness. The cable feed was fuzzy, dull, colors more washed, and we saw significant "noise" in most channels.

The same goes for sound quality - ALL digital on DirecTV, mostly analog on cable

 

[iamwiz82]

i hate cable and digital cable, never had a good experience with them. ON the other hand, DirecTV is a godsend and i love it. I have something like 25 channels of Discovery/History/Travel etc.

 

[rudder]

What the price? DirecTV is great, except in real heavy rains you could lose the signal.

 

[olds]

Hands down, DTV

 

[HyTekJosh]

Is it a choice between Digital TV and DirecTV or Analog TV and DirecTV?

 

[conjur]

I'm going the digital cable route and dumping DISH.

Insight has a Triple Play offer for digital cable, cable internet, and digital phone service (two lines) and it will be about $35/mo less than I was paying for DISH Top 150, cable internet, BellSouth phone service separately. And, this includes the $2/mo extra for the HD cable box

The only thing that sucks is they REQUIRE the $3.95/mo. inside/outside wiring maintenance pkg on this deal. Might as well call it a tax (above the $18 in Federal taxes already part of this).

 

[psydancerqt]

i wish we had a choice... at my house, the cable ends at the 300 addresses so everyone less than 300 has to get something else. we have directv it works good except in rain storms. my house is so far back in the woods, the satellite is on a pole on top of the house just to get a signal!!

 

[ScoobMaster]

FYI:

Be aware that "digital cable" usually only provides digital broadcasts to select channels (like HBO and movie channels) and NOT to all of them. The "lower band" (network, news, music, weather, discovery, etc...) are still analog.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: rudder
What the price? DirecTV is great, except in real heavy rains you could lose the signal.

honestly, I have DirecTV for almost a year and have only lost signal 3 times, and all 3 of those times i should not have been watching TV in the first place due to the weather.

As for price, i pay $49/mo for the Midlevel package plus locals and UltimateTV which is a PVR that i adore.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: ScoobMaster
FYI:

Be aware that "digital cable" usually only provides digital broadcasts to select channels (like HBO and movie channels) and NOT to all of them. The "lower band" (network, news, music, weather, discovery, etc...) are still analog.

Uh...it's all analog, just as satellite is. Well, it's an analog picture sent over digital means (using compression). Are you referring to HD broadcasts such as HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, Discovery HD, etc.?

 

[Gibson486]

My dad just got direct tv. I thought the quality of the picture would be the same since we did not have a fancy tv, just your standard 36 in. HOwever, we turned on the reciever and flipped on a channel and dam, the picture was so clear when compared to cable!

 

[ScoobMaster]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: ScoobMaster
FYI:

Be aware that "digital cable" usually only provides digital broadcasts to select channels (like HBO and movie channels) and NOT to all of them. The "lower band" (network, news, music, weather, discovery, etc...) are still analog.

Uh...it's all analog, just as satellite is. Well, it's an analog picture sent over digital means (using compression). Are you referring to HD broadcasts such as HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, Discovery HD, etc.?

Actually I was referring to the transmission. 100% of the signal transmitted to satelllite dishes is digital (as in binary 1s and 0s). Most of the digital cable services (including in my area) only transmit the upper premium channels in digital form. The bulk of the channels are still transmitted in an analog form (subject to quality problems varying with the condition/length of the cable runs). You are correct in your assertion that non-HD programming is analog - the difference is in how it transmitted the long distance from your TV service provider to your home.

This link explains in more detail

 

[conjur]

Guess we're on the same page. Your last post just said it in a much better way

I'll be able to judge, myself, how well digital cable compares to digital satellite (and compare the HD over cable vs. HD OTA, too) in just a few more days.

 

[ScoobMaster]

Originally posted by: conjur
Guess we're on the same page. Your last post just said it in a much better way

I'll be able to judge, myself, how well digital cable compares to digital satellite (and compare the HD over cable vs. HD OTA, too) in just a few more days.

Yeah - I re-read my initial response and maye the caps and exclamation points were a bit much. I guess it was a gut-reaction post fueled by my distaste for our local cable company. Seeing the difference in quality between their feed and the feed coming down from DBS was the final straw for me. Perhaps the cable quality is comparable in some areas (but at all my friends/relatives that I have talked to that converted from cable to DBS that has not been the case).

Sometimes the hands type faster than the brain can polish and finalize the thoughts