What is the difference between DirectTV cable and Timer Warner Cable?

[Turbo55]

I have the option of setting up both. I am opting for the basic plan, which is around $20 from either company. Does any one know the difference between the two plans?

 

[BDawg]

DirecTV satellite has a better (less compressed) picture than TW cable. And, you don't have to deal with the horrid cable company.

 

[vash]

The debate between cable and satellite is a fierce one. I once had cable, went to DirecTV and was quite pleased with the differences. After I moved, I didn't decide to buy into DirecTV again b/c cable is already in the existing place I'm at and my association fees already pay for it. Getting DirecTV would be an additional cost over my existing cable TV price, so I didn't really want to foot it (especially since I'm paying a mortgage now).

The main difference between the two are the features you get at the $40 level. With DirecTV you are pretty much required to sign up for a year and you have to foot the bill on some portion of the install (even if you get credit for it later). With cable, the installation is usually free and no additional hardware would be necessary (unless you want digital cable).

If I had the extra cash, I'd get my DTV again, but until then, I am with cable and no real plans on changing. With the amount of TV I hardly watch, the additional $40/month isn't worth it for me.

vash

 

[Turbo55]

My building is pre-wired for DirecTV, so I don't have to buy the equipment. I guess I still have to pay for installment fee, but I would have to pay that for TW Cable anyway. Do you think they offer the same channels in DirecTV as in TW Cable?

I don't watch too much TV anyways, but who knows, maybe grab a Bud during the weekends and want to flip the channels... Anyone know the difference in the basic plans of the two companies?

 

[Shelly21]

What is the difference between DirectTV cable and Timer Warner Cable?

DirectTV offers cable now?

At anyrate, with DirectTV or Dishnetworks, you have the ability to get a couple more hundreds of 'nothing to watch' channels.

 

[juiio]

Many cable companies now force you to get digital cable if you want any premium channels, such as HBO. I love HBO but I hate digital cable. The added channels are mostly worthless unless you pay for fremium channels and the set top boxes are HORRIBLE. Incredibly slow with a bad interface. That alone would make me get a dish...except I can't get reception. I ended up dropping HBO (grr) and digital cable (yay), and just kept basic cable.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I used to work for Primestar (got bought out by DirectTV).

This is the deal....cable tv will almost always be cheaper than Satellite. It all depends on how much TV you want and at what quality. If you have a satellite dish, you'll have to keep the dish from getting bumped and be sure to clear snow, debris off it. Rain will become an issue sometimes if it's raining hard enough. Of course, cable is maintained by the cable peeps. I would guess there would be less problems with Cable...

 

[Mutilator]

Bleh I typed out a long ramble of a post and decided to just keep it short and sweet.
If you are just going to get the basic service... go with DirecTV since it's all digital. I've had it for 10 months and it's been great. Got even better 2 weeks ago when they finally updated the software on my receivers so they stopped losing connection and resyncing.

If you change your mind in the future or plan to get a HDTV then go with TWC since they probably carry more HD channels... plus you won't have to spend $1000 to buy a new receiver & dish.
I'm in the process of comparing DirecTV and TWC Digital cable right now. So far the digital stuff is pretty much equal... HDTV kicks serious ass... but TWC has 1-100 as analog channels. I just switched out the svideo cable for composite to improve the picture quality. Sounds backwards right? Well no. The 3100HD box has a poor or no comb filter at all... so the analog channels were grainy. Swapped it out with the composite cable and now my hitachi filter does the work... much better. I'll be giving that a test tonight.

Trying to figure out who should get my money.
Right now it looks like I may switch to TWC... faster customer service and it'll be cheaper every month for more channels + the HD channels. Plus they're giving me a discount on my RR service.