Direct TV vs Digital Cable

[Davoso]

Currently have Digital Cable w/HBO and am paying approx $81.00 a month for 2 receivers. I keep hearing raves about Direct TV, especially with TIVO. Any obvious reasons I should not move from Digital Cable (Comcast) to Direct TV? I am looking at the middle package and adding HBO, NFL and MLB. Will probably end up still paying less than I am now. They are also offering 3 receivers for the same price.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[palms]

i'd go for it. many more options with directv, and you will pay less.

 

[Kdogg21]

I work for Comcast and that seems preety high for what you pay.....usually Silver is 64.99 a month, so i dont know if you have any addl packages. i know another digital box is $4.99. I can tell you this Direct Tv is raising there rates up next month avg a $1.50 to $3.00 more p/month. Direct TV will offer more channels, but i know some people say thats the channels they offer are some bogus channels, so im not to sure. Comcast also offers more premium movie channels, and we offer HDTV for your local channels. You will also have to sign a contract with Direct TV as well. The funny thing about it though, is we get paid by Direct TV anyways, becuase Comcast owns E!, The Golf Channel, QVC and Comcast Sports Network. I think Direct would be in trouble, but they have the NFL which is great.. If anything though, if you call Comcast and say you might switch to Direct TV, they will put you on a special deal for 6 months. Hope this helps....

 

[ORIENTAL EXPRES]

switch to direct tv,comcast are ripoff ,digital cable is no better then analog cable picture wise,the only different between digital and analog box is ,digital have more channel.and they're charge u for the box.don't let the digital box fool u regarding of dolby digtal,they're still broadcast in stereo,direct tv broadcast in dolby digital ,sound way better.plus comcast raise the price every year .picture quality is way better then cable.gl

 

[gardenweasel]

comcast

comcast

their prices seem to go up constantly....all the while reducing your programing options....

the last brainchild was to take hbo/cinemax/showtime away from people that had cable ready t.v.`s....forcing them to rent boxes....and making you pay separately for the movie channel....

you are constatntly paying more.....and getting less..

something should be done about company`s like comcast...they have a monoploy on many cable markets...there`s no competition...except direct t.v....

i hope direct t.v. flourishes...

comcast is the perfect example of corporate greed...and how the politicians turn their heads to monopolization and the gouging of the public....

 

[Kdogg21]

I would agree in whole the entertainment business is a ripoff. I gaurentee you will pay the same amount for Direct Tv than w/ comcast. Comcast has many competitors in the Chicago region with WOW and RCN, but they are all a rip off. At least w/ Comcast you can have standard cable with out requiring a box where as Direct TV you would have to have a reciever for every TV. the whole TV industry raises rates. Comcast did it first, but like I said before Direct Tv is doing the same next month, I'll bet the farm on that. We offer free customer service and free customer calls, Direct tv or dish will charge you to come out to their house. if something goes out with your cable, we will credi the account for you for as many days as it is out, anybody with the dish/direct, they will say tough crap. I belive direct tv has its advantage's in ways, but the main reason people call us is they are fed up with the crappy service they get during the winter with the snow on the satelittle and nothing comes in for them. not only that, they don't want some dish on the home of their roof..

the hbo/showtime/cinemax deal was all up to them. they chose to go digital, because they offer more channels in the digital package. for every 1 analog station, you get 12 digital channels. also we are going to offer our HDTV, DVR & Video-on-Demand all the same digital box that you get allready.....

 

[toastonastick]

Directv is the ONLY way to go. I have not heard of any price inccrease and have compared the comprable service and Directv is about $15 a month cheaper.

If you want the NFL ticket or any of the pro sports packages there really is'nt a debate.

 

[Kdogg21]

No doubt about it, if you want the NFL ticket Direct is the way to go. The only sports Comcast carries is the Fox Digital networks and obviously the Gameplan, MLB plan and all of that. If you are in the Chicago are though, Comcast Sports Network debuts October 1st, which will carry, Blackhawks, Bulls,Cubs and Sox games.

You might see the price increase until you next bill, or the bill after. I was just at a min-convention they had for the entertainment industy, and their guys were telling me the rates where going up a average of $1.50 everywhere. Its not really becuase of Comcast,Direct,Dish or anybody else, its the stations that we buy from our hiking their rates up....

 

[dawgball]

At previous houses, I have has both DirectTV and Dish. Because I can only have one cable on the outside of my house, I could not get multiple receivers with Direct at my condo (not the same issue as Ace was referring to in another post), so I went with Comcast. At first, I was pissed, but now I am pretty pleased.

Comcast : On Demand movies--this is the coolest feature that I have seen offered for home entertainment. My wife and I rent 4-5 movies a month at $3.99 for brand new releases and $2.99 for others. We hardly ever go to Blockbuster anymore. This is only available on Comcast. Someone mentioned that there is no difference in digital cable and analog--do what?!? Big difference. That's like saying there's no difference in digital and HD. Comcast is a little pricy, but it's not much more than anything else. If you are a HUGE fan of dedicating Sundays to NFL watching at home, then Comcast is not for you.

Dish: This is the worst of the three options, IMO.

DirectTV: A very good choice expecially with their re-location plans now. NFL package is great if you would purchase it, but it wasn't for me. I like going to the games or going to sports bars, so I didn't benefit from it.

I think the trend right now is to say that the dishes are much better than cable, but I think it's a pretty even race. If you have never done the On-Demand movies, it is a great feature (this is completely different than PPV).

 

[ORIENTAL EXPRES]

what i mean is their is no different in picture quality between digtal and analog,it's the same thing.tell me do u get any dolby digital with your movie?well,on the digital cable box,it said it does.then show me where the input is? ,comcast try to sell u the old technology with a new wrapping paper and raise the price at the same time.next time try to compare picture quality with direct tv and tell me what u thing.

 

[dawgball]

i think there is a difference between digital and analog picture. the reason I say that is that Comcast has the first so many in analog and it is a big difference iin picture quality than the movie channels and such. to tell you the truth, I don't even know if they still have their lower numbers on analog, but I'm pretty sure that they do.

I'm no expert on this subject. Just making my observations that I can see with a naked, untrained eye.

 

[Kdogg21]

i believe 5 years from now, everything will be digital. Digital gives a 20% more clearer picture. Its not much, but I notice a difference in it than analog pictures. Just like Cell phones, you may notice much of a difference when you had analog phones, but i can thought there was definately a more clearer sound. If you still are getting a bad reception on your tv with digital, more times it is probably a bad cable or a bad box, or to many splitters in the home....

 

[Davoso]

Good stuff, appreciate the input.

Kdogg, what is Comcast's baseball package like? The link on their website does not work for the baseball package.

Do you know the extra cost?

 

[fletcher]

DTV is the best i get all pay movie channels 45 i think, fox regional packet 10 extra bucks best there is 22 regional sports net works and over 118 or so other channels for only 89 a month, best investment that i made hell cox was costing me the same and only had 2 different movie channels ,i get hd in local along with 6 other channels the one owened by m.cuban is great well he has 2 the pictures are better then any other hd channels 2 fold and the discovery channel is in hd also good, but the selling point was the fox regional for me, love it. and i have it in 3 rooms.

can't go wrong no cable company can beat their prices and none carry all the fox regional sports channels.

 

[Kdogg21]

Davoso,i believe the baseball packge will cost $159, but ill double check on that. If your in the chicago area, and you want to go Comcast, I can hook you up w/ free install and some discounts; also w/ High Speed Internet...

Direct offers way more sports programming i do know that. we only offer the 4 fox regions, pacific,midwest,atlatnic and fox sports world fo $5. we offer 53 more premium movie channels as well, and 15 HDTV channels by summer. basically the best package we have is for 250 channels for $91.99 which includes 1 digi box...

 

[Stuman]

I have had both, and DirecTV is far superior imo. My picture is DVD quality, and I'm not kidding. (using s-video from sat receiver)

As far as On Demand...DirecTV will be releasing its own version of on demand soon from what I hear.

 

[ORIENTAL EXPRES]

i don't know how u get 20% better picture then analog since they're use the same coax cable,i know the that digital box didn't do much to improve the picture since 0-99 channel still broadcast analog signal.i could watch hbo broadcast in dolby digital while your digital box still broadcast in STEREO.since 98% of today reciever have dolby digital and dts signal processor at least comcast try to upgrade their technology to keep up with consumer.

 

[Kdogg21]

its always a analog signal, but the digital box converts that signal to a digital signal. I agree though in some cases you won't see much of a difference in the analog signal, but anything above channel 100 you should notice a difference, but your right in some cases you may not, it just depends i guess....the dobly digital thing yea is preety standard, but i do know the hdtv box broadcast's it in 5.1 dolby. now you may notice anything with the picture, but i can never notice anything with the sound. i have a surround sound set up and it sounds great, but i could also go to my regular tv and it sounds the same as well. and by buddy brags his dish tv, has great quality sound and i go over there and it sounds the same too. i dunno, maybe my hearing is bad or something...:shrug:

 

[beantownjim]

KDOGG I KNOW YOU ARE A COMPANY MAN KISS ARSE FOR COMCAST BUT I HAVE A FRIEND HERE IN BOSTON WHO TELLS ME HE CAN GET ME A COMCAST CABLE BOX FOR 300 BUCKS AND I WILL GET EVERYTHING THEY OFFER FOR BASIC CABLE.NOW KEEP YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT JUST TELL ME IF THIS IS POSSIBLE BEFORE I WASTE 300 DOLLARS.JUST SAY YES OR NO DOGG I DONT WANT A BIG SONG AND DANCE O.K. PAL

 

[Kdogg21]

well you don't have to be a ass about it, so in that case go find out yourself.......

if you want a black box whatever, go to e-bay they sell them on there for $150, and i know they work because my friend has one and he has never been 'zapped'....