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Dish TV or Cable?


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I need some help here. I'm moving to another, bigger house, this Friday. I was going to continue with my Cable TV/Internet service. It's AT&T Broadband/Comcast. I hate them. The worst service from any company I've ever seen. I won't bore any of you but believe me. It turns out the new house we're moving into has a Satellite Dish. I don't know the first thing about these things. Any one know enough to have a preference? I'll keep my cable internet, but I'd rather not instal cable TV and later install dish service. There are more stations on the dish apparently. It MAY be cheaper, I don't know.

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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believe me, i know...i have had my fair share of trouble with AT&T all the way back when they were called 'Sacramento Cable'.... go for the dish...i think it's cheaper i don't know. but my mom has dish tv and she has more channels, like Tech TV and MTV 2 (they play videos) BBC TV, and a whole bunch of other good stuff you can't get with AT&T buttband... BTW, gongrats on the house :thu: what area are you moving to?
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Hey Sactog! Thanks for the advice. I think you're right. I'll research it some more tomorrow. I'm moving from Tahoe Park to South Land Park. I guess I like parks. Actually it's a little south of Land Park., but it's on the Drive. What's up with The Kings? First time in I don't know how long I sat down to watch the game and we're the lame squad.

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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If you really don't care about the local stuff, go with the dish. Some, not all, satellite providers have local channels. If your's does, that's the way to go. On the other hand, if you are on cable and are using their cable modem access, you'll still have to pay out the nose for that AND pay additionally for the dish. The other alternative is to go dish and DSL. Have fun making this decision. :rolleyes:

 

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you know, i've not had a tv for over 20 yrs, but what's really fuuny is that evey time i turn up to someones place whp has a tv it's like i'm totally glued, why is this?....... peave, natty [img]http://www.theunholytrinity.org/cracks_smileys/contrib/fk/butterfly.gif[/img]
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[quote]Originally posted by henryrobinett: [b]What's up with The Kings? First time in I don't know how long I sat down to watch the game and we're the lame squad.[/b][/quote]i don't know, this is embarassing...what the hell is up with Peja? the Kings need to get thier shit together...this foul crap is pissing me off!!! :mad: there is still hope...one more quarter left..go Kings!!!!
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[quote]Originally posted by natty fred: [b]you know, i've not had a tv for over 20 yrs, but what's really fuuny is that evey time i turn up to someones place whp has a tv it's like i'm totally glued, why is this?....... peave, natty [/b][/quote]Well TV is a hypnotizing machine. It just tends to suck you right in. Zap!

All the best,

 

Henry Robinett

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Up here in New Hampshire, Adelphia is the cable provider, and they are terrible. For 3 years they said they would add Speedvision to the line up the next time there was a change. The never did. In January I went with DirecTV. I pay $43 a month for 2 receivers and 75 channels (plus 30 music channels). And now I get Speedvision :) (I'm a big F1 and CART fan). My wife and I are very happy with the dish. The picture is crystal clear (Adelphia cable is not), there are some nice features in the receivers that non digital cable can't provide (3 day channel guide, search, alternate viewing times, etc). My friends and neighbors with Adelphia digital say the service is terrible and out of service a lot. Oh, and in my area (about 1 hour from Boston), I get Boston local channels included for the $43. That was the clincher for us. If you can get local channels, then go for the dish.

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I've wrestled the cable vs satellite decision for years. I finally went with Dish Network about 18 months ago when you could get the system essentially for free. The monthly charge is still about $10-12 lower than equivalent digital cable; however in my town you can't get local channels on Dish Network, and despite repeated inquiries they won't even hint at when they might be available. The local channels, where available, increase the monthly charge by $6-7, so the distinction between digital cable and satellite becomes almost insignificant. Analog cable is cheaper, but at least in my town the signal is quite poor (very noticeably worse). Note that with both satellite and digital cable, you'll need a "box" on every TV that you want to be able to watch simultaneous different channels (i.e., if someone in the den is watching and you want to watch something different in the bedroom at the same time, that's 2 boxes for both digital cable and satellite). Dish Network satellites seems to be relatively sensitive to heavy cloud cover and rain/snow; I'm in the southeast so it's not too big a deal. All in all, I like the satellite but the lack of local channels may drive me back to cable. BTW, when they say "local channels" they mean any and all of the network broadcast stations (nbc, abc, cbs, fox, etc.). So you lose the Simpsons, West Wing, etc.

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I'd say go for the DBS (direct broadcast satellite). The only downside is that your picture quality can be affected by bad weather. More an issue with snow, and I don't imagine you get much. Make sure you negotiate a package with multiple receivers for multiple TVs. That's one way cable is better - you can split the signal many times throughout the house. There could be 3 ways to get local stations in your market. The first is via Direct TV/Dish Network. This is only available in major markets, and it's the easiest way to go. The second is an old fashioned, over the air antenna (wouldn't be my first choice, but there are people with DBS that do this). The third is a basic tier of cable service. Yes, you'll be paying both for cable and DBS. But your cable provider may have a very small package that will provide you with your local stations and maybe a few adjacent channels. You'll have to call and ask for a package like this because it's never advertised. Our local Time Warner system provides this package for around $10 a month. Cable operators do this to give the appearance that they act in the public trust by make cable accessible for all income brackets. Oh, here is another benefit of DBS over cable: people who have DBS don't see locally produced commercials on cable channels (isn't THAT a big benefit). No more cheesy spots for "Big Al's Bait Shop". I work at a TV station, so I hear about cable vs. DBS daily.
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A couple of years ago you could actually get the "local" stations from anywhere in the US. A friend of mine was getting the New York city stations in New Hampshire. I grew up near NY, so when I signed up for DirecTV I tried this. The salesmen told me that the law had be modified to not allow this anymore. Damn! I was so close to getting all the Giants games again. Here in NH, we get the Patriots. I HATE THE PATRIOTS!!

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I thought it was possible to get a 'mobile' dish where you would get the programming from your area no matter where you were. At least this is how a friend explained it to me when he was trying to get Mets games in Philly. But this was a couple of years ago...
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Dish is the way to go. Yeah, with most analog cable services you can watch differnt shows on as many different TVs...but with Dish you need a reciever for each TV. However, with Dish you get so much more of the same lousy programming on than you do Cable. So, instead of only 50 channels of shit on cable...you get 500 channels of shit on the Dish! :D It seems that the more "they" offer for viewing...the more I hate everything on TV these days! HBO, Showtime and those other subcription movie/show packages...THEY ALL SUCK!!!...you get MAYBE 2-3 movies/shows per month that are worth watching...if that! I won't even bother with "prime-time"...only some of the Classic Movie channels and the Discovery/TLC kind of stuff...and I occasionally tune in to the The Wheather Channel and any one of the 24-hour News channels when I need a dose of reality!!! :thu:

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I went with Direct TV last year. I decided to do just one receiver, that way we may be more likely to watch as a family now and then. The price and channel selection was much better than cable. And I can lock out MTV (my daughter is addicted) except when the Osbournes are on! BTW, I got it through Blockbuster - for a $9.99 charge I got the receiver and dish, free installation, and 1 free DVD rental a week for a year (and there was no minimum subscription term :) )
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[quote]Originally posted by JimK: [b]A couple of years ago you could actually get the "local" stations from anywhere in the US. A friend of mine was getting the New York city stations in New Hampshire. I grew up near NY, so when I signed up for DirecTV I tried this. The salesmen told me that the law had be modified to not allow this anymore. Damn! I was so close to getting all the Giants games again. Here in NH, we get the Patriots. I HATE THE PATRIOTS!![/b][/quote]Couldn't you buy NFL Sunday Ticket and see all the Giants games? The only games blacked-out are the Pats' non-sellouts, are there might not be as many of those this year. If you live in an area where you can receive an over-the-air broadcast signal from a local network affiliate, you can not receive receive distant network affiliate stations via DBS for broadcast network programming (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, UPN). If you live in a remote area, you apply to your DBS provider for a waiver to receive network affiliated stations from somewhere in the US. They send the application to network stations in your nearest city. These TV stations determine if your request is legit, and grant or deny the application.
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I could by NFL Sunday ticket. It would average out to about $10 a game (assuming no public access games, like Monday Night Football). Considering that my kids (4 and 10 months) would never let me watch an entire game, I don't think it would be worth it. :D

In an effort to improve the responsiveness of e-mail for everyone, the e-mail servers will be out of service.

We are hopeful that this change will improve the performance of e-mail.

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Also in the Sacramento area. I got a DirecTV receiver and 3 months free when I bought a home security system. I preferred it to ATT/Comcast/SacCable/whatever. Problem for us was that my wife is Chinese, and is addicted to the daily Mandarin news and weekly "historical dramas" on the International Channel... which is not carried by either DirecTV or Dish Network. They claim that they offer something better... The Phoenix Network (or something like that). Problem with that is that it's on a different sattelite, so you need a second dish and receiver... AND they soak you for an extra ~$30/month to subscribe. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm stuck with ATT Bloatband. Buying digital cable only for the music channels... but I curse them every time I pay the bill.
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[quote]Originally posted by henryrobinett: [b]Thanks guys! Seems Direct TV is the way to go. But wait! (sniffle) No SIMPSONS? I don't think my boys will forgive me.[/b][/quote]no worries, i got one of them 'set top' antennas...i think it was ~$20 at Radio Shack...i get 58, 40 and 31 with no problem....sometimes the signal drifts a little when it gets windy, but overall, it does pretty good...
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