Satellite vs. Cable Television

elchrist · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 11:10 AM Post subject: Satellite vs. Cable Television

When it comes to watching television at home it can get pretty boring watching the same local broadcast (antenna) channels. So there comes a time when you need to upgrade your home entertainment and choose a provider.

It used to be pretty easy to make a decision. It was simple. You only had one real viable choice and that was Rogers Cable (now Adelphia). If you were being overcharged for mediocre programming it was alright, since you didn't have another alternative.

A few years ago, we had satellite-based television programming introduced. A couple of prominent providers existed and you had more options. It sounded expensive, but it really wasn't. A large number of viewers were even getting free subscriptions.

Now I'm about to a make a decision between cable and satellite. Either I choose Adelphia for cable or Dish Network / DirecTV for satellite. What's it going to be?

I don't know.

I've had digital cable through Adelphia and it's OK. Nothing special. The quality isn't even better as it looks like you're viewing online porn with low-res JPEGs (sometimes even GIFs). Adelphia does have one plus, if you want to call it that. They give you local channels for free. You have to admit the local news can be a little entertaining, even though it's not on purpose.

On the satellite arena, I'm leaning towards Dish Network. They appear to offer more real entertainment and less sports. Quality looks good, but the menu system is bad. Almost as bad as Adelphia's. I've only watched TV on the Dish Network a few times, so I can't really personally judge it. SBC does offer it as a reseller now and offers a minimal discount.

So what do you watch TV with? Do you have any recommendations, complaints or gibberish you'd like to offer?

verbal · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 11:43 AM Post subject:

I'm thinking of switching from Adelphia to Direct TV. The reason is simple, sports. I can live with ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNews. Throw in some Fox Sports West and I'm set. I know Adelphia offers these packages, but at a a higher price.

Also, they have a cool deal right now for $40 bones and free install. It's 5 extra duckets for each additional receiver per month, so be careful with this option.

amp · Posted: 10 Sep 2004 06:32 PM Post subject:

In my parents' house, they've had Dish Network for about 6 or 7 years. They used to have a big satellit dish, also. I've had Dish and DirectTV at different times. My suegros had digital cable and now have regular cable. I've watched all of these. In my opinion, Dish or DirectTV are the best ways to go.

Cable is expensive and digital cable is really expensive. I didn't think that digital cable looked very good. and when you changed channels it was slow and really noisy.

DirectTV is arguably the best, overrall. Dish has made many improvements over the past few years. Personally, Dish is my favorite. The menu is very similar to DTV's, now, so there's not much difference anymore. In regards to programming, DTV used to have more channels, especially sports channels. Now, Dish has just about every channel that DTV has, and a few that DTV doesn't. My only complaint with the new Dish system, is that the time it takes from the time you change the channel to the time it takes for the next channel to come up, is a little longer. It's a dumb complaint, but the time is noticeable. Probably only a second or two, but noticeable. DTV channel changing is quicker. I believe Dish is a bit cheaper, also.

I would reccommend Dish or DTV.

elchrist · Posted: 13 Sep 2004 08:10 AM Post subject: Nets

I called up Dish Network and they claim you cannot get any local channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS) in the Imperial Valley, even with a SuperDish. It's probably the same with DirecTV.

For those of you who have satellite, how do you handle watching these network stations. Is it with an antennae? If so, which one do you recommend for the best reception?

I didn't think these channels would be of much importance, but then I realized I'd be missing out on shows like Joey, The Simpsons and all the other great entertainment provided by reality television. There are some good shows I'd be missing out on.

amp · Posted: 13 Sep 2004 09:01 AM Post subject:

Actually on Dish, I receive 3 sets of each of these channels. We get Eastern and Pacific channels, and "local" channels from San Diego, I believe. Included are Eastern, Pacific, and "local" versions of: Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, UPN, WB, WGN, KTLA (west & SD only), PBS, MTV, Nick, Disney, etc. Simpsons, Seinfeld, Spongebob, King of the Hill are almost always on some channel. The nice thing about having the Eastern & Pacific channels is that you can see things three hours before you should be seeing them on Pacific time.

In regards to programming time, one complaint I have for Dish is that everything else: TBS, Comedy Central, USA, and many others, are all on Eastern time. This means that you have to catch what you want to watch 3 hours earlier than you would watch it on local cable. It doesn't really affect anything I watch, but I thought I should mention it. To the best of my knowledge, DirectTV is not like this, but I don't remember.

Note: I believe we pay like $6 or $7 extra per month to get these channels. You need to tell them that local reception is very poor, and stress that the local channels are from Yuma and El Centro, so they aren't exactly local for someone in Calexico, Heber, Imperial, etc. I remember that they didn't want to do it, but you can't take no for an answer. I believe its not that hard to get anymore, because I've talked to different people who have Dish, and they have these channels, as well.

elchrist · Posted: 13 Sep 2004 09:35 AM Post subject:

Mars · Posted: 13 Sep 2004 02:51 PM Post subject:

When my mom got Direct TV the lady who installed put her el centro address for billing this would allow my caleca based mom to watch local channels. But after missing some payments due to the bill getting sent to el centro my mom had the billing address changed to calexcio, for some reason they told her that in calexico you can not get the local channels, but in ec you can. I have no idea why?

elchrist · Posted: 15 Sep 2004 04:11 PM Post subject:

elchrist · Posted: 15 Sep 2004 04:15 PM Post subject:

I ended up ordering Dish Network through SBC since the representative assured me I'd be getting all the "local" network channels which are assigned to the 8000s. They'd be out of San Diego or Los Angeles and that's completely fine.

If I was lied to, I'm gonna get all loco. Laughing

zuco74 · Posted: 28 Oct 2004 01:37 PM Post subject:

In Mexicali I gor Direct TV and I am happy with that. I mean I got NFL ticket for 35 bucks so you cant go wrong....

Before I was only gettin like 3 channels and I needed my ESPN fix damnit....

Smile