thinking of making the switch....cable to satellite???

[hulkster]

man, im really posting a lot in this forum about changing stuff around.  sorry, but you know how it is.

anyway, heres the deal....ive got cable right now and im paying about $35 a month or so and im getting some digital channels and about 4 or 5 hd channels.  i have only one hdtv, and the rest (2 other tvs) are SD.  i also have tivo series 2 that sucks on my hdtv because its analog and looks like crap on my hdtv.

okay, so yesterday i was attempting to call comcast to get a better deal by saying "hey i can get all this cheaper with satellite, what are you going to do about it".  so i started looking up directtv and dish network stuff and i was enticed :-) 

so heres what i want, let me know if it will be worth it:

1.  hd programming on my hdtv, with a dvr to replace my tivo
2.  plain old digital signals with no dvr (unless its free) for my other tvs. 
3.  the only extra channels i care about are the soccer channels (fox soccer, mls package, etc.)

keep in mind, that i really dont want to spend more than $45-50 a month.  the soccer channels are extra and not a necessity but it would be nice.  i just want to make sure that if i switch (giving myself better signals in video and audio) that i will be getting what ive got now for around the same price so my wife wont have a cow.  any suggestions?

[leapinlew]

First off..

maybe you should ask at the AVS forum since your not going to believe what I'm going to say anyhow.

Second -

I'm glutton for punishment so I'll comment. Your not going to be able to land in the $45 - $50 range and expect to have HD and DVR. Satellite charges you for stuff that cable companies give you for free or cheap, and they lock you into contracts and penalize you if you want to upgrade your service later. I've stayed with cable for this reason. 

Your best bet is to get an HD antenna to get a few more local HD channels.

From what I can tell - your price expectations are out of whack with what the charges are.

 

[ChadTower]

He could get it short term in a package deal - installation, setup, 6 months at price X.  They do that all the time for new users.

[Havok]

First off..

maybe you should ask at the AVS forum since your not going to believe what I'm going to say anyhow.

Second -

I'm glutton for punishment so I'll comment. Your not going to be able to land in the $45 - $50 range and expect to have HD and DVR. Satellite charges you for stuff that cable companies give you for free or cheap, and they lock you into contracts and penalize you if you want to upgrade your service later. I've stayed with cable for this reason. 

Your best bet is to get an HD antenna to get a few more local HD channels.

From what I can tell - your price expectations are out of whack with what the charges are.

 

What you talkin' bout Willis? I've had satelitte for years - almost since they offered the 18" dishes, and while lew is right about your expectations being low for DVR and HD... the free and cheap stuff, and especially the upgrade your service is just straight up wrong. Yes, they lock you into a 1 year agreement, however do you plan on NOT watching TV before a year is up? That agreement is just so they get back the money they invested in all that FREE equipment they just gave you. Yes, I said FREE. I recently passed on an offer to get HD and a FREE HD DVR through my satellite provider, only because I don't have HD... The only charge I would have to pay was an additional $5 or so a month for the service...

Hey lew, since I've had satellite tv, my bill has gone up $7 in the last 8 years. Can you say the same for your cable bill?

[ChadTower]

If he goes to satellite has has to give up Tivo... that much is certain.  DirecTV does not offer an HD Tivo and the few that did make it out there are pricey on ebay.

[hulkster]

true i do have to give up tivo if i switch, but my tivo sucks right now and upgrading to the new tivo is around $500 in total costs.  so instead of doing that for one tv, i could change to satellite and get a bunch of stuff free.

however, i just talked to a couple people who complained about satellite because if there is bad weather, the picture just goes blue all of a sudden.   that may not happen with everyone, but i heard several different accounts in different parts of where i live voicing the same thing.

[ChadTower]

Erm, yeah, depending on your installation.

I had cable for several years before going to DirecTV.  I have had far less outages for DirecTV than I ever had with cable.  I get a strong signal even in MA snowstorms.  The only thing that has ever affected my signal was wind (it knocked the dish out of alignment).

[hulkster]

Erm, yeah, depending on your installation.

I had cable for several years before going to DirecTV.  I have had far less outages for DirecTV than I ever had with cable.  I get a strong signal even in MA snowstorms.  The only thing that has ever affected my signal was wind (it knocked the dish out of alignment).

and im guessing there isnt a way to tell whether or not the signal will be bad other than to have someone install it right?

[ChadTower]

Hard to say simply because even someone with great line of sight can get a crappy signal if their dish is set up badly.  And you may have things like trees that your neighbors won't have.  A DirecTV installer isn't going to work it to get the best possible signal strenght.  They'll get it pretty good and that's about it.  My signal strength went up substantially after that wind incident because I aligned the dish far better than the original installer had bothered to do.

[Havok]

They can bring a meter to your location to test the signal. But yeah - to echo Chad's statement, my satellite hardly ever goes out. The cable ads saying you lose your signal all the time is b.s. If it's installed correctly, and mounted properly, it should work just fine for you. I got a great chance to bust on a next door neighbor about 6 months ago - he was always ragging on me about my dish, and the fact that it must go out all the time. Blah, blah...

Well - I really rubbed it in his nose when a moving truck backed out of a driveway down the road, and took out the pole where the cable lines were mounted: it took out the whole street's cable and internet. There were a bunch of people watching the aftermath, and I got to turn to him and say, yep - time for me to go in and watch my tv show... shame your "reliable" cable isn't working now...

 

[ChadTower]

Depending where you are located... go to the spot on your house where you want the dish.  Look up in the direction of Texas.  Is there anything in the way? 

[hulkster]

well apparently my cable bill isnt as cheap as i thought.  its $49.99 and its a basic cable package but since its "digital" now, i get a few hd channels and some extra music channels and useless stuff.  its basic cable, with local HD for $50.  i also have my internet through comcast which is extremely reliable for $50 and i have great speed. 

so i could be convinced to switch if i could get good signal strength and more channels/access for $49.99 than what im getting with cable now. 

[ChadTower]

Your cable net cost will increase when you're not a cable TV customer anymore.

[leapinlew]

however do you plan on NOT watching TV before a year is up? That agreement is just so they get back the money they invested in all that FREE equipment they just gave you. Yes, I said FREE.

I plan on things all the time, and then things change. I had to move recently with only a couple months notice. Whats the escape clause on Satellite? I didn't need one for cable. Cable gives you all kinds of FREE stuff too, but they don't require an agreement, why do you suppose that is?

My buddy just upgraded his service to include HD and he got stuck with a $400 bill for equipment and installation. You say you didn't, thats good for you but I would suggest anyone else looking to go with satellite to ask those questions before locking yourself in to a contract.

[tk_42_1]

Also verify that the Satellite Provider offers local channels in HD.  I moved to Dish Network 2 years ago and have not upgraded to HD because  they don't offer my local stations in HD and I am too far away to get the local stations OTA.

[Havok]

If you move around, it's still not an issue - put up a new dish, (or bring your old one with you) and plug in your old receiver, no loss in service. Granted, the only catch is that you have to be able to get a clear shot of the SW, but chances are pretty good with mounting options that you can get a signal. Plus, you didn't answer my question on your cable bill.

The reason you are in a agreement with the satellite system is that you OWN the equipment. You pay more with cable, and don't have a first year only agreement because you are RENTING the equipment, and paying for it over time. Again and again and again...

[ChadTower]

Southwest depends on where you live.  The satellites are in orbit over Texas.  That's where you have to be able to see.

[dstone]

I had to move recently with only a couple months notice. Whats the escape clause on Satellite?

I have DirecTV. They offer a moving service where they will go out to your new house, wire up a dish, and all you have to do is plug in. For free.

Also, if you have a certain type of receiver through DirecTV (such as some types of Sony receivers) they have serial connections on them. Makes for easy hookup to TiVo. I've had mine hooked up that way for years. This way, you don't have to live with that $5 a month DVR fee if you have a lifetime TiVo service.

[Havok]

Southwest depends on where you live.  The satellites are in orbit over Texas.  That's where you have to be able to see.

That's right - SW for us...

[CCM]

man, im really posting a lot in this forum about changing stuff around.  sorry, but you know how it is.

anyway, heres the deal....ive got cable right now and im paying about $35 a month or so and im getting some digital channels and about 4 or 5 hd channels.  i have only one hdtv, and the rest (2 other tvs) are SD.  i also have tivo series 2 that sucks on my hdtv because its analog and looks like crap on my hdtv.

okay, so yesterday i was attempting to call comcast to get a better deal by saying "hey i can get all this cheaper with satellite, what are you going to do about it".  so i started looking up directtv and dish network stuff and i was enticed :-) 

so heres what i want, let me know if it will be worth it:

1.  hd programming on my hdtv, with a dvr to replace my tivo
2.  plain old digital signals with no dvr (unless its free) for my other tvs. 
3.  the only extra channels i care about are the soccer channels (fox soccer, mls package, etc.)

keep in mind, that i really dont want to spend more than $45-50 a month.  the soccer channels are extra and not a necessity but it would be nice.  i just want to make sure that if i switch (giving myself better signals in video and audio) that i will be getting what ive got now for around the same price so my wife wont have a cow.  any suggestions?

Satellite and cable companies run specials all the time for new customers.  Generally if you are an existing customer you get screwed.

Have you actually tried calling DirectTv and telling them what you want to find out what it would cost?  Seems like that should be your first step.

[ChadTower]

If you are an existing customer you just call and ask specifically for Customer Retention.  Then you get what the new customers get.

[hulkster]

If you are an existing customer you just call and ask specifically for Customer Retention.  Then you get what the new customers get.

i was thinking about doing that with my comcast service.  that way i could free stuff for the next 6 months or whatever.  thats what my older brother has done for the longest time...and he says hes getting HD stuff for next to nothing.

[ChadTower]

Comcast doesn't care.  They'll tell you to eff off and then shut off your cable for three days in a "billing mistake" to prove their point.

[boykster]

I'm a cable guy, but mostly because of 2 points:  I can't get a good shot at the birds from where my house is (geographical limitation), and they don't have HD locals on the dish yet and I can't get teh HD OTA (again because of geo issues).

I would definately consider it for lots of reasons, but I'm tired of hearing the flawed mantra that with cable you're paying 'rent' on the equipment eternally...sure, you're paying to use their equipment, but its such a small amount of $$ per month ($5 for the HD PVR) that you would NEVER actually pay off the damn thing.  I priced out the comcast HD DVR I have - they go for $800.  that's a lot of months of $5 to buy that outright.  Add to that the fact that if (when) the DVR dies, I just take it in to a comcast office and get a new one.  No warranty hassles, no calling a tech, nada.

I was really hoping that the HD dish service Voom would have made it on its own, but they just couldn't survive on their own and ended up as content on dish....

[ChadTower]

boykster, that's why people swap a year of commitment for that $800 DVR.  It's worth doing for a service you intend to keep long term anyway.  You don't have to pay the rental fee and you get the hardware either heavily subsidized or free.

Though now with the higher end stuff like the HD receivers they're trying to force people to do two years.  That commitment is riskier.

[boykster]

boykster, that's why people swap a year of commitment for that $800 DVR.  It's worth doing for a service you intend to keep long term anyway.  You don't have to pay the rental fee and you get the hardware either heavily subsidized or free.

Though now with the higher end stuff like the HD receivers they're trying to force people to do two years.  That commitment is riskier.

Oh, I understand the rationale re: dish owners..you're definately coming out "ahead" if you look at MSRP by sticking to the contract.  I'm just tired of hearing the empty assertion that cable guys are getting screwed by having to pay to rent our equipment.  Frankly, I don't WANT to own my DVR - it won't work if I move and have a different cable provider (unlike dish where you can easily take your service with you).

Heck, I don't even watch that much tv anywho....

[J_K_M_A_N]

Actually, a woman at my office just got a new DVR from directtv and she had to pay $100 and she pays a monthly fee (like $5) AND it isn't hers to keep. If she leaves, she has to give it back. It isn't an HD dvr but it s a dvr none the less. So she got screwed by having to pay upfront AND monthly AND she doesn't own it!

Not sure if she just got screwed or what but it sounded like that is the way they do things now.

J_K_M_A_N

[ChadTower]

That $5 monthly fee is for the DVR service, not for renting the box.  There is no way out of the DVR service fee on cable or satellite.

[dstone]

Unless you get a TiVo w/ lifetime subscription.

[ChadTower]

Not for Satellite.

[dstone]

TiVo has a serial connection, it will take control of a compatible satellite receiver and it would be no different than having an internal tuner. For the incompatible models, there are the IR wands. I started with the wands then moved to the serial connection. Been working for over 2 1/2 years now.

A Yahoo! guide how to do it: http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/connecting-tivo-to-a-cable-or-satellite-box/153115

[ChadTower]

I used the IR wand for about 6 months back in the day before the serial connection... man, what an unreliable POS.

Of course, he's already said he's not willing to shell out for an HD Tivo.

[leapinlew]

If you move around, it's still not an issue - put up a new dish, (or bring your old one with you) and plug in your old receiver, no loss in service. Granted, the only catch is that you have to be able to get a clear shot of the SW, but chances are pretty good with mounting options that you can get a signal. Plus, you didn't answer my question on your cable bill.

The reason you are in a agreement with the satellite system is that you OWN the equipment. You pay more with cable, and don't have a first year only agreement because you are RENTING the equipment, and paying for it over time. Again and again and again...

I understand about the moving not being an issue with satellite assuming I move to a location that is acceptable. In my case, I did not. I had to move into an apartment that does not allow dishes. My cable bill has not raised in a while because I have locked in a rate with Charter Communications. I realize I'm the exception, but it was unadvertised where I was that I could call Charter and ask for a fixed rate and they guaranteed the rate for 12 months.

Why would I want to own satellite proprietary equipment? I wouldn't want to own that anymore than I want to own the cable box. As it is, I rent the cable box for $5 a month and when new features come out I get a different one for ... $5 a month. Wow.

You want Satellite? Thats your business. From what I can tell - it sucks.

[ChadTower]

had to move into an apartment that does not allow dishes.

It was more of a cave... he had to eat off the floor and just tossed his bones in the corner.

[Texasmame]

I've had both - DirecTV, hands down.

I know they got them there soccer channels, but you have to pay for those.   

[Samstag]

Actually, a woman at my office just got a new DVR from directtv and she had to pay $100 and she pays a monthly fee (like $5) AND it isn't hers to keep. If she leaves, she has to give it back. It isn't an HD dvr but it s a dvr none the less. So she got screwed by having to pay upfront AND monthly AND she doesn't own it!

Did she deal with local installers?  Sounds like she was dealing with the wrong people and got robbed.  Lately Direct has been trying to give me a free HD setup with an HD DVR and free HD programming for 6 months.

Someday I'll actually own an HD TV and take them up on it.  Currently I'm pretty happy with the free 80-hour Tivo they gave me a few years ago.

[TOK]

Have cable now, and would only go with either cable or Verizons FiOS service (available here) because I don't want to be stuck with crappy DSL broadband. Comcast gives me a 6 meg downstream which is way more important to me than TV anyway.

I have a DVR, and it's got 60 hours of Dora The Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants on it. I don't even get to use it. 

[hulkster]

okay.....HUGE update to this situation.  first of all, i have basic cable, so like 100 channels or something and a few local hd channels and im paying $49 a month.  plus my high speed internet, so my monthly bill is around $95 give or take.

i decided to call comcast on my way home from work and tell them about how i was thinking about switching to dish/directtv and that i could get an hd dvr and lots of channels with satellite for the same price $49.  the guy at comcast took a few minutes while he looked up some stuff and then told me he could offer me:

280 channels
hbo
hd channels
hd dvr
plus my current internet costs

all for $75 a month for the first 6 months.  BOOYAH!  so i asked "okay, so thats included my internet bill right?"  he said "yes sir".  i said "sign me up sucka!"  well okay, i didnt say sucka, but you get the point.  anyway, i then asked "okay, so after the first six months..." and before i could finish he said "yeah, well just call back in 6 months, and we'll work another deal out."  DOUBLE BOOYAH!  eat that satellite customers!     j/k

so yeah, i got the hookup tonight.  the only "gotcha" of the night is when i stopped off at the comcast office to get my hd dvr.  i told the lady at the desk "okay, so just to make sure, on my account it says im getting the special deal right?"  i proceeded to tell her about the $75 deal, and she looked at me like i was crazy.  she said she would get it all worked out and call me back at my house.  well no call tonight, so im going to call tomorrow to make sure they didnt screw me over.  if they did, im gonna go nuts and maybe even get a better deal. 

all in all, sweetness.  oh and the hd dvr can record two shows at once.  awesome awesome awesome....plus its all in digital...and i can record hd programming! 

okay im done.  awesome.

[leapinlew]

Yeah... thats been my experience too. Lock it in with cable, cancel whenever you want, no warranty issues with the DVR and upgrade whenever they release equipment.

[CCM]

280 channels
hbo
hd channels
hd dvr
plus my current internet costs

all in all, sweetness.  oh and the hd dvr can record two shows at once.  awesome awesome awesome....plus its all in digital...and i can record hd programming! 

okay im done.  awesome.

ahhh, the beauty of cable!