Options beyond cable TV?

[dkd83]

Anyone who has Dish Network or Direct TV, could you help me out? Which is better and is satellite better/cheaper than cable?

I am particularly interested in increase my number of HD channels as cheaply as possible. Any assistance is welcome, but please give as many specific details as you can. Thanks in advance....

[TripleDigitRide]

I know little about anything other than Comcast, but I heard Dish Network is better than Direct TV, because Dish Network has customer service reps. who actually speak the English language. That's a huge plus in my book.

[Guest jackdog]

I Had dish and was very dis- satisfied so I switched to Direct tv. Direct has a lot more hd channels. All of these companies are over priced in my book and if circumstances ever get to the point of cutting back I would dump any and all/

[Mike.357]

I used to have Dish and currently have comcast. Things get tighter and cable is the first to get dumped.

As to your question I have no clue about HD channels. I can attest to Dish being pretty fair in customer service other than they really did not give a crap about me dumping their service until after I had established service with Comcast. Then they decided I could have this so called great deal to come back. I asked why i was not offered that when I told them I was going to switch unless they threw me a bone. The girl had no answer for that.

I liked Dish programming. The remote was easy to figure out and the service reliable. Reliable unless a big ass storm blew in. Then cloud cover might cancel out service.

There were also several times when the line in the ground would go bad at connectors or the dish needed to be re-aimed. I would call to tell them it was not working right and they would tell me it was up to me to fix. I would ask them why I was paying them for their service if I had to fix it myself. They would then send someone out. But apparantly when I first signed up for their service I was given a lifetime free service deal. So if I had not had that I would have had to pay for them to fix their cables and connectors so their service would actually work. I guess if you do not need to bury line you would have less trouble. Still trees grow and the dish needed to be moved every once in a while. It seemed that about once or twice year I needed service on the equipment.

Over all I like Comcast better, but the bottom line is they all suck. Once your initial deal is over the price goes up.

Seriously ready to just get basic local channels, switch back to ATT and use dial up internet. It would cut my bill in half.

[Guest clownsdd]

Tried several myself over a 2yr period.

this is what works for me

Direct TV television

Comcast internet

ATT phone

[bobmack]

hi,

i've had 'directv' for almost 10 years. --- much better picture & sound quality over cable and more dependable [except for an occasional heavy storm]

but alas ! --- like much of TV --- i have 150 channels of NOTHING.

bob

[Guest GLOCKGUY]

my mom has Direct TV now and she said its alot better then when she had Dish Network. she said the picture is alot better

[Guest nraforlife]

Waiting for AT&T to compete with COMCAST

[dunndw]

We had Dish but went back to Comcast due to lousy customer service and the picture going out right as a tornado warning was being broadcast

[deerslayer]

I kicked the cable habit 9 years ago and never looked back. Not sure about Knoxville, but if you live in Memphis and prefer spotty service, incorrect bills, and rate increases every other month, call Comcast. I've had Directv for 9 years, and am happy with it, even though I watch tv about one hour a month (until football season).

[tnroadrunner]

I have DirectV and love it. I also get Outdoor Channel al a cart for extra $2.99 a month.

[DaveTN]

Well if you want HD, DVR, On-Demand premium channels, internet so fast the numbers don’t matter, or want to be able to just replace a bad piece of equipment at no cost to you… then there is no alternative to Comcast.

But if you find one let us now because my Comcast bill is crazy.

[fury2neon]

I have had DirecTV and my parents have Dish. My equipment is 10 years old and theirs is about 2 years old. Our picture and sound quality are about the same. I installed my DirecTV but now they wont let you do the installation. The installers in my area will only get the signal strength to between 80 and 90 percent. I have mine at 98 on most of the satellites and that makes a big difference.

The one thing Dish has over DirecTV is the deals on getting service. Last I looked Dish gave you the equipment and set it up for you for free with a 2 year agreement. DirecTV Sells the equipment for about $99.00 and with free installation.