HDTV: Cable vs. Satellite?

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kjhorn01

< 25 Posts
I just bought a house in Dallas and I'm about to buy my first HDTV to go in it. I wanted to get opinions on whether we should go with cable or satellite. I already have phone and internet through AT&T so bundling cable/phone/internet isn't my first choice (unless someone has a really compelling argument for).

What are the pros and cons to each? Any thoughts/advice you have is appreciated!
 
Leme, leme, leme upgrade ya.
yippee.gif
 
Satellite has more HD channels for the time being, but I don't know if they're all true HD or just stretched "HD" versions of the regular channel.

Cable HD is free with cable usually. Satellite HD costs like 10 bucks a month.
 
I didn't say cable was cheaper.

I said HD is free with Cable and is not with satellite.

Cable can be cheaper: I have 1 tv with DVR and 3 getting basic cable straight from the wall. To get the same channels on satellite, I'd have to get an upgraded package (not the 29.99 that's advertised), the HD add-on (extra 9.99), the dvr service (cost comparable to cable), and get converter boxes for the other 3 tvs. I priced it out on the satellite websites and the promotional rates are higher than my monthly cable bill. After three months or whatever it would be much higher.

But if you only have one or two TVs, or one of the cheaper channel packages has the channels you want, satellite is cheaper. And you get more HD channels.
 
If you like pro- football there is no choice but direct tv- most of the rest is a push, in my opinion-
but come sunday if you can afford the nfl package the contest is over!!!
if verizon fios is available in your area do not wait a second longer and make the switch- hands down the best internet service-
 
Time Warner Austin. HD is free with digital cable. I get all the local HD channels and ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, Food, A&E, Music, HGTV, FSN, TNT, and TBS in HD. No fine print - I took in my non HD dvr and got an HD one and my bill didn't change one bit.

If i subscribed to HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, or Starz, I would get those in HD as well.

There's an HD-tier for $6 that includes HDnet and Mojo. Sometimes I wish I got HDnet, but not often.

The local channels also come in HD straight from the wall over unencrypted QAM.
 
It also depends upon the HD TV that you have. I bought a Samsung 56 DLP that was HD compatible a few years ago. It does not have an HD tuner. I have DirecTv HD and the picture quality on that big screen simply blows you away. My wife is so taken by sports on the HD channels that she wants me to give up my season tickets. It is quite good but not as good as row 12 in the upper deck!
 
Especially when you don't know what your talking about. DVR cost is the same with or without HD.

This was directed at ghost, btw.
 
I have TimeWarner, I don't have DVR and I still get HD channels that I do not pay extra for. I do not pay fees for DVR or HD cable.

Am I an idiot? Do I need somebody to handle my bills for me?
 
Let's see for $86/month with Time Warner I get...

1) 27 HD channels (includeds HBO, Mojo, HD Net, Universal HD)
2) 10 standard HBO's
3) HD-DVR for my HDTV
4) Sports Pak channels
5) Extra converter box for my bedroom TV
6) 2 other TV have standard cable out of the wall

I did a compariable search with Dish Network & Direct TV...

Dish = $91 with a 2 year commitment.

Direct TV = $82 per month, then $90 once the free HBO runs out + $99 for startup costs.

Looks like Time Warner isn't that bad of a deal at all
 
Dish always looked better than DirecTv to me, except for the NFL sunday ticket. and since I spend 8 of the sundays at an NFL stadium, who needs the sunday ticket.

The one big plus for cable is the lack of commitment. You can drop out at any time.
 
if you are in dallas, can you not get verizon FIOS?

if so, this discussion is over, and you should have interwebs thru them too.
 
What about when I use the QAM tuner on my TV and don't use a cable card at all?


What I'm paying for with the cable card is Digital Cable. HD comes with that at no extra charge. If my TV has a cable card slot, I can pay for the cable card. If it doesn't, I can pay for a converter box. The standard digital cable converter boxes cost the same as the HD converter boxes.

We're paying for local HD channels as much as we're paying for ESPN or the Golf Channel. We're paying for all the other HD channels as much as we're paying for BBC America or GSN.

If I said I get Golf Channel for free with my cable, would you tell me I'm an idiot because I need a piece of RG-6 cable to run to the wall, which I had to pay for, therefore it's not free? Or that I don't get GSN free with digital cable because I had to get a converter box or cable card to get digital cable? Because that's the argument you're making.

With TWC, there's two tiers of service: Standard Cable and Digitial Cable (and "useless cable" with only 20 channels). The fact is that any Digital Cable customer can buy and HDTV, exchange their converter box for the new one, and not see an increase in their monthly bill. A standard cable customer should be able to get HD with a QAM tuner and no increase in their monthly bill. A Digital Cable customer can return their digital cable box, get a cable card, and actually see their monthly bill decrease.

Find where on this chart HD costs more than standard for the same service:The Link
 
And lest you say "Ha! High definition tier - $10!", that's just 5 premium HD channels no one watches.

1656 Universal HD
1687 MOJO
1692 HD Net
1693 HD Net Movies
1698 HD Showcase on Demand
 
2 questions to hopefully get this thread back on track:

1) Is TWC's QAM signal unscrambled? I just picked up a 32" Bravia for the bedroom last weekened & have it plugged directly into the wall outlet (no STB). I did a quick auto program on initial install but didn't check the upper 80.x channels where the HD QAM signals apparently live in our area.

2) How did you get your deal, EJC? Sounds like I've got the same setup as you w/ an HD DVR downstairs & the same packages (but no 2nd box upstairs) and I'm paying $114 a month
eek.gif
Did you get a new subscriber special or do I just need to call TWC & threaten a switch to see if they'll drop my monthly fees?

The thing is I really don't want a STB in the bedroom if I don't need it. We use the TV as our alarm clock & I don't want to have a STB running 24/7 just so I'll get a signal when the TV turns on @ 5:15 a.m. (plus my wife would undoubtedly forget to leave the STB on which would lead to confusion & her being pissed @ me for making things complicated). The quality of the SD is surprisingly good on the Sony (esp. given our viewing distance) so I could live w/ watching SD for awhile but that kind of defeats the purpose.
 
If you are on TWC and you have run the cable staight from the wall to the TV, you will pick up the locals in HD. These channels will come in on 1501 and up. Make sure you have run the auto program on the set.
 
Thanks, Harlan. I did an auto run on initial programming but didn't even think to look in the 1500s (just scrolled through via the up/down selector & stopped @ HBO which is 98). I do recall that the setup screen finished w/ 78 or 79 analog channels and at least 6 digital (that's the last number I remember seeing) which I'm now guessing are the HD channels.

Thanks for the tips. I'll check it out this afternoon.
 
Dish has a PIP button on the remote. The thunderstorm thing happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year and only for a few minutes. It doesn't rain hard enough to mess with the signal for long periods of time. I would be willing to bet cable users experience outages more often and for longer periods of time. Unless it's raining cats and dogs, satellite just works. The same can not be said for cable.
 
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