Digital Cable vs. Satellite

[Sirrahsim]

Any opinions? The monthly prices are just about the same so we're not sure which to get. It's between Dish network and Time Warner Digital

[JenBKR]

When my husband and I first started dating he had a satellite dish...I hated it. If the wind blew, the tv would go out, and you can forget about local channels. Personally, I would prefer digital cable. However, this was about 10 years ago and with Primestar (I think that was the name) so maybe things have changed since then. We did have digital cable for a while and I did really enjoy it.

[Vela]

I had dishnetwork for a while, but after my husband having to climb on the roof every time it snowed to clean off the dish so we could get tv, we went with comcast cable. It's really never had any problems and we get internet at the same time, so save money on that. I don't think I'd go back to dish unless they improved it significnatly. We changed about 2 years ago.

[Sirrahsim]

hmm that doesn't make satellite sound very inviting....

[Sirrahsim]

According to our lease we aren't allowed to attach the dish to the house so it would have to be ona stake in our yard :eek:

[borzoimom]

We have Direct Tv satellite- and we love it. Almost never do we loose it- even incased in clouds up here on the mountain- .. Excellent variety of channels- and even the PPV is a piece of cake if you so desire.

[critter crazy]

Had Dish Network, and got rid of it! Too many channels we never watched, lost reception too many times. it wasnt worth our aggravation! I have cable again, and will probably stay with it.

[Lobodeb]

We have Dish and LOVE it! We live in the windy city and rarely have problems with losing the signal. Only in really bad storms. What I love is that you can specify what types of channels you get. For example, we have Dish Latino because my husband likes to watch the Spanish channels and with this package, you get more Spanish channels than you would normal cable or any other Dish package, for that matter. You can even pay your bill through your tv! I love that part. Ours also came with a DVR (TiVo) I love it and hate it at the same time. hehe I never miss a show, but on the flip side, I'm spending all my time catching up on shows I've missed rather than say "oh well." and move on. lol :o :D

[borzoimom]

Direct TV is attached to a pole at our place.. And my daughters- you will have to put the pole up ( a 4x4 ) but they had no problem doing it..Want a picture of it? I will be glad to take one for you..

[Crazy-Cat-Lover]

My hubby used to have satellite TV, but I didn't like it. He would have to wait until the bad weather passed to be able to watch TV. We now have digital cable and love it! We have Video On Demand, the one where you can play, stop, rewind, fast forward etc. all the movies that you order. :)

[Freedom]

Just over a year ago, I changed the entire house to digital cable. Prior to the switch I had
- two bills for 2 phone lines (same company, but Verizon doesn't combine bills!)
- a bill for long distance (one line only)(on a package plan)
- a bill for cable TV
- a bill for ISP for the computer

It is now all on one bill, and I am saving $60 per month. Digital cable went out once in 14 months. Believe me, the company went to work fixing it FAST as a load of people were off line and calling it in. The transformer 4 streets away died/fried something like that. Took less than an hour to fix. Only problem was, with the whole house, I lost everything ha ha.

Last month I upgraded the TV part to Hi def, as we bought a new TV.

Because I was streamlining everything, satellite TV didn't enter the comparisons.

Don't know if this helps or further complicates the issue!

[CountryWolf07]

I'd stick with digital cable than satellite -- I wouldn't like it when the weather interferes with the satellite..

[Craftlady]

We love our dish t.v.

[Maresche]

We've got Direct TV in Northeast Ohio and despite all the snow we get, it has only gone out on us twice. All we needed to do in both those cases is brush it off with a broom (the dish is attached to the side of our house just above head level so we don't even have to stretch).

When we left Adelphia, it took them 4 months to disconnect us from "the pole" whatever that meant, and we continued to get bills until that was done. I was not at all pleased.

[Catty1]

I'm trying to get a service that will give me about 3 channels...and an amplified antenna doesn't work! :)

There must still be small dishes I can stick on the deck of my condo...oh well...I just don't want to pay $35 a month for a gazillion channels I don't want!

Good luck deciding!

[Grace]

We had DishNetwork for a few years. We quit because customer service was abysmal. I would call to cancel a sports package; the person to whom I was speaking was in downtown Bombay and couldn't understand English. So we thought it was canceled, but we would continue to be billed for it because it wasn't canceled. This went on for a year, and I finally just quit Dish.

We have cable and are happy with it. If we ever went back to satellite, it would be DirecTV.

[Sirrahsim]

Thanks for the advice everyone :) After factoring in taxes and other fees it turns out that we will save over $20 a month by going with DishNetwork. They are coming to install it on the afternoon of the 10th! I hope that we can get our approval letter from the housing office by then!! Until privitization kicks in at the end of February the government is our "landlord" and must approve satellite installation in writing :eek:

[Sirrahsim]

btw, I can bundle DISH with my existing internet and phone provider so it will all be on a single bill :) I hope we aren't dissapointed with this....