Comcast, Dish network or DirecTV...which do you have?

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UnoMOTO

UnoMOTO

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I've been a Comcast customer for many years now and have never really been happy with their product at all. You could even call me a Comcast hater.

Well...all that has changed now. They finally pushed me over the edge and I gave them the boot. I now wonder, what the heck took me so long? I am currently a Dish network subscriber and holy cow is it the coolest thing. For the first time in months I watched a night of TV and didn't have a single reception issue. I also get many more channels (HD channels too) for about the same price.

All this made me wonder what you guys have and how you like it...or don't in the case of Crapcast.

Also for U's across the pond, please add the method that you get your programming and what your thoughts are.
 
You should have waited for DirecTV. They'll have twice the HD channels in just a few short months.

Sat D10 is currently in orbit and about to start transmitting about half the new HD channels. D11 will go up in a few months for the other half.

I have the HR20 receiver, which can access the internet, download computer files like movies and songs in a home network, use USB devices and has eSATA connection for movie archiving to an external HDD. Not all features re activated, yet, but work to some degree.
 
Solid Lifters
You should have waited for DirecTV. They'll have twice the HD channels in just a few short months.
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When I called them it sounded like it was a call center from India and the lady was not very helpful. She actually called the employees of Dish Network a bunch of liars concerning how many satellites they have in orbit. I didn't think that was very professional and despite having more HD choices I didn’t want to deal with that type of costumer service.
 
I've been a happy DirecTV subscriber since 2004.

Pros:
Very little downtime compared to cable; every time someone was building or digging in the area, the cable and local programming would go out. That would occur about once a month everywhere I've lived.

A nice, clear picture. No, the resolution isn't better, but it's clearer and not staticy compared to cable. I know there's digital cable, and the quality is about the same, to be honest.

Free installation, free equipment, lots of deals floating around.

Customer service impressed me. I forgot to take down my dish after Hurricane Wilma, and it was folded up like a taco (not to mention the metal stay holding was bent sharply). I figured I'd have to pay for a new one (since it was free the first time, I was told). Instead, DirecTV told me they'd send someone to my house a replace it free of charge. I told them I'd have to wait until the roof was repaired, but they called once a week to set up an appointment, and confirm it when the roof was ready. That's what I call textbook service!

They have SpeedChannel. The local cable company didn't.

Cons:

The prices have increased every year: It was $36 before, now it's up to $52/month.

No picture when there's a very rainy day.
 
My family has used comcast for quite some time and i have no problem with it. Ive never experienced any of the problems you guys said you had so i guess you were just unlucky

The only thing that i hate is that there is no On Demand in Florida for some reason, whereas i had it when i lived in New Hampshire. Florida's channels however are good for me. In New Hampshire the speed channel was 100 something so i couldn't watch it in my room, but where i live in Florida it is channel 63. I just wish i could watch G4, Discovery science, and the Military channel in my room
 
UnoMOTO
When I called them it sounded like it was a call center from India and the lady was not very helpful. She actually called the employees of Dish Network a bunch of liars concerning how many satellites they have in orbit. I didn't think that was very professional and despite having more HD choices I didn’t want to deal with that type of costumer service.
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DirecTV doesn't outsource service calls. They all get sent to various call centers across the US, but mostly in OK.

Call late at night, when the regular call center bozos are gone. They cannot offer any special deals. The late night crew are the ones you want to talk to.

I got a new 5LNB dish, the HD HDD recorder HR20 receiver and six months of HBO Showtime for free. Just for being a long-time customer.

And yes, Dish Network, at this exact moment, have more HD channels, but not for long. Any day now, the D10 channels will go active, and then D11 soon after. After D11 HD channels go live, DirecTV will have twice the HD channels Dish Network has now.
 
Diablo'
My family has used comcast for quite some time and i have no problem with it. Ive never experienced any of the problems you guys said you had so i guess you were just unlucky

The only thing that i hate is that there is no On Demand in Florida for some reason, whereas i had it when i lived in New Hampshire. Florida's channels however are good for me. In New Hampshire the speed channel was 100 something so i couldn't watch it in my room, but where i live in Florida it is channel 63. I just wish i could watch G4, Discovery science, and the Military channel in my room
Click to expand...

I don't know about that one. As far as I hear from friends/ads, we have OnDemand down here in Miami - maybe its the area you're in.
 
Diablo'
My family has used comcast for quite some time and i have no problem with it.
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+1

I've never had a single problem with Comcast. The cable never goes out, I have a bazillion channels, plenty of HD, and their customer service has been very good. It's a bit pricey, but the bulk of the cost is basic cable (~$50/month). All the digital add-ons I have only add up to $20/month.
 
We've been DirecTV subscribers since 1996, (with both Comcast and Dish Network dualing up with DirecTV since then), and I have to say that DirecTV is the best of the bunch. They have also gotten much better since we first signed up, and we have had good service from them (Dish Networks main failure, aside from less channels), and the signal rarely goes out in storms anymore.
 
We use Knology. Comcast doesn't provide to our area. My parents use Comcast, have for years, and are happy with it.
 
I have NTC in my apartment - it's a company that caters to lots of universities, apparently. The internet's a little slow, but we get a ton of television channels.
 
I've got Comcast for my Digital Cable and I absolutely HATE it. The service is outstandingly bad, they really do like to dick you over for the good channels (namely SPEED and Fox Sports Soccer), not to mention the extra fees for HD that are completely unnecessary. Thank the Lord that we've stuck with ATT for our DSL, which has been spot-on for the most part, a far cry from the horrible Comcast Broadband my grandmother has.

I've been seriously, seriously, seriously considering forcing a switch to DirectTV. I'm so sick of Comcast and their crap that I'm in need of a change. They charge too much extra for HD, too much for the channels I want, and aren't happy to help me if anything goes wrong.

...Sure, the weather sucks in Michigan, so a dish may not be the best idea, but at the very least it would be better than having to deal with those money-grabbers...

Although, I would miss G4...
 
My question is, why exactly do you need to watch tv in HD. If its a movie or a game, then I could understand, but tv?
 
Tophaticent
You obviously don't have an HDTV then. :sly:
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Thank you. Watching HDTV for the first time....I'll always remember my first time...

And to those of you who think Comcast is a money-grubbing whore: do you honestly think that Dish Network and DirecTV do it out of the goodness of their own heart?
 
Diablo'
My question is, why exactly do you need to watch tv in HD. If its a movie or a game, then I could understand, but tv?
Click to expand...

I almost watch nothing but HD. Cheers, Food Network (though this is a channel that will broadcast in HD in any day, now) and maybe a movie in SD that I MUST see is all the SD I watch. SD hurts my eyes, and looks horrendous.

Below is a list of the new HD channels coming to DirecTV. They already have about 11-14 HD channels, which some are listed below (70-79).

Coming to DIRECTV
September 2007 Channel
Coming to DIRECTV
October 2007 Channel

A&E *265 Animal Planet HD *282
Big Ten Network HD *220 Bravo HD *273
Cartoon Network *296 Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD 680, *640
Cinemax HD East *512 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic HD 681, *629
Cinemax HD West *514 Discovery Channel HD *278
CNN HD *202 Fox Business Channel HD *359
Discovery HD Theater
(HD only) 76 FSN Detroit HD *636
ESPN HD 73, *206 FSN Prime Ticket HD *653
ESPN2 HD 72, *209 FSN Southwest HD *643
Food Network HD *231-1 FSN West HD *652
FSN New York HD *624 Fuel TV HD *612
The Golf Channel HD
(shared with Versus HD) *604 FX HD *248
HBO HD East 70, 509, *501 The Learning Channel HD *280
HBO HD West *504 MGM HD
(HD only) *255
HDNet
(HD only) 79 NBA.TV HD *601-1
HDNet Movies
(HD only) 78 The Science Channel HD *284
HGTV-HD *229-1 Sci-Fi Network HD *244
The History Channel HD *269 Speed Channel HD *607
Madison Square Garden HD *621 SportsNet New York HD 683, *625
MHD
(HD only) *332 USA Network HD *242
The Movie Channel HD *544 Yankees Entertainment & Sports HD 684, *622
NFL Network HD *212
National Geographic Channel HD *276
SHO Too HD *538
Showtime HD
71, 543, *537
Showtime HD West *540
Smithsonian Channel HD
(HD only) *267
Starz Comedy HD *519
Starz HD East *520
Starz Edge HD *522
Starz Kids & Family HD
(HD only) *518
Starz HD West *521
TBS in HD *247
TNT HD
75, *245
Universal HD 74
Versus HD (shared with The Golf Channel HD) *604
The Weather Channel HD *362
 
I have Comcast. I pay $49 a month for the standard digital package, plus $10 for the HD package and $5 for the clunky, unresponsive, ****astic Motorola DVR. I also have broadband from Comcast for $39. I had no problems with it lately and always get an average of 15 mbit down (just under 1MB per second).

I only watch TV in HD, it's pretty bad when you see something in SD. The only things I watch in SD are Fox News and the occasional PINKS episode on demand. Other than that, I refuse to watch.

ESPN does a great job showing MLB games in HD, probably one of the best things to watch in HD.
 
My parents just got Dish Network installed a few weeks ago, actually. I like it so far, but we've yet to see how it deals with winter storms. A few big thunderstorms have knocked the signal off, but there's not way around that.
 

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