How does Comcast Compare to Satellite ?

I just signed up with Comcast for TV. Really didn't need or want the TV, but I was signing up for internet and they offered 30Mbps internet + their economy cable for $44.95 for 6 mos. What interested me was that NewEgg had a Hauppauge 2650 usb 2 tuner cable card tuner for $60 after rebate. Couldn't resist the chance to play with a new toy on the cheap. I was planning on signing up for cable when the college football season starts and then quit for about 5 months when I really don't need it. Added the sports package for $4.95 so I could watch the rest of the Pac-12 basketball games and tourney.

Anyway, have the tuner set up and it's working great so far and the pq is actually very good. Much better than paying a chunk for their DVR and HD which I get free with the cable card. I had quit Comcast before because the pq was pathetic so I was really surprised at how much better it's gotten. What's even more surprising is that I've gotten great service from them and getting the cable card paired went very smooth.
 
Your mileage may vary since not all Comcast headends are equal, especially after a series of Adelphia and Mom & Pop cable outfits, although this disparity is much less these days. The same does for quality (assume we're talking HD quality since nobody watches SD these days)...some areas overload their QAM channels and the stat-mux combined with variable bit stream encoders (such as Cherry Picker) deliver a picture that's less than impressive - looks like that nasty Dish HD. Most areas do a credible job of balancing 3 HD per QAM and the picture quality is slightly better than Dish. A few areas still on send 2 HD per QAM and it looks excellent. Overall Comcast delivers the better picture quality but, as I mentioned, your mileage may vary.

Price. Comcast wins hands down when it comes to bundling TV, Internet and Phone, which makes the overall cost of video service cheaper than Dish. That too will vary by your area based on whether U-Verse or FiOS competing in your area and, to be honest, your personality. My parents are sweet people and pay full price for their Comcast services. They get some slight discounts since they've been customers for 25+ years, but it's expensive. Me? I'm a demanding sod and a cheap wanker. I pay full price for nothing. My Comcast has been $119.00 for all the english speaking channels, sports package (Versus, Redzone, Big Ten), premium channels (HBO, Max, Startz, Showtime, etc.)...everything minus the foreign language and nudie channels...and 50 Mb Internet (currently). I have been paying this promotion price for many years. Why? Because I asked for it and I'm a demanding bloke. I have no problem calling the corporate office in Philly when I'm unhappy with service. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Video On Demand. Comcast wins hands down - no contest! Although I have one mediocre Comcast DVR (promotional freebie, of course) I pretty much use two Tivo Premieres. They are every bit as good as the Dish DVRs (especially since they were found guilty of stealing Tivo software and paid them one-half a billion to license the stolen technology) and I now have an XFinity VOD app on my Premieres, which works great! Oh, and XFinity TV (online and mobile video solution) also blows Dish-Sling and their TV Anywhere out of the water. Of course, I rarely lose it because what kind of a loser has time to watch TV on a cell phone or tablet when they should be working, spending time with family, or watching TV on their 60-80" HDTV?

Internet and Phone. Again, Dish offers nothing other than overpriced, watered down TV to the rural masses who have few other alternatives. Most of these people who are into a quality TV experience will select DirecTV. Comcast or FiOS (if available) are probably your best choices, DirecTV is likely your 2nd best choice, and Dish your last choice. Again, your mileage may vary but if you may also consider a Tivo and installing a good antenna. Finally, Comcast quality, service and reliability has drastically improved over the past five years. They had to because of FiOS and U-Verse.
 
You know that you could split the main cable line from outside with additional coax to TV without getting cable service using any splitter, instead just using cable Internet, Unless they have a tap/signal grabber on your line to block watching through QAM digital tuner from TV.

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Your mileage may vary since not all Comcast headends are equal, especially after a series of Adelphia and Mom & Pop cable outfits, although this disparity is much less these days. The same does for quality (assume we're talking HD quality since nobody watches SD these days)...some areas overload their QAM channels and the stat-mux combined with variable bit stream encoders (such as Cherry Picker) deliver a picture that's less than impressive - looks like that nasty Dish HD. Most areas do a credible job of balancing 3 HD per QAM and the picture quality is slightly better than Dish. A few areas still on send 2 HD per QAM and it looks excellent. Overall Comcast delivers the better picture quality but, as I mentioned, your mileage may vary.

Price. Comcast wins hands down when it comes to bundling TV, Internet and Phone, which makes the overall cost of video service cheaper than Dish. That too will vary by your area based on whether U-Verse or FiOS competing in your area and, to be honest, your personality. My parents are sweet people and pay full price for their Comcast services. They get some slight discounts since they've been customers for 25+ years, but it's expensive. Me? I'm a demanding sod and a cheap wanker. I pay full price for nothing. My Comcast has been $119.00 for all the english speaking channels, sports package (Versus, Redzone, Big Ten), premium channels (HBO, Max, Startz, Showtime, etc.)...everything minus the foreign language and nudie channels...and 50 Mb Internet (currently). I have been paying this promotion price for many years. Why? Because I asked for it and I'm a demanding bloke. I have no problem calling the corporate office in Philly when I'm unhappy with service. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Video On Demand. Comcast wins hands down - no contest! Although I have one mediocre Comcast DVR (promotional freebie, of course) I pretty much use two Tivo Premieres. They are every bit as good as the Dish DVRs (especially since they were found guilty of stealing Tivo software and paid them one-half a billion to license the stolen technology) and I now have an XFinity VOD app on my Premieres, which works great! Oh, and XFinity TV (online and mobile video solution) also blows Dish-Sling and their TV Anywhere out of the water. Of course, I rarely lose it because what kind of a loser has time to watch TV on a cell phone or tablet when they should be working, spending time with family, or watching TV on their 60-80" HDTV?

Internet and Phone. Again, Dish offers nothing other than overpriced, watered down TV to the rural masses who have few other alternatives. Most of these people who are into a quality TV experience will select DirecTV. Comcast or FiOS (if available) are probably your best choices, DirecTV is likely your 2nd best choice, and Dish your last choice. Again, your mileage may vary but if you may also consider a Tivo and installing a good antenna. Finally, Comcast quality, service and reliability has drastically improved over the past five years. They had to because of FiOS and U-Verse.

We have had problems with their internet, but their On-demand is very good!
 
Bassblaster is correct with the backend issues. The state college area became a comcast service before the huntingdon area im in now (about a half hour away). Iirc on demand works in state college, but whatever equipment they put in down here (or are still using from the adelphia huntingdon days) is per a comcast tech not compatible and so the ondemand here doesnt work at all.

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I have around a year left on my contract so when that's up ill see what dish will offer me. Hopefully by then comcast will have their new dvr out. I've seen it in videos but hopefully it comes out soon. I like dish but the bundling is what I like the most.
 
Haven't had Comcast for a while, but just subscribed. I was just going to get their internet service, but when I went on line they had a package deal for 30Mbps internet and "Economy TV" for $45 a month. The same day NewEgg had a deal on the Hauppauge 2650 cable card tuner with 2 tuners. I already have 2 HTPCs so I went ahead and got the tuner and it's working great with Windows 7 MC which is a lot better than any of their DVRs. No $17 for their DVR and no $10 for HD. The PQ is really good and as little as a year ago it was pathetic around here. I'll upgrade when college football starts and may even add another tuner. Their local service has been good, but if you have to talk to anyone on the phone or chat you're in trouble.
 
but if you have to talk to anyone on the phone or chat you're in trouble.

I always have good results on chat, I never talk to them on the phone unless they have HSI promotional discounts that sometimes are not available through chat.

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My parents will be going to back to cable when their contract runs out with dish. They are tired of it going out when it's cloudy or rainy. Has comcast improved in customer service?
 

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