I can't believe it but I switched back to cable..and I'm happy.

[jl0810]

I truly believed after 2 years with D* that I would NEVER switch back to cable. However, with the purchase of a HD TV this year, I simply could not overlook the fact that D* was just waaaay behind:

1. HD PVR costing over $900...you have to be kidding me
2. No local HD for those in non O&O markets - this is unscientific, but I would guestimate that 80% of all HD programming is on the locals. And I have issues about using early twentieth century technology (antennas) for my tv viewing.
3. No Fox HD / No ABC yet
4. Cable is cheaper

Having had cable for 30 days, I can honestly say that I don't miss D* one bit. Will D* catchup? Of course. At that time, I'll be back – but I refuse to fund their R&D efforts in their catchup-process.

Anyone else contemplating the switch, but have "I can never go back to cable" issues....get over, and just do it...

 

[Mr Tony]

There's no way in holy hell you can pry my 5 satellite dishes and 8 receivers from me and make me go back to cable....


oh wait.......where I live there is no cable available

 

[arachide]

I'm in the opposite situation. I switched to cable earlier this year and regret it. Comcast pulled a bait and switch on programming- if I watched Speed and Trio, that was another $5/month. And the analog cable PQ on my Sony RPTV looks like cr@p. And the capper is the Program Guide. Besides being almost impossible to work with, Comcast runs an add on screen whenever I change a channel . And now that Value Electronics is offering a 10% to Sat. Guys members, I'll be dumping Comcast for D*.

 

[dishrich]

jl - would you mind telling us where you're at & who your cable provider is; would just like to see your lineup.

 

[nhlfan79]

Are you really suggesting that cable is something other than 20th century technology? Society is going entirely wireless, and you want the biggest wire there is.

adam

 

[dziko]

I must tell you that I have VOOm and I get 36+ HD chanels and I love it D is behind and if they had HD I would of stood with them.

 

[DobyMax]

I must tell you that I have VOOm and I get 36+ HD chanels and I love it D is behind and if they had HD I would of stood with them.

But your service won't be around long.

 

[charper1]

1. HD PVR costing over $900...you have to be kidding me.
You have a HD DVR from your cable provider?

2. No local HD for those in non O&O markets - this is unscientific.
You can thank your local affiliates and cable company for that, but its coming!

3. No Fox HD / No ABC yet
See #2

Also, what sports packs do they offer compared to D*?

4. Cable is cheaper.

Meaning #1 - As in quality and service.
Meaning #2 - I also want to see your provider and their lineup. I have lived in 3 major metro areas and cable has NEVER offered more for the money unless you bundle services, which is not an equal comparison.

 

[waltinvt]

How would you rate the PQ (both Sd & HD) compared with sat ?

I truly believed after 2 years with D* that I would NEVER switch back to cable. However, with the purchase of a HD TV this year, I simply could not overlook the fact that D* was just waaaay behind:

1. HD PVR costing over $900...you have to be kidding me
2. No local HD for those in non O&O markets - this is unscientific, but I would guestimate that 80% of all HD programming is on the locals. And I have issues about using early twentieth century technology (antennas) for my tv viewing.
3. No Fox HD / No ABC yet
4. Cable is cheaper

Having had cable for 30 days, I can honestly say that I don't miss D* one bit. Will D* catchup? Of course. At that time, I'll be back – but I refuse to fund their R&D efforts in their catchup-process.

Anyone else contemplating the switch, but have "I can never go back to cable" issues....get over, and just do it...

Just curious. I assume you got digital cable. How do you find the PQ on cable's SD and HD compared to satellite ?

 

[mini1]

1. HD PVR costing over $900...you have to be kidding me.
"You have a HD DVR from your cable provider?"
What is surprising about that? Most cable systems now offer HD DVR's. They may be nothing (I mean nothing) compared to an HD DirecTivo but they are still HD DVR's, and they still cost only about $5-10 per month to rent-which is a big help to alot of people's budgets.

"No local HD for those in non O&O markets - this is unscientific, but I would guestimate that 80% of all HD programming is on the locals. And I have issues about using early twentieth century technology (antennas) for my tv viewing'
Hold on its coming next year, your wrong about the 80% figure. The networks=0-4 hours of HD per day, per station-the 100% HD channels that providers charge extra for=24 hours of HD per day, per station.
"No Fox HD / No ABC yet" wrong again, Fox HD is already available.

 

[belsokar]

I just switched to Adelphia in Southern California from dish network after 6 years with Dish Network...When I left Adelphia for satellite, I swore I'd never go back...well, I broke that rule...

the results,..I'm very happy (for the time being)...the reason I switched was I've had a high end high def tv for about 2 years...I've played around with a little high def here and there OTA, I had the 811 receiver, but didn't find the programming available to me on Dish to be satisfying...basically, I wanted my locals in HD since that is what about 80% of my viewing is...I also wanted a pvr capable of recording hidef since I'm never around to watch stuff live...

I was able to get my high def locals (except for Fox, hopefully coming by beginning of 2005), espnhd, and hbohd, I have two moxi dvr boxes which record high def...(albeit limited to about 8-12 hours of high def)...all for about $50 less than satellite without having to sign a contract, and without having to buy any $1000 high def dvr's...now there is a catch of course,...I am getting a special discount that runs out after 15 months...I'm hoping by then to actually be back with dish network or directv...with the upcoming changes in high def over satellite, hopefully within a year I can get a much cheaper high def dvr, and get all my high def local channels...

overall, for me it made alot of sense to switch cable because most of my tv viewing is on the high def channels...the analog channels still stink, but I only watch about an hour of programming a week in analog, so I can live with it...and best of all, I can cancel at anytime without any consequence...

this definitely isn't going to be the case for everyone...it just so happened to work for me...

 

[markd]

I just recently went back to cable (TWC-Memphis) from a year with D*. The only reason I did was because of the PQ on D*. HDNet Movies and Showtime HD were awful since the 3 HD channels per transponder started happening. I'm going to go with whoever can give me the best PQ. Right now it's TWC. TWC HD channels all look great, except for HBO-HD which I need to call TWC about. TWC SD channels look better to me. Even the analog channels. Now this is just my perception because the analog channels are grainy. But they are not as compressed as D*.

However, with that said, I don't like the PG that TWC has. It's the same PG they had for the last 15 years or so. There is no way to setup a favorites menu. You have to scroll through all the channels. I've never had Tivo, but the cable DVR is just a glorified VCR. You have to select the shows you want to record. It doesn't make suggestions for you. You can tell it to record a show everytime it's on. But it doesn't know new shows from reruns. So it records them all.

I will, probably, be with TWC until next year when D* gets their new sats up. Hopefully I'll be reading here how the PQ has improved and about all the new HD channels they've added. And I'm hoping they cut down on the compression on SD channels. I know that's very unlikely but I can wish. At that time I'll be looking at all the providers, V* E* D* & cable and selecting the one that gives me the best PQ.

 

[arachide]

Just curious. I assume you got digital cable. How do you find the PQ on cable's SD and HD compared to satellite ?

In my experience, it depends on the channel. On some SD channels, the picture is good (HBO), but the artifacts on VH1 classic and Speed on my cable are almost unwatchable. Also, the Motorola 5100 Comcast provides makes analog cable unbearable on my RPTV. I'll go watch Fox Sports on the 14" TV in my office before I will try and watch it on the RPTV. As for HDTV, I did a a/b comparison of a PBS travel show on the cable and on the OTA (Samsung SIR T-150) and noticed pixelation on the cable feed, whereas the OTA had none noticeable. And, given we have no Fox HD on our local cable, my OTA beats the pants off the quality coming in on the analog cable feed, which has as much snow as a regular analog OTA signal.

 

[slacker9876]

If you are happy that is all that matters. The only important things with TV are that you have what you need and are satisfied with it. I have Comcast coming out tomorrow (so they say) to install Digital Cable. I am going to have it for 30 days to gage the quality VS. satellite (D*). Given that I just plopped $900 on an HD TiVo I would say it is highly unlikely I'd even contemplate the switch after 30 days. Since they (Comcast) offered free 1th & 4th months and free installation ... I'll give it a once over for a month. Plus it will give me something to report on here.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I had Charter cable and would rather drink lemon juice after swallowing razor blades than go back to them. I guess you could say I despise cable TV but If it works for you congrats.

 

[BuddyK]

i too thought that i would never go back to cable when i made the switch to D* a year ago. At the time my cable provider (cablevision) didn't even have HD. I just switched earlier this week and am pretty satisfied. I know have Starz, HBO, Showtime, Cinimax, TMC, ESPN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, INHD, Fox Sports NY, MSG, Bravo and PBS all in HD at no additional cost. I also don't have an annual commitment, so in the next year when D* get thier new satellites up I'll probably switch back. Right now I'm pretty happy with about twice as many HD chanels as I had with D* for about $10 a month less.

Granted no Tivo, but you have to make sacrafices.

 

[hongcho]

> Granted no Tivo, but you have to make sacrafices.

This is true, and indeed, this is a personal choice.

For me even with all those programmings available if I can't watch them if I am not in front of TV when they are on, they are useless for me. I would not miss my wife's birthday party or a dinner with my friends for those. That's why DVR (well, HD-DVR) is important for me.

And for DVR to work well with my life-style, it must have at least two tuners. I've lived with a single tuner DVR for a couple of years and it was painful for semi-surfing, semi-recorded-watching person like me. So, a dual-tuner is a must.

Personally, I'd be interested in trying out Comcast (San Jose 95124) if they come out with 6412 with MSTV FE1.7. I am not sure about other software...

Hong.

 

[emtownsend]

I am making the switch back to cable (Adelphia) too. I have been with Dish for 6 years now. They still don't offer HDTV recording (for the masses) nor my locals in HD.
With Adelphia, I will get getting a Moxi HDTV Tuner/PVR combo box, all my locals, plus the usual handful of HD content for about $20 less per month.
Once Dish catches up and offers a leased HD recorder and my locals broadcast (not antennea), then I will be back. Dish PQ is still superior in my opinion.
Oh, and Voom is not available to me due to geographic location (Pacific Northwest + Mountain in the way). Once the new Voom bird is up (if it happens in my lifetime), then I would drop all for Voom due to content... But until then.... Cable it is!

 

[Lem52]

Charter in my area beats the living crap out of Directv in terms of picture quality. But, they don't have HD yet. The only reason I have directv is because of the HD stuff. If Charter gets HD and the quality is good, I will boot Directv right out the door. At least Charter has a digital terminal that works and my SAMSUNG TS360 is a sorry piece of junk.

Lem52

 

[billbillw]

Once Dish catches up and offers a leased HD recorder and my locals broadcast (not antennea), then I will be back. Dish PQ is still superior in my opinion.

I don't understand why so many are against putting up an antenna for locals. I think that its awesome. I get more local content OTA in digital, than either my local cable or satellite offer, and guess what...its free and its not overcompressed. I'd rather that D* use their HD bandwidth for stuff that's not available OTA. Most UHF antennas (needed for digital OTA) are small enough that they are no more of an eyesore than the dish itself. OTA broadcasts are far more reliable as well.