If Charter Communications Is Available In Your Area-Read This

[nnicko]

I frankly don't know what all the excitement is about with Dish. Personally, I'd only watch about 3 of those channels, but then that's just me. If you're not tied to a long-term contract with another provider, read on to see the deal I got with Charter Communications.

Sidenote: I noticed a post that Dish will carry all of VOOM's 21 channels sometime NEXT year. You can bet that the other satellite and cable operators will be talking to Rainbow too in the meantime.

I switched over to Charter Communications Digital Cable for $55/month, which reflects a $25/month credit for 12 months ($300 not the $200 D* is offering) for being a satellite subscriber; although I don't think you really have to be because they never asked me to provide ANY proof that I was. The package includes a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 160GB 2-tuner 8000HD DVR (Nice!-Don't know how I lived without one) for no initial cost at NO rental charge for at least the first 12 months-Why would you pay $250 for one from Dish? ), HBO, Cinemax and STARZ. You also have the choice of one more premium package (see below). There are NO upfront costs and NO COMMITMENT whatsoever!

There is also a 30-day moneyback guarantee (i.e. try it for 30 days for free). Mine was installed the day after I called. It took about fifteen minutes. You've got nothing to lose by trying it out for free.

Naturally, I'm down to only a handful of HD programming - ESPNHD, NESNHD, HBOHD, DiscoveryHD, ShowtimeHD, WCVB(ABC ch.5), WFXT(FOX ch.35), WHDH(NBC ch.7) and my four local HD's. The package also includes 6 HBO's, 8 Cinemax and 6 Encore channels, all in SD unfortunately.

Dish's pick-up of those VOOM HD's is not even a temptation for me to switch to them. It would take a lot more than what D* and dish are offering to tempt me; and even then I'd think long and hard. I haven't had D* for a few years and I still have a very bad taste in my mouth. And I've read some pretty nasty customer reviews on Dish.

I'll wait till something like VOOM comes along. (Which, sadly, will probably be a VERY long time.) When it does, I will painlessly make the switch because I'm under NO commitment whatsoever.

I'll feel a pang in my heart for VOOM for a long time but $55 a month for one year is, to me, darn good for what I get. Get Dish or D*, pay your up-front costs, make your commitment, get your x months at a reduced cost and then take a look at your bill.

P.S. The PQ on many SD channels sucks compared to VOOM, but so did D* when I had it and I'll bet it sucks on Dish and every other provider. Also, the customer support at Charter could not be any better. I've called the a couple of dozen times with various and sundry questions and I've always got CSR virtually immediately 24/7.

Premium Packages:
FAMILY DIGITAL TIER
BBC America/Discovery Home Channel/Military Channel/Do It Yourself/Discovery Kids
Nickelodeon Too-West//Noggin/Nickelodeon Games and Sports/Nickelodeon Toons
Soap Net/FOX Movie Channel/Lifetime Movie Network/Women's Entertainment
Independent Film Channel/Sundance-East The Science Channel/Discovery Health/
Discovery Times/Bloomberg/Biography/ History Channel International/
Fuse (Much Music)VH Uno/MTV Espanol/ MTV Jams/MTV Hits/VH-1 Classic/
VH-1 Soul/VH-1 Mega Hits/VH-1 Country/Great American Country/Jewelry TV/AZN

MOVIE DIGITAL TIER:
Showtime Too-East/Showtime Showcase-East/Showtime Extreme-East
Showtime Beyond-East/FLIX-E/The Movie Channel-East/TMC Xtra

SPORTS DIGITAL TIER:
ESPNews/ESPN Classic/Fox College Sports – Atlantic/Fox College Sports - Central
Fox College Sports – Pacific/Fox Sports en Espanol/Fox Soccer Channel
NFL Network/Fuel/CSTV - College Sports Television/TVG/Fit TV

 

[2extreme]

I had Charter in my area up until last Dec. Around here Charter is sooooooooo behind times that NO HD is offered as of yet and prices are outragous! HD through Charter around here will not be avail until at least 2008. My opinion Charter Com Sucks and can't compete with E* as of yet.

And get this, Time Warner Cable is about 10 miles west of my location and offeres a bunch of HD etc, but they can't compete with Charter in this area, which I think is bogus. OH well...that why I stay with E* for now...

 

[nnicko]

I had Charter in my area up until last Dec. Around here Charter is sooooooooo behind times that NO HD is offered as of yet and prices are outragous! HD through Charter around here will not be avail until at least 2008. My opinion Charter Com Sucks and can't compete with E* as of yet.

And get this, Time Warner Cable is about 10 miles west of my location and offeres a bunch of HD etc, but they can't compete with Charter in this area, which I think is bogus. OH well...that why I stay with E* for now...

2008??? Wow!!! That really does suck. As far a Time not being able to compete, I believe that's the same everywhere. One cable company per town, which I certainly agree is certainly bogus. But then again, I guess that's the contract the town agreed to.

 

[2extreme]

Ya I know it is up to the town, you'd think they would try to at least get the technology faster then 08 to compete with E* or D*. But its all about money. I guess they have to lay a huge optic line from their headquarters 40 mi west of us or something like that. But oh well, when/if it comes here I may consider them again...

 

[Lobstah]

When Charter first bought out the cable company here, the schedule was for 2002 for digital cable. After Charter bought them, they made it 2001, and came in 6mos ahead of schedule, so take the 2008 with a grain of salt.

Lob

 

[Dan Berndt]

I just called Charter and told them about the offer in nnicko's posting. The offer Charter quoted me was two HD DVRs and all channels except sports and latino tier for $79/mo including tax plus a $10 installation charge. Charter made me the same offer a couple of hours earlier for $101/mo including tax.

The $101 offer was for 20 months. I don't know how long the $79 offer will last yet as it was a special offer. The csr is going to get back to me on the $79 offer as soon as he finds out the length so we can cancel it if it's not long enough.

 

[Superjfly]

I had Charter in my area up until last Dec. Around here Charter is sooooooooo behind times that NO HD is offered as of yet and prices are outragous! HD through Charter around here will not be avail until at least 2008. My opinion Charter Com Sucks and can't compete with E* as of yet.

And get this, Time Warner Cable is about 10 miles west of my location and offeres a bunch of HD etc, but they can't compete with Charter in this area, which I think is bogus. OH well...that why I stay with E* for now...

Hey, I am from Sheboygan too. I talked with a Charter CSR two weeks ago and she said HD and the DVR would be launched in our area in September. She then put me on hold to double check and came back and re-assured me with September. I know how CSR's can be so I check with a friend of mine that works at Charter in Fond du Lac. He said December. Either way I wasn't told 2008, but you are right Charter is horribly behind here.

 

[jpetersohn]

I just called Charter and told them about the offer in nnicko's posting. The offer Charter quoted me was two HD DVRs and all channels except sports and latino tier for $79/mo including tax plus a $10 installation charge. Charter made me the same offer a couple of hours earlier for $101/mo including tax.

The $101 offer was for 20 months. I don't know how long the $79 offer will last yet as it was a special offer. The csr is going to get back to me on the $79 offer as soon as he finds out the length so we can cancel it if it's not long enough.

We've been a Charter customer for many years (and still are, but internet only now). The "random price" system is what eventually drove me away form them, also the very poor PQ on the analog SD channels. It just pissed me off that I had to call them every 3 months to make sure my bill didn't jump through the roof after some "promotion" or another expired. The last go around we were signed up for some $100 package, which when the first bill arrived turned into $125 package. Depending on what day you call, who you talk to, you get a different price. And it may or may not be reflected on the bill. The hammer than hits 3 months later if you forget to call to sign up for the next promotion. I think I can do without that.

P.S. The Dish SD PQ is an order of magnitude better than Charter's analog SD picture. Since we mostly watch "cable tier" channels like TNT and ESPN, which in our area are analog SD, it makes a huge difference.
Plus the HD picture on Dish is excellent (never had HD with Charter -- way to expensive.)

 

[lilyarbie]

rather have overly compressed SD than analog.......

I've got charter cable to with both analog and internet. I used to have digital cable, but that was before I got Voom. The receiver sucks because the most you can get out of it is a composite connection. Talk about sorry quality! It's not enjoyable to watch your digital channels with a potential of 700 lines of resolution and only being able to watch 300 lines or less of resolution on them. Not only that, but the fact that you have to see cross-dot noise and cross color noise with wavy rainbows. Another final thing is the analog quality. It sucks completely! The analog is very noisy and staticy and is very susceptible to any interference what so ever! I would rather watch channels with overcompression that people on this forum complain so greatly about than watch Charter's analog.

 

[texxas guy]

"The package includes a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 160GB 2-tuner 8000HD."


Yeah, I went with Charter after leaving E. It is a good deal, though I also am not thrilled with the PQ on the lower tier channels.

Just an FYI, call back and tell them you want the SA 8300 HD PVR. The 8000 is the first generation. Much better performance, in my case anyway. Good luck!

 

[jbcheshire]

Can someone who has/had Dish and their DVRs tell me how the SA8300 PVR compares in reards to the program guide and search features, etc???

 

[smcahee]

Have Charter in Fond du Lac, WI here and just got the Motorola/Moxi DVR. The DVR is nice, but the DVI output doesn't work, and the unit has an unusual program guide, if you can call it that (unless i'm missing something). Instead of a grid, you have a list of channels, and as you scroll through them, it tells you what is on now, and what the three next programs are on that channel. I suppose it gets the job done, but it doesn't give you that graphical idea of whats on when that every other cable or sat box (including Charters Moto DCT SD and HD boxes) does. Although on second thought, Charter's TV guide program guide on the DCT's is plain awful too...

Charter has had HDTV in this market for over a year, but the lineup hasn't changed much. When i first ordered their HD service in May 2004, they offered HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN HD, HBO HD and Showtime HD. Since then they have only added the Green Bay CBS and NBC affiliates in HD. The Green Bay ABC, FOX, UPN and WB affiliates are currently broadcasting OTA digitally and provide some HD content so that's not the issue. Apparently they are still negotiating with them. In this state, Madison WI seems to be the Charter market that gets everything first. I THINK they have Discovery HD there and TNT HD is in the works. I can only assume that adding channels costs money, and if they don't have the subscribers to pay for them, they can't make a profit.

I do think Charter has made some major upgrades in this market since the took it over (from Marcus i think). Their advertisements are definitely a bit ahead of what they have available though.

 

[2extreme]

Hey, I am from Sheboygan too. I talked with a Charter CSR two weeks ago and she said HD and the DVR would be launched in our area in September. She then put me on hold to double check and came back and re-assured me with September. I know how CSR's can be so I check with a friend of mine that works at Charter in Fond du Lac. He said December. Either way I wasn't told 2008, but you are right Charter is horribly behind here.

Cool another Sheboyganite! haha.. Anyways, that is news to me. I am serious when I say the last that I heard it was 2008. But that was almost a year ago, that is one reason I went to Dish.

Ya Charter is way behind here, and overpriced in my opinion. I right now am paying the same for E* as I was for Charter and with E* I am getting a lot more channels, Much Better PQ, HD and PVR.

Charter says they have "digital" cable but that only applies to their 100+ Channel numbers, anything under that is mainly analog and usually has snow in the PQ, at least that has been my experience.

Also, I hated all the extra "fees" and "taxes" they had on their service. With E* and maybe D* (not sure cuz I never had D*), they only charge state sales tax, so it helps keep the bill down lower.

But anywho, that is what I have to say. And glad to see another "Sheboyganite"

 

[TheDishMan]

Yea I can't believe the prices Charter's getting away with charging. After my bill for digital tier and internet hit over $100 a mth. I cancelled them and thinking bout switching to Dish Network.

 

[StevenZ]

Can someone who has/had Dish and their DVRs tell me how the SA8300 PVR compares in reards to the program guide and search features, etc???

Moving from an ancient Dishplayer 7200 to the SA8300 was a tease and a disappointment. The tease: a dual-tuner HD-DVR is nice, but the HD channels are limited (Charter doesn't carry the local CBS, PBS, UPN, and WB channels in HD) and most channels are analog (=crap). The disappointment: the SARA DVR/EPG software on the 8300 is really stupid. Read a string of complaints here.

When Dish lets me lease a 942, I'm there.
(Unless Verizon FIOS/TV beats them to it!)

 

[jbcheshire]

Thanks...
Looks like I will just keep what I have currently and see what all shakes out by the end of the year for both E* and D*. I doubt Charter will have any improvements in their equipment by then to make them a contender. Anyone say otherwise regarding Charter's future plans for equipment?

 

[nnicko]

I've got charter cable to with both analog and internet. I used to have digital cable, but that was before I got Voom. The receiver sucks because the most you can get out of it is a composite connection.

Don't know what dvr you have but my SA8000HD has component and dvi connections.

 

[Mr Tony]

When I lived in Duluth, MN, Charter had some weird channel setups.

The local channels are 3,6,8,10 & 21 (CBS, NBC, PBS, ABC, FOX). But they didn’t put them there. They put them at 4,5,12,13 & 11. They then proceeded to put OTHER channels at 3,8,10, and 71 or 72 (whatever the cable equivalent of 21 is). What this did was make these channels unwatchable. So I would be trying to watch Channel 8 cable, only to have video from the cable 8 (with interference) and audio from WDSE PBS 8. This issue happened throughout most of the city and Charter did nothing about it. There was nothing on 6 or 3, but they added a channel to 3.

They figured the way to get people to get digital cable was to pull ALL premiums and move them to Digital….this really sucked, as I had HBO on regular cable.

 

[SolApathy]

ABC, CBS, NBC
Local Fox in widescreen high resolution
Discovery HD
ESPN HD
HBO HD HDNet & HDNet Movies
Showtime HD

These are the HD channels I get in Texas from Charter.

I just got the Explorer 8300HD +second room DVR + 2 standard recievers
I also have thier 3mb internet services as well.

With every single channel they have including all the HD & premium channels
my bill is $98.00. Add in my internet service & my total bill is $139.00 (after taxes)

I had dish until recently. I love the 522, unfortunately you can only have one. (the other has to be an older model 510) I pay $100/month for every channel, without HD.

While I love & will miss some of the 522's features I cannot justify paying $600 for a 942. to recieve an additional 11 HD channels. I was with Dish for 3 years. They just don't seem to have any concerns about keeping existing customers.

Cable has a lot of analog stations, but there is an advantage I have always found with analog. If you lose part of the signal you can still figure out what is happening... With digital it's either all or nothing. Dont' get me wrong I love digital, it is definitly crisper. But the tradeoff I am making between dish & cable seems like the right way to go at this point.

..If only Dish offered sometihng to it's existing customers (besides hey, we can get you an 811 for $300!!!) I would stay... But they wil not change. All they are concerned about is getting new customers, not keeping the ones they already have.

 

[SolApathy]

muahahahahaha. Bitching paid off. Dish will give me a 942 for the new subscriber upgrade fee of $250. Service will be a little more expensive. A lot more reasonable than the $600+ they wanted me to pay to buy a reciever.