Why pick satellite over cable?

[The Fat Man]

Some people complain about rain fade but when you might have your signal go out a few times a year during a heavy downpour for maybe 5-10 minutes, I don't think it is that big of a deal. Heck, you can watch a pre-recorded DVR Event while it is storming and I would think that most would be watching pre-recorded shows these days. The only bad thing is when your recordings are interrupted by the storms.

I love that cable folks get up in arms about that. I always remind them. That I might lose my signal for a few minutes 3 to 5 times a year, but when that big storm comes in every two to three years it wipes out cable for three to five days. So do the math. When that hurricane, blizzard, ice storm, or heavy wind storm ends, I'll be watching tv and you will have that "One Moment" message on your Comcast box. Yes, box, not receiver.

 

[rapidturtle]

We fired up the generator, and were watching the news during hurricane Sandy. All the neighbors with cable were coming to us to see what was going on. Cable was out for about 6 days here. Satellite never missed a beat.

 

[Tampa8]

Must be a matter of perspective. I would say you are asking the wrong question. Why choose Cable is the question. It has better on demand (alot better) and generally no contract. If generally better PQ (not including Fios) and better equipment is more important, with less outages, more choices, get Satellite...... Last year's snowstorm's outage of about six days, was no problem. Generator for woodpellet stove, and of course Satellite TV....

 

[TheTechGuru]

The only land based service that could even be considered better (channel offerings) than DirecTV would be Verizon FIOS.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Must be a matter of perspective. I would say you are asking the wrong question. Why choose Cable is the question. It has better on demand (alot better) and generally no contract. If generally better PQ (not including Fios) and better equipment is more important, with less outages, more choices, get Satellite...... Last year's snowstorm's outage of about six days, was no problem. Generator for woodpellet stove, and of course Satellite TV....

I have to disagree about the PQ. I have compared TWC-HD on Charter vs. DirecTV and DirecTV's blows it away, Charter's is all pixelated.

 

[Jimbo]

I have to disagree about the PQ. I have compared TWC-HD on Charter vs. DirecTV and DirecTV's blows it away, Charter's is all pixelated.

If generally better PQ (not including Fios) and better equipment is more important, with less outages, more choices, get Satellite......

I read this as saying that they felt D* PQ was better than Charter, you didn't ?

 

[DodgerKing]

So, I am almost at the point of fed up with my current cable company and am starting to look at options to switch to.

My 2 options would be D* and Comc.

Why should I choose D over C?

Thanks for any advice.

For me.

1) I can take satellite with me when I go to our second home. Cannot do that with cable
2) More HD channels
3) Less expensive
4) More package options
5) Way more sports package options and more games within the sports packages

 

[DodgerKing]

How often do you guys have problems with your satellite going down due to rain fade, snow etc?

Cable goes out in our second home way more often than satellite. I lose internet through my cable company at home way more often than TV from DirecTV

 

[TheTechGuru]

If generally better PQ (not including Fios) and better equipment is more important, with less outages, more choices, get Satellite......

I read this as saying that they felt D* PQ was better than Charter, you didn't ?

Oops, I read that as part of cable.

 

[mdavej]

It's hard to make a blanket statement because cable varies so widely in different regions. In my area Charter has a lot more HD and the PQ is much better than satellite (often peaking around 18Mbps on some channels). I had satellite for years, and while I was relatively happy with it most of the time, cable is the best option at the moment in terms of cost and content.

I get around the crappy cable DVRs and high fees by using a 4-tuner cable card tuner and windows media center with echo extenders throughout the house. So I pay essentially no equipment or DVR or HD fees like I did with satellite. Service has been trouble-free so far.

But I agree that nobody even comes close to DirecTV when it comes to sports.

 

[Xizer]

The only land based service that could even be considered better (channel offerings) than DirecTV would be Verizon FIOS.

...And AT&T U-verse. And Bright House. And Cablevision. And Charter. And Comcast. And Cox. And Google Fiber. And Time Warner Cable. And WOW.

I don't know what year you're living in, but as of 2012, DirecTV's channel lineup is officially atrocious. In terms of the number of HD channels they carry, DirecTV is behind every single provider except for a handful of podunk Midwest cable providers like CableOne, Mediacom, and Suddenlink. Dish Network carries more HD channels than DirecTV. Now, personally, I'm living in the year 2012. "Standard" definition is no longer "standard" for me. In fact, it's completely unacceptable. It has been for a decade now. So DirecTV isn't even part of the equation when they are missing over half the nation's HD networks (There's 232 national HD channels in the United States. DirecTV carries just 112 of them.)

Now in terms of picture quality? That's a different story. It varies by provider, but DirecTV would be solidly middle-of-the-road. It's a race to the bottom for every TV provider in the U.S. when it comes to picture quality. American pay TV providers are all terrible in their own special way.

DirecTV re-encodes everything to low bitrate H.264. So you won't see macroblocking, but you won't see any detail either. The cable providers re-encode everything to MPEG-2 at 2-3x the bitrate of DirecTV. So you will see artifacts, but you will also see some detail.

If you want to watch proper high definition your only option is Blu-ray, the few remaining unencrypted network fronthauls on FTA C/Ku band, and backhauls. Because what these cable/telco/satellite providers are selling you when it comes to "HD" is a steaming pile of horse sh*t.