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Cable vs Satellite
#282556 12/15/09 10:20 PM
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Adrian Offline OP
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So my 1 yr free use of an HD cable box is now over(part of deal on my Sammy LCD) and cable is wanting what I consider an unreasonable fee to continue using their unit. Since I'm using Bell for my internet and telephone service, I'm going to see what bundling their Satellite "Expressvu" will be(should be a little cheaper).

For you guys that have used both cable and satellite, can you give me your impressions of both...which you felt was better/worse/no different? some people have told me that in stormy or overcast weather, it can adversly affect satellite signals.

The cost of getting my own HD cable box vs sat dish are virtually the same, btw.

Tks, Adrian


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Re: Cable vs Satellite
Adrian #282559 12/15/09 11:10 PM
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I ditched my horrendous cable company for satellite about a year ago. Since then, there has only been 1 weather-related outage (during a snow storm). With cable, it seemed like 2-3 times a month there was some picture quality issue.

Content-wise, other than not getting local CT network channels, there's not much difference. The HD picture is indistinguishable from cable.

My only knock is that the user interface is a little less friendly with satellite, and it seems like it takes a bit longer to change channels. I have DirectTV, by the way. Most surveys rate DirectTV way above Dish.

The switch saved me about $30 a month, and more aggravation than you can put a price on. I will never go back to cable for anything other than internet.


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Re: Cable vs Satellite
Joe_in_SC #282582 12/16/09 02:40 AM
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Thanks Joe. I have neighbours using both cable and satellite and they both seem to have complaints, lol. All things being equal, I think I can save a little with the satellite by bundling it with my other services.


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Re: Cable vs Satellite
Adrian #282590 12/16/09 04:53 AM
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While I've never had cable, I can speak for my satellite experience. I have Bell with the hidef package. I have a couple dishes for different locations (besides the house) and 4 receivers, one of them is also a duel tuner/pvr. I own all my equipment, don't like to rent stuff. My monthly rate is ~$80.00 for an upper level package (but not the top one).
Overall I'm pleased with it. The hidef picture looks good on my 51" screen. With the dish properly aimed, I have rarely ever had signal drop-out. Owning a dish set-up also allows me to move and install my system anywhere and anyway I want.
Right now my biggest complaint is this . . . My family watches almost everything offered on the hidef channels. Almost all these same channels are also offered in lowdef. These are a lot of duplicate channel packages and when we asked to drop the lowdef channels because we don't want to pay for them anymore, Bell said if we do that we'll lose the hidef ones too! You can have lowdef without the hidef, but not the other way around. So we're screwed paying for channels we never watch. Example; must have the regular sports package if you want to get the same hidef package.


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Re: Cable vs Satellite
80'sMan #282595 12/16/09 06:01 AM
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Both have their complaints. One of the biggest deciders for may owners is the sports package. Sat has better packages. Other than that, both have similar types of packages.

Also, different areas of the country may have one service that is better than the other. In my area, both are about the same but I can get triple play service w/ Comcast (voice/data/TV) a decent price. My cable modem is 20 Mbps downstream/10 Mbps upstream, and no, that's not a typo.

Re: Cable vs Satellite
Joe_in_SC #282614 12/16/09 12:36 PM
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 Originally Posted By: Joe_in_Ct

I have DirectTV, by the way. Most surveys rate DirectTV way above Dish.

The switch saved me about $30 a month, and more aggravation than you can put a price on. I will never go back to cable for anything other than internet.


I have had Dish and Comcast and had issues with both, but I will say that Comcast will never get another dime of my money. I now have AT&T U-verse. I wanted to share a story about a friend of mine that has DirectTV. Yesterday he was on the phone trying to cancel his service and switch to U-verse. His contract was a one year contract and he had the service for about 15 months. When he tried to cancel service, the rep at DirectTV told him that because he had upgraded his receiver to a HD receiver a few months ago, he was automatically agreeing to a two year contract and that it would cost him $20 a month for each month left on the contract to ditch the service. The Best Buy rep that did the receiver exchange made no mention of this two year extension. Anyway, now he is stuck with about $400 more to get out of the "contract".

Re: Cable vs Satellite
davidsch #282627 12/16/09 03:25 PM
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I've had both Cogeco and Bell and will just echo the thoughts of others, both have their share problems. Bundles from both providers for identical services I feel are within 10 bucks of each other anyway so I don't know how much money you can save going one way or their other and I know both will discount their packages if you push hard enough or 'threaten' to pull all your business or bring them all your business depending on who you're talking to.

After spending a couple of years on cogeco I got fed up with their poor customer service so I pulled everything and went with bell, then after 2 worse years with bell not sending me the right bill for 2 years I swore I was going back to cogeco, but they negotiated a pretty good deal with me to stay for another year and I still have to call monthly to get my bill adjusted. I think you're damned if you do and damned if you don't personally.

The only REAL difference I can offer between the two is the 'On Demand' service from Cogeco(Cable)... which I really miss with Bell not having it. I know the argument can be made that you can PVR everything you want to watch, the problem is, sometimes I don't know what I want to watch until I want to watch it \:\) I find quality, channel offerings, PPV be pretty much the same.

Unlike 80'sMan I have elected not purchase my equipment because I haven't been overly impressed with either providers service and I don't want to commit myself to them with hardware purchases. I would like to purchase because I don't like renting either, but I'm afraid of commitment \:\)

Re: Cable vs Satellite
roar #282629 12/16/09 03:33 PM
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My only fear with buying my own hardware would be to see it become obsolete in a year or two, but I'm sure it would pay for itself vs a rental in a year, give or take.


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Re: Cable vs Satellite
Adrian #282638 12/16/09 04:17 PM
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I agree that it will become obsolete very quickly. I think one of the advantages to the Bell PVR may be that you can increase disk space via USB drives. I didn't think the latest Cogeco or Rogers PVR's allowed you such flexiability, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: Cable vs Satellite
Adrian #282639 12/16/09 04:27 PM
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As much as I would have liked to experiment and try satellite, one of the biggest drawbacks is when you have multiple televisions in the house(we have five). In this case satellite is just not price competitive. In addition, with the bundling capability of phone, internet and wireless etc.(Rogers), around these parts other than Bell, there is no other company that can provide a "complete" integrated service and the discounts to go with it.

It is true despite the fact that I would spend almost all my TV watching viewing HD still they all "force" you to purchase the underlying basic programming to get the HD broadcasts.
A waste of money!

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