Verizon vs Time Warner vs Direct TV (Dallas, Fort Worth: real estate, apartment)

[Cowboys_Fan2010]

I currently sucbsribe to Verizon and paying $150/month for Phone, Internet and Cable. I feel its a bit expensive. Would Time Warner or Direct TV be better choice?

[kazyn]

$150? What kind of packages do you have? I'm only paying $85/mo for mine.

DirecTV is a good TV provider but their internet service SUCKS (all satellite internet is awful)......I've never used TWC so I couldn't be of any help there.

If you want DTV you could probably get ATT's uverse package for internet and phone.

[mami2emily]

We ordered a triple bundle through Charter for $99/month for 2 years. Cable tv including one premium channel, dvr service, hd box, high speed internet, unlimited local and long distance phone. It's cheaper than what we currently pay in GA so we are pleased with the deal. Wanted to try u-verse but it was a lot more expensive.

[DreamKeeper]

Does Verizon offer FIOS in the Dallas area?

[Cowboys_Fan2010]

Originally Posted by DreamKeeper

Does Verizon offer FIOS in the Dallas area?

Yes thats what I have

[DreamKeeper]

Originally Posted by Cowboys_Fan2010

Yes thats what I have

Is it only offered in certain areas of Dallas? I don't live in Dallas but may be moving there and on the FIOS website I entered a random address from the real estate listings but it shows as not being in a FIOS area. Besides the cost do you like the FIOS service? Thanks...

[mikeh19468]

Originally Posted by Cowboys_Fan2010

Yes thats what I have

Unless you're becoming an Internet addict and need to ween yourself off, don't give up FIOS. I don't care what the cable company commercials say, I have yet to meet anyone that willingly gave up FIOS to go to cable. Direct TV? If you have a need for the NFL packages, maybe. $150 a month for a FIOS bundle is a good deal, depending on how many channels you're getting...

[Willsson]

DreamKeeper, correct, FiOS is offered only in some of Verizon's territory in the DFW area, as well as nationwide areas. Most of Dallas and Fort Worth proper are actually in ATT territory (formerly Southwestern Bell). There are outlying areas that were former GTE, which merged with Bell Atlantic to form Verizon. Not all of Verizon territory offers FiOS (fiber to the premise), in which case your option would be the usual Verizon telco DSL. Or ATT, cable or other.

ATT offers a fiber optic product called uVerse. In older ATT areas uVerse is fiber to the curb with copper pair to the prem. In new construction neighborhoods they provide fiber to the premise. Not all ATT areas offer uVerse.

Verizon's FiOS is generally considered to be an excellent product.

In the DFW area, Time Warner's product is largely a fiber optic service.

[kazyn]

It is in certain areas, not in others. I live in the Carrollton/Addison area and it was pre-wired in our apartment.

FIOS is by far the best Internet connection I've ever had. Rock solid, dependable, and FAST. I pay for the 15/5 bundle but I usually stick around 20/6 or so.....kazyn happy (the motorola DVR they use for TV absolutely sucks, but oh well)

[fistofsouth]

Originally Posted by Cowboys_Fan2010

I currently sucbsribe to Verizon and paying $150/month for Phone, Internet and Cable. I feel its a bit expensive. Would Time Warner or Direct TV be better choice?

First you are going to end up paying just as much for Direct TV and more with TWC. Second if picture quality is important to you there's no beating fiber. Over on the AVS forums Direct TV is referred to as HD Lite because they do so much in the way of bandwidth tunneling. Essentially there is only so much bandwidth to be had on any connection and because DTV (and to a lesser extent TWC) have much less bandwidth than a service like Fios or uVerse they have to cut corners. This means that DTV starves shows with lower ratings in order to get a quality picture on higher rated shows. So if you watch tripe (just my opinion) like AMerican Idol, Dancing with the Stars and other highly rated network shows you might not notice much of a difference, but if you are watching lower rated quality shows (my opinion and those of critics) like Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire you are going to have some issues. In fact the bit starved shows will say they are in 1080i or 720p, but if you do screen caps (as they do over at AVS) you can see that they are not really delivering that resolution. None of that takes into account the various artifacts that a show with a low bitrate.

I would call Verizon, threaten to switch and see what they offer you. I just moved two months ago and previously I had Fios Triple Play (Phone, TV, Internet) with the HBO/CineMax package, HD DVR and HD Extreme. With taxes and other charges thrown in I was paying about $185 a month. Now for the same package, plus Stars, Showtime, TMC and pretty much every other Premium chanel (sans Epix) I pay $150 a month including all the taxes and fees.

Another thing to consider is if your Fios package has analog or digital phone service. Analog will always be on even if the power is out, while digital is dependent on the battery in your Fios UPS (in the garage normally) if there is a power outage. Still Digital is about $15-$20 less a month than analog.

Another item to think about is that with the bandwidth Fios pushes out a VoIP service like Vonage would be rock solid and cheap. Still you would be dependent on that UPS if power drops and Verizon is going to up the price for your TV and internet if you drop their phone service.

I know this is a novel and I know all of this is a bit technical, but there is a reason that IT Pros (like me) and AV fiends (again like me) select fiber based solutions; they are simply the best that is out there right now.

If you have any interest in getting into the nitty gritty check out the AVS forums section on TV programing:
HDTV Programming - AVS Forum