Cable/TV services (Spring, Burleson, Saginaw: 2009, neighborhood, live)

[damiana9]

Currently in Virginia, we have Charter available to us but nobody in town uses them because service is horrible. Instead we use Directv which we like just fine except when a storm rolls though and we have no reception. If we could get away with using Cable we would- it would be nice to not have a sattelite stuck to the house! But I was just wondering what they thoughts are on Charter out there- is the service good? What about Directv- do you lose reception alot with all those storms you have?

[Synopsis]

We have satellite service and the downtime per year because of storms is very minimal. First, the storms have to be really powerful; something that we mainly get only in the Spring, and then it only lasts for about 10 minutes at a time. Also, keep in mind that cable tv gets their signal from those very same satellites, coupled with miles and miles of cables where the signal can deteriorate before it gets to your house.

Generally, I like to get my signal "straight from the horses mouth, so to speak." And I like DirecTV because you can get the NFL Sunday Ticket!

[loves2read]

in my town we don't have Charter for cable...depends on where you live--

[Guingirl]

We have DirecTV here and it does get some storm interference on occasion, but for the most part it has to be really really bad for it to get a hiccup. There is Time Warner Cable here (but not available in this particular part of Saginaw-because it is so new) as well as Dish Network.

Dish Network and AT&T have plans together as well.

It really just depends on your address and the particular area as to what is available.

[beowulf7]

I have Dish Network and have some problems with them. Service has been going out too often, but I think it's b/c of the receiver box more so than the satellite service itself. It's my first experience w/ satellite TV; prior to that I always had cable service. Dish required an 18-mo. contract and I have about a year to go. After that, I'll drop them and might only do free HDTV, which will be readily available by Feb. 2009 (at the latest) and most likely most of the "free" channels will broadcast in HD well before that date for most of their programming.

[damiana9]

We will be moving to Burleson- and from what I gather, Charter is the cable company out there, and our other option would be Directv. I was just wondering if anyone from the DFW area had used Charter for cable tv and had any good/bad experiences to share. I don't really mind staying with Directv, but my husband is not thrilled with the idea of tons of cables running around outside- we have 2 tvs now and have 4 cables running out of the dish and all around the house. Not the prettiest thing in the world!

[beowulf7]

The more I think about it, the more I dislike satellite TV, at least Dish Network. Whenever I lose TV signal, it won't automatically get it back unless I manually press "SELECT" or Channel Up/Down on the remote control. This is a PITA when you want to record something on the VCR or DVR but wind up recording that annoying "Press SELECT to Continue" message.

[damiana9]

beowulf7- I know alot of people that are really unhappy with Dish Network- for a variety of different reasons. You don't have to do that with Directv to get the signal back.

[beowulf7]

Originally Posted by damiana9

beowulf7- I know alot of people that are really unhappy with Dish Network- for a variety of different reasons. You don't have to do that with Directv to get the signal back.

Oh really? I thought it was a satellite limitation. I only went w/ Dish since they were cheaper per mo. (fewer channels, but I didn't need all those channels DirecTV offered). Oh well ... another year to go on the contract. : \

[artcgal]

We have Charter Cable now...but, our new neighborhood will not have it. So...we will have to resort to getting DSL and Satellite. We are probably going to get AT&T so we can get a better deal with the DishNetwork (even though I said I would never get DishNetwork after they ripped us off...*sigh*)....

I LOVE my Charter Cable!! The Internet is wonderful, and the cable has NEVER gone out since we got it about seven years ago. *sigh*...

I wish there were a way to get DSL and DirectTV and not have to pay for an arm and a leg....