Dish vs DirecTV vs Comcast TV (sales, home, theatre)

[Gunner0325]

Originally Posted by intoflatlines

When the Blackhawks were in the 2009 playoffs I was at work during a game, with a HDTV w/QAM tuner, but no cable TV.. I ended up making a simple dipole antenna out of an empty aluminum can and some wire and was able to watch the game in HD.. it was pretty sweet but I have grown attached to many non-public channels.

That is the only thing holding me back from trying the antenna is not getting any of the cable channels..Food Network is on 80% of time at our house..that and the DVR would be hard to live without because of our crazy schedule, so recording things and watching them later is huge...

[livonian]

I did lot of research earlier. My take on comparison of 3 is

1) Comcast is undisputedly # 3. You are encouraged to consider Comcast for first year new membership because you get cable and basic TV for under $30 a month.

2) To choose within DirectTV & DishTV
a) If you are a sports fan, DirectTV is the way to go.
b) If you need international TV channels, DishTV is the best.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by livonian

I did lot of research earlier. My take on comparison of 3 is

1) Comcast is undisputedly # 3. You are encouraged to consider Comcast for first year new membership because you get cable and basic TV for under $30 a month.

2) To choose within DirectTV & DishTV
a) If you are a sports fan, DirectTV is the way to go.
b) If you need international TV channels, DishTV is the best.

Good summary and what's with all the crazy OTA talk? Yes it's a good option if you don't watch or want ANY cables channels. I have DirecTV and diplex in OTA for locals for the picture quality. OTA is not some big secret, it's just 99% of people actually want to watch cable channels which no OTA antenna to get. For what it's worth I get somewhere around 40+ OTA channels 90% of which are just sub channels of the big 4(CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC)

[deechee]

picture quality, channel selection, and value for Comcast:

Picture quality is awesome, very rarely does "pixel-pic" occur. Channel selection is great! The similar channels are all grouped together. However, VALUE is highly relative. Average bill for having most premium channels was often $120+. Yikes.

picture quality, channel selection, and value for Dish TV:

Picture quality is okay, user friendly remote and channel guide. Channel selection is a bit limited, but it's the winner in overall value, as it seems to be cheaper than the competitor.

picture quality, channel selection, and value for Directv:

Picture quality is surprisingly clear and crisp. But, there's sometimes a little problem with reception. Channel selection is a bit confusing, there's a lot of "fluff" channels that really don't serve a purpose? Example is the NOVA channel that always says it will "resume...?" Value is average. EXCELLENT customer service though.

[suzanrush]

Which do I prefer, you ask? Dish vs. Directv vs. Comcast?
NONE of the above - they are all crooks!!!!!! I prefer to get my tv for free with a great, powerful antenna on my roof. There's nothing better for channel choice, picture quality, and whatever else you wish to compare. The fact is that this new Digital (DTV) tv is out of this world and no one even knows that they have this choice available to them, largely thanks to the biggest greediest liars of all the paytv crooks -COMCAST!
If people knew the truth about this free dtv available everywhere ota (over-the-air) they wouldn't still be paying.
Also, we wouldn't be losing PBS if more people were aware of this free commercial-free quality tv - the only tv worth watching. Anyone who's ever watched PBS, even once knows this. Plus, you don't need fancy expensive tvs and equipment to get great tv for free. Just an antenna and a converter box. That's it. And, I get 3 (9 total) of these tv-worth-watching channels in each market and I'm in the sticks far far away from the nearest station signal.

If you don't get it, you don't get it. Talk to someone who does get it, better yet, ask them to show you. It's quaranteed to be life changing. Esp. considering that paytv companies are filthy rotten greedy liars - you people who pay have no idea of the deception - and how they prevented you from gaining this knowledge and information. They know what the truth means to their industry. It's the new GOLD RUSH. Similar to what happened with the telephone lines in the 80s.

The fight over the airwaves is a huge deal these days, much nastiness and treachery. That's why the billions of dollars that goes to PBS has been canceled. The paytv thieves want us all to pay for it. I'll never pay for it, knowing what I now know. It sickens me that they've deceived Americans to keep them ignorant of this wonderful new technology. Sickening too, what our government gets away with. They're all murderous lying thieves. All about the money. It boils down to the lobbyists for paytv are stronger than the PBS lobbyists - plus they've got more money to pay the government, FCC and congress, and therefore more power to sway the vote.

David and Goliath is what this is, modern day.

[billybones]

If you want even more choices to add to OTA broadcasts, check out FTA satellite. This Wiki article is a good start.

FTA receiver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you don't mind spending a few bucks on equipment and learning how it works, it is a great alternative. These systems combine a small dish like DirecTV and Dish use with a positioning system to aim the dish at different satellites. It is very much like those old 10' dishes only with a small dish.

These systems are not to be confused with the systems used to hack DirecTV from years ago. FTA is totally legal.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by suzanrush

Which do I prefer, you ask? Dish vs. Directv vs. Comcast?
NONE of the above - they are all crooks!!!!!! I prefer to get my tv for free with a great, powerful antenna on my roof. There's nothing better for channel choice, picture quality, and whatever else you wish to compare. The fact is that this new Digital (DTV) tv is out of this world and no one even knows that they have this choice available to them, largely thanks to the biggest greediest liars of all the paytv crooks -COMCAST!
If people knew the truth about this free dtv available everywhere ota (over-the-air) they wouldn't still be paying.
Also, we wouldn't be losing PBS if more people were aware of this free commercial-free quality tv - the only tv worth watching. Anyone who's ever watched PBS, even once knows this. Plus, you don't need fancy expensive tvs and equipment to get great tv for free. Just an antenna and a converter box. That's it. And, I get 3 (9 total) of these tv-worth-watching channels in each market and I'm in the sticks far far away from the nearest station signal.

If you don't get it, you don't get it. Talk to someone who does get it, better yet, ask them to show you. It's quaranteed to be life changing. Esp. considering that paytv companies are filthy rotten greedy liars - you people who pay have no idea of the deception - and how they prevented you from gaining this knowledge and information. They know what the truth means to their industry. It's the new GOLD RUSH. Similar to what happened with the telephone lines in the 80s.

The fight over the airwaves is a huge deal these days, much nastiness and treachery. That's why the billions of dollars that goes to PBS has been canceled. The paytv thieves want us all to pay for it. I'll never pay for it, knowing what I now know. It sickens me that they've deceived Americans to keep them ignorant of this wonderful new technology. Sickening too, what our government gets away with. They're all murderous lying thieves. All about the money. It boils down to the lobbyists for paytv are stronger than the PBS lobbyists - plus they've got more money to pay the government, FCC and congress, and therefore more power to sway the vote.

David and Goliath is what this is, modern day.

Seriously what are you drinking? Nothing better for channel choice? In most scenarios there are at best 40 or so channels that come via OTA. Most of which are sub channels of the big 4 networks. How is that better than the 200+ channels plus thousands of movie and on demand choices I have with DirecTV?

Life changing? Really getting some additional sub channels with mostly subpar programming and HD versions of the channels people have gotten for many years if life changing? Yes the OTA HD quality is better, but the channel choice and programming options doesn't come anywhere near that of a satellite or cable provider.

[Gunner0325]

Originally Posted by suzanrush

Which do I prefer, you ask? Dish vs. Directv vs. Comcast?
NONE of the above - they are all crooks!!!!!! I prefer to get my tv for free with a great, powerful antenna on my roof. There's nothing better for channel choice, picture quality, and whatever else you wish to compare. The fact is that this new Digital (DTV) tv is out of this world and no one even knows that they have this choice available to them, largely thanks to the biggest greediest liars of all the paytv crooks -COMCAST!
If people knew the truth about this free dtv available everywhere ota (over-the-air) they wouldn't still be paying.
Also, we wouldn't be losing PBS if more people were aware of this free commercial-free quality tv - the only tv worth watching. Anyone who's ever watched PBS, even once knows this. Plus, you don't need fancy expensive tvs and equipment to get great tv for free. Just an antenna and a converter box. That's it. And, I get 3 (9 total) of these tv-worth-watching channels in each market and I'm in the sticks far far away from the nearest station signal.

If you don't get it, you don't get it. Talk to someone who does get it, better yet, ask them to show you. It's quaranteed to be life changing. Esp. considering that paytv companies are filthy rotten greedy liars - you people who pay have no idea of the deception - and how they prevented you from gaining this knowledge and information. They know what the truth means to their industry. It's the new GOLD RUSH. Similar to what happened with the telephone lines in the 80s.

The fight over the airwaves is a huge deal these days, much nastiness and treachery. That's why the billions of dollars that goes to PBS has been canceled. The paytv thieves want us all to pay for it. I'll never pay for it, knowing what I now know. It sickens me that they've deceived Americans to keep them ignorant of this wonderful new technology. Sickening too, what our government gets away with. They're all murderous lying thieves. All about the money. It boils down to the lobbyists for paytv are stronger than the PBS lobbyists - plus they've got more money to pay the government, FCC and congress, and therefore more power to sway the vote.

David and Goliath is what this is, modern day.

I don't understand why you keep ranting about DTV. You can't get cable channels....so your argument about channel choice is not valid compared to cable services. If all I wanted was PBS and local stations then your argument is valid. But most people want the cable channels.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Comcast triple play is good
downside - the e mail comcast has blows
upside- one bill
downside - who uses a landline anymore
upside-easy to get your bill adjust for charges
downside-confusing channel guide
upside-lots of channels


Direct had a decent picture but not as good as comcast
could not bundle the packages together unless you went with att for your internet

i like the idea of one bill in one spot easier to manage with the other hundereds of dollars i waste every month

[lakecountylifer]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Comcast triple play is good
downside - the e mail comcast has blows
upside- one bill
downside - who uses a landline anymore
upside-easy to get your bill adjust for charges
downside-confusing channel guide
upside-lots of channels


Direct had a decent picture but not as good as comcast
could not bundle the packages together unless you went with att for your internet

i like the idea of one bill in one spot easier to manage with the other hundereds of dollars i waste every month

AT&T Uverse is better than both Direct or Comcast. Uverse has over 155 HD channels, interative technology, and good pic quality. I also like that Uverse offers cheaper high speed (I have 12 MPBS for $40 while the same speed at Comcast is $45-$50). I have unlimited voip from uvoice for $33 a month. All today----I pay less than $200 with tax for TV, voice and internet.