Satellite TV vs. Cable

[LiteBrite]

So, talk to me about the differences.

We've been basically TV-less for the last 3 years. We made the decision to get rid of our cable just to see what life with no TV was like. We tried rabbit ears, didn't work, we discovered we didn't really care. We upped our movie limit on Netflix and we've been happy with just watching DVDs when we want some entertainment.

However, we're considering going back to having TV again. We travel a lot with our work, and we would really like to find someone willing to housesit and take care of our doggies while we're gone, but no one ever wants to because we have no TV. Also, the truth is we kinda miss some things about TV.

So, hubby researched and found that we could get what we want, channel-wise, for less money via satellite as compared to cable. I'd love to hear your stories, good or bad. If you have satellite, which service do you use, and why do you like it, or why don't you like it, as the case may be?

 

[LoraJ]

I had DirecTV, but when DFI moved in, I had to switch to cable because he needed On Demand, Which is actually really great. Now I can't even imagine going back to satelite.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I was in the position a year ago to have both at the same time. I had a deal with the cable system for TV, phone and internet but kept the dish for the football package. I tried putting TNT on both systems and flipped the input back and forth to see the difference. No contest, the dish won. The picture was clearer and the sound was better. Between that and the fact that the cable company here raises prices about every month or so, I ended up getting rid of all of it, going with a Verizon package for my phones and DSL and the Directv for my TV.
However, a lot depends on where you live. If you have a good place for the dish where you'll get a good signal, I'd go with the dish. I have lost signal once in a while during massive rainstorms, but never for long.

 

[lg3]

When had cable for a few years and absolutely hated it. The price was constantly going up, up up, and our service was HORRIBLE. We moved into a fairly new subdivision at the time, and had to call them a few times a week because it was constantly going out. Even after the houses were all in, it still went on for over TWO YEARS!!! We finally couldn't take any more, and went to satellite. LOVE IT!!!! We have had Dish Network for four years now, and have two dishes so we could watch something different upstairs vs. downstairs. Now have the DVR and would never go back. It rarely ever goes out - maybe once or twice a year, then just for a few minutes if there is extremely dense cloud cover. No big deal. Or rates don't go up, and we have had fantastic service from the. Big thumbs up.

 

[gallaj0]

Another big fan of DirecTv here. I like that fact that we own our equipment, no sneaky rental charges, etc. like back when we had cable.
The rates are much better than cable around here, about 1/3 the price.

 

[PiRSquared]

DirecTV here. Had Comcast until we moved this summer. Both are fine for us. The one thing I don't like is with DirecTV we don't get local on the 8's on the weather channel. They do have a local weather you can get to, but I like seeing the radar. I just go to the internet now, so it's not that big a deal.

 

[bicker]

We played with the idea of going to satellite last year so, with the help of some neighbors, I compared HD picture quality between DirecTV, Dish Network and Comcast -- Comcast won resoundingly. I've learned that the satellite systems compress their high-def signals too much and you can see the difference in picture quality. That's going to become a bigger issue as time goes on.

However, if you're purchasing television service for house sitters, then that probably doesn't matter much. I'd evaluate the up-front outlay (satellite services sometimes require you purchase some of the equipment, especially if you want a DVR, whereas cable generally gives you all the equipment you need, and just charges you a monthly rate), because you may want to change your mind again someday soon.

 

[rcraw45425]

We also have both, cable modem enables us to keep the expanded basic cable. This also gives us our local channels, which are not available to us through Direct TV, unless we put up an antenna ( ). We also have a HD plasma in the great room. I find that the cable usually looks fuzzy and blurry, not just on the HD tv, but on all of them. The dish is sharper, but be warned, if you have extreme weather, like storms, the dish loses signal.

 

[bicker]

You should get the cable company to fix your signal. Cable should appear at least as clear as satellite, if not better.

 

[kbkids]

We've had Dish Network with a DVR for over 2 years now, and I would never go back to cable. I absolutely love my satellite TV, and the DVR that I thought I would never use, you couldn't take away from me now.

 

[DISUNC]

We've been basically TV-less for the last 3 years.

Sorry I just cant get past that sentence!!!!!!

 

[LiteBrite]

Sorry I just cant get past that sentence!!!!!!

Take a couple of deep breaths, Unc - everything's going to be ok.

 

[Maleficent2]

We have DISH we have been with them for about 8 years we chose SAT over Cable because they offered the programming we wanted for less money than cable.


I think the key is what channels you desire and who provides them.

 

[OK!]

My only experience with satellite vs. cable is my parents' Dish Network vs. my cable. The only time my cable goes out is if I lose power (duh) or one time 3 summers ago when someone inadvertently cut a cable and even then it was off for about 2 hours while they did the repairs. OTOH, my parents' satellite goes out any time they have anything more than a steady rain. Even a temporary downpour knocks it out for 20 minutes. And if the picture doesn't go, the audio likes to cut out for 2-3 seconds at a time, approximately every 30 seconds. (This mainly seems to happen when it's windy, at least in my experience. VERY annoying.) The only reason they even still have satellite TV is because they live in an area that's not heavily populated enough for cable.

 

[Scutapipig]

We've had both and with cable, we had nothing but problems with picture, service, and accounting. When we finally cancelled, I was able to convince them that they owed me not only my refund, but a service charge of $5 each month that they didn't send my refund. I got the refund AND and an extra $10 for the two months it took them to send me my refund.

Anyway, back on topic....we have Dish and love it! It does go out about 2 or 3 times a year due to heavy rainstorms, but it never lasts more than a few minutes when it does. Snow can be another issue, but we have only had to clear our dish once in the eight years we've had it. We made sure our dish was placed on ground level as opposed to the roof.

Monthly fees were better with Dish and they also provided the channels we watched the most.