Comcast vs. DirecTV vs. Verizon Fios: Which is Best for HDTV?

[J_UNTITLED]

For American HDTV owners, which service would you say is the overall best right now to sign up for?

[arush5268d]

DirecTV HD has worked like a champ for me. Great PQ and I've always preferred their channel guide over Dish Network's channel guide.

[JTK]

Boy, if I had Verizon FIOS available in my area I'd be all over that in a heartbeat.

[SDon1969]

Fios not available to me, and it's hard for me to vote since all I've had experience with is Comcast. I think they are overpriced, and I am sick of the 1-second signal dropouts where I lose audio and video stutters.

[dadkins]

PQ, OTA.
Selection, probably Sat from Dish or DirecTv.

[ShawnE94SL]

I've had all three and FIOS is hands-down the better choice for both picture and sound. Comcast in my area (phila, PA) was garbage compared to FIOS. Although, there is no HD content on-demand with FIOS as of today.

[phlydude]

It's all depending on what you are looking for...
DirecTV has the most HD channels - usable HD channels, not On Demand

Fios has the best picture quality and the potential to carry a lot more than what it currently does in my area

Comcast - most costly and quality is in the middle - I don't have the problems that others speak of but their lack of picking up any Fox owned HD network (other than locals) is a little absurd at this point...

They all have their pluses and minuses - I find DirecTV to have too much compression - it was noticble on my 27" regular Sony TV on non-HD programming and it is still noticable on HD sources on a 32" Phillips set. I haven't viewed it on my 56" JVC in HD.

Comcast picks some odd choices for their HD offerings. I mean, who needs CNN in HD? I'd rather have Discovery HD (in addition to Discovery HD Theatre). How about FX? Get it off the damn analog channel and into Digital at least...

Fios isn't picking up the channels quickly either...plus, Verizon has been too slow in rolling this out to Fios approved areas. I have been waiting for over 2 years now waiting for Fios to get approved and wired in my neighborhood - well, we were approved 1.5 yrs ago but no conduit run yet...I guess they don't want to wire townhome communities until they wire all the single home areas...last I checked, 100 houses in less than 100 acres was a lot more dense than 40 houses in the same land area.

[J_UNTITLED]

I guess I'm narrowing it down between DirecTV and Verizon Fios... not sure which one to opt for!

[Josh]

Being that Directv uses HD-Lite, Verizon FiOS is the only option. I absolutely love it!

[Ferris]

Originally Posted by arush5268d

DirecTV HD has worked like a champ for me. Great PQ and I've always preferred their channel guide over Dish Network's channel guide.

I've got to go with FiOS. In all truth, I have DirecTV at work, and it goes out at least 3-4 times per week. It's storm A LOT in this area (Lightning capital of the world, really)so a satellite wouldn't work well for us here. There are some people who say their's never goes out around here, but I've never actually SEEN it NOT lose signal during a storm.

[Chocolatejas]

Direct TV. It does have On Demand (Channel 1000) but it is not HD.

[phlydude]

last I checked (2 weeks ago) the On Demand was BETA and mostly kids shows and music video blocks from a a year or two ago.

Has that changed since then? (OH and BTW - On demand relies on DOWNLOADING the data...so if your ISP limits the transfer amount per month, this is not the best option for you)

[Uxi]

I hate Verizon but I'd probably pick FIOS. DirecTV would have the better selection than the cable but the worst quality of any of them.

[Clark Kent]

I've had all three and Fios is by far the best option. I would avoid Directv personally. As someone that loved that service for more than a decade, their recent changes in the last two years means they aren't the great value they once were.

[J_UNTITLED]

Anyone else want to weigh in their personal provider-of-choice?

[EQ3282]

As others have said, its really a crapshoot, as each has pros and cons.

FIOS has the ABILITY to deliver the best quality, but the large-scale roll-out probably won't happen, as it doesn't seem to be catching on (it costs the company many millions to install FIOS in a new area, and so they need other areas to adopt in order to make the investment worth it...a rolling investment, if you will). Plus, they are not using it to the best of its ability (offering far less than what they could).

Comcast...well, they're probably on the bottom of most people's list. They do offer acceptable quality, but their prices are ridiculous. Plus, they do have spotty service (video/audio breaks, freezing of HD pictures, etc.). I've called them before about it, and they actually pretend like its not happening and not their fault IF it is happening.

DirectTV can be alright, but satellite service is not accessible everywhere, and losing the picture/needing to adjust the satellite direction is almost a given. Plus, if you have limited space to put the satellite (if you're in an apt. or something) its probably not the best choice.

Which is best?

Future Ability/Expectations: FIOS

Current QUALITY: DirectTV

Current Availability/Delivery: Comcast

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by Josh

Being that Directv uses HD-Lite, Verizon FiOS is the only option. I absolutely love it!

Directv no longer uses HD-Lite with the exception of a few channels, which should be moved to MPEG4 in the months to come. As the user asked, "right now", Directv is the hands down winner in terms of PQ and channel selection. Were Fios to roll out more channels to equal the Directv selection then Fios would be the way to go.

The choice for RIGHT NOW is Directv.

[Josh]

Originally Posted by Spankey

Directv no longer uses HD-Lite with the exception of a few channels, which should be moved to MPEG4 in the months to come. As the user asked, "right now", Directv is the hands down winner in terms of PQ and channel selection. Were Fios to roll out more channels to equal the Directv selection then Fios would be the way to go.

The choice for RIGHT NOW is Directv.

So they finally switched over to MPEG-4? Hadn't heard that.

My personal experience with FiOS has been nothing short of amazing. Started with cable (which would lose signal randomly) and switched to Directv (which would lose signal during storms). Switched back to cable (Comcast) when the trees in the back yard got too high and experienced the same random signal drops. At the beginning of the year, Verizon announced FiOS for my area and I signed up. Since then, I haven't had a time with signal loss.

I use FiOS for both HD cable and Internet. Very reliable and high quality.

Luckily, HBO re-runs the shit out of their movies, so I got to watch "Over the Hedge" a few times on Comcast and a few times more on FiOS. Every time the credits started to roll with Comcast, the screen would get really blocky. The compression just couldn't handle it. With FiOS, never had the problem. Much better compression and more bandwidth.

FiOS gets my vote!

[J_UNTITLED]

DirecTV and Verzion Fios seem to be neck-in-neck here... so, between the two, which has more HD channels right now? Also, is there a real significant difference in quality between the two in terms of picture?

[Clark Kent]

The only real reason to get Directv is for the exclusive NFL package. Tivo series 3(the ones that work with High Definition) only work on cable and Fios. Directv has frozen Tivo out of their service for HD content.