Cable vs. Dish Network vs. Direct TV

[Speed3driver]

Hey guys, just want to know you opinions and facts on service provider HD signal quality within the three main carriers. I currently have comcast but I was wondering if i was missing out on anything. Any help is appreciated

[phlydude]

Since Comcast is inconsistent across their different regions, comparing your Comcast to mine is like comparing oranges to grapefruits. Let alone comparing the 2 Sat companies...

[supersix4]

I love our directTV for the sports packages mlb and NFL sunday ticket .

my hr21 dvr is great tooo but the menu is dirt ass slow

picture I Dtvs hd looks 10 folds better then dish network buttt I'm not sure about fios.

[sfmarine]

I like Direct Tv...I've been with them for almost 10 years. They've come a long way. I watch the YES Network and Fox News..that's about it lol. ABC when LOST is on. I mainly watch blu-ray's. No need for Showtime which never has anything new. Only thing that ticks me off about DTV is that it goes out when it rains really hard. With cable, you don't have that problem.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by supersix4

I love our directTV for the sports packages mlb and NFL sunday ticket .

my hr21 dvr is great tooo but the menu is dirt ass slow

picture I Dtvs hd looks 10 folds better then dish network buttt I'm not sure about fios.

yes!!!!!


I have the DTV HD DVR receiver, and searching the menu/ Guide etc, its so laggy and slow... but the standard ( SD, non dvr receiver ) i have in my room is quick ( normal i guess ) no lag ..

example .. If im in the guide paging down the channels , once i push down on the channel button to page it takes a second or 2 to actually scroll down .. frustrating sometimes..


Must just be wither either HD or DVR or both.. Any one know??

[Moefiz]

I like Direct TV, been with them for almost 10yr and I am a happy customer, never had a problem with there service and there customer care is top notch.

There HD package is one of the best on the market and there HD quality is excellent.

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by mj79

yes!!!!!


I have the DTV HD DVR receiver, and searching the menu/ Guide etc, its so laggy and slow... but the standard ( SD, non dvr receiver ) i have in my room is quick ( normal i guess ) no lag ..

example .. If im in the guide paging down the channels , once i push down on the channel button to page it takes a second or 2 to actually scroll down .. frustrating sometimes..


Must just be wither either HD or DVR or both.. Any one know??

You need to reset the DVR. Press the red button behind the front door. I do this weekly to prevent this from happening.

BTW, I had Dish Network and thought it was horrible so I changed over to Comcast in the Central Maryland area. It started getting really expensive and I only had a few HD channels. Finally, I moved to DirecTV and have been loving it ever since.

[sfmarine]

Dish Network was terrible for me. Anyone know a way to expand the hard drive space on the dvr or transfer files to your computer...I've always wondered how I could do it since my HD is getting pretty full.

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Dish Network was terrible for me. Anyone know a way to expand the hard drive space on the dvr or transfer files to your computer...I've always wondered how I could do it since my HD is getting pretty full.

You can use an external SATA drive but you need to use an either/or situation. It doesn't expand the internal hard drive, just replace it.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

You need to reset the DVR. Press the red button behind the front door. I do this weekly to prevent this from happening.

BTW, I had Dish Network and thought it was horrible so I changed over to Comcast in the Central Maryland area. It started getting really expensive and I only had a few HD channels. Finally, I moved to DirecTV and have been loving it ever since.

im an idiot lol TY

[Septimus Prime]

I have Time Warner, and my parents have DirecTV, and there's a world of difference between the two. Cable is terrible, and comparing the two HD services is like comparing upscaled DVD (cable) to Blu-ray (DirecTV). Cable's HD is the worst excuse for HD I've ever seen; sometimes I can't even tell the difference between it and SD channels.

I will be switching services soon.

[crxvtec]

I live in Phoenix and have Cox cable. They have greatly improved their HD lineup but it is still lacking IMO. I just do not care to get dish or direct. Cable is easier for me.

[mj79]

still didnt work.. hmm

[Anti-SD]

I have Dish and I'm impressed with their HD channels. I watched Tropic Thunder last night and the quality was surprisingly brilliant.

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by supersix4

picture I Dtvs hd looks 10 folds better then dish network buttt I'm not sure about fios.

I had dish and was not impressed. I switched to fios and never looked back. The diffrence IMO is Fios actually looks 1080 whereas Dish HD looked more like dvd quality to me. Two of my in-laws also have Dish HD and I feel the same way about the PQ that they are getting.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

I had dish and was not impressed. I switched to fios and never looked back. The diffrence IMO is Fios actually looks 1080 whereas Dish HD looked more like dvd quality to me. Two of my in-laws also have Dish HD and I feel the same way about the PQ that they are getting.

I'd love Fiber Optics...so damn fast but I live in the sticks and who knows when I'll be able to get it. 2 years ago I still had dial-up....ahh the horror!

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

2 years ago I still had dial-up....ahh the horror!

Ouch! Sorry man, I feel your pain. I was one of the first where I lived to get cable 12 years ago, then 4 years later I moved to an area that had no broadband. Luckily I was only there a few years. However, going from 4 years of having cable back to 56k stunk, and I can't imagine how much worse it is now with all the content even the most basic websites have these days compared to just 8 years ago.

[SlmShdy1]

I have Comcast and am happy with it. The picture quality is good, but their HD channels have bad compression (I was watching Speed Racer on HBO, my god the macroblocking ). If I had a choice between satellite providers I would go with DirecTV because Dish Network sucks balls. The one that I've been reading is the best is Verizon FiOS. It's supposed to have the best PQ available but it's not accessible to everyone yet.

[Septimus Prime]

Originally Posted by SlmShdy1

I have Comcast and am happy with it. The picture quality is good, but their HD channels have bad compression (I was watching Speed Racer on HBO, my god the macroblocking ). If I had a choice between satellite providers I would go with DirecTV because Dish Network sucks balls. The one that I've been reading is the best is Verizon FiOS. It's supposed to have the best PQ available but it's not accessible to everyone yet.

Yeah, I get terrible compression artifacts on my Time Warner "HD" channels, too, and my box even locks up for a few seconds every couple of hours. Cable simply doesn't have the bandwidth that satellite does, so it'll always provide inferior service. I guess one "bonus" for me is that I don't really mind watching SD channels, since it looks almost as good as my HD ones.

The only caveat for me is that FiOS isn't in my area yet, and cable is the best solution for broadband at the moment.

[igotcabada]

I'm considering changing from Cable to DirectTV, the only thing that concerns me is the problem when the reception goes out during storms.

couple questions about this. If you have a DVR, and the reception goes out, can you rewind whatever you were watching and rewatch what you missed? or is it lost forever? how often would you say the satillite goes out (and where do you live) ?