Hdtv

jkvjl

Member
Whats the best way to go for HDTV? Cable,DirectTV, or Dish network. Which one has the most channels.
 

tangman99

Active Member
I'm holding off until I can get more for my money. I'm a DirecTV subscriber and they don't offer enough to warrant the 10.99 per month fee. I have several friends who have HD through cable and they say it it fine. I just hate cable companies so I refuse to swith right now. If they get ahead of the game when it becomes worth the price, I'll switch.
 
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simm

Guest
Id definatly go Dish Network. More channels in MY opinion as well and way better service than direct tv. Even though they own direct.
 

tangman99

Active Member

Originally posted by simm
Id definatly go Dish Network. More channels in MY opinion as well and way better service than direct tv. Even though they own direct.

Dish does not own DirecTV. They were going to merge a couple of years ago and the deal was shot down due to it forming a monopoly situation. Unless something changed in the very near past, Dish TV's signal quality is less than DirecTV. They compress their signal more and lose quality in the process.
Also, everyone makes Equipment for DirecTV so you can go anywhere and buy it. There is competition. Again, unless something has changed recently, Dish makes and sells their own equipement and has done a very poor job of adding features.
They both get the job done, but research the facts before you choose one. I think DirecTV was voted top in customer service last year also. It's the same with ever tech support you call. You have to get through level 1 (unplug your box, wait 30 seconds and plug it back it back in) to get to someone who can tie their own shoes and be able to help you.
This is my opinion only. I've had DirecTV since it first came out in the early 90s. My parents and both of my inlaws had dish. They all finally swithed to DirecTV when Dish kept blowing them off for repairs.
 
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simm

Guest
Thats weird because my brother in law has direct tv and tried canceling and going with dish and they (dish) would not let him since he already had direct.
 

malounsbury

Member
Voom is another dish type service that is supposed to offer more HD channels than the other two services. My neighbor has it, just haven't asked him about it.
I'm happy with my DirecTV, and I wouldn't go back to cable unless all the satellite services went under.
 

denny80688

Member
Voom is an ok service however I believe it is being bought by another comapny. The major problem with their service is your local channels. They rely on an off-air antenna to get locals. If you live in a large city thats fine but otherwise you will get either no local chanels (includes fox, wb, etc) or only a few of them... Directv and dish both transmit locals over there satellites which makes them a great choice. If voom did that it would be killer because they offer somewhere around 30 HD channels. Cable companies are limited to only a few HD channels right now but I am sure that will be changing as HDTVs become more common.
 

malounsbury

Member

Originally posted by denny80688
Directv and dish both transmit locals over there satellites which makes them a great choice.

Looking on the DTV site, you still need an off-air antenna to get your local HD stations. You can get the others right on the dish, but you'll need the antenna to get the local HD's.
 

tangman99

Active Member

Originally posted by simm
Thats weird because my brother in law has direct tv and tried canceling and going with dish and they (dish) would not let him since he already had direct.

That is weird. I've never heard of that, but I've never known anyone to switch from DirecTV to Dish.
VOOM is no more after the end of this month. No one bought them out. They are pulling the plug because they have been loosing $600,000,000 a year. If you recently bought it, you can use your equipment for a boat anchor. That's about all it will be good for in a another week.
 
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tizzo

Guest
All that being said, don't go with cable!! We are currently on our 6th box!! Hoping this one will continue to work. All the HD channels have terrible sound. The backround noise is very loud. Out neighbors have satalite with no problems. The only reason we don't switch is because we are soon going to sell the house and don't want the satalite installed on it.
 

blueberryboomer

Active Member
We love the dish network, the hdtv is awesome, currently there are only 8 hdtv channels a few of which are Hbo's and Showtimes, but there are other channels that you don't get if you don't pay the 10.99 a month. One is a awesome sports channel. We bought one of the new boxs for the hdtv service, you can rent them same as always but we chose to buy our own. Lisa :)
 

ebsochin

Member
Direc TV is great, but you do need an off air antenna to recieve the local channels in HD. They are scheduled to launch another satellite later this year and soon you will have approximately 150 channels in High Def.
:cheer: I've never liked cable so couldn't help you there. As far as Dish Network, They are junk!!! Now before you go and hate me on this one, this statement is from experience. 1- You don't own the reciever when you are done with your contract, 2- They charge $10 more for basic satellite package per month, 3- their customer service sucked. JMO!
 

blueberryboomer

Active Member
We have had dish for almost 3 years. We have only had 1 problem with customer service a new girl answered and she didn't have the slightest idea what to do to help me, she transfered me to someone else that could help. As for not owning the boxs, you can buy them when you sign up with the program but in the long run it is almost better to lease them because if something goes wrong with them they will fix or replace them for free, if you but from them you get only a 90 day warrenty. I don't have a problem with them at all. I do agree cable sucks! Like there internt though. Lisa
 

malounsbury

Member
I haven't had any problems with DirecTV. Signed up about a year and half ago, when my one year came up, they gave me a free TiVo because I had an account in good standing for the first year. They came out and installed it, I kept the old box and just sold it. Didn't pay anything for it because it was a free two room system. That was the cool thing too, didn't pay for anything when I signed up, but both boxes belonged to me. I signed up for the additional $5/month for insurance just in case anything happens, having a 2 year old and all running around. Planning no getting a 55" TV when we move to the new house and getting the HD service. Can't wait.
 
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