OT: Direct TV vs Cable in Boston area

[SpiderFox53]

why does the dish network blow other than not having sunday ticket something i dont want anyway .i pay 100 a month between cable and my computer .im not paying anymore .i compared d network and d tv and you get more channels with d network they carry the locals .200 channels for a total of 46 bucks and you get the nfl network espn classic something you cant get with cable unless you upgrade .

I've never had Dish so I can't say if it blows or not, but if you look closely at those 200 channels you're getting, how many of them will you actually watch. Dish seems to offer a better deal than DirecTV, but I'm not sure it really is.

No I don't work for or am I associated with DirecTV. I did, howerer, work for the company that has the Florida Dish Network instalation contract.

 

[patriotspride]

I've never had Dish so I can't say if it blows or not, but if you look closely at those 200 channels you're getting, how many of them will you actually watch. Dish seems to offer a better deal than DirecTV, but I'm not sure it really is.

No I don't work for or am I associated with DirecTV. I did, howerer, work for the company that has the Florida Dish Network instalation contract.

did you stay at a holiday inn express last night lol? ill have to take a closer look.sunday ticket the baseball pkg i would never purchase unless i lived outside the newengland area and couldnt follow the patriots or the redsox .other than that buying those pkgs is a total waste of money.

 

[SpiderFox53]

did you stay at a holiday inn express last night lol? ill have to take a closer look.sunday ticket the baseball pkg i would never purchase unless i lived outside the newengland area and couldnt follow the patriots or the redsox .other than that buying those pkgs is a total waste of money.

I haven't lived in MA since 97, I've had DirecTV for the past 6 years and have purchased Sunday Ticket every year. I won't be purchasing it again next year as it has just become way to expensive. It's cheaper to go to a sports bar for every game that isn't nationally televised than it is to pay for Sunday Ticket.

Sometimes I wished I lived in Canada where Sunday Ticket is carried by more than just DirecTV. But it's to cold up there for far too long each year.

 

[PatsDparty]

did you stay at a holiday inn express last night lol? ill have to take a closer look.sunday ticket the baseball pkg i would never purchase unless i lived outside the newengland area and couldnt follow the patriots or the redsox .other than that buying those pkgs is a total waste of money.

I'm interested in it b/c its an overall better deal that comcast. I currently pay 100 a month with hd and dvr, and only get hbo for premium movie channels with comcast. With directTV, for the same price, I get 250+ stations (all digital, no analog), and 31 premium movie channels (HBO, Starz, Cinemax, & Showtime), HD, and dvr. I also would get the Yes network, which my brother wants.

 

[mtbykr]

why did you hate it ?you didnt give any reasons .not user friendly ?what does that mean?is it hard to operate ?

The way the system operated was annoying...just the way you switch channels to the program guide. It always seemed to get annoying....again though, this was a few years ago so mabey things have changed. My wife's uncle had directv and switched to dish to save some $$$$. Now he's thinking about switching back, becuase he's not happy. He really didn't go into detail, just said that he was much happier with directv. (and the sports packages have no bearing on this decision)


just my $.02

 

[PromisedLand]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently using Comcast HD programming to watch the Pats on channels cbs, nbc, and fox. We're thinking of switching to Direct TV (due to some issues with comcast and the attractiveness of some of the overall dish packages). However, first priority is watching pats games in HD. Has anyone in the local area had any issues with getting those local channels in HD. According to their website, those channel are all available in HD, but I wasn't sure if there are any blackout issues, or anything like that. Thanks.

We had a house on Lake Winnipesaukee from 2000 to 2004 - we had Pegasus/later bought by DirecTV - we had great reception and lots of channels including all the local Boston channels - no HD though (at that time).

The only issues were:

1. The reception would go out for a few seconds sometimes, during heavy overcast or stormy weather

2. There was a perceptable and annoying delay when changing channels

3. Sometimes the program guide didn't work for the local channels.

Since moving to NC 2 years ago we have been enjoying Time Warner Cable with HD and DVR included (albeit at a high price) - great service and never a service outage (most cables are underground here - we never lose power either which we lost a LOT in New England) - but no NFL Network, ESPN2 HD, ESPNU, etc. and no Sunday Ticket option.

 

[Fixit]

...Time Warner Cable...great service and never a service outage (most cables are underground here - we never lose power either which we lost a LOT in New England)...

Same here, only the complete opposite.

 

[patriotspride]

We had a house on Lake Winnipesaukee from 2000 to 2004 - we had Pegasus/later bought by DirecTV - we had great reception and lots of channels including all the local Boston channels - no HD though (at that time).

The only issues were:

1. The reception would go out for a few seconds sometimes, during heavy overcast or stormy weather

2. There was a perceptable and annoying delay when changing channels

3. Sometimes the program guide didn't work for the local channels.

Since moving to NC 2 years ago we have been enjoying Time Warner Cable with HD and DVR included (albeit at a high price) - great service and never a service outage (most cables are underground here - we never lose power either which we lost a LOT in New England) - but no NFL Network, ESPN2 HD, ESPNU, etc. and no Sunday Ticket option.

no more espn classic with comcast either unless you upgrade .

 

[PromisedLand]

no more espn classic with comcast either unless you upgrade .

Really? TWC has that, at least.

 

[PromisedLand]

Same here, only the complete opposite.

lol - I have NO idea what you mean by that!

 

[patriotspride]

Really? TWC has that, at least.

the basic pkg for dish network and direct TV includes NFL network and ESPN classic among others .comcast doesn't include them and there basic pkg costs more.in other words they su-k

 

[godef]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently using Comcast HD programming to watch the Pats on channels cbs, nbc, and fox. We're thinking of switching to Direct TV (due to some issues with comcast and the attractiveness of some of the overall dish packages). However, first priority is watching pats games in HD. Has anyone in the local area had any issues with getting those local channels in HD. According to their website, those channel are all available in HD, but I wasn't sure if there are any blackout issues, or anything like that. Thanks.

I live in Leominster, no problems with local channels. Boston is a major market area, and it comes through satellite, not the airwaves.

 

[JackPMiller]

I'm a Rams fan, that lives just outside of Philly, I got tired of how they treated me when it came to billing. It as terrible. Plus, I love Sunday Ticket. If it were cable, I would normally be able to see at best, two games on tv. With DirecTV I get to see all the Ram games.

 

[patriotspride]

I've done some comparisons between dish network and direct TV. the comparison doesn't include sports packages .for 43 dollars you get 200 channels from dish network and for 53 dollars you get 185 channels from direct TV. the only difference in programing is direct TV has versus dish network doesn't .but if you upgrade to the next dish network package you get 250 channels plus you do get versus for 53 dollars .so for the same price as direct TV dish network gives you 65 more channels and for 43 dollars you get 15 more channels.

 

[SpiderFox53]

I've done some comparisons between dish network and direct TV. the comparison doesn't include sports packages .for 43 dollars you get 200 channels from dish network and for 53 dollars you get 185 channels from direct TV. the only difference in programing is direct TV has versus dish network doesn't .but if you upgrade to the next dish network package you get 250 channels plus you do get versus for 53 dollars .so for the same price as direct TV dish network gives you 65 more channels and for 43 dollars you get 15 more channels.

You can't just compare the number of channels tho. You have to compare the number of channels that they have that you will watch. The price difference is there but it isn't really significant.

I have no idea which one will have more channels you want, but it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

 

[patriotspride]

You can't just compare the number of channels tho. You have to compare the number of channels that they have that you will watch. The price difference is there but it isn't really significant.

I have no idea which one will have more channels you want, but it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

like i said i compared the programming also .the only difference was versus on one package and you can get that channel with a upgrade for the same price as direct tv .

 

[Gator Mike]

"Digital" cable still isn't 100% digital. It's analog on channels under 100.

Absolutely not true in Boston. Comcast in Boston does an all digital simulcast. If you've got digital equipment, even the channels under #100 are of digital quality.

. I currently pay 100 a month with hd and dvr, and only get hbo for premium movie channels with comcast. With directTV, for the same price, I get 250+ stations (all digital, no analog), and 31 premium movie channels (HBO, Starz, Cinemax, & Showtime), HD, and dvr.

I pay roughly $85/month for my Comcast with an HDDVR and a 2nd box. I've got three televisions.

This is my bill:

Standard Cable:$51.25
HDDVR: $13.94
1 Additional Box: $7.50
Digital Plus: $11.95
Total: $84.64

From DirecTV's web site, to get everything I've got now, I'd need:

DirecTV Plus HD: $69.99
Sports Pack: $12.00
Two additional receivers: $9.98

Total: $91.97

Oh, and I get to spend another $199.00 up front to buy the HD DVR.

Adding on HBO would add on another $11 for DirecTV, about $15 for Comcast. DirecTV is still higher. AND there's still no On Demand. AND I like their internet service, so if I switched, I've got to either pay another $15/month for the same service, or switch to DSL.

 

[PatsDparty]

If you read Direct Tv's website you would notice the premier package, which has basically everything but HD for 90 a month. Add all the HD for 10 bucks, and you get the DVR, and it comes to $100. I think you lease the boxes as well, like you do with comcast, rather than pay 200 for it.

Absolutely not true in Boston. Comcast in Boston does an all digital simulcast. If you've got digital equipment, even the channels under #100 are of digital quality.


I pay roughly $85/month for my Comcast with an HDDVR and a 2nd box. I've got three televisions.

This is my bill:

Standard Cable:$51.25
HDDVR: $13.94
1 Additional Box: $7.50
Digital Plus: $11.95
Total: $84.64

From DirecTV's web site, to get everything I've got now, I'd need:

DirecTV Plus HD: $69.99
Sports Pack: $12.00
Two additional receivers: $9.98

Total: $91.97

Oh, and I get to spend another $199.00 up front to buy the HD DVR.

Adding on HBO would add on another $11 for DirecTV, about $15 for Comcast. DirecTV is still higher. AND there's still no On Demand. AND I like their internet service, so if I switched, I've got to either pay another $15/month for the same service, or switch to DSL.

 

[mtbykr]

If you read Direct Tv's website you would notice the premier package, which has basically everything but HD for 90 a month. Add all the HD for 10 bucks, and you get the DVR, and it comes to $100. I think you lease the boxes as well, like you do with comcast, rather than pay 200 for it.

Actually i believe they give you the box if you sign a contract for a year, your not renting it. That's how it is for me, (they gave me all my receivers, including dvr) however i don't have HD yet.

 

[Gator Mike]

If you read Direct Tv's website you would notice the premier package, which has basically everything but HD for 90 a month. Add all the HD for 10 bucks, and you get the DVR, and it comes to $100. I think you lease the boxes as well, like you do with comcast, rather than pay 200 for it.

I looked it up. STraight from DirecTV's web site:

1 DIRECTV® HD DVR: $299.00
Instant Online Rebate: -$100.00
Total Startup Costs: $199.00

PREMIER: $99.99
DIRECTV DVR Service: $0.00
HD Access: $9.99
2 Lease Fee: $9.98
$24/mo. credit for HBO and Cinemax for 3 months: -$24.00
First Month's Total: $95.96
Mail-in Redemption: -$10.00
Final Monthly Total: $85.96

Take away those $34 in temporary credits, and we're up to $119.96

Now, the same thing with Comcast from THEIR web site:

Digtal Starter: $55.24
HD DVR Service Fee: $9.95
Digital Premier Pack with Sports and Entertainment Pack: $54.24
Additional Digital Outlet: $7.50
Total: $126.94

Only I'd get OnDemand, and you wouldn't. Factor in the $15 I'd save on my internet by having cable, and I come out ahead.