We are considering switching from Direct TV to digital Comcast cable. We have had satellite TV since the mid-late 90’s. Some people I talk to say switching from satellite to cable is craziness, but have not given me any good reasons why not to do this. I am not the avid TV watcher in this household (the SO is), but before we do this I’d like any feedback the TM might have. We have HD and a TiVO. Some of the info below is what salesmen have told us about Comcast service; other info is from the Comcast website. We currently have Comcast cable internet and basic cable.
Why we want to ditch satellite:
Our signal cuts out when it rains/snows/is cloudy. I know many satellite fans say this is not an issue for them; it is a MAJOR one for us. We have had techs out to look at the problem to no avail. It sucks.
No affordable HD (TiVO) recorder for satellite. It runs about $900, that’s not an option right now. Comcast’s DVR records in HD.
Comcast offers “On Demand” viewing; satellite does not.
We could ditch our landline. Our TiVo does not have operational USB ports so we cannot download the listings via cable. If we had cable, we could do away with our phone and save $32 a month. We could buy a newer TiVo if we decided to stay with satellite, but again, we’d probably want one that could record in HD and that is a lot of money.
Our HD receiver hums badly. Again could buy a new one.
Comcast offers all its components in one box - DVR, HD receiver, cable box. Currently we have separate components (HD receiver, TiVO) for this, that takes up space.
Satellite TV is costing us $110 a month. Granted, we have movie channels we never, ever watch. We could drop them or switch to cable and not order them. My SO thinks cable (sans some movie channels) will be cheaper.
So, can anyone give any insight or good reasons to not switch to cable?
I’ve read that all HD is not created equal. There are even ratings out there on the qualities of the providers. Cable HD providers seem to be rated as poor in picture quality.
Check out the cable companies DVR features. I’ve heard certain cable companies have a built in feature that does not allow you to skip commercials with the jump button. You can fast forward through them (which is a pain) but no more of that 30 second jumping. Some kind of deal they set up with the networks.
Thanks for the insight. Would you happen to know a site rating the picture quality? As it is now our TiVo does not do the 30 second jump (I tried programming it, it didn’t do it). Again this may be because our TiVo is so old.
I have Comcast digital cable and the DVR. It’s true that you can’t hit a jump button to forward through commercials, but on the fastest fast forward, it usually takes less than 10 seconds to get through a whole commercial break. Otherwise, I really like the DVR, although I’ve never had TiVo. The capacity isn’t as large as the largest-capacity TiVos available, I think it’s 40 hours of digital programming, 30 of analog, and up to 20 hours of HD, or something like that.
I’ve found the HD content to be good quality. It really depends on the individual channel. The network HD programming, Discovery HD theater, and the INHD channels are all excellent.
I wouldn’t switch based on OnDemand alone. The available content isn’t very compelling, IMO.
In my area (suburban Chicago), Comcast service is pretty reliable. It seldom goes down altogether, a few channels get lousy reception, but mostly it’s good. Their customer service people have always been knowledgable, polite and helpful, even if you have to wait a while to get on the line with them.
I’m moving in about a month, and have been investigating cable vs satellite, and will wind up with cable. The HD/DVR issue is the primary one for me. We have an HDTV, and love our current setup with the cable company’s DVR, but would have to pay big bucks up front to get DirecTV equipment that could do it. The cable company does it for one low monthly fee. Also, we would need receivers in every room, instead of just taking the raw cable feed for our bedroom TVs. More boxes, more remotes, who needs it?
We did not find that cable was less expensive, monthly, but the DirecTV savings just didn’t make up for the lack of features.
If you end up getting the Motorola 6412 (which seems to be Comcast’s standard DVR for HD setups) you can program a 30 second skip following these instructions .
Here’s a stupid thought…what about switching to DISHNetwork?
It’s the “other” sattlelite tv company, and if you’re a new customer, they can throw in all sorts of spiffs that DirecTV just won’t give you as an existing customer (no dig on DirecTV there, DISHNetwork hoses its existing customers int he same way).
We don’t have the HD option, but our bill is much much less than comparable cable bills, and it includes the DVR rental fee, the DVR service, and their basic programming package. It’s 41 dollars a month. Try getting that from a cable provider for more than a few month promotional deal.
Also, I have seen 2 cases here where, with Comcast, if you get the digital cable with HD, your standard pictures look like complete crap. It’s anecdotal, I know, but these are the only 2 people I know with digital cable and HD from comcast, and it’s their experience.
Check out thier deals before you make decisions. Heck, their sattelites might even be better.
I just switched from DirecTV after about 6 years to the local cable company. I couldn’t be happier. For about 5 dollars more, I’m getting DVR, equal quality picture, on-demand (which is far more fun that I imagined), HBO, Encore, and Showtime channels. It’s made television much more enjoyable for me, and is definately worth the little bit extra I’m paying. Of course, YMMV
This is just one story, but I didn’t particularly care for Comcast. They are very overpriced. For the same amount of money you can get a lot more channels with some other provider. You are much less likely to have signal problems with cable than dish, but if you do have a problem, Comcast is VERY slow to respond. Generally, their customer service sucks.
The last time I dealt with them was about 10 years ago before I moved to PA, so hopefully their service has improved in the last decade. Also, this was in the Baltimore area, in other areas they may not be quite so crappy. The usual YMMV disclaimers and such apply.
We have had Comcast for our high-speed internet for years, plus we have always had basic cable through them, and only once has service been what I would consider slow. We had an internet problem just last week (intermittant signal that kept dropping, seems our old shark fin modem needed replacing) and the tech was out the very next day.
I am happy to hear the positive cable experiences. For some reason people I talk to think satellite is so much better than cable - I’m starting to think it is grass is greener thing. Satellite hasn’t been ‘all that’ for us - it is expensive, it is the same old movies over and over and over, and the biggie - signal drop.
You didn’t say if you have one-way or two-way satellite, but if you have the one-way version, your Internet connection ties up a phone line for the upload data. A cable connection would avoid that, and the upload speed would be much faster.
Also, the channel selections on cable might include a local community access channel or several. No satellite system has those. If you want to watch local government or school activities, it might be a plus. Or it might not be of interest at all.