Is satellite TV as good as cable?

[jackaniston82]

Can I use just one dish for the whole house? Is satellite TV as good as cable?

 

[Tampa8]

One dish, yes.

Better? Depends on what your cable offers and what you are looking for. In general Satellite is less expensive, but not in every case. In general, I find Satellite still has a better picture than cable, but not in every case. Satellite my have a brief signal loss during bad storms, but are very short in duration. Cable in my area still goes out much more often, and for longer durations. (Car/pole accidents, transformers blowing up, etc....) With Dish I get channels not available on Cable. (Distants, Super Channels, National PBS....)

You cannot get a truly informative answer without sitting down and deciding what you want, then what your cable offers and compare that to Dish or Direct.

 

[navychop]

In my experience, satellite is better. When I had cable, they had constant signal problems. Always "rebalancing." And outages. I have very few with Dish, and when they occur it's usually only for a few seconds.

Your experience could vary. Find a neighbor with a dish and see if he is complaining about weather outages.

The very best DVR series on the market, IMHO, is the Echostar/Dish ViP series. And they (currently) only work with Dish satellite services.

 

[jayn_j]

Well, for an opposing viewpoint, my cable has been flawless with no outages in the last year.

DISH has more HD, but Comcast has HD channels that DISH doesn't offer as well. Depends on what is important to you.

Cable has true Video on Demand with a large selection, including a lot of free stuff. Satellite relies on DVR technology and guesses what you might watch with a small selection.

Cable is generally more expensive. Dish is generally more complicated for the consumer.

Dish has distants. Cable has more locals including more local HD.

As Tampa said, you need to do an analysis on what is important to you, and what it is worth.

 

[Sadoun]

Is satellite TV as good as cable?

It is actually better. Cheaper, more channels, and better picture quality.

Don't listen to the hype CATV companies give you and the bad info they tell you about satellite.

One dish can take care of your house.

If you go with DirecTV you will receiver the AU9 SlimLine dish. It receives signal from 5 satellites and distributes the signal through one cable to a SWM splitter and then to up to 8 receivers.

If you go with Dish Network, you will get the Dish 1000+. It receives signal from 4 satellites and distributes the signal through a DPP44 switch to up to 4 receiver.

 

[TNGTony]

Which is better is 100% subjective. It depends on what you are looking for and what your local cable company offers.

See ya
Tony

 

[Ira Lacher]

I've found that cable vs. satellite depends on your cable provider.

Comcast is doing good things with their programming choices, but it depends on the market. Other large cable providers have also responded to the satellite competition.

Then there is Des Moines, with Medicom.

When you compare picture quality, programming choices and price, satellite -- either provider -- wins hands down. No comparison. But that is what happens when you live in a backwater market.

DISH and DirecTV offer the same products and services everywhere, so it doesn't matter where you live: If you can receive the satellite transmission, you'll get full access. Unlike cable, where each market is wired differently and each has different levels of service based on the company's profit model.

Decide what you want in TV programming and technology. Then compare, compare, compare.

 

[bhelms]

For the record, the Dish DPP44 switches can be "stacked" to allow more than 4 receivers, which is the limit with only 1 switch. I believe you can have a total of 3 switches in a system for a total limit of 12 receivers.

One advantage (more or less) of cable is the typical "triple play" capabilities (TV, phone, internet) that you can't get with a DBS provider alone. Dish partners with Wild Blue to offer a close variation, but that requires an additional 2-way dish for the internet. The multi-service cost is generally higher going this way vs. cable.

Look at all your media/communication requirements in order to make your decision, and then (as the Templar Knight said)..."You must choose wisely."...

 

[jackaniston82]

Thanks for sharing your experience and information. So, now can I switch to Dish Network services from Direct TV?

 

[KAB]

Thanks for sharing your experience and information. So, now can I switch to Dish Network services from Direct TV?

Are you in a commitment with Direct? Will cost you if you are.

 

[JAG72]

Thanks for sharing your experience and information. So, now can I switch to Dish Network services from Direct TV?

You would need all new equipment and a new dish installed. Also as already mentioned if you are in a commitment with the provider it will cost you unless you stay for the 2 years of the commitment.

 

[MikeD-C05]

With DISH I have always had cutting edge technology. Ten years ago I had my first dvr ; the dishplayer/webtv 7100/7200 models. Now it worked great till DISH and Microsoft the partner who helped create it , went to fighting . Then I had the 501 dvrs all the way to what I have today the 722k. I can record 4 shows at one time using 2 sat tuners and 2 ota tuners. I can archive my shows to an external hard drive and create video library if I wanted to. I am looking forward to the 922 when it comes out with internet access to certain websites and sling media built in . Looks like we came full circle with this receiver and internet access. But I am looking at the prospects of iptv applications like Hula over my 922 receiver some day.

Either way I feel like DISH satellite has the best cutting edge technology and I have been with them going on 13 years come January. There have been some problems like lost signals during extreme rains but it is minor in comparison to my local cable company . It was almost two months after Hurricane Rita hit in 2005 before TImeWarner Cable had everyone back up and going with their cable system. They even abandoned certain country areas because it wasn't worth the money to them to reinstall the cable. It was 20 minutes after the lights came back up and I reinstalled my sat dish on the pole before I had my satellite back up and running. My sister waited a month for TWC across the street. She would come and watch my tv but insisted that cable is better. My bill is much lower than hers and I can watch tv on all 4 of my tvs using my 722k and my son on his 211k; with external hard drive turning it into a single tuner dvr. I watched the digital cable channels on Twc at the car dealership the other day and the picture froze every 10 seconds and the sound kept going. Pic quality was okay , when it worked. I would never go back to cable unless I had no choice.

 

[navychop]

With my ViP722 I can record 2 programs off the satellites, one OTA and watch another from the DVR, all while also transferring programs from my DVR to the External Hard Drive. I've done it. It's impressive.

WAY more impressive than anything I've ever seen on cable.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I did this the other day just to test it. I recorded 4 shows ( 2ota/2sat)at the same time, I transfered three movies to my external hard drive , I also downloaded on dishonline the free tv entertainment all while watching a show on my dvr internal hard drive. WOW ! I don't think anyone can top that one in cable.

 

[TNGTony]

ROFL!!! Your 722 must have been winded after all that! I can just see it huffing and puffing after that work-out! Maybe you could have cooked a small meal with the heat given off the processor!

See ya
Tony

 

[MikeD-C05]

ROFL!!! Your 722 must have been winded after all that! I can just see it huffing and puffing after that work-out! Maybe you could have cooked a small meal with the heat given off the processor!

See ya
Tony

Oh I forgot to add that I had my wife watching something else recorded in the bedroom on tv 2 in dual mode. I'll have to see if I can fry an egg on the top of the 722k next time to see how much heat is produced .

 

[yaz96]

Are bananas better than apples?

 

[jackaniston82]

You would need all new equipment and a new dish installed. Also as already mentioned if you are in a commitment with the provider it will cost you unless you stay for the 2 years of the commitment.

Please let me know, Can I get DISH Network if I rent?

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF you have permission from your land lord to install a sat dish and you get him to sign an agreement saying so , I think DISH will install it . You need to talk to DISH about this and let them explain it all.

 

[digiblur]

Satellite TV is definitely better when the cable TV line that feeds your neighborhood is laying in the street for a week.