What is up with cable vs. Satellite!?!?!?

[LA_MERC_MaggotPulse]

Jesus!!!! Every day now for the past 6 months I have worked for Charter cable....And every day I have to listen to a slew of advertisments (sp?) about how "terrible" satelite is....and then I go home and have to hear and see the relentless bashing of each other on radio and tv.....They both have thier own weak points.....I remember back when my parents first got cable.....IT WAS COMMERCIAL FREE!!!!!!.....Now I pay $60 a month for cable to see them duke it out like a couple of 5 year old children.

Charter ----> :fight <----- Satelite

Ok...there is my rant for today...lol

[LA_MERC_Dragonlady[s]]

I don't know but they both are crappy at times.........

[LA_MERC_MadMAX]

Satellite has better picture (especially high def) as it's HD signals average 14-16 Mbps whereas cable averages about 6 Mbps. OTA is still the best for HD though at a full 22-25 Mbps. Even Non-HD stuff is still always full digital (480i - same as a DVD) on Satellite whereas Cable only has a true digital signal on the "Digital Channels" - so even if you have Digital Cable, your "Basic" channels are still analog, which is usually around 320i but can top out at 480i - usually lower channels have the best signal on the basic range.

I think on average Cable has better reliability, however that can depend on your area and cable company as well. I had often heard how crappy Sat. was w/ signals blacking out during storms, etc., but I've had DirecTV since Feb (no cable in my area) and I have only had it go out ONCE and it was a TERRIBLE storm, and even then only lasted about a minute tops.

Companies are ALWAYS going to duke it out on TV though dude, you can't get away from that:

Burger King vs. McDonalds
Coke vs. Pepsi
Chevy vs. Ford
PC vs. Mac
Alltel vs. Sprint, Verison, T-Mobile
Geiko vs. Progressive

It's always going to happen. Is one better than the other, yes, for some people, and for other people the reverse is true.

[LA_MERC_Dragonlady[s]]

The best Cable we ever had was Cable One on the coast. This crap we have now stinks at times. The thing I don't like about Satellite is when the big clouds and rain comes, so long Satellite it goes black! So each one has there pro's and con's about it.

People are always going to witch about something no matter what it is.. Thats how we people are.......

[waltersw15]

It's just too bad we can't get best of both worlds. When I had satellite, it was because the local cable company didn't have any Spanish channels (which of course my wife watches the most). But the bad part was that if you wanted to watch TV in multiple rooms, you had to buy and pay a monthly fee for each receiver for each room. That sucked.

So when the local phone company hooked up a fiber optic network, and offered phone/tv/internet bundle we took that offer because they at least had a Spanish channel. However, now my wife has been upset because by the time we left satellite, they had added about 5 other Spanish channels. Now we are back to one on cable.

The benefit to cable though is that I don't need a box for each of my tv's, and I can use my video capture card on my computer to act as my TIVO (without the monthly fee).

To me, the best option would be where satellite would provide a central decoder in your house where you could watch tv without a box on every tv.

[LA_MERC_Drax]

My parents have direct tv at their house, and the only storm that knocked it out for a few minutes was hurricane katrina (besides the power outages that followed). If you get the dish pointed right, then it takes a mother of a storm to knock it out. Other than that, i think they pay 99 a month for 5 recievers with a crapload of channels. What they do is use 3 recievers themselves, and rent the other 2 to a friend who pays them 25 bucks per reciever. While it does kinda suck havin to have that box on the tv, inorder to get digital cable channels on a tv you have to have their box. If bellsouth would hop up their dsl(hint hint dirge and diesel), you can bundle direct tv and dsl together and end up with a decent value, althought it requires you to have a house line, which i have no need for.

Out there in prarieville, you have eatel fiber optic, i wouldn't stray away from that.

[LA_MERC_Shadow]

I though bellsouth was bundling direct tv and dsl together. I dunno tho, I have no choice as I am still not a homeowner. I have charter and have had more problems with them than any other cable company I've ever dealt with. I switched to dsl b/c of the problems with the charter.

[Ab1dab1]

Using DSL here as well....Bellsouth 6mb baby!!!

Hey Diesel when are we getting 12mb?????

Abi

[LA_MERC_MaggotPulse]

I work for charter cable as an installer......HELL, I have 6 meg DSL and it's more reliable that my old 5 meg service with Charter.....It's kinda lame that thier own emplyees are switching to DSL.

[LA_MERC_DocSparky]

;204268']It's kinda lame that thier own emplyees are switching to DSL.
Man!! No kidding. So I guess in meetings at work when they ask if anyone is having problems with their connection, does anyone say "not now since I switched to DSL."? This makes me thankful that I have Cox (never thought I'd say those words).

Here is what I've been getting with my $40 cox account:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/151779698.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

With regard to the video service, I can't really say much. I only have the low end package and only my Media Center computer is connected to it. I record everything on that one machine (which is connected to a 32" tv in the living room) and then distribute it throughout the house to my media extender & other computers. To me, that is the future. Having a media server that records 2 or 3 things at a time (SD and HD), removes commercials and then makes it available anywhere in the house (or remotely aka slingbox).

Isn't the new AT&T video service suppose to be IPTV?

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

Chris your sub should be one of the first, ask Dirge...he is now the man when it comes to uverse... :) actually 12MB seems to be on the way out...died before it started, as everyone is working for 24MB, I really think 8 will be out soon in the AT&T world. For the most part anything over 6 is not utilized very well since most sites can not handle them. U-verse is a coming to the southeast and will do well, as it has in the other AT&T areas.

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

Hummm... makes me scratch my head... It was better than that...
but now I have a new neighbor next to me that uses basic cable.
I was the only one on the line from the highway.

Starting to wonder if I know anyone with Time Warner Cable that might can help a brother out a little.
BTW... Cable is the only hight speed option I have, DSL is not in the area, and thats about it.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/180655213.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[LA_MERC_MaggotPulse]

http://www.speedtest.net/result/180852544.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

Dude... I like your upload speed... thats good to have if your running an FTP server, or a website.

[Ab1dab1]

Since we are talking cable.....

Any good recommendations on Signal Amplifiers for regular Analog/Digital cable signal? I know my problem is that I have too many damn splitters in my house, so I need to boost the signal.

I was thinking about getting an 8-way splitter and putting the booster in front of it.

Any recs from the cable gods?

Abi

[LA_MERC_YellowDog]

I dont have any recommendations, but that seems like a good Idea?

[LA_MERC_M@lACHi]

Timewarner sux balls. It is a shame they are the only ones here. And I cannot have satellite due to the neighbors trees or I would have dumped timewarner and with with satellite and dsl.

[LA_MERC_Shadow]

I was wondering if yall know the approximate cost to set up direct tv or satellite? I just signed a contract for my first house and am looking at getting rid of the charter cable. I'll do it after I can afford more than just bologna sandwiches to eat.

[Ab1dab1]

Shadow,

Satellite rates are close to a lot of the cable packages. Keep in mind though that with Satellite you sign a contract for a set amount of time. Also with satellite you'll need a box for each TV. If you opt to drop service, you have to pay a cancellation fee. With cable, if you want out you drop off their boxes (if you had any) and tell them to stuff their service and there is no fee.

Abi

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

Go DirecTV, you will be able to get discounts with your AT&T DSL and phone. Also DirecTV is launching about 10 more HD channels this month. I just upgraded my dish and receiver and get local HD through the satellite now. Everyone hang tight... U-Verse is coming. https://uma.att.com/assets/files/tours_demos/shell.html