Comcast, Directv, or Dish Network??

[borovy3488]

I'm hoping someone here can give me some advise. I live in Murfreesboro, TN (close to Nashville) and have 3 alternative ways to receive tv. I have just purchased an HDTV and want to utilize it to it's capacity. Which service would you select and why? I would like to have either a DVR or something like Comcast's On Demand. I've heard good and bad about Directv, but seems like I never hear anything about Dish. Please help.

~Wayne

[SunnyRabbiera]

all have their ups and downs.
Satellite is a good option however it really depends on where you live, you have to maintain the service on your own for the most part.
Comcast is also fair, you get somewhat decent tech support and on demand is its best feature... but comcast has a habit of hiking its rates up

[toupeiro]

I am currently reviewing the cable v/s satellite options right now, and hope to make a decision by the end of March. I am currently a Brighthouse (Time Warner) cable subscriber (no comcast here), but right now I am really seriously considering Dish network for a few reasons:

1) I have the Hi def DVR box and cable package, and quite frankly, Brighthouse/Time Warner's DVR hi def box is horrible. Its horribly laggy, with I'd say less than a 70% successful record rate and about an 80% successful play rate on first attempt (and I've been through 3 boxes).

2) I am not impressed with Brighthouse/Time Warners customer service. It took me 3 months one time to get them out to repair a messed up cable switch on my street, I had to threaten to close my account that day if they did not have someone out to look it.

3) Their overall options for recording conflicts are less than impressive. If I have a series scheduled to record, and I want to record another show that comes on the same time. If I tell it to record my one time show, it will erase the scheduling of the WHOLE series, not just that one night.

One thing I learned about Dish in particular is that they develop both their own software and hardware as opposed to Cable and DirectTV which rely on third party development that they policy down so you only get the features they want you to have. Dishes equipment and software it is VERY good stuff. I like the fact that one Hi-def DVR box can control 2 TV's independently. I like the fact that the DVR boxes from Dish can hook into your home network and your programs can be copied to a PC in readable formats with no box hacking required. Not to mention, the guides, options and response time for actions with Dishes box cannot be matched by any other providor except maybe Tivo which is not a providor but a supplementary service. For the combination of service, functionality and control, nothing beats Dish right now IMO. Dish will even come into my house and recable every room with the latest grade co-axial as part of their paid installation. (50 dollars)

I don't really have many bad things to say about Direct-TV. They have some pretty cool comparable channel packages (within a few dollars difference of Dish), but their hardware offerings and DVR control just isn't as good as Dishes right now from my research at least.

Of course, there are the universal satellite downfalls:

1) contracts. (Cable providors here are month to month with no lock-in)
2) YOU own the equipment .. therefore if it breaks, you are buying a new unit, you can't just trade it in.
3) If you live in a place thats badly overcast and rainy ALL the time, and you have the option of cable, you are better off going cable from a disruption of service standpoint.

On demand is what I would hate losing the most with Direct TV. Dish, however has on-demand! My fiance and I enjoy watching on demand movies as an alternative to theaters sometimes. (Having the Klipsche home theater system helps ;-) )I will probably go Dish, and stay on cable for internet until Verizon gets their butts in gear and puts in FIOS infrastructure here. They've already done it in the LA / orange county area in California.