Whats up everyone. I am in wisconsin and currently have HD service through TWC. To sum it up, we aren't too happy with their service. It's the only cable service around here, so thats why we have it. We have 2 hdtv's and 3 regular tv's in the house.
We pay around $200 for road runner and TWC w/ hd and HBO. So, basically we are not getting that great of a deal.
I heard about directv getting some new HD channels soon and most packages are much cheaper than TWC.
Well, i am new at satellite tv service so, i have a few questions.
Might be a myth but, in a storm, does the picture go out? How often does it happen?
How is the picture quality compared to cable?
How does it work if you need to get the off-air local hd channels?
I just would like a comparison of twc to directv?

Thanks for ur help

Mholtz2323@yahoo.com

Mike

I would go with dish network since they currently have more hd programming and then re-evaluate the situation after directv gets all of their new satellites up and running. you could be looking at a year or two before they actually get new channels up. I switched from directv to dish about a year ago and havent looked back. satellite does have issues with bad weather but unlike cable when the weather moves along it is back on whereas with cable if their is a problem you wait until they can get to the problem. mine goes out maybe 3 times a year. all of the hd receivers have ota capability.

In what market do you live? Is Verizon your local telecom provider?

Hi Mike,
Since you are in Wisconsin, I'd recommend going here with your question:
http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/

It will give you more of a local perspective.

That said, I converted from TW to D* about four years ago. I live in the Milwaukee area.

I get occasional rain fade - it has to be raining quite hard for me to lose a signal. Even then, the fade doesn't last long. Overall, D* has been more reliable for me than Time Warner ever was - there were times I'd lose cable for 12-plus hours for whatever reasons.

Picture quality - SD picture quality is better for me, and the HD picture quality is comparable (other opinions may differ, I'm just telling you what I see.)

I get off-the-air channels. The new receivers (H20) and DVRs (HR20) have antenna inputs. Depending on your location, you may be able to get OTA signals with a set-top antenna. Also, depending on where you live, you may get some of the local HD channels via D*. In Milwaukee, we can get the HD versions of 4, 6 and 12 from D* at this time.

Hope this helps.

Here's the link to the local HD topic listings. Look near the bottom for the Wisconsen section, and you'll see the links to the local TV markets.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=453241