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Poll: Hi-def Satelitte Or Cable?

1191 Views 17 Replies 14 Participants Last post by ericdECT, May 24, 2006

robbob59

Discussion Starter · May 14, 2006

Was hoping to make the jump up from SDTV to Hi-Def DISH TV or DIRECT TV this month and wouldnt ya know it....with the Spring Growth Spurt, my neighbor's Trees have blocked out my signal. Never in 10 years has it been a problem. I CAN move the dish....put one on a Pole mount elsewhere in the yard...but's its just not as advantageous as current install location. On a whim I contacted CHARTER CABLE and for $10 cheaper a month I can get BASIC and MANY MOVIE channels with 2 or 3 (HBO-SHOWTIME-CINEMAX) in Hi-Def PLUS Locals (except ABC?) in Hi-Def. No out of pocket upfront cost like there would be with DIRECT HD RECIEVER.

***QUESTION***...am I gonna tell a BIG difference w/my Sharp DLP Projector whether its HD SATELLITE or HD CABLE? As big a difference 'tween SDTV and HDTV Picture Quality? Curious minds wanna know? I checked AVS SAT Forum but didnt find any individual threads for this issue. I was hopin to hear from Front Projector owner's perspective as well!

Let me hear from yoose folks

ROBBOB

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1 - 18 of 18 Posts

JET99

· #2 · May 14, 2006

SD to HD picture quality is a huge difference - no matter what the source

The satellites (sad to say) are increasingly moving to dumbed down (HD-Lite) signals meaning that CABLE HD systems (such as COMCAST HD in most locales) is going to look alot better in the long run

Not sure about Charter HD channels, but its worth trying cable first, as cable does not face the same capacity restraints innate to Satellite

Plus the cable companies sometimes have very good HI DEF DVRs - which are very ineexpensive to utilize

HBO, SHOW, CINIMAX can look great in HD

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mnn1265

· #3 · May 14, 2006

Well, my experience was a bit different. Check the prices on the cable package, usually they offer a few months at low prices and then they charge you an arm and a leg after that. I recently switched from Warner Cable to Dish network because I get slightly more channels (including everything I got from cable) with Dish for a whopping $50 less per month. Cable prices are crazy.

Also, with Dish network I get all the old Voom HD channels. HD looks just as good with Dish as they did with Warner Cable and I get a lot more of them. Also, I get more digital SD channels than I did with cable - many of which are analog.

I got the VIP622 HD DVR from Dish and I think it looks great, just as good as the HD DVR I had with cable. It did require a $250 up front payment to get though.

The only thing I don't get with Dish that I liked with cable is on demand programming. It's certainly not worth the extra $50 a month though.

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scooterboy

· #4 · May 14, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn1265
Well, my experience was a bit different. Check the prices on the cable package, usually they offer a few months at low prices and then they charge you an arm and a leg after that. I recently switched from Warner Cable to Dish network because I get slightly more channels (including everything I got from cable) with Dish for a whopping $50 less per month. Cable prices are crazy.

Also, with Dish network I get all the old Voom HD channels. HD looks just as good with Dish as they did with Warner Cable and I get a lot more of them. Also, I get more digital SD channels than I did with cable - many of which are analog.

I got the VIP622 HD DVR from Dish and I think it looks great, just as good as the HD DVR I had with cable. It did require a $250 up front payment to get though.

The only thing I don't get with Dish that I liked with cable is on demand programming. It's certainly not worth the extra $50 a month though.

So how much is Dish, and do they supply the major networks in HD or do you have to get an antenna for those?

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chipvideo

· #5 · May 14, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnn1265
Well, my experience was a bit different. Check the prices on the cable package, usually they offer a few months at low prices and then they charge you an arm and a leg after that. I recently switched from Warner Cable to Dish network because I get slightly more channels (including everything I got from cable) with Dish for a whopping $50 less per month. Cable prices are crazy.

Also, with Dish network I get all the old Voom HD channels. HD looks just as good with Dish as they did with Warner Cable and I get a lot more of them. Also, I get more digital SD channels than I did with cable - many of which are analog.

I got the VIP622 HD DVR from Dish and I think it looks great, just as good as the HD DVR I had with cable. It did require a $250 up front payment to get though.

The only thing I don't get with Dish that I liked with cable is on demand programming. It's certainly not worth the extra $50 a month though.

Do you actually watch all those extra channels. More is not always better.

I had dish and dropped them when I got an offer with comcast. Picture quality with comcast has been way better on all channels. The bigger your screen the more you will notice the flaws with sat quality. ALso wasn't going to pony up a big one time fee for each dvr as well.

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broadwayblue

· #6 · May 14, 2006

the other thing to consider is which channels are available on each system. for me (as a huge Rangers fan) i wouldn't think about going with satellite because MSG-HD is only available on cable.

Jed M

· #7 · May 14, 2006

Or as an out of market NFL fan, you have to have directv.

I would say one of the major knocks on cable is that the most popular networks (ESPN, MTV, Nick, CNN, Foxnews, History, TLC, etc) are still analog since they are included in the basic cable package. Personally I think my parent's time warner cable looks better for the tier 2 channels like ESPNEWS or VH1 Classic but look pretty crappy on the regular tier 1 channels compared with them being all digital on satellite.

broadwayblue

· #8 · May 14, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jed M
Or as an out of market NFL fan, you have to have directv.

Very good point! As a Skins fan living in NYC I cringe every time the NFL re-ups with Directv. At least I get to watch them in primetime or vs. the Giants about every 3rd week...but it does suck that I can't get Sunday Ticket through cable. No system is perfect.

mnn1265

· #9 · May 14, 2006

I have a 106" screen with a Sony HS20 and I find the picture quality of HD to be very good from Dish. I certainly havenâ€™t noticed any reduction in HD picture quality. In my opinion reduced PQ with Dish is not an issue. The up-front cost of the HD PVR may be though for some. Still, the $50 per month savings makes up for it quickly.

Picture quality on all channels is not "way better" with cable. That's just rubbish. The digital SD channels from Dish are clearly superior to the cable analog channels. The rest I see little or no difference.

Do I watch all the channels? No, but like I said you get everything with Dish that cable offered for much less money. More is not always better but more for less is better.

If you want NFL Ticket you have to go with DirectTV, to be sure. Fortunately I live in the market that shows my favorite team and I don't miss NFL Ticket. Also with Dish my wife can order MLB, NBA and hockey games. I guess it depends on what sports you like to watch.

Also, don't forget Dish has all the Voom HD channels and many more than my cable company had available. Sure, some of the Voom channels are crappy but some I do watch regularly. It's a nice bonus.

Anyway, I'm not a fanboy of any of them. The only reason I'm currently with Dish is the cost. I actually called Warner cable and told them I'd stay with them if they could make their service more competitive with Dish. They gave me a sob story about how expensive it is to run a cable company compared to satellite. I told them I wanted to keep my cable Internet access but no thanks for cable TV at $50 more per month for the same programming that Dish offered.

I think cable companies are going to have a real problem staying in business with such high prices.

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mbitigger

· #10 · May 15, 2006

I dropped my cable company recently as well. Several of my friends have dropped cable in the last year or two. Unless they start becoming more competitive with DSL and Satellite, they are going to continue to lose subscribers over time.

mrlittlejeans

· #11 · May 15, 2006

I guess it depends where you live. I had an HD box with Directv and DSL internet service. I switched to Time Warner cable and got more HD channels (including the locals, no need for that extra antenna anymore) and an HD DVR. I also switched to cable broadband. My combined Directv (without a DVR) and DSL bill was over $200/month before. I now get three times the upload speed and twice the download speed, no dropped signals on either TV or internet, and more HD channels, plus a DVR, for around $150/month.

I'm very pleased with the cable combo and would not even consider going back to Directv.

Peterlubit

· #12 · May 23, 2006

With cable (Charter), I have to pay only $3 for HD service. Do any of you know what is the minimum requirement for Dish network? It seems that I have to sign up for $49 HD package. If I drop the package, there is $6 HD enabling fee, but no one seems to know if that will allow me to watch any HD programs.

Hyper_Eye

· #13 · May 23, 2006

C/KU-band

Go with the BUD

SixKindsOfWonder

· #14 · May 23, 2006

I have the most basic cable offering. Since it is bundled with my internet, it only costs me 3 dollars. I purchased an LG Upconverting DVD player for 200 dollars and it has a built in QAM tuner.

I get all the "free" HD channels in my area plus a bunch of other channels I never watch. Actually, I only watch TV for two reasons: Sports and boredom. I inquired with Comcast as to how much I would have to spend to get the other 4 or 5 HD channels. They said that it would be something like 60 dollars! No thanks, I figure 3 bucks a month is plenty to spend.

kaosfm

· #15 · May 23, 2006

I am a big fan of the HDTV service that Charter provides. I spend an extra $18 a month for the service and that includes the rental of their DVR box that records in HD. That extra $18 a month also gets me:

HDNET

HDMOVIE

Fox Sports HD

ESPN HD

Discovery HD

TNT HD

Universal HD

HBO HD

Showtime HD

Cinemax HD

ABC HD

CBS HD

NBC HD

FOX HD

KCET HD

WB HD

The added bonus is the scaling features built into the cable box. It can up-convert all material to 1080i or 720P, just pass the signal through, or convert 480i to 480P, etc...

The total cable bill isn't necessarily cheap, but I think it's worth every penny. The free On Demand services alone provide a value that Dish just can't offer.

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mnn1265

· #16 · May 24, 2006

I agree I liked the on-demand feature from cable, but of course on-demand is SD (the on-demand HD programing is pay per view). The Dish Network offers quite a few more HD channels than cable (including old Voom channels) for a lot less money. I guess it depends how much the on-demand feature means to you.

I still have cable modem Internet access so that didn't change.

I was paying about $150/month for cable TV (including HD package, HBO, Showtime) with the digital station package from Warner Cable. That did not include my Internet access. My bill is now $100/month with Dish Network and I get pretty much the same SD channels with the same HBO/SHOW package. I lost on-demand but gained quite a few HD channels. With both cable and Dish I like the HD DVR's. For me it was an easy choice.

JET99

· #17 · May 24, 2006

Satellites broadcasters have innate upside bandwidth limitations, (chief of which is a limited number of parking slots for their birds) vs terrestrial based systems such as cable and fiber, so the situation with HD LITE is only going to get worse

In a world of nearly unlimited demand on bandwidth, the Satellites cannot win - so for now they are buying time by trading off HD quality to get increased channels, and hoping few consumers will notice

ericdECT

· #18 · May 24, 2006

I find about 90% of the channels offered on my Dish Network is just pointless. Most of the HD channels offer shows I will never watch. The only reason I would turn it on would be for illustration, not entertainment.

Even with HD HBO and Showtime, they rairely (sp?) show anything worth watching. Perhaps every few weeks there will be one movie worth watching on the HD channels.

The only perk this system has, is it can operate even after major power losses. I simply kick on my generator and still get entertainment. It worked well after the hurricanes last year. My local comcast does not power their stations with back-up generators so I loose my enternet and telephone (VOIP).

Still even with this, I am still going to make a switch very soon, I am just waiting for my contract to expire.

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