DirecTV vs. Charter (or any cable)

[jared52 4,354]

I am currently a Charter subscriber in North Alabama and I have been leaning towards getting DirectTV. I guess the biggest thing is I really want to get ESPNU. Can you guys who get DirecTV share your likes and dislikes, especially those who switched from a cable service.

[BamaGrad03 0]

I cant speak for people who currently have the dish...but i know two people who switched from directv to charter.

Charter's broadband kicks monster ass..

[Tigermike 3,055]

Any satellite dish will have weather related problems.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

We've had DirecTV now for about 8 months. I wouldn't go back to cable for all the tea in China. I got more channels. More channels I actually wanted. Better sound. Better picture quality. Better pricing.

In those 8 months we've been through electrical storms, snow, high winds, freezing rain. Only once has the satellite gone out...for about 5 minutes. Two or three other times, it "hiccupped" for a second or two and then was fine.

Now, I had standard cable before. Digital cable I'm sure would have the better quality and sound and of course more channels. Then again, it would also be significantly more expensive, at least in my area. Just to get into digital cable with no movie or other premium channels, I'd be paying about $15-20 more a month than I am with Direct TV.

My brother will also vouch for DirecTV service. He's had it for a couple of years now and loves it also.

And get it with Tivo. Best. Invention. Ever.

[AURainman 6]

We've got Dish Network, because the Cable rates are OUTRAGEOUS up here in KY. I wouldn't trade it for all the cable in the world. It works through most storms (cuts out maybe once a month for 2-3 minutes during terrible storms), and is incredibly easy to use. I will soon be upgrading to HDTV signals and hopefully will enjoy it even more at that level!!

[SupperClub 0]

We've had DirecTV now for about 8 months.  I wouldn't go back to cable for all the tea in China.  I got more channels.  More channels I actually wanted.  Better sound.  Better picture quality.  Better pricing.

In those 8 months we've been through electrical storms, snow, high winds, freezing rain.  Only once has the satellite gone out...for about 5 minutes.  Two or three other times, it "hiccupped" for a second or two and then was fine.

Now, I had standard cable before.  Digital cable I'm sure would have the better quality and sound and of course more channels.  Then again, it would also be significantly more expensive, at least in my area.  Just to get into digital cable with no movie or other premium channels, I'd be paying about $15-20 more a month than I am with Direct TV.

My brother will also vouch for DirecTV service.  He's had it for a couple of years now and loves it also.

And get it with Tivo.  Best.  Invention.  Ever.

150888[/snapback]

As for the other side of the argument, I too got Direct TV about 8 months ago, and I wish I would have never changed. I'm not sure about where you are, but down in south Alabama Direct TV doesn't come with local channels, so if you are wanting to watch NBC, CBS, ABC, or FOX, you are S.O.L. I am disappointed with the picture quality on my HDTV, but don't want to pay for the upgrade to only get 8 HD channels. If I had to do it all over again, I would have upgraded my old cable service (Adelphia) to get the HD cable box that they now offer. I am just waiting for my one year contract to expire and I'll be switching back.

Did I mention how not having any local channels sucks (really bad during football season)? I would definitely check in to that before I made the switch.

[RadioWryn 0]

I have DirecTV in the Auburn area - yes, no local channels sucks. However, one cool thing is that Fox and CBS (upon request through DirecTV) will let you get their local channels from NYC and Los Angeles. You say, eh, who cares?

But imagine the NCAA tourney for me. With a satellite dish hooked up outside, I get WAKA (CBS-Montgomery), WRBL (CBS-Columbus, GA), and whatever the affiliates are for NYC and LA. So often times, I can get all four games at one time. I normally can get at least three.

This would also be great if I gave a rip about the NFL.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

As for the other side of the argument, I too got Direct TV about 8 months ago, and I wish I would have never changed.  I'm not sure about where you are, but down in south Alabama Direct TV doesn't come with local channels, so if you are wanting to watch NBC, CBS, ABC, or FOX, you are S.O.L.  I am disappointed with the picture quality on my HDTV, but don't want to pay for the upgrade to only get 8 HD channels.  If I had to do it all over again, I would have upgraded my old cable service (Adelphia) to get the HD cable box that they now offer.  I am just waiting for my one year contract to expire and I'll be switching back. 

Did I mention how not having any local channels sucks (really bad during football season)?  I would definitely check in to that before I made the switch.

150900[/snapback]

Well, I don't have HDTV, so that would be a consideration, although I know that DirecTV is about to come out with a lot more HD programming in the coming months.

And I don't know where you are, but sometimes you can apply to get the regular networks on DirecTV if you don't live in an area that you can get local channels. I think you'd get the NY feed.

[jared52 4,354]

Yeah, Titan, TiVo IS the best invention ever!! I have a standalone which I'll have to use the IR blasters to work with the new box. I would be getting a TiVo box from DTv as well, giving me 2 TiVo's. I pay about $80 a month right now for Digital Cable w/ HBO (4 of them) Skin-i-max (3 of them) Starz, Encore, and a couple of other movie channels I don't watch. There are about 10 digital channels (about 6 of them are Discovery incarnations), so I am not getting much out of the digital channels. I don't get ESPNews or ESPN Classic. My biggest loss would be losing CSS. They replay the Auburn games and have a few baseball games.

It looks like from the DTV website, I'd be paying about the same amount for DTV, adding the ESPN channels (including ESPNU) and 1 movie tier. I seems bout the same.

Oh, BG, Charter doesn't have broadband in my area, I have to get DSL from the local phone company (it's SDSL running at 756k both ways). I would love 3Mbit down, but it's not an option here.

Thanks for the input guys. Anything else I need to know?

[MDM4AU 336]

I have had DirecTV for over 4 years now. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I wouldn't P!$$ on Charter if it was on fire. There is only one cable company in my area and it is Charter. They act like they are the only one as well. Even working with them in apartment management in Montgomery and Birmingham, they were beyond abysmal to work with.

Someday when I have a few hours I will share with you my "wonderful" experience with Dish Network that lasted about 4 months and ended with the BBB involved. Bunch of Jack A$$es!

When the storms came through Sunday night, I never lost my signal with DTv. Every problem I have ever had with DirecTV has been handled over the phone within minutes. None of this "We'll be there from 12-5p" that you get from Charter. I pay $5 per month for all the local channels, but I also have one old friggin tv in my office that I can still hook up rabbit ears to to get NBC 13, Fox 6, CBS 42, WB 21 and UPN 68 if needed.

DirecTV is the way in my opinion.