Dish vs. TWC

tconnors

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Nov 5, 2003
26
0
Austin
I am thinking about switching from Dish to TWC to take advantage of TWC "switch offer" of $29.95/mo. + $5 for each movie channel, and get HD locals. I do not have HD currently. How long do I have to be off Dish to be considered a new customer, seems a new customer gets better deals (and newer equipment) than existing customers. :evil:

If I stick with Dish, I am buying a Panny E80 PVR/DVD recorder. :) I currently have a 301 and 501. What is the cheapest receiver I can buy to replace the 501 that has DD5.1?

I am getting charged $49.95 for Top100 with locals. I can account for all but $5 of that ($34 base + $6 local + $5 extra receiver), they told me the $5 is for "home plan".. what is that? :?:

TWC looks good at $29.95... but will it "look" good? Looking for the best way to get into HDTV. I can not get locals (I can only get 2 or 3 radio stations that fade in and out). :(
 
I got the same deal when I switched from Directv to Time Warner Cable. I got 29.99 for all basic, digital, hdtv and a converter box rental plus hbo for a year. Not too bad a deal for a year. Now my year is up and the rates have gone up so I pay 70 for all of what I had so it doesn't make since. yea you can get the hd locals but I can get them free with an antenna. The picture quality on non digital channels really stink.
 
One thing that most people don't consider is how often the cable service goes out. If you've had Dish for a while you know how often it has problems (almost never). Check with neighbors that have TWC (Time Warner Cable) and ask them how often it goes out and when it does how long it stays out. Unreliable cable was one of the reasons that I switched from cable to Dish back in 1996.

This of course varies from city to city even within the same cable company.
 
I had TWC for a long time through about 1998 when I switched to E*. It went out maybe once per year for 3 or 4 hours. My Dish goes out for 1-2 hours about once a month due to rain (and I have >100 signal on both). My main reason for switching was DD5.1... I couldn't even seem to get stereo from TWC! I am happy with E*, just want to try HD, and the switch to TWC seems the cheapest way to get it.

Although with more HD switching to 110, the extra $10/mo. is not a bad way to try it; although I keep hearing E* will never go HD locals, which is what I would watch mostly. E* is about $30/mo more than the TWC switch deal, but then after that 12 months TWC is about $30 more than E*; but I would probably get a second TWC digital box (+$8) so I would get digital on 2 TVs (as I do now), still a good deal, but getting less attractive as I type.... I'll stop.
 
tconnors said:
If I stick with Dish, I am buying a Panny E80 PVR/DVD recorder.
I've been pretty happy with my E80 - I was using it with my Dishplayer and will now be using it with my DirecTivo. A pretty good discussion forum on the E80 and other DVD Recorders can be found here.
 
I got the $30 deal for a month while waiting for dish HDTV (or $35 plus a couple of movie channels).

I stuck with dish because it costs a ton to get a separate DVR box if you already have an HDTV box. By a ton, it was an extra $17, and that was with the combined TWC road runner discount. I had to have PVR, and I had to have HDTV, so the $35 became $52, which was higher than what I would of been paying for dish. I might of still gotten it, but I knew the rate was going to go up as soon as that year was up. Plus, TWC only had locals plus discovery channel, while dish had HDNET/HDNET movies and espn HDTV, so the extra channels were worth it.
 
ROLLTIDE said:
Dish vs The weather Channel ?

I thought the same thing, but I didn't want to appear Smart***. :twisted:

On Dec 22, TWCI is leaving D* too. Maybe I will have E* installed by then, but at the current speed, it may be Xmas 2005!
 
tconnors said:
I am thinking about switching from Dish to TWC to take advantage of TWC "switch offer" of $29.95/mo. + $5 for each movie channel, and get HD locals. I do not have HD currently. How long do I have to be off Dish to be considered a new customer, seems a new customer gets better deals (and newer equipment) than existing customers. :evil:

If I stick with Dish, I am buying a Panny E80 PVR/DVD recorder. :) I currently have a 301 and 501. What is the cheapest receiver I can buy to replace the 501 that has DD5.1?

I am getting charged $49.95 for Top100 with locals. I can account for all but $5 of that ($34 base + $6 local + $5 extra receiver), they told me the $5 is for "home plan".. what is that? :?:

TWC looks good at $29.95... but will it "look" good? Looking for the best way to get into HDTV. I can not get locals (I can only get 2 or 3 radio stations that fade in and out). :(

"The Home Plan" means that you lease the equipment and do not own it, that extra $5 is your lease payment for your equipment. Current subs can get a new DVR 510 for $99 with a one year commitment to AT50 or DL or above or Free with a 2 year commitment, however since you are on the DHP plan I do not know if you qualify or not. You should qualify for the new 811 HD receiver upgrade for $149 or $199 for a 1 year commitment. Both of these are exalent deals for current subs and would consider these before going to the dark side. :)
 
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