Good-bye Dish! Hello Comcast!

FAiello

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Sep 8, 2003
82
0
I signed up for Comcast Digital Cable today because I see Charlie has no plans on getting more HDTV programing any time soon and Comcast has committed to increasing the HDTV programing by the end of this year also HD PVR will be available very soon in my area, in the meantime I can use on-demand even though it is not HDTV. Comcast presently offers my local channels in HD, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NESN, and also INHD and INHD2. Also the Comcast STB has an active firewire connection so I can record HD to a DVHS recorder. Can't wait to see my Red Sox and Bruins home games in HD.


quote:
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As Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen pointed out in an investment report on Monday 4/05/04, Comcast plans a "major expansion" in its New England hub in digital television products. It's taking video-on-demand content from 1,500 hours to 20,000 hours and increasing high definition TV channels from 12 to 27.
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NightRyder said:
Are we supposed to care about this :confused:

NightRyder
Sure, the more people that drop Dish due to crappy PQ and lack of HD maybe it will light a fire under Charlie's butt to get on the ball. :cool:

I dropped them for Voom and there's no looking back. ;)
 
I have been considering switching to Comcast Digital. I would just keep Dish with the HD Pak and $5 maint fee. So at $15/mo I would still get HDNet, HDNet Movies, and Discovery HD Theater which aren't on my Comcast lineup.

I'm just waiting for them to accounce that they have Speed and EWTN which are supposedly to be added shortly.

Edit: Oh! and my Dish 6000 OTA tuner would continue to work. So I would still get the local HDTV channels that Comcast fails to carry such as WB, MD PBS, and all Baltimore Affiliates.
 
You personally may not, but I think Dish should. I too left Dish for Comcast recently. I admit to being a bit nervous dealing with Comcast given my past issues with Viacom and AT&T. I wanted to add a second TV and I wanted an HDTV tuner. I kept getting the response from Dish that I could go on a waiting list, with an unknown availibility date. Comcast had a tuner installed within 72 hours of my call. I also don't see Dish adding any more HD channels anytime soon, let alone SD channels. The deal cincher for me was the $25/month credit for being a Dish customer.

In my first week of Comcast I will offer this: The program guide is horrible. I miss being able to remove channels from my listings (and only have Dish add them back). The HDTV looks great, but INHD is a joke (but looks killer). Hanson Acoustic in HD- why? Overall PQ of Digital cable is on par with Dish. The analog channels look like crap though, very grainy.

I hope Dish does get it's HDTV hardware issues worked out. When my deal with Comcast runs out, I'll where Dish stands in meeting my needs as a consumer.
 
Yes, it's always a good plan to buy into Cable's vaporware as opposed to Dish's vaporware. The cable vaporware is far superior.
 
DarrellP said:
Sure, the more people that drop Dish due to crappy PQ and lack of HD maybe it will light a fire under Charlie's butt to get on the ball. :cool:

I dropped them for Voom and there's no looking back. ;)


Hmmm. Sure seems like you keep looking back, Darrell .... Over and over and over again.
 
AcuraCL said:
Yes, it's always a good plan to buy into Cable's vaporware as opposed to Dish's vaporware. The cable vaporware is far superior.
FWIW, I did not switch to cable do to their "vaporware". I based my decisons on what both companies had to offer and at what price. I wanted HDTV, locals and I wanted to add access to the bedroom. Bottom line for Dish was : No HDTV and to add locals and a second receiver would add at least $11/month to my bill, which prices my monthly costs for Dish right up their with "the pig".
 
arachide said:
FWIW, I did not switch to cable do to their "vaporware". ...

Sorry, I should have posted with context. I was responding to the original poster saying: "Comcast has committed to increasing the HDTV programing by the end of this year" and "HD PVR will be available very soon". That's the vaporware I was talking about.

Where there is a better deal, it's always smart to look at it.
 
Switched Back

I had E* and switched to Comcast Philly due to the same concerns. I did the whole pricing thing and justified it. (3) HD receivers and the expectations of DVR in summer. I never did cancel E* and thank God I didn't.

After hooking everything up I noticed that the PQ on Comcast HD channels were weak compared to Dish. Cinemax HD and Starz HD was also very soft. The OTA channels were garbage, digital channels were OK.

Also to acheive the same time shifting I had with E* the pricing went E*'s way drastically.

C
44.00 Basic and Standard
15.00 Digital and HD
27.00 (3) box rentals
25.00 (2) Tivo rentals per month
44.00 Prem Channels

115.00 per month

E
84.00 Dish Everything pack with local
15.00 Extra receivers

99.00 per month

I sent the digital receivers back and am keeping E*.
 
Comcast only advantage is the locals in HD,I do not see them adding more HD any time soon,there is nothing to add right now,they(Comcast) can make all the promises right now about adding more HD by the end of the year but so can Dish and Direct(they did) because there will be more(channels) out then.
Now when and if they(Comcast) start offering my local RSN(Fox Sports Detroit) in HD then I will have to make a very tough Decision and Dish needs to start working on that because Sports in HD is a big selling point.
Prices to Dish vs. Comcast here do not come close Comcast charges $92.00 for their everything pack + box fees + franchise fees + taxes+ a lot more then Dish
 
AcuraCL said:
Sorry, I should have posted with context. I was responding to the original poster saying: "Comcast has committed to increasing the HDTV programing by the end of this year" and "HD PVR will be available very soon". That's the vaporware I was talking about.

Where there is a better deal, it's always smart to look at it.
Cable vaporware is oh so true. Comcast is running local comercials for their PVR, which it not due in our area for at least another 4-5 months. At least a few people out there actually have 921's.

As for the package pricing, I think it all depends on what you want and what they charge. Dish's basic package is WAY cheaper than Comcast's, and we aren't even talking digital cable, which is double the price of the dish top 80. I'll ride out comcast for now and hope Dish gets the HD boxes out there and gets some of the cool channels like Trio and Ovation. Another big issue (with the Mrs.) was that I would have had to install a second dish for the locals. That was a no go.
 
I have had Comcast for a week now and I am very happy with the HD content. I now watch my local sports teams in HD. I lost HDNet but so far I think InHD is just as good if not better, plus I can get all my local channels in HD. I have hooked up the STB to my D-VHS unit so I can record HD through the firewire connections. I will be getting my HD-PVR the first of May. Charlie wake up!!! you are falling behind.
 
AcuraCL said:
Sorry, I should have posted with context. I was responding to the original poster saying: "Comcast has committed to increasing the HDTV programing by the end of this year" and "HD PVR will be available very soon". That's the vaporware I was talking about.

Where there is a better deal, it's always smart to look at it.

Please check this thread out where folks are saying that they are starting to get Comcast HD PVR's on some systems: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=321762

As for programming, numerous Comcast systems have the same basic HD programming that you could get from E* or D*, plus Starz-HD and Cinemax-HD, which were added this year. In the Chicago area, Comcast added the WGN-DT feed 4/1 so we can now see the local sports teams in HD.

Maybe Comcast hasn't gottne around to doing this on your system, but just because you can't get it doesn't mean that others can't.
 
:wave :haha :bow :clap

Honestly, I hope you enjoy your choice.

Yet, it'll be interesting for you to report back in a year how many outages (if any) you have to report.

Carpe Nocturn with your HD content though :cool:
 
I signed up for Comcast a while back. No vaporware here. I get HBO-HD, SHO-HD, StarzHD, MaxHD, INHD 1 & 2, ABC-HD, and NBC-HD. In February, I Comcast notified me that DVRs were available, and I got a Moto 6208 that records HD. Upstairs in the bedroom a have a Moto 5100 HD receiver.

I quit cable 9 years ago for satellite and swore I would never go back -- but cable, specifically Comcast, has gotten much, much better in terms of their offerings and customer service. The competition from satellite has clearly had an impact.

I've kept my Dish subscription active for some reason, but have pared it down to HD only. Think I'm going to order the Voom package though, and sell my Dish 6000.

BTW, the Comcast HD is not soft or degraded whatsoever. I've compared it channel-to-channel with Dish HD and there is no noticiable difference. Not to mention that the DVI is active in many arears

I've criticized Dish relentlessly over their recent bumblings and failure to offer more HD programing, but have been a fairly satisfied customer overall. If they come through with the promised HD, I'll consider coming back. With cable, at least you don't have to buy the equipment and there is no contract or committment, so switching service is easy.
 
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