Who should I go with?

Anecdotes?

8/9/2005 12:02:37 PM

TWC

It is expensive

but the quality is awesome.

DirecTV is good for getting International programming and stuff.

TWC offers on demand 5.1 movies.

8/9/2005 12:03:48 PM

you can bundle TWC, RoadRunner, and TWC Digital Phone service all together (if you use a home phone that is)

My parents have DirecTV, and anytime there is even a possiblity of rain, the signal fades. This only happens to some channels at first, but they always happen to be the channels you want to watch.

8/9/2005 12:26:07 PM

direcTV>TWC

did a couple years with direcTV then had to switch back to TWC b/c we couldn't mount the dish, hated the cost, the people, and the company so i switched back as soon as i could - it's just flat out more better

8/9/2005 12:47:30 PM

[Edited on August 9, 2005 at 12:56 PM. Reason : nm]

8/9/2005 12:56:18 PM

DirecTV.. rain fade = shitty install. the only times i've lost signal is when the rain is real bad with lightning all over the place and the last time that happened was during a hurricane and it rains pretty much every day here in houston. i've lost power before loosing signal.. i just need a bigger battery backup.

plus you get NFL sunday ticket

8/9/2005 1:09:36 PM

TWC is the best cable company I have ever used (much better than Adelphia & Comcast). My family has always been a DirecTV customer since they came out, but when I lived in an apartment in college, I ordered with TWC and had no complaints except for the higher cost.

I am a Tivo fanatic, but TWC's DVR worked well enough to where it was a satisfactory replacement.

Now in a house, I am back to DirecTV with Tivo, and am just as happy. With either choice, you will be happy.

Oh, and regarding rain fade... in the southeast US and past rain rate data, a properly-installed dish statistically should not experience more than around 75 minutes of outage PER YEAR. This unfortunately hasn't been the case for the DirecTV at my parent's condo in midtown Atlanta.. For the past week we've had extremely hard rains every afternoon and have had about a 20-minute outage each day. My installation in Raleigh has held up, but we haven't had nearly as much rain here than we had in Atlanta.

8/9/2005 1:23:43 PM

I cant say that my parents dish is installed correctly, so the rain may affect it more than it should. It is a pain though when its raining outside, and the only thing left to do is watch TV, and that doesnt work.

8/9/2005 1:29:09 PM

TWC in maine has excellent service. Its really really location specific to wether or not it will be awesome or a nightmare.

8/9/2005 1:39:23 PM

TWC is not my favorite company. Their RR service is good though. However, if you pay for digital phone through them, you are crazy. You can easily get it for 1/2 the price they charge from another provider.

My father-in-law has DirecTV. I can only remember him telling me of one instance ever that he lost the signal due to weather. Even during that big ice storm 2 1/2 years ago here where everyone lost power, the DTV signal still came in strong (we cranked up the generator to watch an episode of The Simpsons). He is very happy with it for obvious reasons.

8/9/2005 2:17:02 PM

I hate TWC, but it's just not affordable for me to go direct-tv with an HD tivo..

8/9/2005 4:29:06 PM

The interface on the TWC boxes is better (and snappier) than that of the standard receivers for directv. DTV though is cheaper, as far as monthly fees, but it doesn't have the On Demand stuff, which is really cool.

If you don't care about the On Demand stuff, and want to save some money, DTV is better, but if you have an HD TV, or hate the dirt slow UI on a lot of the DTV equipment, or care about the On Demand, then cable will be better for you.

8/9/2005 5:00:36 PM

directv sucks, especially when it is raining, twc is the way to go

8/9/2005 5:42:53 PM

def twc
you dont have to buy a reciever, and with DTV you have to
good programming, dont have to deal with a huge satellite dish on the building


def twc

8/9/2005 5:45:18 PM

Quote :

"directv sucks, especially when it is raining, twc is the way to go "

Complete and utter lies.

I really dont understand where you derive these ideas. My service through time warner is far and away more flakey and unstable then my experience with DTV. I guess you enjoy reading the twc pamphlets they mail about once every hour to anyone who already pays for their shits house about how great they are.

Whats even more ironic is i lost cable service during the rain today.


oh i didnt even read the thread, it looks like everyone else agrees the rain hype is complete bull shit.

[Edited on August 9, 2005 at 7:15 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2005 7:13:24 PM

I do not like TWC because I had lost internet for almost a week and they did not do anything about it...

8/9/2005 7:18:20 PM

cable cause you dont need extra receivers for additional tv's

(although someone said additional receivers are free now if you say this is important, although i'd doubt theyd give us 6 which is how many we would need here)

8/9/2005 7:46:10 PM

receivers are free, but the bill goes up $5/month for each additional...so basically if you have less than 4 receivers you're better off with dtv

8/10/2005 3:44:37 PM

^ and all those receivers will give you access to all your fully digital channels. correct me if I'm wrong, since I haven't used cable in about 6 years, but non set top boxed tv's on cable won't get any digital channels right?

8/10/2005 6:26:38 PM

right
but i only have one or two tv's in this place that are worth digital cable

basic is good enough for a bedroom

8/10/2005 6:45:21 PM

IF you have HD, got to go with TWC atleast for now. DTV is converting over to MPEG4 next year so it may change then.

8/10/2005 7:04:52 PM

speaking of crappy cable, how long does comtech take to activate their shit once you register?

8/10/2005 9:48:33 PM

Quote :

"TWC is the best cable company I have ever used (much better than Adelphia & Comcast). "

really? i hated TWC when i lived in raleigh (i had cable and RR...i always wanted internet and i rented, so dish wasnt an option) but i thought it was horribly unreliable. it went out a lot, and my RR service seemed to go out atleast once a day.

i have comcast now (i live in md) and i think its great. i havent had any problems with it at all.

8/11/2005 9:34:50 AM

I'm getting TWC HDTV put in (a.k.a. they bring me the set-top box, woowee) this coming Tuesday. I know it's a bit off topic, but what set-top box do they use nowadays? The 8300? 8000? Another one?

And I'd take TWC over DTV simply b/c I need cable internet (we don't have a landline phone, so DSL would be expensive) and I like the onDemand stuff.

8/11/2005 9:48:50 AM

Quote :

"TWC is the best cable company I have ever used (much better than Adelphia & Comcast). "

that may be true, but you're still comparing shades of brown for various turds.

8/11/2005 9:59:20 AM

I hate TWC!!!! Our road runner is inconsistent, the service is expensive as shit, and their customer service is 75% of the time in-freakin'-competent.

Too bad there are no relatively good competitors in the area, they basically have a firm grip on the RDU area ... I would switch in a heart beat

8/11/2005 10:34:52 AM

Haven't had too many problems with RR.. it's fast and always on for the most part..

Digital Cable:
HD DVR = shit.. always locking up, rebooting.. they have crappy hdds.. I seriously doubt they use the QuickView drives that Tivo uses..
Quality: decent other than the times it pixelates and freezes.. and the blocking artifact on the poorly encoded channels..

if they would only encode their channels at a higher bitrate, and I know they have the bandwidth to do so, they would be somewhat comparable to DirecTV

8/11/2005 11:27:49 AM

Quote :

"what set-top box do they use nowadays? The 8300? 8000? Another one? "

they use both 8000 and 8300...id ask specifically for the 8300. Otherwise i think they'll give ya the old 8000.

8/11/2005 11:40:20 AM

The HD box does lock up frequently and i have to get up and unplug the unit to restart it (even the power button is unresponsive). I guess this doesnt bother people as much as missing their soap opera during a hurricane would. Honest to god, who started this drizzle knocks out satelitte myth?

8/11/2005 11:48:04 AM

hell i think now-a-days bad lightning storms would be the only weather-related cause of partial satellite knock out (just EM interference), but it's been years since I've seen a satellite feed get knocked out by rain or even tall clouds

^ that's when a remote-controlled power switch would be useful.. too bad the pioneer software disables the user-feature of reformating the hdd, which is probably one of the problems causing the lockups



[Edited on August 11, 2005 at 12:08 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2005 12:05:48 PM

I had TWC and their prices kept going up... Have DirecTV now and tends to be gay once in awhile when it gets stormy (I dont watch TV that much, but it's only happened a hand full of times and I've had it for almost a year)... however, APPARENTLY when a hurricane comes through, I'll have TV before TWC b/c the "lines" wont be affected when it's satellite.

The dish isnt that big. what? like a foot in diameter?

I didnt have to pay for the receivers b/c they were free after mail and rebates and all that jazz.

I currently have DTV and Bellsouth DSL... DSL is also good when it comes to storms b/c the cable is the first thing to go out whereas phones are usually the last and the first to go up.

8/14/2005 12:14:50 AM

Quote :

"Honest to god, who started this drizzle knocks out satelitte myth?"

people that had them

8/14/2005 4:11:41 PM

storming like hell here, and direct is working fine

8/14/2005 5:40:17 PM

FUCK TWC

/message_topic.aspx?topic=330767

8/14/2005 6:15:50 PM

Quote :

"IF you have HD, got to go with TWC atleast for now. DTV is converting over to MPEG4 next year so it may change then."

Plus if you buy DirecTV equipment now, then next year when they do switch, youre going to have to buy all new equipment, and Im pretty sure this doesnt just go for HD users, Im pretty sure their compression method is being changed for all channels.

On top of that, DirecTV is over-compressing a lot of HD channels according to the avsforum. Ive seen screenshots and its bad enough I havent even given DirecTV a second thought.

8/14/2005 7:30:15 PM

Quote :

"then next year when they do switch"

That keeps being put off, alot.

Quote :

"then next year when they do switch, youre going to have to buy all new equipment"

Pretty sure that as long as you're in contract, DTV will ensure you have working and useable equipment. If you're out of contract you can get free receivers if you sign up for another one (has worked for me in the past.) Anyways, I've never had to actually buy equipment for direct tv. Nobody who doesn't just pick them up at the store without shopping around and or calling up direct tv should end up paying for receivers ever either.

[Edited on August 14, 2005 at 7:36 PM. Reason : ]

8/14/2005 7:36:25 PM

^ Yeah, well I guess its more of a problem for HD users then....Direct will pretty much give away standard equipment, youre right, but with HD equipment youre gonna pay, especially if you want that $1000 HD TiVO.

8/14/2005 9:20:58 PM

yeah, but when/if HD becomes standard like it's supposed to...

8/15/2005 1:52:14 AM

For me, TWC digital cable has been very pixelated. Friends who got HDTV with TWC were so frustrated they switched to DTV and have been much happier.

I will be getting DTV because TWC has been shit.

8/15/2005 9:29:45 AM

Basically everyone has their anectdotes proving why both companies are shit, anyone have links to or quotes from something like consumer reports?

8/15/2005 12:36:52 PM

to each his own I guess. I have used DTV for years and couldn't be happier. each has its own good and bad qualities. some of the reasons in here are complete garbage though. TWC has better Hd channels now. and like someone said DTV is compressing their HD data now but all the new birds going in the air are "suppose" to fix that. IF rain fade is an issue then your mess aint installed right. like someone said only when the big thunder booms coming in and its mad crazy outside do I lose a signal. and thats maybe twice a year.

8/16/2005 12:32:07 PM

I hated TWC. Never had any complaints against DTV.

When I had TWC, it seemed like the cable went out more than DTV. As long as it is installed properly, you should get a good signal & have little rain outage.

8/16/2005 8:28:35 PM

Got TWC HDTV today.

Guy was right on time, had the 8300HD (hailed as an extremely good box) & component cables ready to go.

Plugged the cable in, connected my component cables to my HDTV, and used my own optical cable to hook it into my receiver for digital sound. There's an HDMI port but I don't have a cable so bump it. The feed is AMAZING. The shows that are in HD are insane. Clear as can be. Watched some horse competition and "Tommy Lee Goes to College" in HD tonight. Fan-freaking-tastic. Can't wait for some games to come on HD. I have no complaints. Setup took like 10 minutes, most of that was moving the TV around & plugging junk into my crowded receiver. Dolby surround works as it should, the box auto-selects the output signal per channel (Some in 480p, 720p, or 1080i, depending on channel & show) that works extremely well. DVR works great. No complaints at all except the shows that aren't really MADE for HD (like Wheel of Fortune I guess) aren't pristine HD quality. However, when that junk went off and like NCIS came on it was clear as could be.

Great deal if you're splitting the bill w/ a roomie!

8/16/2005 11:58:51 PM

^ wait until tomorrow when the hard drive starts failing and you get pixelations, reboots, and 2 second freezes when watching recorded shows..

8/17/2005 12:36:05 AM

^ Now that's life, ain't it? Since when did we fully expect electronics to work perfectly 100% of the time? I'll be pissed if it happens like 12 times a day but I mean I'm pretty easy going.

8/17/2005 12:43:35 AM

haha the 8300HD we have here freezes all the time.. reboots maybe 2 times a week.. locks up daily.. it's annoying... you can't watch anything recorded without running into problems..

i expect better quality from a DVR.. I do expect random lockups once in a blue moon.. but this is unbearable..

i've had my tivo for 3 years.. not one flaw associated with it..

8/17/2005 12:50:55 AM

i've experienced the drizzle knocks out DTV "myth." DTV service at my gf's lake house goes out when the fucking wind blows stiffly. Its made me hate DTV with all of my being.

8/17/2005 2:44:11 AM

is the dish mounted to a paint stirrer?

8/17/2005 7:14:19 PM

^^ probably poorly aligned

8/17/2005 8:43:10 PM

I guess I got lucky with my 8000HD -- it works great and has maybe locked up once in 8 or so months. Weird..maybe i shouldn't push upgrading to the 8300. I don't have time to sit around all day and wait for TWC either (assuming they won't switch it at their office). I've got my pace box on my main HD set (which works perfectly too). hmm..

8/17/2005 8:58:22 PM