Ditching Cable TV

[lisa]

We've had enough drama from our cable provider and we're ready to move to satellite. Which systems have you all used? Better yet, which ones would you recommend and why? I want to get this cable box out of our house by the end of the week!

[BrckBrln]

I hate cable too. Before we switched to cable we had Dish Network. It was great. The only and this is the only problem we had with Dish was that when it rained or stormed the satellite would lose the signal for a while.

My mom had DirecTV and from what I saw, Dish was better than Direct. The interface and design was much better. This is all just my opinion though.

[Just A Clay Pot]

I agree with BrckBrln...Dish seems the better way to go for a satellite system. We've had both in the past, and Dish was a much easier system to deal with. Plus, DirecTV seemed to always find a way to mess up the billing.

As for rain fade, if you want to throw about $100 into the system of your own money, I'd recommend buying a 36"-42" dish (if you have the space to mount it.) There are several larger dishes available on the internet, some that will even take the Dish LNBs directly from the smaller dish. Going with a three-footer will knock out about 95% of rain fade. (Of course, actual signal strength gained will be dependent on your location, so your mileage may vary :) )

[lisa]

Dish seems like a really good deal thus far. We've had like 4 inches of rain in more than a year, so I don't think rain fade will be much of an issue. Plus, I think the dish itself will be in the atrium side of our condo- more protected from any "weather" issues we may have. Hmmm....

[drmaul]

Do you enjoy watching a lot of movies, sports, and also, do you think you'll be purchasing a HD tv in the near future, if so, you may want to give Direct TV a look. By years end, Direct TV will be the only provider of nearly 200 HD channels, plus local HD channels (you must have a 5-LNB Dish for this).

Yes, I have Direct TV and I haven't looked back on dropping Comcast!

[LoudRam]

I have Direct TV as well, and I love it. Never had any billing problems. We do loose the signal but only during the really heavy rain storms. We dropped Comcast too. Way too expensive for what they offer. My only real complaint is that they got rid of a Christian music video channel that I loved to watch.

[tigger]

I dont know where you live, but for anyone thinking of getting a sattelite who lives where it snows, be careful were you put the dish, in the winter be prepared to have to brush snow of it. I found with mine a broom worked pretty good. It worked even better when dh was home and I could make him go outside and wipe it off.:heh

[OneDayNearer]

Do you like sports? We love NFL football and we keep Direct TV solely for the NFL Sunday Ticket.

If it weren't for that, we wouldn't mind switching back to Time Warner Cable because they picked up the Gospel Music Channel which Direct TV dropped, and it was by far our favorite channel with full length concerts, Christian music videos, interviews, etc.

When we complained to Direct TV, they couldn't care less and tried to tell us we'd be getting similar programming with TBN. :doh It was obvious they had no idea what the channel was all about.

[OneDayNearer]

My only real complaint is that they got rid of a Christian music video channel that I loved to watch.

Was that the Gospel Music Channel??

We used to watch that continually. My son loved it. We were so disappointed when they took it off.

[LoudRam]

Was that the Gospel Music Channel??

We used to watch that continually. My son loved it. We were so disappointed when they took it off.

That was it and I was told the same thing when I complained too.