# Age Old Question: DirecTV vs. Comcast



## patg25 (Nov 25, 2004)

I am moving in about a month; the new place has no DSL service. So I figured I give Comcast a call to see what they can offer me. I am not impressed!!

I currently have the HR10-250 (Stock), OTA HD receiption, 2 SD DVRs, 1 HD receiver and 1 SD receiver. My total bill, including HBO, is about $95. Comcast quoted me $85 / month (no HBO) for 16 month (Dish Buy Back - then it'll go to $115) for 3 DVRs (Moto 6412 with tiny Hard Disk). I didn't even ask about the additional HD receiver. In addition, they want $42 / month for Internet Access, and $130 for installation of their Home Network option. I can do that in about 30 Minutes!!!!

I call D*, they told me no problem installing the 5 LNB dish. OTA antenna would be a paint to install in the new House, so that's the route I am taking, and wait for the HR20 to be available with less bugs.

Bottom line - D* is still a pretty good deal!!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Comcast offered me $29.95 a month for 1 year which includes HBO HD and Showtime HD along with their other HD channels. A very good price. I will jump to them when they start offering phone service in my area which should be in a few months. The internet would be $29.95 for 12 months and the phone is supposed to be under $40.


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## redram38 (Apr 17, 2004)

patg25 said:


> I am moving in about a month; the new place has no DSL service. So I figured I give Comcast a call to see what they can offer me. I am not impressed!!
> 
> I currently have the HR10-250 (Stock), OTA HD receiption, 2 SD DVRs, 1 HD receiver and 1 SD receiver. My total bill, including HBO, is about $95. Comcast quoted me $85 / month (no HBO) for 16 month (Dish Buy Back - then it'll go to $115) for 3 DVRs (Moto 6412 with tiny Hard Disk). I didn't even ask about the additional HD receiver. In addition, they want $42 / month for Internet Access, and $130 for installation of their Home Network option. I can do that in about 30 Minutes!!!!
> 
> ...


What makes them so high is the 3 DVR's Here in Memphis they charge you 7.95 per receiver plus an additional 6.95 EACH for the DVR service. That is almost 45 bucks per month for the Receivers and DVR service only. Then add the cable package and bam you are talking over 100 bucks and you don't even have any movie channels. Here they offer more channels of HBO, Cinamax, showtime, and starz but you pay out the A$$ to get em, plus Starz is an extra 10.00 per month even if you sub to the Digipack 400 which includes all the Movie channels, Except Starz.


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

patg25 said:


> Bottom line - D* is still a pretty good deal!!


Not if you consider how crappy their SD and HD picture quality is compared to cable and OTA. Never thought I'd go back to cable. Compared to D*, the difference in picture quality was well worth the extra cost. YMMV. Also, there are a lot of deals for Comcast internet service. Mine is $19.99 per month for 1st six months. Cable modem was free. Did a self-install. And got $180 in rebates. Not too shabby for the 6.3Mbps service, and it beats the heck out of my DSL service.


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## patg25 (Nov 25, 2004)

HomieG said:


> Not if you consider how crappy their SD and HD picture quality is compared to cable and OTA. Never thought I'd go back to cable. Compared to D*, the difference in picture quality was well worth the extra cost. YMMV. Also, there are a lot of deals for Comcast internet service. Mine is $19.99 per month for 1st six months. Cable modem was free. Did a self-install. And got $180 in rebates. Not too shabby for the 6.3Mbps service, and it beats the heck out of my DSL service.


I would even go for the extra cost ($48 for High Speed Internet is too high, thoughj) if the DVRs would be half way decent. 120 GB Hard Disk, why bother? Anybody know when Comcast is going to roll out a better DVR?


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## mmihalik (Oct 10, 2000)

I've had DirecTV since the mid-90s, TiVo since I won a 14-hour unit when they had the jingle contest, and Comcast internet for several years. Also have OTA HDTV, and up until recently Comcast Extended basic cable.

the 14-hour TiVo was expanded long ago with an added 60GB HD (that was a big drive a long time ago). Connected to a RCA DirecTV rcvr.

Also have 2 DirecTiVo units (one Hughes with 2x160GB) + 1 unmodded Philips 40GB). 

In addition to Comcast Cable-internet, I also have Verizon FiOS; upgraded from DSL last year.

So...have a lot of experience with A-B comparisons.

After futzing with OTA HDTV, experimenting with the various PC based HD solutions, reading everything posted about the HR10-250 and the latest TiVo3, I decided that I wanted to stop playing, and actually watch HDTV.

Once you've watched TV for years using TiVo, it is really difficult to rearrange your life and watch TV in real-time.

Bottom line - I avoided the HR10-250 due to its eventual obsolescence, and did not wish to update to the DirecTV HR20 since my HD locals are not available yet. The SD locals are OK, but not great. Didn't really wish to change the status quo - I have had almost no problems with any of the DirecTV equipment to date (except a failed hard drive that was easily replaced - thanks TiVo Community!). All the TiVos simply work - and family members like the ease of use.

My inertia, and a recent Comcast promotion led me to try the Comcast HDTV DVR. It's not TiVo, but it works well for me, and gives me several stations that are not available on DirecTV. What pushed me over the edge:
- locals on HDTV ==> DirecTV may have this in the future for me, but not all are available yet
- several stations available from Comcast that are not on DirecTV (I have Total Choice Premier on DirecTV)
- picture quality is bettter on most of the Comcast channels (I have the 3416 for the main 57" HDTV, and can do A-B, split screen compare of the same SDTV channels) the 3416 is digital only, no analog tuners.
- for the rest of the house, I use the Extended basic analog channels, plus I have modulators to route the DirecTV TiVos throughout the hose, too. 

So, what am I saying?
- it was easy for me to give the Comcast HD DVR a try for no capital outlay, and no contract; the monthly fees are nominal
- I am happy with what I see
- local channel quality is better (SD can be compared; HD compared to OTA)
- I will likely keep both for a while (I realize not everyone can spend double for the same entertainment choices)

I recomend that if you have like DirecTV but are balking at the up-front capital commitment for new HD equipment, give Comcast a call, and give the service a try, especially if you are already a Comcast internet customer. The 3 month trial offers are inexpensive. I got Digital Classic + 3 months of HBO for $49/mo. During my first weekend, also had free Showtime.

If there were an easy way of trying the new HR20 from DirecTV, I would have given it a try, too. 

One other factor I am considering for the future - someday, my FiOS connection will have TV capability. Not spending a lot up front for DirecTV + HD DVR leaves room for eventual FiOS consideration.

For those wondering - wife and I work from home, so redundancy on the internet provider is the reason I have both Comcast and FiOS internet.

For OTA HDTV, I have multi-path issues that require an outdoor antenna with a rotator to assure reasonable reception. The need to rotate antenna negates the OTA HD TiVo. I am close to the towers. Multiple antennae could help, but adds to complexity.

Someday DirecTV will have HD locals for me, but so far, not yet. And the prognosis for new HD channels is low (other than locals).

Mike


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

Just switched since I got my S3. My goal is to go to FiOS, but the Comcast Tivo setup is the same, so I decided to convert now to fully use my S3.

No question, Comcast is better:
#1 - Use a real Tivo with full HD capability (Tivo S3)
#2 - Lots more HD channels (in my area), and no HD-Lite (i.e. no downrezzing)
#3 - Lots more digital channels
#4 - All SD channels look remarkably better than DirecTV
#5 - All HD channels look slightly better than DirecTV (but they have more, see #2)
#6 - No contract, so I can cancel as soon as FiOS is available here

It's a no brainer to go with Comcast, if you can afford the hardware switch.


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## mmihalik (Oct 10, 2000)

Good summary, and one more thing to add:
- yes the TiVo S3 is likely the better solution for TiVo users

As I suggested, you can try Comcast with no up-front costs, but you live with the Comcast DVR. This will show you the quality of the HD and SD contents. If you like what you see, you can upgrade to the TiVo S3.

There are several features you cannot access, though, with S3 TiVo:
- Comcast has free video-on-Demand for many programs, features and movies, in addition to pay video-on-demand. I was actually quite surprised by the selection of offerings, including dayt after rebroadcast of several network series programs. Both HD and SD programs are available.

Perhaps someday the TiVo S3 or successor will have this capability.

Also there is a promise by Comcast that soon there will be a TiVo software upgrade for existing Motorola 64xx and 34xx DVR cable boxes. The proposed solution is a software/firmware update for these boxes, adding the TiVo user interface. Seems almost too good to be true.

On the other hand, some Comcast markets are also contemplating new DVR solutions from Pace Micro for SD and HD.
Seems likethere will be many competing solutions in the coming months.

Mike


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## vikecowboy (Oct 29, 2003)

Too bad Comcast doesn't have all the NFL games ...


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

vikecowboy said:


> Too bad Comcast doesn't have all the NFL games ...


Good thing I don't care about sports (and local teams are usually available OTA/on Comcast).


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## Cody21 (Jan 11, 2004)

I'll add my opinion. I have been a D* subscriber for nearly 12 years. I jumped from Cable due to the lousy picture quality and service at that time. It appears that COMCAST has dramatically improved (QUALITY/HD) since then. Their (COMCAST) HD quality, the high speed internet, etc. all have made me reconsider my current options. D* frankly has sucked in this HR10-250 debacle and the 6.3 upgrade. The glut of Audio dropouts I now receive are very disconcerting. The more-than-occasional hangs and "Welcome - Powering Up" are also a pain (if not embarrasing when having friends over for a NFL game). D* has no solution to this other than upgrade (again) the hardware. This will be the 3rd time that we had to go through this upgrade path and climb up on our roof to change the dish. 

I guess what I'm saying is that D* has become way to hands-on for the benefits we get ... and considering the hint (fact?) of picture quality deteriorating with the additonal compression for MPEG4 and the new Satellite required for LILs and HD channels, well, it's no longer making sense to stick with the D* brand name. Heck, we're already paying $113/month (Platinum service, HD channels, and 1 add'l receiver); already dolled out $1,000 for the HR10-250, etc. Soooo, when the mandatory SWITCH to the HR20 comes up coupled with their required 2-year contract, we're gone.... moving over to Comcast. 

YMMV ...


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## patg25 (Nov 25, 2004)

My HR10-250 has been working without (mostly) any problems. No reboots, no lost recordings. Yes, I know have the audio dropout problem with 6.3. PQ is fine, at least on the NBC NYC feed that I get (I expect the locals to be of that quality - maybe I am wrong there). So overall I am satisfied. In addition, I already spend $1K on the box and are not looking to spend a lot of $$$ or the S3 Tivo (not to mention subscriptions - I also have 2 SD Tivos). 

Once you have the HR10-250 it would be very hard to go to a box with a smaller HD. I probably can live without Tivo, but would want at least 30 hours of HD recording.


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