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Are you a digital cable television subscriber thinking about switching to satellite TV? Or, have you been receiving your programs via satellite and you?re thinking about switching to digital cable? Either way, we have suggestions to help you make your decision.
Perhaps the most crucial aspect of this choice is price. According to our research, pricing on both digital cable and satellite service are competitive. For example, DirecTV offers its Total Choice package, which includes 135 channels, for $41.99 a month. The company includes the satellite dish and four receivers free if you?ll sign a year-long contract to receive this Total Choice package, but there?s an extra $14.97 per month charged for the three additional receivers, bringing the total to $56.96 per month. On the cable side, a typical price for digital cable service with a single receiver is around $50 per month. Available for that price, for example, is Time Warner?s DigiPic 1000 package which consists of 200 channels and 46 music (audio-only) channels. This price doesn?t include four receivers as quoted in the satellite price, however.
If you want HD programming, the cost escalates with satellite TV. DirecTV requires a $200 outlay for an HD set-top box, and in the deal you get two other standard definition set-top boxes as well, resulting in a total cost of $67.95 per month. That contrasts with Time Warner?s free HDTV service to those who are already subscribing to digital cable.
Cable also holds a slight edge with a wider choice of HD programming. Cable companies pass through network HD programs, where all of the primetime dramas on the major networks are now produced in high-definition, as well as numerous special events, Major League Baseball and NFL football games. The satellite purveyors are playing catch-up in this area, where DirecTV only recently added broadcast networks in high definition, and the Dish Network currently only offers CBS.
Both digital cable and satellite services charge extra for premium channels such as HBO and Showtime. Typically, cable will charge you a monthly fee of $10-$12 per premium channel, and offers them in special bundles such as Time Warner Cable?s DigiPic 2000 package, offering two premium channels along with the 200 digital cable channels for $20 more -- $69.95 per month. In a similar way, DirecTV satellite service offers a sliding scale where your first premium channel is $12 per month, and the second one is $11 per month and so on. In short, both cable and satellite will offer you hundreds of channels plus two premium channels for about $75 per month.
Both cable and satellite also offer digital video recorders (DVR), those life-changing devices that allow you to pause live TV and skip over commercials with reckless abandon. Both cable and satellite services will charge from $10-$13 per month extra to use these boxes, and satellite purveyors will often require you to buy the DVR. If you want a high-definition DVR via satellite, the recorder/receiver could cost upwards of $800, or around $250 to lease an HD DVR from a satellite purveyor. Not so with digital cable, where there?s no charge for the set-top box itself, but there is a charge for using it each month.
The best DVRs use the TiVo software, which is much easier to use. Cable provider Comcast offers the TiVo interface, as does DirecTV. DirecTV is no longer advertising the availability of the TiVo service even though it?s still offering it, because the company is now touting its own DVR interface. Time Warner Cable offers a Scientific-Atlanta DVR running Pioneer software, which is decidedly inferior to any others we?ve tested. If you do decide to get a DVR, which is highly recommended, we?d suggest opting for one with the TiVo interface, which has highly desirable features that aren?t available anywhere else.
Digital cable also offers on-demand programming, where the set-top box is addressable from the cable company?s head end, letting you order a specific show and watch it immediately or at your leisure. Satellite counters that by touting the capabilities of its DVRs, where you can record programs and watch them at a time of your choosing. Another advantage of cable services -- Internet broadband service is usually available at a lower price if you?re already subscribing to one of its higher tiers of digital cable programming. For instance, Time Warner cable offers its Roadrunner broadband service, normally $45, for $40 if you?re already subscribing to its DigiPic 2000 cable service. For satellite subscribers, there?s no equivalent to cable-based broadband service, but some satellite providers have partnerships with those who provide DSL service which uses phone lines for broadband connectivity.
What about the quality? Consumer Reports recently published a survey of 1750 subscribers of both cable and satellite, and found that satellite subscribers were more satisfied with their picture quality, returning a subscriber score of 81 out of a possible 100, compared to digital cable?s score of 73. Satellite TV has a slight disadvantage with its reception, however, because in a heavy rainstorm, or if there?s a buildup of snow or ice on a satellite dish, reception can suffer. On the other hand, Consumer Reports reported that digital cable users lost their service for a day or longer more often than satellite users, with 17% of cable subscribers having that problem versus only 11% of satellite users.
Although digital cable appears more expensive on a per-month basis, the cost of satellite is roughly equal if you?re planning to receive high-definition television. The choice between the two is a tossup, often hinging on whether cable service is available in your area, or if you plan to subscribe to cable-based broadband Internet service. Another suggestion?if you?re in the market for either digital cable or satellite service, oftentimes each will offer promotional discounts for its services. Even after you?ve subscribed to either one, sometimes if you ask a cable or satellite company?s customer service department about specials it might be offering, you might be pleasantly surprised. Whether you pick satellite or digital cable, the quality of both is rising, and the competition between the two keeps prices at a reasonable level.
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Related Sites: Oceania , CEN - Consumer Electronics Net , CEN - HomeTheatre , CEN - TVs
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