Charter – Dish – Direct?

[Amigo2k]

So what do you have and what is your monthly bill?

I currently have charter and they just jacked my bill ….. again….

I was at 98 a month for my “package”, well my package ended and then it went to 137 a month. So I called and the new package is 114 a month and I have 5 meg down instead of 3 down (which I tested and it is now only 3 and I had 5 before, so I need to make a call again).

I have a HDTV which has a built in HD tuner and I receive the Free HD locals from charter.

I hate charter ….. grrrrrr……..

Topic

[GTO Man]

I have Dish Network and am happy with it. I had Charter a number of years ago and got tired of the price increases. So I switched to DirectTV. They raised their prices plenty so I switched to Dish. They are hooked up with ATT so I have one bill for high speed DSL, phone, and satellite(250 channel package) with HD. I pay about $152 a month. It would be interesting to know how many customers Charter will be losijng because of the NFL network controversy.

[Garibaldi]

I also have dish and really like it. They are a better value than directv – I recently switched.

I can tell you some pretty specific info since I just helped someone else get setup with them. To get a 4 room system, 1 HDTV with HDTV DVR, 1 regular tv with regular DVR, and 2 regular tvs with regular receivers, local channels, HD Channels, and the America’s Top 100 Plus package, it will be:

$45 for the first 6 months
$65 after that

I have noticed the digital picture to be very good (better than cable since it is a digital signal at higher resolution) even though its not HD. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[moparkid25]

I have the Farmer Five. I watched some of the game online at nfl.com/live until my internet locked up. MHTC’s internet sucks.

[GTO Man]

The present and future lies in satellite. The lines that cable uses need too much maintenance.

[Anonymous]

I am almost ashamed to tell you that I am a Charter customer, only because there were so few options when I moved into Fitchburg. It was either Charter or an antenna on the roof of my house, and the neigborhood covenants prohibited rooftop antenna.

I will be dropping Charter pretty soon, primarily because of the Big 10 Network and the NFL network not being available. I also don’t watch 80% of the channels that are provided in my package of service. It’s a shame you can’t pick and choose the channels that you would really like to have in your package.

I will need to replace the TV’s in my home before January 2009, so I will replace Charter at the same time.

[GTO Man]

It would be nice to pick and choose the channels you want. They know how to group them to make the most money. In that repect satellite and cable are the same.

[Garibaldi]

Quote:

I am almost ashamed to tell you that I am a Charter customer, only because there were so few options when I moved into Fitchburg. It was either Charter or an antenna on the roof of my house, and the neigborhood covenants prohibited rooftop antenna.

I will be dropping Charter pretty soon, primarily because of the Big 10 Network and the NFL network not being available. I also don’t watch 80% of the channels that are provided in my package of service. It’s a shame you can’t pick and choose the channels that you would really like to have in your package.

I will need to replace the TV’s in my home before January 2009, so I will replace Charter at the same time.

I think you’ll be happy with the satellite service and like you said that’s a perfect time to upgrade – get a digital signal for your digital tv. I do wonder if satellite receivers (the non-HDTV ones) will actually be affected by the change in 2009 because they are a digital signal, not analog like cable dontknow.gif

[moparkid25]

I too have wondered about the TV thing in ’09. To be honest, I really haven’t heard much of it, maybe that’s because I don’t have either or?

Both of my TV’s are 10 years old, will I have to upgrade if I have dish? I’m moving to my new house in the spring and was thinking of getting a dish…

[Amigo2k]

If you have charter or dish, you don’t need to upgrade your tv. If you ONLY have antenna then you need to purchase a separate box to convert the over the air HD to analog. In Jan 2009 the government is suppose to have coupons available for reduced rates for the converter boxes.

[Anonymous]

I hope to do it all in one fell swoop. I have a total of three TVs in my home, none of which are digital or HD. I want to upgrade to a HD (1080) picture, along with WS or wide aspect format.

[Amigo2k]

Ok so big switch has happened.

This past june I switch my interweb to ATT DSL. It is faster (there are websites out there to test it: speak easy speed test), and cheaper.

About a month ago I switched to Dish.

I got their 250 channel package with the HD DVR with 2 tuners.

This setup will allow me to watch 1 channel on the main TV and another channel on any other TV in the house from one box (i can also, access my recordings from any TV in the house).

I had it plugged into my old 4×3 32″ HDTV. The picture and sounds were noticeably better then Charter.

Then I jumped on Amazon and purchased a 52″ Samsung (550) LCD. free shipping and white glove delivery. This saved me at least 500 bucks then going to Best Buy to buy the same tv.

All I can say is WOW! the picture is unreal in HD, and i can still get my locals with an antenna in HD (so they are uncompressed) and I can record them too.

Right now I’m saving about 25 bucks a month with this setup and I also, get 80 more HD channels, a DVR and faster interweb.
Dish has a HD channel that has lots of car shows on it. One I’ve been watching the past couple of weeks is called: Chasing Classics Cars. Basically the show is about a guy who buys and flips cars at auctions. The camera shots of the cars in HD make it feel like you are there looking at the car.

5 stars for Dish!

[moparkid25]

Now that I’m living out in the country, I still have the Farmer Five local channels. I called the HD box number and have two coupons headed my way for converter boxes.

I still have my internet thru MHTC along with my local phone service. They also now offer cable TV and dish. Just for web and phone I’m paying $59 a month, which I don’t think is bad. I would like to get more of a tv selection but I’m not really home enough to make it worthwhile, and when I am I have plenty of work to keep me busy.

…Plus the GF has cable at her place, you can find me there on Sundays watching CSI: Miami on A&E jumpy.gif

[Amigo2k]

Quote:

O I’ve been watching the past couple of weeks is called: Chasing Classics Cars. Basically the show is about a guy who buys and flips cars at auctions. The camera shots of the cars in HD make it feel like you are there looking at the car.

One of the shows was filmed last year and the guy said twice during it: The economy has really slowed down and the number of people wanting to buy has dropped and so have the prices. I then he said, I sure hope the economy picks up next year….

[GTO Man]

There is a new player on the block, ATT’s U-Verse. Does anyone have it yet?

When is the new season of Chasing Classic Cars starting?

[Amigo2k]

I’ve heard that they are as expensive if not more then Charter, offer fewer channels then charter too ….

I hope they have a 2nd season of CCC. I’m sick of watching the same 10 episodes.

[Author]

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