Today I remembered why I have Satellite

[Lee L]

As much as I am still frustrated with the whole bait and switch routine regarding the HDTV stuff on Dish Charlie/Tech Chats and the interminable waiting, I was reminded today why I have Satellite in the first place.

In an article about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, our local paper mentioned that Time Warner here does not carry Bravo on any tier at all. Now I will admit that Time Warner is leaps and bounds better than they were when I first subbed to E* 6 years ago but Bravo is not some Obscure channel IMO. With satellite, I have consistently better service with more selection.

So I will still complain about Dish not getting moving on HD and the situation regarding their way premature introduction of the 921 and the constant delays it has suffer is still laughable, I can still appreciate what I have now. Plus it makes my decision that much harder if the 921 keeps getting delayed. ;)

[Timmy]

Yes, but there are also several great channels out there carried by cable companies, and not carried by Dish, like, Trio, Goodlife, HBO Zone, etc., etc., etc.

[Chris Freeland]

Yes, but there are also several great channels out there carried by cable companies, and not carried by Dish, like, Trio, Goodlife, HBO Zone, etc., etc., etc.

Thats not entirely true here with Comcast Chattanooga, the only channels that Comcast has here that I can not get on E* is C-Span3, a couple of extra VH1 and MTV channels, the Insperational Network and a few additional premium repeat channels, none of these are a big deal to me and E* has many more channels that are not on Comcast here that I do care about.

For those who want HDTV, Comcast has are local CBS-HD, HBO-HD, SHO-HD and that is it. The cost for the digital HD box which is required even if you already own a HDTV with digital HD tuner built in is $5 over the price of SD digital. If all you want is the local CBS-HD, you would need to sub to Limeted basic for $8.65 + digital-HD STB $11.50 = $20.65. Digital Plus-HD which includes STB, 65 analog basic and local channels, local CBS-HD, 45 Music Choice channels and 35 digital basic channels will run you $60.94 per month.

[Cyclone]

I still can't believe that my local comcast doe not carry Speed on any of its tiers. I mean Speed isn't just show obscure series anymore. Its the sole provider of F1, WRC, CTS. A lot of CART and tons of NASCAR coverage.

[FTA Michael]

Me, I've been reading articles about the sex lady on Oxygen and Laugh-In reruns on Trio. And I'm reminded weekly that even though I get two local PBS stations, together they don't carry Mister Rogers as often as PBS Kids does alone.

When I do picture-in-picture of extra innings between two teams on two RSNs, or when I check out Japanese news or Washington U.'s channel, that's when I'm glad I have Dish. YMMV.

[JStanton]

Me, I've been reading articles about the sex lady on Oxygen

Sunday Night Sex with Sue is one of the best shows I've ever seen. Hilarious and useful. The one thing I miss from cable.

- Jim

[bills976]

I'm glad I have satellite because unlike the cable company, when our power came back on, Directv was ready and waiting. My cable internet service was down and TW's message said not to expect cable service until this afternoon!

[Karl Foster]

I am reminded of why I have satellite every time I go to my parent's house. They have basic Comcast cable service. They pay about $30 a month for about forty stations. True, they get them on every tv without a converter box, but the picture is so horrible, there is no guide, etc. I feel like I am stepping back in time to the 1980's when I visit them. Everyone else in the family - my siblings, and all of my wife's family, have Dish Network. I am the lone wolf with Directv. I have tried repeatedly to get my parents to come on over, but they have no interest. Seems comlicated to them.

As far as the station differences between providers, we do watch Trio quite a bit, my wife likes to watch Isaac Mizrahi on Oxygen, and my daughter is outgrowing PBS Kids (but she loved it when she was younger). Not do or die stations by any means. Bravo, though, is on quite a bit. My wife watches many programs on Bravo, and it would be a deal-breaker if it wasn't offered. Bravo also has many specials from Circue de Solelil (sp?), and they are replaying Boomtown over the summer.

[BobMurdoch]

Here in NJ yesterday, the lights went to half brightness and our circuit panel was making a buzzing sound for a few seconds. But within 30 seconds everything was OK. Little did we realize what was happening 40 miles away in NYC.

Our DSL service went out right after the "event". Rebooting everything to be safe, I saw that our DSL modem could not connect (ready light was blinking instead of solid as it should have been). Turned the modem off and on again and within 15 minutes service was back. Had to reboot the router as well.

When I got home the Optimum Online service was working after I rebooted the router which had a red light and the modem.

For once I can't complain about the services. Verizon was back up here in Central NJ in 15 minutes and if Cablevision's service was down, they had it restored by the time I got home. Satellite worked fine, although I was only watching MSNBC so I don't know about the local channels (I don't watch them until September ANYWAY).

Although I am curious about what caused this mess, I like the fact that this may force them to throw some money at improving the situation. Bush doesn't need MUCH impetus to focus on energy issues, this will be a gift to him. I was laughing at the Dems trying to pin this on Bush, after blaming him last week that he was TOO focused on energy (I'm more a libertarian than a Republican, and I aim barbs at both sides when I think they are overreaching with their criticism, but I think that the Dems will make a huge mistake by trying to pin this on them. Blame the NIMBY types (not in MY back yard) for resisting the building of new power plants. The same people who fight efforts to increase capacity are the same ones arguing that the Bushies aren't doing enough to increase it. Huh?).

New York isn't burning (Cleveland's a little thirsty, but that should be fixed soon), and people are remarkably calm. I think everyone is relieved that it WAS an accident and not a virus or a terrorist attack. I wouldn't want to have been down in the subway when the lights went out, I would have jumped to ALL the wrong conclusions right off the bat.

[Mike Richardson]

Whenever it storms really bad the DISH goes out for about 5 minutes, and half of the time, the cable modem goes out for HOURS!