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Posted: 6/23/2003 12:58:42 PM EDT
[#1]
Yup-
I switched to DISH 8 years ago, took me two more months to wean myself back to a productive life. Then last year I got a PVR508.... two more months of weaning! I'm dreading the switch to 100% HD Sat with the HD big screen - wonder how long it'll take me to recover from that one.... |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 12:58:47 PM EDT
[#2]
Quoted: We had it installed last friday. Well, I haven't moved from my lazy-boy all morning.Over so many damn channels that I can't stop trying to watch them all. Don't get it! It will rot your brain. There is such a thing as "too much of a good thing" Well, enough of my rant.Gotta get back to watching "Roxanne" with Steve Martin. Define "Good thing". We got Direct TV a few months back, and we couldn't believe the utter filth and stupidity that came in on it. And we had to pay for the privilege of viewing commercials now....[rolleyes] TV makes you stupid- I'm glad we hadn't watched even "free" TV for years, so we got rid of DirectTV after three months. I want those three months of my life back, please! |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:01:34 PM EDT
[#3]
Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is.
I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:05:19 PM EDT
[#4]
That reminds me... I've got about 3 weeks of Farscape's on the Tivo I need to get through [:D]
Ah, you'll get over it soon enough. 99% of what I use mine for is History Channel, TLC, Discovery, Sci-Fi and if TSHTF, the news networks. I'll subscribe to the movie channels for a month here and there if there's a lot of good stuff on and then drop them to save a few $$$ when things drop off. Gotta love DirecTV's website for instant programming changes. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:07:05 PM EDT
[#5]
My cable company keeps trying to sell me this 200-something channel package. I have the lowest level, about a dozen channels. I get strange reactions when I say, "No thanks. It's too much of a time thief as it is." Sure, I'd love to have History, Discovery, TLC, and such, but I make good use of the [b]B[/b]io-[b]O[/b]ptic [b]O[/b]rganized [b]K[/b]nowledge device (BOOK).
A while back we did go a year with zero TV, and it was a good year. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:08:43 PM EDT
[#6]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] In California? Nah. The last serious storms we had through here only took it down for a few moments. Now, when I was living in Mississippi we'd lose it for 5, 10, 15 minutes at a time and several times like that for each storm system that passed over. I miss real weather. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:09:26 PM EDT
[#7]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] i had the exact oposite problem. with cable i lost service at least once a month usualy several hours at a time. With dish during a BAD storm i might go 10-15 min at most. only lost signal twice all last year. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:12:31 PM EDT
[#8]
Don't worry, you will recover! Eventually. It took us a couple of years, but our TV watching has declined drastically over the last year or so; Still keeping the dish though.
As for "acquiring signal", that doesn't happen too often. Usually it only happens during heavy thunderstorms. With TJ living in CA, I don't think he'll have many problems with that. Even with Time Warner cable coming into my house already (for my Roadrunner cable modem) I still don't plan on switching over to digital cable. I don't like their costs, packages or the quality of their signal compared to dish. Just my opinion. Love my RR though, beep beep.[beer] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:15:43 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] I'll be glad to tell you how great it is in a storm... In 3 years, I can count on one hand how many times I've lost signal... Even when it did lose signal, it came back on in a few minutes anyway... How would you watch cable TV when the wires are knocked down from a storm ? How long do you suppose it would take to get them fixed ??? If a storm is thick enough to block your signal, you should probably be unplugging all your appliances anyway...[;)] Besides, why would someone choose cable TV, and pay more money for fewer channels ??? |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:22:07 PM EDT
[#10]
Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." You have been programmed right by the cable company. I have never seen a cable company that did not have more total down time a year that satellite TV. Not to forget the part about paying a lot more for cable for inferior quality and less features. You are just tooooooooo smart for the rest of us. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:23:58 PM EDT
[#11]
What's a storm? [;)]
You didn't get a PVR did you? Mine is always out hunting for new good (old TV) stuff to watch. I always have eight or ten old movies waiting to be watched in mine. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:29:06 PM EDT
[#12]
You guys are WAY to defensive about your TVs.
I was joking, but since I apparently hit a few nerves, I just state that I've been around enough sat. TVs to see a lot of problems during mild to heavy storms. I never had this problem with cable. Maybe sat. are better these days. BUT since we're on the topic, I actually HATE my cable provider. They charge WAY too much, and the selection isn't great. But I don't think sat. is any perfect solution. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:36:05 PM EDT
[#13]
BTW, when some wacko with a .50BMG takes out your provider's satellite, you'll be wishing you had cable...
Not to mention how the gov't uses your dish to monitor your brainwave patterns. I won't EVEN get into aliens, but let's just say that if you're REALLY into anal probing, you'll enjoy satellite TV! [:D] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 1:55:45 PM EDT
[#14]
I'm looking to get DirectTV. I'll live with the rare outage in exchange for getting more channels for less money. And the satisfaction of making the "fuck you" cancellation call to the cable company.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 2:19:31 PM EDT
[#15]
Turned the TV off 2 years ago. Havn't gone back.
I'll think about turning it back on when it's all HD. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 2:41:21 PM EDT
[#16]
Quoted: Define "Good thing". We got Direct TV a few months back, and we couldn't believe the utter filth and stupidity that came in on it. D'oh! You got the Filth and Stupidity package from Direct TV. If you had gone with DishNetwork, you could have gotten the Clean and Intelligent package. Oh well, you live and you learn. [;D] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 2:59:14 PM EDT
[#17]
Oh-oh this is not a good thing to hear. I am having Dishnet installed in the morning. Our cable sucks,it is snowy and I can not get half the digital channels sometimes. It is an old system and no chance of a rebiuld for several years and the channel selection is not good for what we pay. After doing a search on arfcom I picked Dishnet over Direct on the recomendation of several members of this board. We get some nasty weather once in awhile. I hope I dont have many problems with that.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:04:47 PM EDT
[#18]
I have a TV in my home but all it's hooked up to is a DVD player and a VCR. No cable or even an antenna. I watch about 5 movies a month, that's it.
That should explain my post count and my constant need for more bookcases. But my brain is actually getting clearer, and some of the places where it had turned into jelly are rejuvenating. TV slowly makes you liberal, stupid, (well liberal and stupid...same thing, sorry) it gives you a filthy mind, makes you tolerant of all kinds of things you would otherwise NOT tolerate.....the list goes on and on. Kill your TV before it's too late. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:10:04 PM EDT
[#19]
The whole losing service during storms was made to be a bigger deal than it really is by the cable companies. The birds that are going into the sky now make losing signal very improbable. I work for Dish and we very rarely lose signal because of storms. In fact in the four years that I've been there I think its happened once.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:20:29 PM EDT
[#20]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] And paying twice as much for half the channels. Cable sucks ass. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:22:17 PM EDT
[#21]
Hey Schapman will ice or rain on the dish cause it to loose the signal. I am going to have them put the dish on my roof so I wont be able to climb up there to clean it in a storm. I live about 285 miles south of you so you can get an idea about the weather here in the winter.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:33:58 PM EDT
[#22]
We dropped expanded basic channels a couple of months ago. Good decision. Now, all we get are the four networks and a few more channels. Not much to watch.
At some point, we may even drop cable altogether. Too many other things to be doing. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:37:39 PM EDT
[#23]
There's a reason why your cable is buried, it's dead!
What sucks is when you have all those channels and there is still nothing good on. I wish the porn channels were better though, I remember when they were back when I had my 12' dish! [sex][naughty] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:44:58 PM EDT
[#24]
Quoted: Hey Schapman will ice or rain on the dish cause it to loose the signal. I am going to have them put the dish on my roof so I wont be able to climb up there to clean it in a storm. I live about 285 miles south of you so you can get an idea about the weather here in the winter. It takes quite a bit on snow or ice caked onto the dish to have any kind of effect. At work they just use a broom on a long pole to clear dishes. The 13meter dishes are heated so there is no need. But for home, I dont know anyone who has ever needed to clear off their dish. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:49:29 PM EDT
[#25]
My digital cable was on the fritz so much I went back to analog. It wasn't worth the extra $10 a month, to watch a blank screen.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 3:49:40 PM EDT
[#26]
I'm on satelite..... I like it fine. Stays up. when the windstorms bring down the cable, blah, blah, blah.
Now, what's a PVR???? [:D] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 4:26:26 PM EDT
[#27]
Word to the wise, customize your list.
Otherwise you will spend a 1/2 hour just scrolling through the channel menu. Block out the QVC, Previw/Promotional and garbage channels such as Lifetime, etc. and you will be able to scroll real channels in 2 minutes. |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 4:27:11 PM EDT
[#28]
In the last year I had 20 incidents of "heavy weather" where my dish gave me the dreaded "no signal" error. These were times of heavy snow and very heavy rain.
There isn't any cable in my area. Phone lines are crap, I connect at 24k. When the little dishes first came out, a cable company was talking of running lines out my way, but they would only do it I pre-subscribed to a 5 year package and rates could change any time depending on membership size. They have to justify costs somehow. I told him to go screw himself! |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 4:40:10 PM EDT
[#29]
I lose signal maybe three times a year, and then only for a few minutes. The big blizzard we had in February had no effect. I had good signal through the whole thing. At the same time, Comcast lost almost all of Harford and Baltimore counties in Md., and it took DAYS to get it restored.
HKocher - I guess they don't have trees in MO? [;)] Trees kill cable around here VERY frequently. Doesn't even require a storm. Backhoes kill it too. Another advantage: If you lose power in your area, so do the repeaters on the cable poles. Cable goes out. Us dish owners simply fire up the generator and finish the movie/news/whatever. There really is no comparison. The fact that satellite is way cheaper is icing on the proverbial cake. Edited to add: You can also take your dish service with you. Throw a dish up on the RV or just set it up on the ground. I've taken mine up to my dad's cabin in NW Pa, and still could watch the local channels from back home in digital clarity. `Twould take a mighty long cable to do THAT! |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 4:55:51 PM EDT
[#30]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] I experienced just the opposite of that. I had cable and everytime there was even the smallest lightning or rain storm, my cable would go out for hours. I now have Dish Network for about 1-1/2 years now and only experienced maybe two times my satellite service went out for maybe 10 minutes. [b]ArmaLiter[/b] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 5:00:48 PM EDT
[#31]
Quoted: Word to the wise, customize your list. Otherwise you will spend a 1/2 hour just scrolling through the channel menu. Block out the QVC, Previw/Promotional and garbage channels such as Lifetime, etc. and you will be able to scroll real channels in 2 minutes. I agree. I customized my favorites and listed them into categories such as my favorite movie channels, sports, music, news and educational channels. [b]ArmaLiter[/b] |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 5:34:19 PM EDT
[#32]
[url]http://www.directv.com/see/landing/dvrp.html[/url]
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Posted: 6/23/2003 5:38:30 PM EDT
[#33]
Satellite here, and NO WAY I ould go back to cable, esp here in the boonies. Small town cable suppliers usually are assholes who got in on the get righ quick aspect back in the 80s, and now wont spend a nickel on upgrades. Ops
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Posted: 6/23/2003 6:03:10 PM EDT
[#34]
We got have both. Direct tv in the living room and cable in the other rooms only reason we have cable is it came with the cable modem service.
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Posted: 6/23/2003 6:08:28 PM EDT
[#35]
Now i've seen it all..
While flipping through the channels I came across a show called "Animal Cops" with two very rotund individuals.Looks like two guys dressed in black "vests" and what looks like an asp and a few other trinkets. What the hell kinda dog JBT show is this? They're investigating dog murders/deaths now? I love satellite tv..LOL |
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Posted: 6/23/2003 6:32:19 PM EDT
[#36]
I still like Dish. I have lost reception several times lately in bad weather for around 10-15 mins. But I just lose one satellite, which means the "independent contractors" who pointed the dish did a bad job. Grrrr. I wish I had gotten the 150 channel package, and I wish my wife would let me get HBO.
GunLvr |
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Posted: 6/24/2003 2:47:52 AM EDT
[#37]
Quoted: TV slowly makes you liberal, stupid, (well liberal and stupid...same thing, sorry) it gives you a filthy mind, makes you tolerant of all kinds of things you would otherwise NOT tolerate.....the list goes on and on. Kill your TV before it's too late. The rest of us are smart enough to filter out the crap and not be effected. I'll keep my DishNetwork thank you! [img]edjones7.home.mchsi.com/line.gif[/img] [url=www.nra.org][b][red]NRA[/red][/url] [url=www.nra.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url] [url=www.gunowners.org][b][red]GOA[/red] [/url] [url=www.gunowners.org][blue]Life Member[/blue][/url] [url=www.saf.org][red]SAF[/red][/url] [url=www.saf.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/url] [url=sas-aim.org][red]SAS[/red][/url] [url=sas-aim.org][blue]Supporter[/blue][/b][/url] |
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Posted: 6/24/2003 4:18:44 AM EDT
[#38]
I switched to Dish Network 1 year ago after my A T&T[now Comcast] was out for 7 days with no repairman. They finally called 2 days after I cancelled cable. JS
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Posted: 6/24/2003 4:51:47 AM EDT
[#39]
Quoted: Just wait until your first big storm, then tell us how great your satellite is. I'll be watching digital cable while you're staring at a screen that says "searching for signal." [;)] Its true that I'll lose signal for maybe 15-20 minutes 3-4 times a year when a big storm is postioned just right, but so what? If the storm is bad enough to interupt my signal, watching it is definitely going to be more entertaining than anything actually on TV. I kinda look forward to it and will go sit on my rocker on the porch as soon as the signal goes out, cause I know the "fireworks" will soon be there. I had cable before I moved out where dish is my only option. The improvement in picture and sound quality going from cable to sattelite is like going from rabbit ears to cable. Satellite is awesome in that respect. |
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Posted: 6/24/2003 8:16:26 AM EDT
[#40]
No cable where I live. DirecTV does fine.
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Posted: 6/25/2003 11:45:39 AM EDT
[#41]
I've had DirectTV sat and cableTV(for my cable modem) for about 3 years. Although gone from home sometimes for a few days a month, here is my take:
My cable TV/modem is SOLAR powered-if the sun ain't shining, its probably off the air. With DirectTV sat, I have had ONE brief off air experience I can recall in nearly 3 years in heavy rain, snow, etc. It is crystal clear and the audio is generally great! I just cancelled my cable modem due to rising costs and no competition.I will miss it but not the outages and spiking rates. AT&T/Comcast can kiss my A**! They are bandits! No competition in my area in the cable arena. |
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Posted: 6/25/2003 1:16:27 PM EDT
[#42]
Quoted: Hey Schapman will ice or rain on the dish cause it to loose the signal. I am going to have them put the dish on my roof so I wont be able to climb up there to clean it in a storm. I live about 285 miles south of you so you can get an idea about the weather here in the winter. Ice & snow on your dish is a problem. I live in Colorado Springs and we had a fair amount of snow/ice this past winter. I bought a dish cover for my dish 3 years ago & I haven't had any problems since. I also mounted my dish at shoulder level so I wouldn't have to climb up on my roof to scrape the snow/ice off the cover. |
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Posted: 6/25/2003 1:21:15 PM EDT
[#43]
The only time I had a problem with ice, it had accumulated on the plastic lens of the LNA during a freezing rain storm. I walked out, wiped it off, and it was good to go. I also have mine mounted so it's accessible from the ground.
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Posted: 6/25/2003 1:36:31 PM EDT
[#44]
My Dish is located high on the facia of my roof.
On the rare occasions during the winter that I get enough snow build-up to cause problems I just hook my lawn hose up and squirt(melt) the problem away in a couple of seconds. During sumnmer monsoons it will take a VERY heavy storm cell to block reception but usually only lasts a few minutes. Over all, in the eight years I've had Dish Network I've probably only lost the signal an average of 3 times a year usually for no more than 5-10 minutes. I'll never do cable again! If I can't have Sat, I'll just give up broadcast TV altogether. |
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