Cable verses Satellite TV

[JustJoy]

We have digital cable and DH has been thinking about switching to satellite. He thinks we will be saving money. Right now we have 3-4 premium channels and it's costing us a fortune. He still wants to keep the premium channels if we switch. Would we actually be saving anything? What are the pros and cons? With digital cable we have On Demand which DH loves and I'm pretty sure satellite doesn't have that. Can you tell I'm confused?.... lol

[Dedlered]

I would say that the biggest con for me with Satellite is that you have to sign a contract. With Cable you can quit anytime you like.

As far as cost, Satellite has good introductory prices but once they expire their regular prices can be pricey. And you may have to buy or rent all of the equipment, the dishes and the boxes. You are also limited to the number of televisions that you can hook up to the "boxes"

This is what my research has uncovered and it may be different for others in different parts of the US.

[PennyPinchinPam]

I have to agree w/ Laura on this topic. Satellite companies waht a one year contract and their prices tend to increase frequently. It's an extra $5 a month per receiver a month if you want TV in your bedroom or any other room. With cable it's in every room of the house that has a cable jack and you don't get charged extra. IME satellite is more expensive so we are now strictly cable. Sit down with your hubby and check out the web sites and package plans for each company. The "On Demend" feature is something only Comcast offers so you'd lose that service if you switch.

[SewCrafty]

We have satellite and it is all we can get out here. I don't know much about cable but here are the cons with having a satellite dish.

If you live where it snows, expect to have to go outside and clean off the dish to get a picture.

If it is very windy where you live, not only storms but wind can block out your picture. This is due to the dish moving around especially if it isn't installed properly, ask me how I know this?

We have Dish Network and they offer "Dish On Demand" which are movies. Never used it myself so I don't know how it works though.

The cost? I'm not sure as hubby takes care of the bills. We have the package that includes, broadband internet, dish, and telephone.

On the dish we have the 180 (channel) package (I couldn't live without my Discovery and National Geographic Channels, LOL) but have canceled all the premium channels. The phone has unlimited long distance calling in the US.

HTH

[kabin63]

We just got satellite installed, Dish as a matter of fact, because we were only getting up to channel 60 with mediacom. With Dish we get 180 channels, plus local plus DVR, with extra receiver for about the same money as the cable. I agree, if the weather is foul you can lose your signal, but it's ok most of the time.
We get the one premium channel free right now, but will cancel when time is up. Don't watch it that much anyway...

[lottaLove]

We have also had both, but much prefer the satellite. I love my dish, because unlike cable, you can take it anywhere with you. If you go camping or anything like that, you can bring your dish, hook it up wherever you are, and get the same programming you do at home without it costing you extra.
We have never had to brush snow off our dish, and we have snow most months of the year. I guess this depends on which satellite your dish is pointing to, the way ours is positioned, it is almost vertical so no snow would ever stick on it.
I find there is more variety in programming with the dish. If you get ABC East, you also get ABC West along with it. They do this with almost every basic network channel, so if I am not home to watch my show at 9pm, I know that I can catch it at 11pm when it airs on the West Coast.
We can bundle our dish with our land line and cell phone.

The only perk I found with cable was that you can change your premium channels on a whim without it costing you extra. For a while, I was getting HBO only one day per week so that I could watch the Sopranos, and then switching to a different channel for the rest of the week.
Hope this helps!~

[miss_thrifty]

satelite here is no more chaepere. we owned one last yea it was the first model in bells exspress vu, 2700 model, and from that time 6 years later, it went up to almost $25 more . And we bought our at the time for $99, now ther over $200 here, renting isnt cheaper on staelit in PEi.
cable we pay $$38 amonth, that with the basics, kids channels (5 of them ) and channels 50-65. whoopy, but better then nothing.

[voodidit]

Cable for me is cheaper. Our cable company also offered a premium digital package, cable internet and phone service for $99 a month. I can call anywhere in the US and Canada for free so it's great as my phone bill was about $50 just in itself.