Television service provider

Who do you coal burners out there use for your TV service ? I have just bought a new hd led TV and my picture was poor. The tv has the hdmi cable and my satalite receiver is only coax or rca jacks. Long story, I (HAD) direct tv and they wanted to SELL me new equipment. I ended up switching to dish network and the equipment was free. When I called to cancell my direct tv, now they want to give me the equipment for free, I told them it's like a barn, once the horse gets out,it is too late to close the door. WHY DIDN'T THEY MAKE THE OFFER WHEN I WAS A CUSTOMER. Long story short, if you want anything, service, call and say you want to terminate service

I've had Dish Network for just about 8 years now. Compared to our local cable company, there's nothing better. About half the cost & it almost never goes out -- only during the most severe summer T-storms. Customer service is great -- only had to call twice. I pay $68.24 a month for over 200 channels. Movie channels are $25 or so more, but I dropped them. My buddies with cable all pay over $110 a month for basically the same programming I have! I also have better channels - some that aren't offered with cable.

I used to lose cable for no reason at random times of the day for hours on end, at my old apartment. On top of that, their customer service sucked. They knew they were the only game in town ... but they forgot about the satellite guys. They'd have an attitude like "where else you gonna go???" When I moved in here, they ran a cable all the way up my street & ended at my house (they must've figured since the house just sold that the new owners would immediately connect - HA! ). Right after that I kept getting flyers & phone calls from them telling me "my service was ready!" I said I dealt with them before, & wasn't happy. Too bad for them -- they burned me once, & only once.

Smitty,I am glad to here you think there cumtomer service is great, I heard otherwise. As for direct tv, they wanted $100 for a new receiver and a 2 year contract. NOW WHAT DO THEY HAVE, I was with them since 2002, what did they ever have to do for me, and they had direct pay from me. Never had to mail me anything except when the price was going up They should of kept that mail.

This new high def tv is really clear, just like they are in the room. They gave me hbo and cinamax free for 3 months. I will probably be aple to count the pimples on them peparonies.

Yeah HD kicks ass. My buddies have it. I'm cheap, so I never got it. Hell, I'm still watching TV on a big square box!

DIsh was already installed when I moved in ... plus the guy had a hot card, so I had the Playboy channel for free for a couple years ... until they tricked me by saying I needed to update my card, or I was going to lose all my favorite channels, including that one.

I still have the old, slow, dinosaur of a receiver that was here when I moved in. I'd upgrade, but it seems they want to lease everything. I've got enough payments ...

You guys may laugh and think that I'm crazy, but I haven't subscribed to any TV provider since 1998. I can't see wasting my hard earned money for all of the garbage on TV. Even when I did subscribe there where only a few channels worth watching.

I use rabbit ears and a Channel Master HD off-air receiver to get all my local TV stations. A lot of people don't know or realize since the new FCC conversion to all UHF didgital frequencies, that the new off-air digital HD TV actually has just as good or better picture than the cable and other dish providers because there isn't as much compression of the data.

Also all of those old rabbit ears and roof top antennas from yesteryear are actually HD ready. You just need the HD digital recever and an HD TV to view it. With that said, I don't have a TV service provider monthly bill, or a bizillion channels that I'm not going to watch anyhow, and I'm still going to watch the Super Bowl on my HD BiG screen with a more clear and sharper picture than my buddy on his cable.

I know that this way of doing things is unconventional, but so is heating with coal today, With today's crappy economy we are all looking for alternative solutions with saving money.

Just an idea to now to think over?

Doug my brother -in-law went without a provider for a few years and was really happy. Not sure what he is doing now.

Recently I have been thinking about doing the same thing lets face it 200 channels of SH-- on and nothing to watch anyway! Why pay for it?
As for the cable company.
I wouldnt even let the cable company run thier line here when we built the house!
Long story short they screwd me out of almost 300. bucks and I told them Pay me back and I will let you threw they said no so I said no!

OOPs forgot I am using Direct Tv for now but lately I have had a lot of no signal time and getting fed up with it fast!

Well with using just off-air antenna, I have yet not to have channels, unless I don't have elecrticity. I'm so much happier not having a TV service provider and feel that my quality of life is so much better.

Really, with an off-air antenna and the internet, who needs a TV service provider? Maybe I'm missing something here?

I look at as those who still pay a TV service provider are similar to those tied down to paying the oil man for fuel. There are other more economical and better ways to heat, just as there are other alternative ways to recieving TV channels.

Just look at the membership growing on this forum, we all must not be crazy? Maybe we are the sane ones and everyone else is crazy?

But on a serious note, going off-air for TV with a digital receiver is a woderful technological development. Watching TV off-air with today's new set up is nothing like it was in the past. After viewing it, you would swear it was a TV service provider, until you compare the two and realize that the off-air picture is just as good or better.

Here is a link to the website Solid Signal. http://www.solidsignal.com/ They really helped me out get the set up I have and recommend checking them out. Spend some time there and it will get you thinking about going off-air too. They also have a lot of new cool tech gagets.

I couldn't live without the Sportsman Channel, History Channel, Speed, or The Outdoor Channel.

Plus I enjoy Fox News & the Sirius stations ... since I cancelled my XM radio due to their *censored* customer service.

I use a roof antenna but also have Dish. We never had cable or satellite until Mom moved in. She liked it for Gunsmoke & other old shows during the day. Now that both Mom's have passed we're kind of hooked (but not totally hooked) on Dish. There are a few shows and channels that we enjoy, but, the one thing we have grown dependent on is the DVR. Oh my gosh, it changed our lives. We have not used the VCR, not once, since the DVR landed. It's so cool to easily record stuff and also pausing live TV is a must! We do no tpay extra for hi-def now. I refused to pay the $10 a month extra and finally a few months back they changed things & we get it for "free". The bottom line for us is $69 a month for 200 channels, two DVR's and hi def.
That being said... I do believe that we will drop Dish eventually. $8 a month for Netflix and you get everything (and more) that's on Dish.... just a year late.

I've had Comcast Cable, DirecTV and just got rid of the Dish Network to switch to ATT Uverse. Cable was pricey with all kinds of rental fees (and their customer service is like a combat tour in Afghanistan), DirecTV was pricey and could not deliver equipment for local channels unless I cut down half the trees in the back yard (as a customer, I would have had to buy the expensive equipment to do it. not so with a new customer). The Dish system was actually a no contract deal supplied through ATT until they could get Uverse to me. The Uverse deal is about $80 dollars cheaper w/the phone/internet/TV package and the internet is much faster now. I'm happy for now.

Freddy wrote: She liked it for Gunsmoke & other old shows during the day.

Hey, that's not and old show but a GOOD show,they should start making new eppisodes, I watch it myself and Bonanza. History,home improvement shows and the discovery channel have some good programs.

SMITTY wrote:I've had Dish Network for just about 8 years now. Compared to our local cable company, there's nothing better. About half the cost & it almost never goes out -- only during the most severe summer T-storms. Customer service is great -- only had to call twice. I pay $68.24 a month for over 200 channels. Movie channels are $25 or so more, but I dropped them. My buddies with cable all pay over $110 a month for basically the same programming I have! I also have better channels - some that aren't offered with cable.

Wow...that's a lot higher than cable here. TW is around $60 for the digital package with HD channels. They even give it to you for $33 a month if you take internet and phone also for a total of $99/month for a year.

I've tried to move to satt TV, but the costs and convenience of cable haven't allowed me to move yet. I have changed the phone to Ooma so I no longer pay for that item saving me about $600/year.

My choices are Dish, DirecTV and NoTV. My vote would be for NoTV but the wife thinks otherwise. Cable thinks the folks on my road are too poor or too cheap and we’re geographically challenged for free over the air broadcast so DirecTV gets my money, not that it makes me happy but the wife is happy. Happy wife, happy life.

I have Service Electric cable tv. "The founder of cable tv" Their basic package is around $62/mo. No complaints here except when the price goes up. I've looked into both DirecTV and Dish network and am better off with cable after comparing the channel choices and cost.