Digital Direct TV vs HD via Cable


Will be getting an LCD TV. I have cable with the option to receive HD television with the purchase of their cable box and a fee per month. I may also be able to (they have to send someone to evalutate) get Direct Digital TV. Which one should I go with? Pros and cons? I'd appreciate the feedback. peace, warren
128x128warrenh
Edesilva...You are absolutely right that the local cable provider can make or break cable, and your house's suitability for dish location can make or break satelite.

I bought my own satelite hardware and installed it myself without any problem whatsoever. It took me a couple of hours. My signal strength is in the mid 90's, which is considered very good. The ideal dish location, from a reception point of view, happened to be ideal from a cosmetic point of view (hidden away on a back roof). Not everyone will be this fortunate.
I have Directv and it is very good, but you might want to look at Voom they give you everything free and include an antenna for local channel HDTV feeds. No long term contract either. The only downside is no PPV and no NFL sunday ticket. No NFL sunday ticket was a deal breaker for me. Hope you don't have this addiction.
The first thing you need to get a handle on is the availability of what we call OTA (over the air) High Definition broadcasts. I seem to remember addressing this earlier and perhaps in a thread that you either started or were a part of. Then again, perhaps not so here goes:

If you can get a decent OTA signal, this will seriously aid you in your decision. I live in one of the five major metropolitan areas that Beta-tested High Definition broadcasting more than five years ago and, such being the case, most of the bugs have been worked out to the extant that networks like ABC can now alert us of the ten movies per year(!) that do not come in High Definition. You get the best audio in OTA broadcasts. My local PBS station's concerts are fantastic in High Definition.

The problem with OTA is that they broadcast in UHF frequencies and this means that you must be able to receive an unobstructed signal from the antenna to your home. Again, I am lucky as I live on a hill and I can see the mountain from which almost all of the HD signals come from. So, a very simple $35.00 Terk antenna mounted on my attic window sill does the trick without any amplification. I collected $$ from the siblings and I installed a plasma monitor, Direct TV and anantenna for my wife's Father in Northern Indiana and his antenna reaches almost twenty feet from the top of his house. He also prefers OTA over Satellite and this allowed him to cancel cable.

If you can't get a decent OTA signal then you are probably better off with cable and the whole god-awful monopoly service that comes with it.

One thing you can do is go to www.antennaweb.org and follow the prompts to see what kind of antenna you might need in your area. You still must test the results for yourself as UHF is really strange in that twin, look-alike houses sitting next to each other either can or can't get the same decent signal. Also, www.avsforum.com will tell you who is broadcasting in your area and when they will be capable of getting you HD signals in your area.

So, again to answer your question, if you can get good OTA then Satellite is good. If not, cable is your answer. finally, While my Father-in-Law has direct TV, I have Dishnet and I prefer Dish over DirectTV.
Hey Warren ..I had both cable and sat at the same time.. and now I have only one. And its not cable..Tom
Hey Tom, I had both at the same time too, and now I have only one. And its not DirecTV. It all depends on your signal quality--I had SAT A, B, and C in the high 80s to high 90s and I still get better PQ from Comcast. YMMV.

OTA is free, and that is a *good* thing, in the words of a notable convict. If you bought your set now, it probably doesn't have an OTA tuner--buying one will set you back a couple hundred on an open box special. I'll second UncleJeff's recommendation of antennaweb.org. It will tell you who is on air in your area and what kind of antenna you need to pick them up.