Cable TV provider advice

[bellenseb]

Moving to Virginia and inheriting a plasma HD TV...What is the recommended service provider - Comcast, DirecTV, or Dish?
 
 I'm looking for decent price, HD signal, and a DVR included in the deal. Thanks for any advice...

[cjdawson]

DirecTV is the way to go - 100%. I love it. They seem to have a special. Take a look:
 
 http://www.directv.com/see/landing/hd_3monthsfree_offer.html
 
 I hope this helps

[Sir HC]

Satan if he does cable.  Least of the evils.  
 
 I hate Comcast with a passion, they are are provider and make Verizon look service oriented.  For 2 years we had a bad line (digital cable didn't work) and they kept sending dolts out saying it was in the house and putting in a new cable with no change.  Finally called the Better Business Bureau and boom, they sent a competent tech over who realized the cable from the street (all the way down the block) was bad.  That was a pain for them to replace, but after 2 years, they did.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by bellenseb:
   HD signal

If you're thinking long term, D*TV is the only way to go today.  Cable switched to Digital because analog channels were taking up much of it's bandwidth and needed to give up the bandwidth-hogging analog channels to be able to offer more channels.
 
 Now with HDTV, Cable is going to have the same problem in the next few years.  There is a limit to how many HD channels they can deliver over existing cables.  Your next "Cable" company is going to be Verizon or SBC (depending on where you live) because they have Fiber Optic (FiOS) cables capable of carrying 100 times the HD programming that your current cable company can deliver (and in some places Time-Warner will do the same).
 
 Therefore, while Comcast might be a better option now for HDTV than Satellite television (for a myriad of reasons including ease of installation, simple integration of local HD programming, and a free DVR), it won't be in the next 6-12 months when D*TV gets its 4 new satellites up and offers the most HD programming on the planet.
 
 The free DVR is an interesting concept, but do the math.  D*TV is still cheaper than cable after the introductory rates expire (usually three months).  So figure out if your DVR is really free of if you end up paying for it in the long run.  
 
 As for the DVR, D*TV is offering it's own DVR next month, but make no mistake about it - there is no DVR like a TiVo DVR.  And with the new patent suits TiVo is filing against other DVRs, you're all about to see why (season pass, 8 seconds back, two week advance programming, 30 second skip, etc. are soon to disappear from other DVRs).  I would recommend bargaining with D*TV as well - there is wiggle room with them in light of all this competition.
 
 OnDemand is a great concept, but until the major networks start doing it as well, it's not worth the switch in my eyes.  The channels offered by on demand already air most of their programming 100 times a week anyway, so if you missed it the first time, you can get it again with your TiVo.
 
 Lastly, the NFL Sunday Ticket will remain exclusive to D*TV through 2010, and probably longer.