[Speed Gibson,
Saturday July 30, 2005 at 11:33pm]
Cable vs Satellite
For the record, I serve as a city-appointed volunteer representative on the Northwest Suburban Cable Communications Commission, which serves nine northwest suburbs. We handle franchising issues and operate the (award winning) Channel 12 news and public access facilities. We don't set or regulate rates, however.
Having just upgraded from analog cable and dial-up internet, I believe cable is the best way to go. Yes, you can do satellite TV with Tivo of course. You can do DSL through your telephone company, and all in all it's usually less expensive. But unless you have a specific requirement like NFL Sunday Ticket, I think cable gives you more.
Yes, we get all the local channels, we get Channel 12, plus whatever channel package you sign up for. The combination of HBO, Pay Per View, and especially Video On Demand (VOD) beat even NetFlix. I doubt our local video rental location will see much of us from now on, if at all.
We watched "The Day After Tomorrow" on VOD yesterday. It started when we were ready (on demand), and we paused it for a few minutes to handle an interruption. The movie was pretty bad, but the experience was great.
We also got the dual-tuner Digital Video Recorder (DVR, like "Tivo"). We can record one show while watching another, unlike most Satellite Tivo systems. It's integrated into a single set-top box - no separate cable box - and it doesn't need a phone line to get program information.
Cable broadband Internet is blazingly fast as I noted before. My son tells me his X-box goes full throttle even over the wireless home network. And I've noticed that downloads go three times faster than my T-1 LAN office computer.
Finally, let me give Comcast some kudos for a fast, perfect installation, and good assistance with one minor e-Mail software of theirs. I was never even put on hold. The old days of the clueless technicians may be behind us, perhaps at Qwest as well.
Anyway, I am impressed, happy to pay for a betterMinnesota TV/Internet solution.
Having just upgraded from analog cable and dial-up internet, I believe cable is the best way to go. Yes, you can do satellite TV with Tivo of course. You can do DSL through your telephone company, and all in all it's usually less expensive. But unless you have a specific requirement like NFL Sunday Ticket, I think cable gives you more.
Yes, we get all the local channels, we get Channel 12, plus whatever channel package you sign up for. The combination of HBO, Pay Per View, and especially Video On Demand (VOD) beat even NetFlix. I doubt our local video rental location will see much of us from now on, if at all.
We watched "The Day After Tomorrow" on VOD yesterday. It started when we were ready (on demand), and we paused it for a few minutes to handle an interruption. The movie was pretty bad, but the experience was great.
We also got the dual-tuner Digital Video Recorder (DVR, like "Tivo"). We can record one show while watching another, unlike most Satellite Tivo systems. It's integrated into a single set-top box - no separate cable box - and it doesn't need a phone line to get program information.
Cable broadband Internet is blazingly fast as I noted before. My son tells me his X-box goes full throttle even over the wireless home network. And I've noticed that downloads go three times faster than my T-1 LAN office computer.
Finally, let me give Comcast some kudos for a fast, perfect installation, and good assistance with one minor e-Mail software of theirs. I was never even put on hold. The old days of the clueless technicians may be behind us, perhaps at Qwest as well.
Anyway, I am impressed, happy to pay for a better