The biggest plus I see for cable is that you can get the locals in HD. It'll be awhile before the BCS market gets them via sat. I "moved" to Houston to get HD locals.

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Are the locals BCS? Yes, BCS/Waco

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directv does not have HD locals in the b/cs area.... SD locals and HD locals are different things. And thats actually very important here because we dont have all of the stations avaliable on the airwaves (no nbc or abc). SL does have all as you already know. There used to be a few tricks to get around that requirement but as I understand it you can do anything to get locals anymore.

And its especially nice to have cable for clear QAM stations.... getting the HD locals into media center is awesome (and takes care of 90% of my recordings.... eliminating the sl dvr). Which is especially nice because I have just over 1 terabyte of storage for my recorded shows (sure beats the 160 in the sl dvr and whatever is in the dish/directv dvr)

IMO the best thing to do for the moment is stick with SL and hope fios comes to town soon. Or if you are looking at any sat service dish is a much better deal atm.

[This message has been edited by jagouar1 (edited 3/15/2007 9:32p).]

Never said that they were HD locals, and honestly, those are the few stations I can live without HD until they are available.

I don't care about local channels (they get their 'news' from the newspaper just like the rest of us).

I want a FAIR and LOW price. Suddenlink has issues with that desire. (And I understand they spent a lot of money to upgrade and expand in our area, but tough. 130 a month for cable, some HD, and Internet is obscene.)

And despite the expanidng and upgrading...the connection speeds have ground to a crawl. maybe they upgraded by buying cheap, old stuff.

You folks kill me.

Sometimes LOW <> FAIR.

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130 a month for cable, some HD, and Internet is obscene.

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Same as satellite. And it doesn't HAVE to be that much.

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maybe they upgraded by buying cheap, old stuff.

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Keep telling yourself that. Millions buys some pretty good ****. I've seen it.
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I want to hear more about the SL plans that others in our region are getting for significantly less than us. Details would be super.

Good news!

SL is offering IP phone service for $39.95 with unlimited long distance. It can be packaged with cable and Internet with discounted pricing.

And there is different pricing for SL. It stands to reason with the cable competition in other areas, but again, it's still in the same ballpark we pay here (as is satellite).

Also, there are no contracts with SL -- on the service or equipment. Apparently the latter is how satellite companies can get you.

BTW, I'm still ready to change to satellite as soon as I see some proof of the exceptional non-promotional pricing.

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BTW, I'm still ready to change to satellite as soon as I see some proof of the exceptional non-promotional pricing.

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Pricing may be similar but you get more bang for your buck with satellite. For $20 more a month you can add something like 30 HD channels to any Dish Network package you subscribe to. These are in addition to your local HD channels.

Dish Network subscription packages start as low as $29.99 which includes channels comparable to the expanded basic cable package offed by suddenlink.

So doing some math we get...

Dish Network:
$29.99(Base Package) + $20 (HD Channels) + $5 (Local Channels) = $54.99

Suddenlink:
$49.98 (Base) + $17.90 (HD Channels) = 67.88

None of these include promotional offers and the Suddenlink HD price includes the $7.95 hike.



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

SL called me today, as a follow up to the flyer they sent informing us of the rate hike (7.95 mo) for HD.

I was unhappy they were increasing rates and told them so. I accepted the free month but may still go with satellite.

Anyone else get called?

Yeah I got the call. They asked if I wanted to upgrade to my current subscription.



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

[This message has been edited by o3 (edited 3/20/2007 4:54p).]

OK,

So I just got off the phone with them again.

1). There is a "digital gateway" fee on ALL accounts if you do not have HD or the lowest level of cable. This means that the difference between having HD (and paying the new rate hike) and not having HD is a whopping 3 dollars a month.

2). It is not possible to cancel the 9 HBO's I don't watch if I want to keep the 1 HBO main channel that I do. That's crap!

This sort of stuff is why people get upset with cable companies....

I agree with Redstone. What I don't like is how much they don't tell us. I called to drop the $8 HD Tier Plus. What they didn't tell me was they added the $5 Digital Gateway. So much for "No Charge" for HD channels. It took two more calls to get it put back to the original setup.

01,

Suddenlink is going to lose customers. I am considering going to Verizon, especially now that they are running some pretty attractive specials.

For once, I would just like to see a reward given to those that have been with Cox/Suddenlink for some time. Given the offers available only to new subscribers, it is clear that Suddenlink cares very little about customer retention.

New promotional deals are better to lure customers than the deals that current customers get? STFU! No kidding?

Ever had a cell phone?

FYI -- satellite is the same way! Whoa!

The market is what it is. If you don't like SL, switch. If enough do, the promotional rates will lure some more back. If it doesn't, then the regular pricing will change to reflect the change in the market. This isn't rocket science.

Really? That's how a promotional deal works? Thank you so much for explaining it to me.

You know what I like about my cell phone? For the two years I'm under contract, MY BILL DOESN'T GO UP! I'll take a contract over the random rate hikes any day.

The market is what it is, you say? Of course it is. There is no competition for cable here.

You know what I like about SL? Instead of being locked into a contract and resigned to bitching incessantly on a message board, I'm free to go get locked into a contract with a satellite provider.

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The market is what it is, you say? Of course it is. There is no competition for cable here.

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EXACTLY. So if all of you that threaten to leave SL would actually do it maybe the cost would go down.

Satellite quaifies as competition.

More than half of those that go to satellite come back.

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More than half of those that go to satellite come back.

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Source?



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

I had satellite and went back to cable...once. And it was only because my exhusband went to work for TCA; thus we got a hell of a discount. He quit working there a few years ago, but we still had an extended promotion for him being a former employee. After the divorce, it was less than a year before I went back to satellite.

1. Rate increases (and shady ones at that, for reasons explained over two pages here). It's true more is being "offered" - except there is no real choice.

2. Inability to easily get accurate and clearly presented information.

3. Inability to cancel 9 HBOs without canceling the main one. Therefore, pay for all 10 if I want to want the series that air on the main one.

4. 145 dollars a month for Internet, HD cable, and HBO. That is high.

5. No alternatives but one, and its a hassle to switch.

I'm sympathetic to arguments that people complain too much, but there is something here, and I ain't the only one who feels that way, not by a long shot.

The billing methods Suddenlink employs are shady. The proof: 1) Are you a college graduate?
2) Have you ever had trouble deciphering your Suddenlink bill?

I got the call the other day. We also complained and got the "free month." At least we now have a month to decide what to do.

DirecTV is advertising that they'll "soon" have 150+ channels in HD. I haven't found anything that says how soon, though.

sooner than suddenlink...

i got the call, too. I told them I would take the free month but would most likely be switching to satellite over it.

Oh well, hopefully Suddenlink will soon go the way of Cox, and then maybe I will come back to cable. I actually prefer it over satellite (Time Warner was great when I lived in Austin!) but Suddenlink is one of the crap-crap-crappiest service providers I have ever had the pleasure of being ripped off by. (99-aggie-grad, you obviously have some sort of connection with Suddenlink so I won't try to to argue with you, but if you are working there or have some other financial interest in the company you may want to take note of what others are saying instead of just dismissing it as whining).

Oh c'mon, let's argue!

And I don't work for SL.

99, do you have a response to the detailed comparison to satellite a poster did here, as you requested? That doesn't include the 9 month introductory specials on a two year contract, which makes it even better.....

Made the switch to satellite today. Lets see how this goes



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

Here's my bill for comparison. Its in Tyler, Tx

I hate paying this faulking bill.

o3,

Keep us updated on the switch to satellite. I am close.

Feel free to correct any of this info. Trying to compare Dish and cable packages is very nearly impossible. I must admit I don't understand the double listing that Dish uses for their channel lineup.

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99, do you have a response to the detailed comparison to satellite a poster did here, as you requested?

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It's probably not as detailed as it needs to be in order to accurately compare, but I can give it a shot. (Both satellite and cable pad their number of channels so its hard to compare apples to apples.)

One thing that strikes me is that there are over 80 worthless channels in the Top 250 -- just at first glance. I know cable has lots of filler too, but I know I don't get 70 music channels included in my advertised 250 (or whatever number I have).

How about the Top 100? Are all of the channels on this page in the package? If so there area about 45-55 duplicate/alternative/music/worthless channels.

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Pricing may be similar but you get more bang for your buck with satellite. For $20 more a month you can add something like 30 HD channels to any Dish Network package you subscribe to.

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Not every package qualifies for the upgrade.

SL is $23 including the hardware; Dish is $20 not including the hardware, albeit there are a couple of extra channels (that are worth anything).

quote:

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Dish Network subscription packages start as low as $29.99 which includes channels comparable to the expanded basic cable package offed by suddenlink.

So doing some math we get...

Dish Network:
$29.99(Base Package) + $20 (HD Channels) + $5 (Local Channels) = $54.99

Suddenlink:
$49.98 (Base) + $17.90 (HD Channels) = 67.88

None of these include promotional offers and the Suddenlink HD price includes the $7.95 hike.

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To me, these DO NOT qualify as local channels:
Waco/Temple/Bryan, TX Locals Package - $5.99 per month
Station Local Channel Number Dish Channel Number
WACO ABC-KXXV 25 8985
WACO CBS-KWTX 10 8986
WACO FOX-KWKT 44 8988
WACO NBC-KCEN 6 8987
WACO PBS-KNCT 46 8991
WACO PBS-KWBU 34 8992
WACO TMNDO-KXXVD 26 8993

For me, it's probably easier to compare top tier pricing rather than the cheapest packages.

Cable - I get basically everything I can except Starz and Showtime for about $115/mo (includes HD-DVR on two outlets).

Dish - $90 would get me all the movie channels + $20 for HD + $6 for locals + whatever the hardware is = $116 + the hardware (and the hole in my roof)

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3. Inability to cancel 9 HBOs without canceling the main one. Therefore, pay for all 10 if I want to want the series that air on the main one.

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Isn't this true with satellite?

[This message has been edited by 99_aggie_grad (edited 4/1/2007 12:25a).]

99_aggie_grad, theres only one true local channel, KBTX. Cable carries it, satellite doesn't. Point for cable.

As for the "filler" channels - like you said both cable and satellite have worthless channels that no one would ever watch so its a push as far as I'm concerned.

I dont know what channels matter to you, but I think its going to be nice to have a couple of more sports channels in HD. Most importantly ESPN2 HD.

With Suddenlink, TNT HD and ABC HD audio is out of sync and ABC HD has to be turned way up cause the volume is broadcast very low for some reason. Am I the only one with this problem?

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SL is $23 including the hardware; Dish is $20 not including the hardware, albeit there are a couple of extra channels (that are worth anything).

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I'm not too sure what hardware you are talking about but according to my satellite quote, I will only be charged an extra $5 bucks a month for an extra box I requested. I believe Suddenlink also charges something similar if you have extra receivers.

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Not every package qualifies for the upgrade.

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For HD - Qualifying packages include America’s “Everything” Pak, America’s Top 250, America’s Top 200 and America’s Top 100. I'd say 95% of their customers subscribe to one of these packages.



"There are 10 kinds of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

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With Suddenlink, TNT HD and ABC HD audio is out of sync and ABC HD has to be turned way up cause the volume is broadcast very low for some reason. Am I the only one with this problem?

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I have had that issue as well. I record everything in HD and SD on certain channels for the times when the audio is out of sync. That way I have a backup to watch. It sure takes up a lot of space on the DVR. Can anyone with satellite confirm that their DVR is any bigger?