how does comcast cable compare to directv for quality of programming?

[dudester]

how does comcast cable compare to directv for the quality of programming?

I have a series 2 directivo but am not happy with the picture quality. i was thinking of getting a series 3 Tivo and switching to comcast. (i'm in houston if that matters) I was just wondering about the quality of the progamming compared to DirecTV

thank you

[bicker]

This is practically a religious question. Depending on where you ask and who happens to come by the thread and answer, you're going to get wildly different responses that by all rights shouldn't help you make any decision whatsoever. Moreover, while DirecTV provided a single line-up nationwide, cable company line-ups vary from town-to-town, and some line-up issues are subject to the whims of each local town board. Your best bet to overcome that last bit of complexity is to find a thread devoted to your local area. AVS Forums (http://www.avsforum.com) has such a thread for many local areas in the US.

I can tell you that here, in this part of Massachusetts, there are some notable differences: DirecTV has FX and Sci Fi in HD, while Comcast only has them in SD for now, with plans to add at least one of them in HD later this year. On the other hand, Comcast has PBS and CW in HD, while the last time I checked DirecTV has them in SD for now, with plans to add at least one of them in HD later this year. Otherwise, I don't see a significant difference from my standpoint.

[kinsekd]

I have a Tivo Series 3 and Directv HR 20. I can also receive some, but not all of the local channels OTA.

OTA in HD, when I can get it beats both hands down. Comcast HD beats Directv HD. Of course, this is in Nashville. YMMV.

[HomieG]

I am assuming you're asking mostly about picture quality...

We switched from DirecTV to Comcast about 18 months ago. The SD channel picture quality was significantly improved with cable. At that time, the HD channel picture quality was also significantly better with cable. Not sure how it would compare today with the MPEG4 HD channels on DirecTV...that wasn't an option for us at the time. We couldn't believe how poor the SD picture quality had gotten over the years with DirecTV until we switched back to cable.

Cable picture quality could vary, depending on the local cable company facilities. One suggestion is to sign up for cable perhaps for a month...sometimes there are local specials waiving the install fee. Compare for yourself before acquiring a Series 3 TiVo. If you don't like the cable picture quality, then you're not out a whole lot of cash. Generally speaking, unless you sign up for a promotional rate, you're not usually locked into a longer-term plan with cable, although it's best to check and mak sure if/when you sign up.

In our case, we made our decision to cancel DirecTV within a couple of days of having it along with cable. While this may sound odd, we had to set our expectations for customer service really low to accept going back to cable...and they haven't disappointed since we've had a few issues...our local City Hall is a good conduit to get them fixed.

[Pictor Guy]

I'll let you know this Thursday when Comcast comes over to install the Cablecards into my two TiVo HD's. I'm making the switch to Comcast from DirecTV because of the drop in support for TiVo. I want more HD channels and the HR10-250's are not going to get any more HD programming anytime soon. The local Comcast has more options for TiVo and the Wife didn't like the interface on the new MP4 DirecTV STBs. As a bonus we're getting a decent triple play price by switching and if we don't like Comcast the TiVo's can come with us over to FiOS when its available to us later this year. From what I can tell we will be missing the west coast feeds of some of the premium channels and the lack of Boomerang will be a huge blow to the kids. These two issues may also push us to FiOS at a later date but in the mean time we'll enjoy more available HD channels as SD programming is getting harder to watch.

[bicker]

Not sure how it would compare today with the MPEG4 HD channels on DirecTV...that wasn't an option for us at the time.And also note that that isn't an option, even today, with the DirecTiVo interface.

[HomieG]

And also note that that isn't an option, even today, with the DirecTiVo interface.

However it is with the current DirecTV HD DVR (non-TiVo) "HR20".

[Pictor Guy]

However it is with the current DirecTV HD DVR (non-TiVo) "HR20".

Wouldn't the current DirecTV HD DVR be a HR21? I don't think they're shipping the HR20 anymore. The HR21 lacks an OTA tuner. However this may be a non-issue for some but even in the Washington DC market I can get more HD programming OTA than what DirecTV offers for locals.