[eddnerd]

Hi,
I have Comcast cable right now and feel like I am paying too much. I wonder if anyone has had success in dropping their bill by switching to a tivo s3 or tivo hd? Is it possible to get comcast to sell you basic analog cable ($15) and the hd package ($7) without having to shell out an extra $30 for the same basic channels in their digital forms?

thanks,
Jake

 

[kennedy]

Hi,
I have Comcast cable right now and feel like I am paying too much. I wonder if anyone has had success in dropping their bill by switching to a tivo s3 or tivo hd? Is it possible to get comcast to sell you basic analog cable ($15) and the hd package ($7) without having to shell out an extra $30 for the same basic channels in their digital forms?

thanks,
Jake

Jake,

I can't help you with the Comcast HD package fee, but I was able to save a whole lot of money by dropping my subscription down to Analog and then putting up an antenna on the roof for free HD locals. In my experience, both the S3 and THD have great internal OTA tuners and provide me with an exceptionally stable HD picture. Good luck.

 

[eddnerd]

Thanks for the advice, I'm still holding out hope that I can keep ESPN HD.

 

[jfh3]

Thanks for the advice, I'm still holding out hope that I can keep ESPN HD.

That you most likely won't be able to do. You won't (shouldn't) be able to get ESPN HD if you don't have a package that has ESPN and I doubt ESPN is in basic cable.

 

[GoHokies!]

That you most likely won't be able to do. You won't (shouldn't) be able to get ESPN HD if you don't have a package that has ESPN and I doubt ESPN is in basic cable.

The basic cable usually has ESPN (around here at least, the OP didn't say where he was located).

Unfortunately, I've never heard of anyone getting ESPNHD without paying for dozens of digital channels that they don't watch.

 

[tootal2]

You can get hdtv with a antenna ota on the tivo hd. Thats how mine is setup now. HDTV from a antenna looks and sounds a lot better cable.

You

Hi,
I have Comcast cable right now and feel like I am paying too much. I wonder if anyone has had success in dropping their bill by switching to a tivo s3 or tivo hd? Is it possible to get comcast to sell you basic analog cable ($15) and the hd package ($7) without having to shell out an extra $30 for the same basic channels in their digital forms?

thanks,
Jake

 

[jfh3]

The basic cable usually has ESPN (around here at least, the OP didn't say where he was located).

Unfortunately, I've never heard of anyone getting ESPNHD without paying for dozens of digital channels that they don't watch.

For $15, I presumed the OP meant "lifeline" when he said "basic".

 

[jeffsinsfo]

ESPN is probably part of the Expanded Basic lineup but not Limited Basic. Limited Basic, for the most part, just contains channels that are available OTA as well as some shopping and government channels.

While I do think that some people have previously posted about getting cable cards installed while ordering a digital package and then subsequently keeping the cable cards for HD channels while downgrading to a basic lineup, I get the impression that Comcast wouldn't do a truck roll to install cable cards for an initial order of Limited Basic only.

According to the Comcast channel lineup in my area, the HD channels that one receives depends on the associated service level a customer subscribes to. Prior to getting a Series 3, I did have Limited Basic plus HD using a Comcast non-DVR HD box. I believe that the only HD channels I got were the OTA ones as well as In Demand HD.

The basic cable usually has ESPN (around here at least, the OP didn't say where he was located).

Unfortunately, I've never heard of anyone getting ESPNHD without paying for dozens of digital channels that they don't watch.

 

[drew00001]

On Seattle-comcast, we get ESPNHD and ESPN2HD as part of the digital classic subscription, which includes 5-10 HD channels and a ton of bandwidth sucking filler channels. Comcast previously told me that there is no "HD tier" available in my area.

To keep prices down, you can subscribe to analog basic ($10-15) and digital classic ($13-16), exclude expanded basis ($35) and get a good selection of channels. If you do this, you will not get many of the more popular SD channels until such are broadcast in HD. For example, TNTHD is available with digital classic package, but TBS is not available with this package because TBSHD is not available. I would have to subscribe to the expanded basic package to get TBS SD.

As you might have noticed, Comcast arranges its packages so there are huge drawbacks for not getting both expanded basic and digital classic. The biggest drawback for not getting expanded basic in Seattle is that Fox Sports NW is currently only available on the expanded basic. If I did not get this package, I would not get most of the Mariners games, UW Huskies BB, WSU Cougars BB, and some of Gonzaga BB. As Comcast probably knows, it would for the average Seattle sports fan to cut out this many games, so we are stuck getting both expanded basic and digital classic, which puts me in the $60 range.

 

[drew00001]

On another note, you can probably get better advice by going to avsforum.com and searching for the Comcast specific forum in your city/area.