Cutting the cable TV umbilical cord!!
Written: Mar 22 '00 (Updated Mar 22 '00)
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Pros: easy to install, clear picture, easy to use, costs the same as cable and the best part - telling cable to take a flying leap
Cons: nothing - it's so fabulous
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| ned1's Full Review: JVC TU-47000DU Digital VHS Recorder Satellite TV R... |
Oh, I am SO HAPPY!! I forgot what a clear picture looks like, I forgot what it's like to actually have the service you pay for work all the time, I forgot what it's like to get value for your dollar!! Now that I have satellite TV it's all coming back to me!!
When I lived in Santa Cruz, CA my cable TV was good - the picture
was not fuzzy and the cable only went out every now and then. When I moved to Montgomery County Maryland I was in for the shock of my life. I could not belive how crappy CABLE TV Montgomery is.
I felt like I was living every day as an actor on Candid Camera - wake up to the cable not working, wake up to a picture so cloudy you'd get eye strain from watching TV, wake up to the cable modem not working for weeks at a time and we were paying for this - 38 a month for cable and 50 for the modem. Of course most months after hours of arguing with customer service we'd get free service -BIG DEAL!! You can't show me the shows I missed and you can't get back the hours of work I had to do with a regular internet connection.
Last week was the final straw - our cable modem was out yet again and when they came to look at it they said the signal to house was too strong and had wrecked the modem. They went out and lowered the signal and our picture was back to cloudy just so we could get the modem to work - that's high quality. (we will be getting DSL to replace the cable modem)
My husband and I freaked out and after cursing out cable one more time we ran to Costco and bought this system. The only thing that had stopped us before was the inability to get local channels - now Washington DC can get the channels for 5 bucks a month so we said SOLD!!
The two of us installed the system on Saturday - we mounted it to a post and the total time from digging the hole, to pouring cement to picture was two hours!! It was a piece of cake!!! We hooked it to the existing wiring in our house and could get the signal at 125%!!!
After installing it you have to call Dish TV to hook up service which took about ten minutes - we chose the Top 100 package so we can get a 200 dollar rebate. You get 100 channels for 29.99 (much better than cable), we added on the locals for 5, PBS for 1 dollar and the WB package for another 5 (because our kids can't be without Pokemon.)
So for 39.99 a month we get the headache free world of Dish TV and no longer have to deal with cable. We get more channels for the same price, always a clear picture, awesome extra features like on screen TV guide and program descriptions, program planning so it tells you when your show is on and changes the TV to that channel- lock out features and separate menus so you can have all the kid channels in one area.
About the hardest part of dish is learning all the new channel numbers and trying to teach the kids - they got use to Nic Jr being 50, Cartoon Network being 55, etc.. The other thing you have to watch is the remote is powerful - we got a second receiver for upstairs and you can change the channel thru floors and walls. It's fun to mess with the kids like that - they freak out when the channel changes on it's own.
The added bonus for me, as if I needed anything extra to make me love this even more, is we now get Toon Disney as part of the package. I kept telling the kids we didn't need it. I found out that they show one of my favorite shows - Bump in the Night is on every morning at 8:30 - you can't beat that and now my kids love it too.
I'm sure I won't miss having to call cable every day to complain about my picture, and being called a liar by them when I say my modem isn't working or the picture is cloudy.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300.00
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Epinions.com ID:
ned1
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 - Top 100 |
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Member: Nancy
Location: in the Barbie aisle
Reviews written: 894
Trusted by: 346 members
About Me:
Off to Basel (1/21) - in search of Swiss Miss Barbie - back (1/26)
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