The best cable service available!
Written: Sep 11 '00 (Updated Sep 11 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The remote, the "guide" feature, true one-touch recording, haven't had a cable-outage in 6 months of use
Cons: Not available in all areas
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| JenN2kids's Full Review: Ameritech |
I recently switched cable companies after using the same one (Coaxial/Insight communications) for about 8 years. There was no choice available until recently. Columbus offered only 2 until about 3 years ago, when Americast came to the area. It took a while, but it recently became available in my area & am I ever glad I switched! I'm not sure why all of Ameritech's products seem to be grouped in one area, but this is a review of their Cable Television service. I have different opinions on their home phone and cellular plans, but their cable is great!
Americast offers a better all around package than the others. There are more channels available, a better remote, and community information at the touch of a button.
Americast offers several channels (with Premiercast, which is similar to what I subscribed to with the other company) that weren't on the lineup of my previous provider. These include: Noggin, Animal Planet, Fox Family, Fox Sports, ESPN Classic, Travel Channel, International Channel, Toon Disney, Food, CNNfn, BET on Jazz, FX, Health Network, and Inspirational. They also offer Sundance Channel & Showtime Beyond with their Advantage package, which weren't available through Insight. It's nice to have channels like Animal Planet & Noggin when you have small children. The kids absolutely love Noggin.
The remote control that comes with this program is called "R.E.D." for Remote Enhancement Device. It has many great features, one being that it is truly a universal remote. It controls my television, VCR, and cable box (called T.E.D. or Television Enhancement Device). There is a button on it labeled "Guide" which will take you to a "channel" that is similar to a preview channel. The difference being, though, that you control how fast or slow you want to scroll through the programs. Also, It shows up to 72 hours worth of programming by using the left and right directional buttons. You can also, from this "channel," program your VCR to tape a program by just touching the "Sel" (select) button. Talk about ease of programming! I know many people don't program their VCR's to tape because it is a hassle. This takes all the difficulty out of it! There is also a button labeled "mode" which enables you to control just your TV, VCR, or other device (there is an Aux. option) with the same remote.
Another thing that amazed me at first were the community "channels" available with this service. They aren't really "channels," per se, but a directory. It's like having the Yellow Pages on your TV! There are listings for: Movie Theaters, Recreation & Outdoors, Community Events, Concerts & Plays, Library & Literary, Community Service Directory, School Directory, Clubs & Groups Directory, American Cuisine Delivery, Asian Cuisine Delivery, Italian Cuisine Delivery, Other Cuisine Delivery, and Five Day Weather Forecast.
You can also order Pay Per-View programs by touching the PPV button on your remote. This worried me a little initially, thinking that if the kids got the remote they could order up whatever PPV programs were on, possibly by accident. Well, no need to worry, because you have to enter a PIN after you select the PPV event. Also, you can watch up to 10 minutes of the program & if you decide you don't want to order it, you may cancel, with no charge.
There are parental controls integrated into the R.E.D. as well. you can lock out certain channels so that the little ones cannot even access the channels when surfing through. You do this by pushing the "lock" button & entering your PIN. If you decide that you want to watch a program on that channel, it's a very simple procedure to do so. Unlocking the channel is just as easy!
Anyway, this is the best cable service package that I have ever come across & I would recommend it to all in the areas that they service. By the way, I pay $2 less a month for all this! What a bargain!
Note: I originally wrote this opinion in March, apparently in the wrong category. I was unable to find the Americast by Ameritech program listed. I just found it, so I moved the review.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
JenN2kids
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Member: Jenni
Location: Reynoldsburg, Ohio
Reviews written: 69
Trusted by: 64 members
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