To dish or not to dish?

[elSicomoro]

This will probably not occur until the end of the summer, but I'm going to throw it out there now while it's on my mind.

I watch quite a bit of TV...and I'm debating whether I should upgrade to the "next" level.

Here are the facts:

--I am the bitch of Comcast. Comcast is all well and good. The problem is that if I opt for the dish instead of digital cable, I will lose Comcast Sportsnet, which means losing pretty much all the sports teams from here in the area (as all the sports teams' games are on CSN or CN8).

--Digital cable is available to me, as well as a dish (as they would install the dish on my balcony railing).

--I only have a 19" TV, but I have no real plans to upgrade the TV for a while. Plus, I've seen digital cable on a 19" and it's fine.

--All the local channels we currently get are included for an extra $6 a month with DirecTV and Dish Network.

--I currently have basic expanded cable (i.e. No premium channels), and it runs about $46 a month for 80 or so channels. Dish Network would run about $50 a month for 150 channels. DirecTV would run $40 a month for over 100 channels. Digital cable would run $60-70 for 200-250 channels.

Opinions are much appreciated.

[Hubris Boy]

Try this, Syc:

By yourself a pair of rabbit ears, get a library card, and cancel the Comcast subscription.

I ditched cable completely about 4 months ago, and haven't regretted it. Now, I won't sugarcoat it... going cold turkey wasn't easy. The first couple of weeks were the worst. I still have SportsCenter cravings sometimes, and I don't think my daughter has completely gotten over the loss of Nick. But the brain is a remarkably resilient organ, and it heals quickly once the toxins are flushed from it.

You'll be surprised by how much free time you suddenly have. And you'll have an extra 46 bucks a month to spend on something else. (The finest meats and cheeses in alllll the land!)

Don't think about it, just DO it. Now. Run, don't walk, to the phone and tell them to come get their poison out of your home. It's time to get clean.

[verbatim]

I'd just stay with comcast basic. its got all you need, espn, the deus, cartoon network, and msnbc. Digital cable is cool and shit, but it takes almost a second to change channels. Plus, there are ads on all of the menus. I got to use digital at my cousin's house, and it bothered me. I was there for a week, and I didnt get completely used to it. I like the 'instant joy' of just flying through 40 channels as i see fit, not waiting for some dumb toolbar to reload.

I'd stick with basic.

I don't watch TV. I admit, it's hard at first. But you'll appreciate it later. Seriously.

I get all my news online. They always have streaming video of what's on TV anyway, so there's no reason to watch it. You can download your favorite episodes of Sealab 2021 (hahahahahahahaha) on Morpheus or Gnutella anyway.

Put that extra time into riding a bike. That's what I'm gonna do. That, or reading or learning or whatever. I feel better than when I used to watch TV all the time.

Now I just have to pull myself off this computer....

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by dhamsaic

I get all my news online. They always have streaming video of what's on TV anyway, so there's no reason to watch it.

I recently noticed that a lot of the video at CNN.com has gone subscription.

Hence MSNBC.

[Nothing But Net]

Since I got my new Dell with 21 inch Trinitron flat screen and DSL connection, I don't watch TV at all...

And I don't miss it one bit...

[Undertoad]

I watch TV literally all the time, and the resulting rot of my brain from the absorption of commercial messages has basically left me unable to think for myself.

However, I am very entertained! Why just last week I laughed heartily at the humor in sex role stereotypes offered by the programme "Everybody Loves Raymond". Family disputes are also such a wonderful source of comic humor. It's best when they simmer just below the point of physical violence. There is often mild sexual innuendo involved as well, which brings about the possibility of other comic situations. What fun!

OK, enough of that. I would never get the Comcast digital cable simply because Comcast are stinking whores and their anti-dish advertising is sleazy to the point where it makes me nauseous. I've heard that digital cable makes it harder to click around and you're forced instead to rely on their program guides. The only person I know who got it was unhappy with it.

Instead, we got a TiVo. Now this approach is tons more expensive in every single way. But I am one of those "early adopters" who buys stuff for too high a price when it first comes out, paying for the development costs for the rest of you people.

With TiVo, there is no need for the extra channels that digital cable gives you, because suddenly your choices open up to every single program available during the week, at any time convenient for you, easy as pie. Enjoy "The Osbournes" but hate the idea of watching MTV? Hell, I didn't even know it was ON MTV. TiVo doesn't tell you; it just reminds you gently that, just in case you were interested, it has saved this program for you, which you can watch at any time, skipping past the commercials. Or if you prefer, you can safely ignore the show, until TiVo finds more and better things for you to watch as time goes by.

It's 2am and you have a Simpsons hankering? It's on there...