Time Warner vs DTV

[PWFD81]

Hello!

I am thinking about switching to Time Warner Digital Cable from my DirecTV service.  I have a HD reciever, Tivo and a standard reciever with DTV now.  Just wondering if this is a smart move?  I notice Time Warner at this time offers more HDTV programing than DTV.  Plus, up here in Port I don't get the best off air sometimes.  Sometime soon they are saying HDTV-DVR!!  

Are the recievers as good as the DTV reciever?  Fiber Optic digital out and all the stuff for a good home theater?

Thanks for any input you can give me!!

Tim

[summerfun]

I have never had DTV, so I can not compare, but I LOVE my TWC. They have been a fantastic service. I have seven televisions, two HD sets and Road Runner internet.

The HD DVR is close.

You will have many on this site give you horror stories, but in five years as a TWC customer, I have had nothing but fantastic service.

[PWFD81]

how is your picture quality on non HD channels?

[gparris]

Originally posted by PWFD81
how is your picture quality on non HD channels?

All the digitally delivered channels 100 and up including premiums are exactly as good as Directv.

My Pioneer 3510HD box upconverts the 1-99 analogue channels to 1080i with some success and outputs the sound into the digital realm so I just use one coaxial digital cord from the HD box to my reciever for sound and it works well.

When I record the analogue channels on my SD DVR the sound is better than using the red and white RCA cables since it sort of migrates to the digital realm and I use the S-Video cable and a different input setting on the HDTV.

Hope this answers your question.:wave:

[borghe]

umm.. wow.. this is actually a tough one...

if you have all of that stuff now, really the only advantage you would have with TWC is not having to buy the HD DVR (an HD Tivo will set you back $1000 right now). HOWEVER, the HD DVR isn't out yet, and has continually been pushed back. It is supposed to be out soon, but to play devil's advocate, it has supposed to been out "soon" since the beginning of the year.

If you have $1000 that you would "possibly" be willing to spend on an HD Tivo, I can definitely say it is worth it. If that is too much but you aren't dying for a DVR right now and can wait to see if/when the price drops, I would recomend sticking with DirecTV (especially considering your current investment).  If $1000 is too rich for your blood and you don't want to wait for the HD Tivo price to drop to get an HD DVR, I would obviously have to say to go with TWC when their DVR comes out.

[PWFD81]

so chanels 1-100 are not digital?  That's going to make for a pretty poor picture on large TV's!  Time Warner didn't tell me that!  They said my picture would be the same or better than DTV.

So maybe not a true statement?!..

[Tom Snyder]

The awful PQ on the news channels, HGTV, Discovery and the Travel Channel have always been the deal breaker for me with TWC. Despite my afinity for HD stuff, I still spend a LOT of time watching these channels. When I got my first Big Screen HDTV, it was just so painful that that's why I switched to DirecTV to begin with, after being a TWC customer for 20 years.

[PWFD81]

so your saying DTV will have a better picture then TWC?  I love the picture on my tv's with DTV!  Just thought looking at TWC after five years of DTV might be worth it.  BUT, if they still have poor picture on any channels is a NO WAY for me.

[jkool]

I cuurently have both TWC and DTV hooked up at my home. I have been a DTV subscriber for 7 years, but did not want to spend for a new antenna, multiswitch, and HD STB. So I took advantage of a deal TWC had for "dumping the dish".

The picture quality on channels 1-100 on TWC is poor compared to DTV. Especially with the SD DVR. In particular SciFi looks awful. TWC HD looks great ( although I get cropping on the edges ).

My family keeps switching back to the DTV Tivo, and does not use the TWC DVR.

If money is no object, I would stick with DTV. However, it is a lot of $, especially considering the investment I already made in equipment.

I have two more weeks to decide which one to keep. I really, really want the DTV HD DVR! Is it worth $1250? (Dish, Switch, DVR)

[StarvingForHDTV]

Those analog channels on Time Warner Cable are really low quality from my experience at my house (in the past) and other people's houses.  You would think they would come up with a way to solve that problem by now.  I suppose they don't have the bandwidth to duplicate the popular ones in the digital +100 channel range or something.

My two cents,

Starving

[PWFD81]

thanks for all of the input.  I'm going to stay with DTV!

[gparris]

Originally posted by StarvingForHDTV
Those analog channels on Time Warner Cable are really low quality from my experience at my house (in the past) and other people's houses.  You would think they would come up with a way to solve that problem by now.  I suppose they don't have the bandwidth to duplicate the popular ones in the digital +100 channel range or something.

My two cents,

Starving

Oh yes they can: IF TWC really wants to (here).

Note their website in Austin, Texas. Not only do they have a fully-functioning HD DVR and digital phone,
but digital Sci-Fi as well as analogue channel, among many other channels we would have in digital if they so desired to here.
 See:
http://www.timewarneraustin.com/services/pricing_and_packages/chan_1.asp  



Here they could do analogue and digital (to compete better with satellite's digital and clearer delivery;)

But I guess by the number of dishes (triple LNBs for HD, too) sprouting up in my fully-cabled new neighbourhood, digital delivery for those channels is not important to TWC.

I watched the USA and Sci-Fi, then the Weather Channel on Directv at my neighbour's house 65" set and noticed how much clearer it was to mine. Not HD, of course, but clearer.

[kjnorman]

Originally posted by gparris
Oh yes they can: IF TWC really wants to (here).

Note their website in Austin, Texas. Not only do they have a fully-functioning HD DVR and digital phone,
but digital Sci-Fi as well as analogue channel, among many other channels we would have in digital if they so desired to here.

But I guess by the number of dishes (triple LNBs for HD, too) sprouting up in my fully-cabled new neighbourhood, digital delivery for those channels is not important to TWC.

I watched the USA and Sci-Fi, then the Weather Channel on Directv at my neighbour's house 65" set and noticed how much clearer it was to mine. Not HD, of course, but clearer.

This is the issue.  Sci-Fi just really sucks big time on TWC.  Then if you are recording it on the DVR is goes through the Analog-digital-analog conversion presee so it then looks even worse.

I have noticed that since the DirecTv 7S satellite went up that picture quality seems to have improved alot of late across all the channels that we watch.  So much so that I would never consider TWC while a large proportion of their channels are still analog (Sci-Fi, TNT, OLN being good examples).

Kerry

[borghe]

jkool - the HD Tivo is 1000% most definitely worth the price. also know that DirecTV will probably upgrade your dish for free and if you have been a good long term subscriber (two years, never late) you can usually speak to customer retention and get a $250 credit for an HD receiver including the HD Tivo. This would make the HD Tivo effectively $750, which again it is worth every penny.

I have had my HD Tivo for almost 3 months now. There is one issue with recording CBS HD, but aside form that it handles everything beautifully and is upgradable (my unit right now is at 63 hours).

As I said in the other thread on the first page, if you don't flinch at making a home theater investment of that kind of money, the unit is worth every last penny and has only advantage after advantage over the TWC HD DVR once price is taken out of the equation.