TWC Picture Quality

[mrmike]

You get what you pay for. Remember that.

My OTA HD is better looking than either TWCs or D*s feeds.  Q.E.N.D.

-MM

[sp44again]

Most D* boxes can receive OTA. Best of both worlds.  

[picopir8]

You get what you pay for. Remember that.

Not in this case...

D* has 5 normal HD channels plus 2 premiums, you alsos have to buy an antenna if you want locals. $42 base+ $11 HD=$53/mo + antenna + HD box + 12mo contract

TWC has 2 HD originals (inHD), 5 normal HD channels plus 2 premiums plus locals.  $35 base + $7 HD + $7 box rental = $49/mo + $5 install.

Voom has 20 HD originals, 4 normal HD channels, 10 HD premiums, antenna included for locals. $50 base + $10 box rental = $60/mo + $1 install + 6mo contract.

I think these are all good options, however the up front cost of D* is a killer.  The same was true for voom until they introduced their box rental option.  At this point in time I cant justify paying that much money for D* considering they have the least channels.

[sp44again]

Where does the $35 base come from for TWC? Also what I meant with "get what you  pay for" is do you think the boxes you get from TWC are equally as nice as D*? I don't think so.  It's a rental box. I've had them. They are cheap boxes that you have to replace to get one that works or wait for some update. Also who cares about contracts?  If you had D* since USSB then obviously contracts didn't matter. D* is also adding ESPN2 and TNT shortly to the list of HD channels.

PS My antenna cost $20. Not a huge cost to get locals.

[picopir8]

When I signed up for TWC last week, I got DigiPic for $35 for 1 yr.  I think the normal price is $40 but they run deals every few months and in most cases current subscribers are elegable if you call.

I totally agree that the D* boxes are generally better.  But both my free (with contract) D* boxes died after about a year (one fried the other keeps rebooting every 10 minutes).  My dolby digital boxs that I paid $300 each are still kicking.  

D* comes out to be $10-15 more expensive when comparing my channel package.  Plus I would need to buy a $900 box.  I could justify either the up front cost or the aditional monthly fee to get the quality of the D* Tivo box.  But not both.  The TWC box is adequate for my needs and actually has some nice functionality that D* does not offer (on demand).

I got burned with my DD boxes, within a couple year they were a fraction of the price with new contract.  I see the same thing happening with the HD Tivo boxes.  Within 3 years they will be around $100.  I would much rather go with TWC and enjoy DVR service now and then go back to D* when the prices are more reasonable.

[mhz40]

Where does the $35 base come from for TWC? Also what I meant with "get what you  pay for" is do you think the boxes you get from TWC are equally as nice as D*? I don't think so.  It's a rental box. I've had them. They are cheap boxes that you have to replace to get one that works or wait for some update. Also who cares about contracts?  If you had D* since USSB then obviously contracts didn't matter. D* is also adding ESPN2 and TNT shortly to the list of HD channels.

PS My antenna cost $20. Not a huge cost to get locals.

Aside from the known HD_DVR issue, failure rates are less than 1.5% on digital cable set tops.
If D* has the best, why do they continue to insist on annual contracts?  You would think the caSh people plunk down on hadware would be enough incentive to stay for awhile...
Who do they think the are? SBC? :rofl:

[PWFD81]

I switched to TWC from DTV for about 8 hours.  Then back to DTV.  Channels 1-100 looked like crap.  The TWC DVR was not even close to DTV Tivo as far as features (which I didn't think I used until they were gone).  Then within those 8 hours the HD-DVR lost all sound on any channel above 100 and the standard HD box which was used and abused before me (not a fan of used stuff) stopped working too.  I was also unable to get the INHD channels with out drop out in picture and sound.

Thank god I didn't stop service with DTV.  I just switched inputs and I was able to watch TV again.

TWC just isn't quite there yet.  I think they are close but the quality of the DVR and boxes is very poor and of course the analog thing is BAD!

T

[RLJSlick]

Where does the $35 base come from for TWC? Also what I meant with "get what you  pay for" is do you think the boxes you get from TWC are equally as nice as D*? I don't think so.  It's a rental box. I've had them. They are cheap boxes that you have to replace to get one that works or wait for some update. Also who cares about contracts?  If you had D* since USSB then obviously contracts didn't matter. D* is also adding ESPN2 and TNT shortly to the list of HD channels.

PS My antenna cost $20. Not a huge cost to get locals.

Just wanted to remind you that we TWC ppl have had TNT for like a year now, and as far as the boxes go, who cares that the D* boxes are nicer, when a TWC goes bad, we replace it without a fuss.  :rock:

[GBK]

Cable sucks.. it doesn't matter what the brain washed people on this forum have to say about it...  the fact remains their digital cable is hardly digital... the first 100 channels are analog.  the cost of d* compared to cable is lower.. you get 4 room receivers for nothing... to have 4 digital cable boxes it whould cost about $20+ on top of the 45 standard "digital" package, people in Metro area can get locals HD for free with rabit ears antenna.  You have to pay for HD package which 90% of is free off air.. extra for renting a box to do HD (just stupid).

Obviously D*and E* have some issues but compared to cable they're minor.. most people once they get a service stay with it for a few years anyway... compare the cost in the long run and channel choices over the same period of time. Until dish services became popular cable was charging $40 for 5 local channels and 10 home shopping channels plus the 10 other non premium cable channels you got screwed for 20+ years and yet refuse to accept the reality of the situation.  Your best bet is to cut the cable and save some cash.

[sp44again]

Just wanted to remind you that we TWC ppl have had TNT for like a year now

And D* had ESPN first, what's your point?

and as far as the boxes go, who cares that the D* boxes are nicer, when a TWC goes bad, we replace it without a fuss.

Yeah it must be fun to keep replacing boxes. No inconvenience.

[picopir8]

Cable sucks.. it doesn't matter what the brain washed people on this forum have to say about it...  

Brainwashed?  I was with D* for about 7 years and finally switched to cable.  If anything I was brainwashed into staying with them for so long.  Yeah, the sub 100 level channels are analog but cable offers more HD (more channels plus the locals), higher quality digital channels (D* is over compressed), more pay channels, and on demand channels.  If you ask me, that outweights the fact that the lower channels are analog.

the cost of d* compared to cable is lower.. you get 4 room receivers for nothing... to have 4 digital cable boxes it whould cost about $20+ on top of the 45 standard "digital" package, people in Metro area can get locals HD for free with rabit ears antenna.

As for the 4 TV setup.  Its just untrue that there is no additional cost with D*.  First of all, D* charges 5/mo for each additional receiver.  TWC charges $7/mo rental.  So the cost differential to add 3 more TVs is a whopping $6. But TWC charges the same price for any box rental which means you can have 4 HDTV DVRs.  How much would that be with D*?  Heck the boxes would cost $3600 alone.  Secondly, there is a benefit having analog channels.  With TWC, I can get a digital cable, HD, DVR, whatever on my main TV.  I can then get analog cable on all my other TVs for free.  Which means in the 4 TV scenario, there is a $15 savings with cable.

Compound all this with the fact that cable comes out cheeper when comparing HD packages and youll see why I switched.  I suspect a lot more people would switch if they didnt have to justify staying with D* because they forked out a lot of money for hardware.

[RLJSlick]

And D* had ESPN first, what's your point?




Yeah it must be fun to keep replacing boxes. No inconvenience.

There isn't any inconvenience if it doesn't cost me anyting, IS my point!

[Scott Zsori]

Yeah it must be fun to keep replacing boxes. No inconvenience.

I've been using a TWC HD box for around 2.5 years now.  The first box I had went bad about 3 weeks ago, and it's probably because my overheating receiver was sitting on the shelf right below it.  It's not like we're replacing boxes every couple of months.

I was actually kind of happy that my box went bad, anyway, since the new HD box is a little nicer and a little faster than the one I had.  So, for the inconvenience of stopping in at a TWC center every couple of years, I get a free upgrade on my HD box at no cost.   Can you get a free upgrade on those D* boxes?

As for your other points, you seem awfully bitter about TWC for some reason.  Just like any A/V product or service, each person needs to decide for themself.  Would you buy a HD projector soley based on someone else's opinion?  So, the comments about TWC channels looking like crap is your own personal opinion.

I don't have D*, but my brother does, and I'll agree that the channels look better than the 1-99 ones on TWC.  But to me, it doesn't really matter.  I just watch everything I can in HD and anything remaining is good enough.  It's like when I first got my 16x9 TV... it took me a few days to get used to the SD content getting stretched, but now that I'm used to it, I barely notice.

As for the cost of each, I'm in a different situation than some of the other posters.  I don't have digital cable... just the standard package (channels 1-99) and a HD box.  So it costs me around $50/month total, which allows me to view HD on my bigscreen TV, analog on my bedroom TV, and analog with my computer's tuner card.  Hell, I can add however many TV's I want at no additional fee, which is something that D* cannot claim.

There's a lot of variables, but what it comes down to is that a 1 TV TWC setup is just slightly cheaper than a 1 TV D* setup, except that you have to pay for your own STB with D*.  As you add in SD TV's, TWC becomes the more attractive option.   Of course, if you're really that concerned with the quality of non-HD channels, then you have to weight that against the big startup cost.