In today’s world folks are looking to maximize their entertainment dollar. Increasing fuel prices, a slowing economy, and high food prices are putting the squeeze on Americans. Luckily, one of the great values in entertainment is your cable or satellite TV service.

If you stop and think about it, you can get a bundle including over 200 stations including premium movie channels like Cinemax and Encore for about $100 dollars a month. That is less than you typically spend for dinner and a first run movie. The latest and greatest in the pay TV market is HD, or high definition service. What should you evaluate when hooking up that new Hi-def TV you just bought?

Don’t forget that your basic cable TV or satellite TV service is not in hi-def. You must specifically buy a package that features this type of programming. So where do smart shoppers start?

Call your current provider and investigate exactly what they offer as far as hi-def service. Satellite television corporations DISH Network and DirecTV have been leading the charge as far as offering the most high definition when you look at channel counts. Cable television providers like Cox also have some nice offerings, such as HD on-demand. Ask exactly how much upgrading to HD will be, and if you need additional equipment. Comparing against satellite DVR units is important.

If what they are offering is not what you need, do a little comparison shopping. The newest offerings include an all hi-def package from DISH Network called Turbo HD. DirecTV offers HD service for just $9.99 per month. Prices vary with cable television companies across the country, so you will have to call your cable operator to see what the cost will be for high definition.

Another consideration is that some telephone companies now provide television service. AT&T now provides their U-verse service in many areas along with voice and high speed internet. Verizon is also in the game, providing their fiber to the home service FiOS in some neighborhoods. It is advisable that you compare services side-by-side, such as U-verse vs Direct TV. These developments are a benefit to the consumer, as more competition encourages lower prices in the end.

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Posted by admin on February 5th, 2010 :: Filed under Satellite TV
Tags :: cable tv, directv, dish network, fios, hd, hi def, satellite tv, uverse, verizon

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Cable TV deals are easy to find, that is as long as you aren’t already a subscriber to Comcast or Time Warner.

The reason for that is because the cable TV guys want to build their subscriber base, so of course they are ready to offer you a great deal, usually for the first six months of service. The cable provider understands if you sign up with them, you may set up a so-called bundled packages that puts all of your services together like voice, video and internet.

You can almost alway get a triple play bundle for around 0 a month for the first year. Consider the following example with cable company pricing: Basic TV costs a month, high speed internet is per month, and phone service is a month. With prices like this, your overall bill would be 0 per month plus all of the taxes and charges that are tacked on to the cable bill.

But it is good to consider how this might turn out down the road Well think about where you will be once your promotional period is over. You will have all of your television sets hooked up to cable TV, your high speed internet with your e-mail address with the cable company, and of course your phone service with the cable company as well. But all at once your price goes up almost 50%, from about $100 every month to $140+ every month. Its not alway easy to switch out of your provider?

Maybe, maybe not. The smart thing to do ahead of time is compare providers before making your final choice.One would be smart to compare Suddenlink vs Dish Network before making a hasty decision.

While you might logically say it is easy to switch to some kind of deal from Direct Tv or something else from your local phone company like FiOS from Verizon. But that may be a situation of easier said than done. Usually the time and inconvenience of switching from cable to satellite TV makes the customer yield to whatever service they have. Even though the monthly bill is high, the subscriber stays with the cable company because they have all the services in a package, making it harder to switch. That is what the cable television company counts on when giving the subscriber a good short term deal.

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Posted by admin on December 1st, 2009 :: Filed under Satellite TV
Tags :: at&T, cable tv, comcast, direct tv, triple play, verizon

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