Blog Post (in HD)
I’m thinking about making the switch from digital cable over to satellite. I just bought a nice HDTV, but my biggest problem is that Time Warner Cable doesn’t have a lot of HD channels in their lineup. They have Discovery Theater HD, but no Discovery HD or Animal Planet HD. That means no Planet Earth or Blue Planet! They have all the standard local ones like NBC and ABC, but I guess I just want some more channels to make good use of the tv.
That being said, I’ve been looking at Dish Network and it seems pretty sweet. They have a ton of HD channels and also a huge selection of other channels. They even have Gameplay HD, a channel dedicated to gaming! They show tournaments on tv and everything! Sorry, got excited =P
Only thing I would worry about is how trustworthy satellite service is. I’ve never had it before, so I really have very little idea about what to expect. I’ve heard that during storms and when it’s windy, you will may lose signal, but other than that it’s supposed to be pretty good.
Now that I think about it, maybe I’m just switching to get Gameplay HD. It just sounds so cool (if you’re a dork like me =P)
-Justin
well you lost me….
in aust we only have free tv , which turns into digital tv with the only difference being quality or pay tv where you get shit loads of friends repeats or if you lucky south park!!!! lol no its not that bad by they just always repeat crap!
ahh… aitch-dee-tee-vee. Justin, do you have IO Cable there? That's our provider, and they are supposed to have a free HD upgrade (though that may just be the service, the box might not be free). Their commercials advertise, among others, a channel called "Monsters HD". I think it's about monsters. Like Frankenstein and mummies and zombies. In… high-def. weeeee.
Also, you're a dork.
Why must you have IO Digital Cable and I have Time Warner? IO has Gameplay HD on their lineup… The only cable service I can get in my area is Time Warner. Urg.
I get my cable from my phone company, which is cool because it shows caller-id on the tv when someone calls.
Not that I dislike you, Justin, but how come Drew hasn't posted any news for awhile?
I tried one time, but Justin caught me doing it and said no
Stupid Justin, not that I dislike him, or anything.
Now now Drew. Don't make me come beat you up for talking about Justin like that. Gotta defend his honor! Cuz that's totally my job. Yups.
I like drew better.
I feel so special.
You know what? never mind. Forget that last one.
The gaming channel rocks. My husband loves to watch and I love to make fun of the guys. It's a neat channel, and wow, what a great way to sample awesome game graphics AND get your rocks off insulting the players.
I have had dish network for a while now it has never failed me even in thunder storms i recomend it.
i say. bring in einstein to LHT as a special guest!
you are a dork! f*in dork!!!!!
Yup =)
wow how many different companies are their for pay tv in America?
and the only way drew can feel good in this conversation is knowing that he does all the good funny comics… you do dont you drew?… lol
Yeah my family was going to buy dish network when we were thinking of changing time warner but we liked time warner better
We have digital cable (phone provider) at our house and satellite at our cabin, and I've never ever had a problem with digital cable, but our satellite craps out every time it even rains. But then, somebody told me that that's just cause our provider sucks. Anyway, having caller ID on your TV is really awesome.
Dish HD is pretty sweet. The game channel is pretty good, but a couple times I changed to it, and it's just a guy playing a video game for an hours, no talking, reload times and all. It's a bit strange….
The Monster and KungFu channels are also quite good.
hmm i like dorks, im one too ya know, once i was like zapping channels, passing national gegraphic, and i was like: wtf is this? i recognize it but what is it again? happend to be the report of a japanese starcraft tournament, didnt said a word in 2 hours,, till the report was done, i liked it
so justin just do it for the gameplayHD, i think its worth it.
btw, the einstein thing is a nice idea, but drew got jokes with einstein already (which is awesome btw, next episode plz? ;)) so another eisntein in it? i prefer the bats on LHT more
MennoW
YEAH BRING BACK THE BATS!!!
Wow… so people like the bats, huh? That's cool, I'll have to think of another one.
Jokes with Einstein too…
http://www.spinnerdisc.com/jokeswitheinstein.html for the uninitiated.
DishTV is the red headed stepchild to DirecTV. It is most commonly found in ghettos because DishTV is not encrypted and easy to steal. You can buy a FTA receiver and dish to get tons of free stations and never have to pay a monthly fee again. Google it.
I've had DirecTV for a while, and it does go out often when there are storms – very very annoying. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, unless they really do get all of the HD channels they have been talking about for 2 years online finally…
DishTV is encrypted, and that's illegal… Plus last I looked Dish has a much better line up of HD channels. (but that may have changed, haven't looking in awhile)
Just a heads up, if you get a thunderstorm say goodbye to sattelite until it clears. Also, snow and rain.
I know cuz I have a sat.
I like my DISH sat system mainly because if you go with DirectTV Sat you still have to have a land line phone, not so with Dish, so there is that extra expense involved if you go with DirectTV.
HOWEVER, yes you do lose signal a lot during storms, wind and snow. I've found the problem with Snow is that I just need to go out and clean off the dish… Of course this might not be possible for those whose dish is mounted on the roof.
okay…….
post a new blog tv talk is confusing for australians
dont they have a sattelite connection down under? XD
sorry :$ couldnt help it… i tried to stop myself, but it didnt work (A)
anyways, i agree, this entry is getting kinda old…
in mean time…
http://brokentoys.org/2007/08/20/i-see-what-you-d…
hehe dont comment like that xD
Just to give you some random info (ignore if you want), for the record, I used to install Satalite in the Tri-state area, so I'm not *quite* talking out my arse here. Your primary concerns with any dish based service are line of sight and location of dish. In the NYC area, you'll want to make sure you can actually get line of sight, tall buildings, and trees will kill your reception in a heartbeat. Never get a dish put up in the winter, often, what might have been a clear line of sight in the winter, will be blocked by leaves in the summer. In a region where snow is a regular occurance, roof mounted dishes are less preferable than a dish mounted on the side of your building. It's exceptionally easy for snow to pile up and once again block your signal. After location, you need to ask yourself how many rooms you want satalite in, you cannot split satalite as you can UHF, VHF, or Cable. Most dishes can suppor either 2 (round dish), 4 or 6 (elliptical dish) televisions. The company can theoretically run two lines from each LNB, any more than that and you'll need a multiswitch. You may also want to keep your current internet service. Yes, satalite does offer the interwebs, but the cost is higher, and your upload is still straight dial-up these days. I'll avoid the obvious insinuation here. Now, the good bits… your HD will work better with satalite than it will with cable. This is because at this time, satalite takes the master recording, encodes it digitally, transmits it digitally, and displays it digitally (meaning that HD satalite is less processed than "normal" satalite). Conversely, cable takes the master, converts it to analog, encodes it, sends it via an analog system, recieves it in analog, and then converts it to a pseudo-digital. Yes, it is *technically* digital television, but it's just like taking a huge picture, shrinking it down, then blowing it back up. You just lose a lot of quality and detail. Lastly, I will leave you with a piece of advice, in your area there are many shady companies, these companies are actually contracted by best buy, circuit city, and even the satalite companies themselves. I worked for some of these companies, and I'll tell you right now, most of my co-workers were either stoned, stealing, or both. *NEVER* leave a tech alone in your house. This is also a good idea because they're more likely to: consult you on where you want the holes drilled; drill the holes and plug them correctly; and even ground the dish properly. Many people never even know that their dish isnt grounded. Truthfully, your best bet is to either do the job yourself, or get someone you trust to do it for you. Failing that, make sure someone is always with the tech… or techs, often they send two guys. Thats my bit for now, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. My email is silvergriffin |at| gmail |dot| com.
You should get verizon Fios tv its AWESOME!
Weird. A lot of the time I'm watching the discovery channel (as offered by time warner's roadrunner package thing) and it says "omg u guys. We offer this in HD!"
You two are so funny. Coming from a lifelong left handed cartoonist, I am very impressed.