I'm leaning FiOS because:

FiOS: Internet 15M down/2M up + HD DVR + land line w/unlimited calls = $135/mo
(Free HD DVR basically)

or

DirecTV + HD + DVR = 90ish
Verizon DSL 3M/768 + land line w/NO long distance = $48
total: $138/mo ish
(I'll have to upgrade my DVR for the new HD stuff -- free I think)

Consider: DirecTV has ~60 HD channels now and up to 100 by the end of 08.

Consider: Verizon is rumored to have 150 HD channels by the end of 08

DirecTV goes bye bye in serious weather. Fiber is not gonna.

Anyway... that's what I got.

 

Io FTW...cablevision is faster than fios

 

Keep in mind, a lot of the "HD" channels these companies are advertising, are not NEW content... it's just a standard def channel that's been scaled up, using a scaler that (hopefully) is better than what's in your TV. And the ones that aren't? Well, do you like watching bass fishing in high-def? You can really see the whiskers on that cat-fish...

Don't let the "HD channel count" thing fool you, those numbers are being driven by their marketing departments, and marketing is screaming "consumers want more HD! get more HD!", not "get more GOOD programming in HD".

FIOS vs. DSL? FIOS all the way. It's the new kid on the block, they're going to be a lot less prone to yanking you around if you're a heavy downloader, and in general they have something to prove, with regards to quality. The technology is solid.

 

Also consider the compression of HD content on the dish. Go with FIOS and don't look back. Comcast is also notorious for shitty compression on HD channels, FIOS hands both dish and comcast their *** in PQ.

 

FIOS, do you even have to ask?

 

As a semi-related aside, your directv signal shouldn't go with bad weather if the dish is aimed correctly. It's pretty rare if my signal breaks up due to weather, and if it does it's not for more than a second or so.

 

theres no way I'm getting cable. it's not even on the table.

My directv has been good most of the time. the stom on saturday hurt it a little. it's mostly just having trees and wind that cause issues.

as far as HD lineup, they will probably carry mostly the same channels since a lot of the networks are rolling them out everywhere eventually. That's probably the base 50 HD channels that I'd watch anyway. I just want to make sure I get at least what DTV has now by winter.

 

I have FiOS and Dish Network at my house.

FiOS is awesome and I think a lot better then Dish Network. But again I'm getting the Dish Network for free cause of FTA.

BTW, the FiOS in my area is 20meg/sec download and 5meg/sec upload. I guess it's different in different areas.

 

what really pisses me off it that you'll be what? maybe 4-5 blocks south of me and I can't get Fios, wtf.

What reallllly pisses me off is when i tried to order it, when I called and said it was available, they wanted me to get verizon DSL, DirectTV and verzion telephone service...they actually tried to pass it off as FiOS "triple play" or some bogus ****.

Should have done it, anything is better than my comcrap.

 

Fios

 

DirecTV FTL. The compression artifacts on most of their SD channels are so horrible as to make the signal nearly unwatchable on a decent quality large screen. The quality on the HD channels is better, but only slightly. Neither holds and candle to the service I get with my current cable provider, Time Warner.

I've never seen FiOS, but given that it is a land-line based technology and they are not confronted with the massive bandwidth limitations of the satellite-based providers, I have to assume that the video compression will be much lower and the general QOS much higher.

 

I want FiOS cause I cant stand how Comcast compresses video. It's retarded, I don't have a 50" plasma HDTV so I can see pixelazation. That's what youtube is for. FiOS comes in on a dedicated fiber optic line to a box outside your house/home/apt/condo, it's then where it converts the light signal to your lines inside.

 

Dish Network here... Compression artifacts FTMFL! Even on the HD channels it still fails.

 

FIOS. All the best HD comparisons use FIOS as their "standard" now. I cannot seem to find any downstream rates for directTV HD channels, but here is a shot of FIOS downstream.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271

 

well if there's nerd bragging rights that go along with fios....

the only major suck point is that the HD DVR is only 20 hrs of HD. but I do have the option to use ANY CABLECARD DVR I WANT in the future. whether that's a TiVo series 3 HD or HTPC or whatever. sweet.

 

ok i dunno what's up with the Comcast HD in that link above, while MHD looks like that, the rest dont.

 

Fios no doubt

 

Run an external hard drive?

And upgrading your DVR to HD with direcTV will be free.

 

haven't checked if verizons dvr allows external drives. i know the directv does.

it's free now but the fact that they were GONNA try to make people pay like 300 bucks irks me. I should have a phat credit for buying one already, not get to throw it away.

 

I'm happy with my DTV but I've also got 5 DVRs and don't really want to swap everything out with my season pass setups and all the crap stored on them to watch.

Aside from HBO, most of my HD watching is OTA antenna networks stuff and I've really got no complaints with the high def from the DTV locals.

Then again, I'd rather watch HD content on my 480p 110 inch projector downconverted than I would watch on my friends 720p 55 inch.

Frank