I just got an HDTV in December. At first I wasnt too excited about Comcast cable but I went with them because they offered a cable card instead of an HD set top box. Now I'm really happy with it, but we'll see when DirectTV launches their new sattelites.

I'm wondering if anyone in a different area gets more channels than this with a similar cable plan? I'm in the Chicago area.

HD Package $10.95 Monthly

173 ESPN HD
174 iN DEMAND HD 1
175 iN DEMAND HD 2
187 WLS-DT (ABC)
188 WMAQ-DT (NBC)
189 WBBM-DT (CBS)
190 WFLD-DT (FOX)
191 WTTW-DT (PBS)
192 WGN-DT
204 TNT in HD
205 Discovery HD Theater


Premium Pay Channels (kinda pricey, you have to pay $$ per channel)

185 Showtime HD
186 HBO HD
195 Cinemax HD
196 Starz HD

 

I have plain vanilla basic comcast cable. No digital cable, not even a set top box. Just a cable wire coming into the house. My tv does have a QAM tuner, it's kinda like a HD tuner for cable, and it picks up all the network HD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB) except for UPN. I also get PBS HD. I don't, although I wish, get ESPN HD and Discovery HD or any other channels on your list. I have to believe these cable HD channels are scrambled and that's why it's not coming thru. I can't complain because I have an extremely good deal going

 

Cablevision - Westchester County - New York Metro Area
HD is currently free with any of their digital cable packages and you get their HD receiver (This is the only good thing with the service).
Non-premium HD programming:
701 INHD - Awesome, but would like INHD2 too! Can't stop watching!
702 WCBS
704 WNBC
705 FOX
707 WABC
713 PBS - Rarely in HD
715 Yankees in HD - Lots of blackouts
720 FOX Sports - Rarely in HD
736 ESPN HD - 1 word.. SPORTSCENTER!

Premium Programming - If you pay for the regular premium channel, I believe you get the HD for free.
700 HD on Demand - SUCKS!
744 Starz
745 Universal HD - Boooorrrriiinnnggg, this replaced Bravo! in HD which was 10x better.
750 HBOHD
760 ShowtimeHD
770 CinemaxHD
780 Movie Channel HD

Up until a few months ago, I thought my Cablevision service was the best. My parents had finally retired their huge 60" faded rear projection Sony from the late 90's with a brand new 50" plasma a few weeks ago. They live in a different area than I, and are zoned for Time Warner Cable (TWC).

On Mothers Day I switched on their new TV and my jaw literally dropped to the ground. TWC offers everything above PLUS INHD2, DiscoveryHD, TNT in HD, and a whole lot more! They also offer a HD-DVR!!! You do pay a slight premium for this service, but I believe it's well worth it, and I for one, would pay for all the added benefits.


On a side note; We've been shopping around for a new home recently. My dissatisfaction with Cablevision is so great that one of the first questions asked when discussing a perspective property is who the local cable service provider is! Hell, Cablevision doesn't even offer the Golf Channel!

I've written Cablevision a lengthy letter to please upgrade their service and I pray that this happens soon.

Who has satellite? ie DirectTV? Does anyone make a small form antenna? Our coop will not allow dishes of any sort, but if I can keep it inside the house next to the window, I dont think anyone would know. Hows HD on satellite?

 

I have comcast in Portland, OR... we only get our 4 local channels, fox, inhd 1 and 2, discovery, and opb in hd... LAME!

Discovery hd theater is bad ass though... I dont care whats on I will watch it

 

So far sattelite sucks becuase you have to use their set top box. I went with cable because with a cable card the TV uses the internal tuner and gets a better picture (no DV cables to mess with). Supposedly next year Directv will something similar, I will try it again then.

 

Do you guys get HDNET? Oh man, they have a show called "Bikini Destinations" in HD. Eeeep.

 

What service provides that channel?

 

Time Warner here in S. Carolina.

$6.95 for HD tier.

PBS HD
NBC HD
CBS HD
ABC HD
FOX HD
TNT HD
Discovery HD
INHD1
INHD2
HDNET
HDNET Movies
ESPN HD
Atlanta Braves games in HD

Premium includes HBO, Showtime, and Starz in HD.


Check out avsforum.com for more info on satellite vs. cable. Apparently DirecTV is reaching their bandwidth capacity, but are still trying to add channels. As a result they are lowering the resolution on some of their HD channels, but still passing them off as (and advertising them as) true HD. People at avsforum are calling it "HDLite" and have complained to DirecTV. Most customers aren't HD savvy, so they don't realize what they're seeing isn't exactly HD material. I think DirecTV has plans to add more satellites in the future, though, to increase bandwidth, which will hopefully bring back the true HD signal.

Cable has it's issues too, but in my area I can't really complain. We seem to get a better selection of channels than most other areas, and the quality of them has been good too.

 

Wow you seem to have the best package yet. $6.95 for all of that! Hopefully comcast will add HDNET.

I'm curious, are you running a set top box or cable card?

 

Well, it's $6.95 + a digital cable subscription. You have to subscribe to digital cable to get the HD content. With the digital cable subscription you get the following HD channels for free: PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, TNT, and Discovery. Then it's $6.95 for their "HD tier" which gets you HDNet, HDNet Movies, INHD1, INHD2, and ESPNHD.

I'm running a HD DVR, which serves as a set top box for $5/month provided by Time Warner. Being able to record HD content has been nice.