How to Pick Between Satellite and Cable
Have you recently moved? Or simply exploring your TV service options? If yes, then you might find yourself curious about the differences between cable and satellite. Which costs more? Who offers a better product?
What about HDTV viewing? Now for an in-depth comparison of satellite and cable.
The end of analog TV marked a significant turning point in the history of television. TV is now all digital. Compared to analog, digital is a higher bandwidth signal. For the TV audience, this means enhanced picture quality, improved sound, and a much wider selection of channels. This is the case whether you choose satellite or cable. These days, all new TVs come ready-made for digital programming. It depends on the set you purchase, but your digital TV can display programming in SDTV and/or HDTV. So does cable or satellite offer better HDTV viewing? As far as offering a large number of channels in HD at a low cost goes, cable and satellite do a solid job on both fronts. On the subject of picture quality, satellite wins. Only a company like DishNetwork can air programming in full 1080 p. Even cable's biggest names have a picture resolution limited to 720.
Another concern of TV seekers is price. You may not find cable TV service in your area, but a number of providers do offer basic packages costing less than $20 a month. Said packages typically only offer a handful of channels. And, cable TV providers are prone to annual price hikes no matter what kind of programming plan you choose. Satellite may be the way to go if you'd prefer to avoid the hassle of price increases common to cable. Providers like DishNetwork have kept their rates constant for a number of years. In fact, they've currently dropped their prices for all first-time subscribers. Activate DishNetwork and you can enjoy 120-plus channels for less than $25 per month during your first year of service.
Superior technology at a fair price makes for a sweet deal, but what about reliability? Thankfully, TV technology has progressed and you can count on a functional signal day in and day out. Of course outages do happen. Listen to consumer accounts and you'll hear that cable goes out more frequently and its outages last longer than satellite. DishNetwork often mentions its ability to broadcast a signal with 99.9% reliability. That's not just advertising. Numerous independent reviewers have confirmed this as well.