The Advantages of Satellite TV - A Biased Review
No, the title is not a typo. This is a biased review of
satellite TV versus cable. This has to do with the fact that I
am a happy satellite TV subscriber, and must admit, it was a
smart move on my part.
After spending exorbitant amounts of money on cable, one day I
decided I would give it up and start looking for alternatives. I
admit, I was seduced into getting cable by their low
introductory price which was only $29 per month, including the
premium channels.
Of course, this lasted only 3 months, after which I was expected
to pay the full price of $89 per month. Like everyone else, I
put up with this and quickly realized what I had gotten myself
into. I knew that with my tight budget, this luxury couldn't
last. I knew I would have to give up my HBO (I love
HBO--"Sopranos" anyone?).
However, even after I got rid of the premium channels I was
still paying $69 per month!
There had to be another way. Unfortunately, cable companies tend
to monopolize whatever area they get their grubby hands on, and
I knew it would be difficult to find an alternative. The only
other option for me was whipping out that old TV antenna, and
getting my wife to stand next to the TV while moving the antenna
around until we got a good signal. I can tell you right now, my
wife wasn't going to go for that one.
I knew that even joking about it would lead to the single life.
The alternative came to me when I heard from a friend who just
happened to have satellite TV. He told me about how much he
loved his Dish Network,
and that the TV commercials where they show the people losing
the signal all the time, and having to go to the roof to adjust
the antenna was a bunch of "hog wash."
In the year that he had his Dish Network, he hadn't had one
problem with it. He loved his Dish Network, and he was only
paying $42.99 per month for it while getting over 100 channels,
including HBO.
I wanted in. I inquired about how I could get my own Dish
Network system, but was a bit hesitant. Although the monthly
price was cheap, what about all the equipment I would have to
buy?
My friend just laughed at me. He told me that all the equipment
was free.
How could hundreds of dollars worth of equipment be free? That
included a satellite antenna, receivers for up to 4 rooms, a
Digital Video Recorder, and even a High Definition receiver. It
couldn't all be free. There had to be some sort of catch.
I decided to investigate this a bit further. After all, I was
about to give up a reliable, albeit expensive, source of
entertainment--my cable.
I checked out the website my friend recommended,
www.vmcDishNetwork.net, and it turns out that Dish Network was
indeed offering free installation, free equipment, and to top it
off, even the first month free. That's a lot of free stuff and I
love free stuff.
I jumped on it. I cancelled my cable, and scheduled my install.
I couldn't get the installer in here fast enough.
Out of all the programs offered by vmcDishNetwork, decided on
the 120 channels, including HBO (YAY!) and Cinemax, plus local
channels and even includes 65 channels of SIRIUS satellite radio
(I just happen to have a SIRIUS radio receiver--go Howard
Stern!).
If someone were to ask me whether or not switching to satellite
TV was a good move on my part, I'd have to say, "Absolutely,
YES!"
If they were to ask me if they should give up their cable for
satellite TV, I would tell them, "Do it as soon as you can, and
stop paying ungodly amounts of money per month when satellite TV
offer so much more, for so much less."