Lowest price for: Comedy Central + ISP = ATT U-Verse, Comcast, Dish+DSL, or ???
March 13, 2010 3:50 PM Subscribe
TV + ISP filter: Which is the cheapest way to get Comedy Central and a reasonably fast internet connection in Benicia, CA (Bay Area):
Comcast??? ATT U-Verse??? DishNetwork/DirectTV + DSL??? Something else???
Summary:
What is the lowest cost way to get:
Comedy Central,
the ability to record shows,
HD signal, and
an internet connection?
Options:
(a) AT&T Uverse,
(b) Comcast Cable, or
(c) DirectTV / Dish Network + AT&T DSL?
Details:
We recently moved to Benicia, CA 94510 (the East Bay Area). There are nice hills which block our over the air digital TV signals (yes, I've tried larger antennas, amps, etc - no dice). Plus, no Daily Show or Colbert Report with an antenna (been watching on Hulu, now only on Comedy Central's website, but better to have on the real TV than the computer regardless).
I currently have AT&T DSL "Pro" - fast enough speed for all we do (3.0mbs) with a phone line we don't want or use. We also have AT&T cell phones (only wireless provider that gets a signal at our house).
We want to spend as little as possible to get:
(1) A similar internet connection (currently $30/month for 3.0mbs)
(2) TV service which includes Comedy Central in HD with recording functions (i.e., Tivo, etc)
Can you provide your recommendations and price estimates for the different services out there?
Summary:
What is the lowest cost way to get:
Comedy Central,
the ability to record shows,
HD signal, and
an internet connection?
Options:
(a) AT&T Uverse,
(b) Comcast Cable, or
(c) DirectTV / Dish Network + AT&T DSL?
Details:
We recently moved to Benicia, CA 94510 (the East Bay Area). There are nice hills which block our over the air digital TV signals (yes, I've tried larger antennas, amps, etc - no dice). Plus, no Daily Show or Colbert Report with an antenna (been watching on Hulu, now only on Comedy Central's website, but better to have on the real TV than the computer regardless).
I currently have AT&T DSL "Pro" - fast enough speed for all we do (3.0mbs) with a phone line we don't want or use. We also have AT&T cell phones (only wireless provider that gets a signal at our house).
We want to spend as little as possible to get:
(1) A similar internet connection (currently $30/month for 3.0mbs)
(2) TV service which includes Comedy Central in HD with recording functions (i.e., Tivo, etc)
Can you provide your recommendations and price estimates for the different services out there?
Response by poster: I ended up with DirecTv "Xtra Choice - 210" package:
$57/month for first year, $86/month for second year (I understand you can call and get another promotional rate after the first year if you are persistent).
This covers two TVs with HD and an HD receiver/DVR for each.
$50 back for signing up at Costco
$200 back for buying a TV at Costco (making this a bit YMMV if you don't need a TV ... instead you could use the refer a friend program and you and your friend each get $100 in service credits (actually $20 each per month over five months).
Choice Xtra package (210 channels - similar to Dish Network's "200" package).
Monthly price of $57 includes several "fees" which a just stupid:
$10/month HDTV fee
$7/month DVR fee
$10/month equipment lease fee ($5/month for each of 2 HD DVRs)
Also had to pay $75 for leasing the second HD DVR/receiver ... same from Dish Network would have been $99.
Dish Network would have been $71/month for the first year, $86/month for the second year.
So the take home is that DirecTv has better promotions than Dish Network in my area right now. Another option would be to get the AAA first year promotion, or the refer a friend, but Costco's worked best for my situation.
Uverse and Comcast would have been about $30/month more even when bundled to replace my current DSL plan (ATT DSL - 3mb "Pro" plan at $28/month after taxes, phone line, fees).
Uverse has some big cash back promotions which you can claim then change your service to not include more expensive parts of their initially required plan. But they charge more for DSL when part of Uverse than when getting just DSL and a phone line (not fiber optic line).
Good luck.
posted by unclezeb at 7:09 AM on May 6, 2010
$57/month for first year, $86/month for second year (I understand you can call and get another promotional rate after the first year if you are persistent).
This covers two TVs with HD and an HD receiver/DVR for each.
$50 back for signing up at Costco
$200 back for buying a TV at Costco (making this a bit YMMV if you don't need a TV ... instead you could use the refer a friend program and you and your friend each get $100 in service credits (actually $20 each per month over five months).
Choice Xtra package (210 channels - similar to Dish Network's "200" package).
Monthly price of $57 includes several "fees" which a just stupid:
$10/month HDTV fee
$7/month DVR fee
$10/month equipment lease fee ($5/month for each of 2 HD DVRs)
Also had to pay $75 for leasing the second HD DVR/receiver ... same from Dish Network would have been $99.
Dish Network would have been $71/month for the first year, $86/month for the second year.
So the take home is that DirecTv has better promotions than Dish Network in my area right now. Another option would be to get the AAA first year promotion, or the refer a friend, but Costco's worked best for my situation.
Uverse and Comcast would have been about $30/month more even when bundled to replace my current DSL plan (ATT DSL - 3mb "Pro" plan at $28/month after taxes, phone line, fees).
Uverse has some big cash back promotions which you can claim then change your service to not include more expensive parts of their initially required plan. But they charge more for DSL when part of Uverse than when getting just DSL and a phone line (not fiber optic line).
Good luck.
posted by unclezeb at 7:09 AM on May 6, 2010
Response by poster: Just got -$10/month for the next year because of Dish Network's new "Free HD for life" ... DirecTV matched it for now.
posted by unclezeb at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2010
posted by unclezeb at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
My choices are AT&T Uverse, AT&T DSL, the local cable company (not comcast), and the various satellite services for TV.
Though this is a big YMMV, in my market cable and Uverse are neck-and-neck as far as price goes, which means they're pricey. I found the best deal is AT&T phone and DSL, and DirecTV. If you aren't a current customer of DirecTV, they have some really decent deals that include a DVR. For instance, you can get their base package that includes Comedy Central and your local channels for $30/month for the first year, and that includes installation. Add another $10 per month and you can get a DVR.
I believe you can get a similar deal with DishNetwork, but we wouldn't qualify as a new customer for that service.
posted by SteveInMaine at 2:26 PM on March 27, 2010