Comcast sux balls
Aug. 29th, 2007 01:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walbournSo it seems like I have the minimum level of service I can get that includes the features I want out of digital cable, DVR, and cable modem. My Microsoft FTE discount expired a while ago, and my promotional discount from new service last year at the house just expired, so now it's now at $135. I felt like $100 or so was high but okay for both services. Now I feel like they are ripping me off.
So what are my options? How much is DirectTV? What do people think of it?
I really like my DVR in general, but since Comcast dumped the Microsoft UI and went with some other vendor, the new interface sucks ass even more than the MS one did. At least I could get the MS UI to only record The Daily Show at 11pm instead of all five times it's on in a day. Yes, the MS software crashed routinely after Comcast boned up some patch that they never went back to fix, but at least I didn't have to manually delete 40 recordings in a normal week. Getting a TiVO or something means living with the very messy and error-prone interface with a cable box. Maybe I should resurrect the idea of building a Media Center box to sub in for the DVR.
I'm considering going back to DSL like I had in my apartment. I have a Quest home line (required for the alarm monitoring at about $15/mo) and it looks like they offer it at $25/month (instead of Comcast's $45/month). I even have a DSL modem at home somewhere. The Comcast rate was more inline with the DSL cost with the discount, but now it's a rip. I lived with DSL 768k for years, so I'm thinking I won't have much trouble going back if even technically it's a lower baud rate.
Plan:
- Switch to DSL to get back to broadband Internet for $25/mo
- Build Media Center machine next year to drop DVR
- Investigate getting a more limited cable package or switching to satellite
So what are my options? How much is DirectTV? What do people think of it?
I really like my DVR in general, but since Comcast dumped the Microsoft UI and went with some other vendor, the new interface sucks ass even more than the MS one did. At least I could get the MS UI to only record The Daily Show at 11pm instead of all five times it's on in a day. Yes, the MS software crashed routinely after Comcast boned up some patch that they never went back to fix, but at least I didn't have to manually delete 40 recordings in a normal week. Getting a TiVO or something means living with the very messy and error-prone interface with a cable box. Maybe I should resurrect the idea of building a Media Center box to sub in for the DVR.
I'm considering going back to DSL like I had in my apartment. I have a Quest home line (required for the alarm monitoring at about $15/mo) and it looks like they offer it at $25/month (instead of Comcast's $45/month). I even have a DSL modem at home somewhere. The Comcast rate was more inline with the DSL cost with the discount, but now it's a rip. I lived with DSL 768k for years, so I'm thinking I won't have much trouble going back if even technically it's a lower baud rate.
Plan:
- Switch to DSL to get back to broadband Internet for $25/mo
- Build Media Center machine next year to drop DVR
- Investigate getting a more limited cable package or switching to satellite
