With my old Sony TV not being HD compatible, I upgraded to a Samsung Plasma, and then began to consider whether I was going to go for satellite TV, or upgrade my cable service to HD. I generally watch a lot of sports, and definitely wanted NFL Sunday Ticket, as well as Discovery, but was otherwise open to either.

Here’s what I found out in the 5 areas, sport programming, movie channels, pricing, and customer service:

Sports Programming
Apparently Sunday Ticket is only available on satellite TV, which will be a big deal for football fans, however, there is an alternative NFL package available on cable. The alternative football package will switch to NFL games when one team reaches the red zone, but it appears obvious you can only view every regular season game in its entirety on satellite TV.

This is important if you’re following a team based in a different city from where you live. MLB Extra Innings and local sports channels appear to be essentially the same between the two, and basketball coverage appears slightly better on satellite due to the inclusion of Mega March Madness for the NCAA Tournament, with both carrying NBA League Pass.

Movie Channels
Both carry a mountain of movie channels, and it appears that the lineups are essentially the same. Cable and satellite TV also carry pay-per-view offerings, which also appear to be roughly the same.

HD Channels
It appears that based on my cable options, on the west coast, that satellite TV has more channels available in high definition, but that cable has more programs in HD. Rather complicated, although, at the end of the day, it appears that like the pricing question, this could go either way, depending on which channels you want or need. This may also depend on where in the country you are located.

Price
This was tricky, because of the packages that the two types of TV like to market specific channels within. Cable looks cheaper at first glance, but to get the best rate, you need to bundle service with internet, phone, etc. At the end of the day, I’m looking for HBO, NFL Sunday Ticket or something like it, Discovery, and the basics like CNN, ESPN, etc.

It appears as though if you’re willing to commit to cable service with internet and phone, then cable may be slightly cheaper, but for me, I think that satellite TV was the cheaper option, as I do not have a landline, therefore am not eligible for the better rates that cable offers. All in all, the question as to which is cheaper seems to depend almost completely on what channels you want, and whether or not you can commit multiple services to cable.

Customer Service
Satellite TV and cable both claim to have superior customer service, and both cite studies proving as much. In this case, there is really no way to determine whom is correct, but I tend to rely on word-of-mouth and personal experience to judge. In the end, satellite TV proved the better value for me.

With the costs appearing roughly equal and movie programming about the same, bad experiences with cable in the past, and better sports programming on satellite, especially the inclusion of NFL Sunday Ticket, made it a relatively easy decision for me. Hopefully my experiences help you decide as well.

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User Rating and Reviews

5 Stars – Best HD picture in my view – (R. Markley)

“It didn’t occur to be to even look at Samsung TV’s until we had a cable service man over to replace our cable box. We asked him if we were to replace our TV, what brand would he suggest. He said he felt that the Samsung line had the best picture of any he has seen.

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2 Stars – Poor Sound Quality – (T. Terry)

“Good: Shipping, Sleek Design
Fair: Picture quality
Poor: Sound”

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Rated No.2 by CNet Users: Samsung LN22A450 22-Inch watch this video

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