Comcast versus Verizon FIOS

[fastwahoo]

I currently have Comcast HDTV and there premium internet service. I can commonly get downloads up to 29mbps. Its fast. Here is my question. If i go to pure FIOS will i see a difference in my Hi Def experience. What are the pros and cons.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Bump......

 

[Biggiesized]

FiOS has better picture quality. Comcast usually crams 3 or more HD channels into one QAM slot (6 MHz bandwidth) when you should only use two at the most (you can fit two ATSC channels into one 6 MHz QAM channel without picture degradation).

Only the premiere stations get their signal passed unaltered on Comcast systems (for me that would be ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, TNT HD and TBS HD). Even some beautiful HD stations like Discovery HD Theater get recompressed. Consecutive channel numbers often indicate channels that are modulated together.

If you don't believe me, check out this thread on the AVS Forum where somebody did a comparison between Comcast and FiOS picture quality:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271

DirecTV and Dish Network had "HD Lite" quality channels for a while (anamorphic 1280x1080i) until they switched most of their system over to MPEG-4 a year or two ago. MPEG-4 coding can allow for better picture quality at a lower bitrate over MPEG-2 systems.

 

[Nemo128]

First, count yourself very lucky. Comcast users in urban areas can't get anywhere near that speed.

Second, Biggiesized is totally correct, but I personally can attest to Comcast's forgivable customer service and Verizon's very unforgivable customer service. Verizon has more bandwidth for HD channels, which is of course great. I can consider the responsiveness of the service to user inputs as about equal. Cablevision, by comparison, is the pits for user input responsiveness.

Also there's the question of perception. Will you see the difference? Dunno. Also keep bundling in mind, and required contracts. I remember Comcast having no contract agreement and Verizon jacking up the FIOS and TV prices if you don't sign a 2yr agreement.

Find a friend who has the service. Only you can judge.

 

[selkec]

I have heard that when trying to watch hd in more than 2 rooms on fios alot of people say it pixelates. But i have never seen it myself. I do know that Comcast is about to go to DOXCIS 3.0 and will be having up to 50mb download and 100mb to follow that. At least thats what they tell us. I work for Comcast. Too bad I live in Brighthouse Cable area. It sucks. I would choose Comcast in my area. But if Dish Network offered HD Locals I would choose them.

 

[bandphan]

I work for Comcast. it sucks

fixed for ya The absolute worst CS ive dealt with and I deal with alot

 

[selkec]

The customer service actually varies depending on the area and call center. In Indianapolis we are planning on bringing all the calls in house. As of right now from what I gather the calls are farmed out to people who dont know much. So we are going to build a new center for this region and put 100 actual comcast employees in it. The worst customer service i have had is Brighthouse and Att. They are terrible. I told ATT to get lost and the only reason I have brighthouse cable is due to where I live. Plus I get HD DVR and wireless internet for under 20 a month and every movie channel available included. Just a perk for working at Comcast.

 

[S.R. Johnson]

I have heard that when trying to watch hd in more than 2 rooms on fios alot of people say it pixelates. But i have never seen it myself. I do know that Comcast is about to go to DOXCIS 3.0 and will be having up to 50mb download and 100mb to follow that. At least thats what they tell us. I work for Comcast. Too bad I live in Brighthouse Cable area. It sucks. I would choose Comcast in my area. But if Dish Network offered HD Locals I would choose them.

You know i heard the same thing here in Dallas, TX! I work for Time Warner Cable for the McKinney, Allen, Frisco, Texas area and we are going to have something called true 2 way.
we also have new Motorola DCX Series cable boxes that will do the multi-room dvr that FiOS does! The model numbers for both the new dual tuner dvr and hd boxes are DCX3200 (the HD box) and DCX3400 (new Dual Tuner DVR). I have personally installed both of them and i must say that they are very impressive to say the least! And the best part on both of them is the fact you can use the hdmi port and connect them to your av receiver that has hdmi and dont have to worry about handshaking problems.

AFAIK when i have installed these boxes, i myself had not seen the handshaking problems when it is routed through a receiver. And unlike the DCH series boxes, there is no lag time with changing the channel or other on-screen functions!

The DCX3400 is an awesome box! it has a pretty somewhat large display and they are no hard buttons on it and the power button glows blue when the box is on and it will detect the HD Formats that the tv can display. For example if your tv can display a 1080p/24 picture, the cable box will notice that, but from previous test, it does not display that format.

Here is the websites for both boxes:

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Home-Digital-Video/DCX3400_US_EN

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Home-Digital-Video/DCX3200_US_EN
Here is the websites for both cable boxes. And