Latest Gear Live Videos
Friday September 19, 2008 4:59 pm
Verizon FiOS vs. Comcast: Feature-by-feature
Ten days ago, Verizon FiOS TV officially launched here in Washington state. I was actually invited to speak at the launch event that took place that day, alongside Verizon representatives, and local government officials. I was specifically chosen as a case study of just how good FiOS is, since I literally moved specifically because Comcast was way too slow for the things we expected out of our Internet connection here at Gear Live HQ. It was an event meant to talk up the advantages of FiOS over cable (specifically, Comcast, in this area). Obviously, with FiOS looming over their territory, Comcast went into damage control mode to combat Verizon’s claims that they were the best option for Internet and television services. We were sent both the FiOS press release and the Comcast press release, and we figured we would respond to the claims of each, point-by-point.
For some background, we’ve been Comcast customers for over six years, for both Internet and television services. When we moved for FiOS 15 months ago, Comcast was still our cable television provider. As of today, I am a FiOS customer for both Internet and television, and as of 10 days ago, am no longer a Comcast customer. Now, on with the comparisons.
To start, here are the points that Comcast wanted to get across. These are the reasons that they feel they are a better value to consumers than Verizon FiOS. Let’s take a look at each:
Comcast has been using Fiber-Optic technology for more than 10 years – Comcast’s reliable hybrid fiber-coaxial system contains more than 3,000 miles of fiber optic cables directly into each neighborhood we serve.
While this may be true, we fail to see how this makes Comcast a better alternative than FiOS. How do the 3,000 miles of fiber optic cable affect me? It is just the method used to deliver the signal to the node, that fiber doesn’t come all the way to my physical house, the way FiOS does. By the same token, how does the 10 year timeframe affect me? I could care less how long you’ve been doing it, especially if someone else hasn’t been doing it as long, and is doing it better.
Network reliability – A new state-of-the-art network monitoring center, located in Everett, ensures that network issues are identified and corrected well before they impact customers.
Well, that is a good thing. We know it is there, and know it’s purpose. But again, how does this help me, the consumer, when comparing Comcast to FiOS? Is Comcast trying to imply that Verizon doesn’t have a network monitoring center? I know for a fact that they do. It would be silly and irresponsible for either of them not to.
Local customer service – More than 3,000 local Washington state employees, including nearly 1,000 customer service representatives in call centers in Lynnwood, Everett and Fife, are available 24-7 to help customers. These employees ensure that nearly 100 percent of all calls made by Washington Comcast customers are answered by a Comcast Washington employee.
Now, this is something that I can see as a beneficial point. I live in Washington state, and it is just more convenient when I get a service representative on the phone who is from the same local area. I like that. The thing is, both times that I had to call Verizon for support in the past 15 months, I ended up on the phone with someone from Washington state. So this isn’t any better than what FiOS does. Oh, and when I was with Comcast for Internet, I was calling them way more than twice every 15 months. It was more like twice per month.
Comcast bundles – Comcast offers competitive pricing on similar bundles of video, voice and high-speed data services that include up to 16 Mbps down and up to 2 Mbps up.
I find that one to be amusing, seriously. Sure, the pricing on that bundle is competitive with the FiOS bundle of the same speed, but Comcast also was careful to point out their max speed of 16/2. Now, when I left Comcast Internet for FiOS Internet, Comcasts maximum speed was 8/0.768, so they have definitely improved a bit. However, my initial FiOS speed was 30/15. Today, I am on 50/20. There is just no comparison between FiOS at 50/20 and Comcast at 16/2. Comcast simply can’t touch FiOS.
Best value – Comcast’s high-speed Internet service includes more than $325 in free features such as McAfee Security Suite, PhotoShow Deluxe, Rhapsody Radio Plus and The Fan. In addition, an equivalent FiOS phone package can cost as much as $485 more per year than Comcast’s phone service.
Verizon offers similar software packages and gimmicks to make their service look more attractive. I call this one a wash. I personally haven’t used either of these “bonus” feature packages. When I buy service, it is for the service, not for the add-ons. The note about phone service is definitely true, if you were to only get phone service. Both companies offer Internet/TV/Voice packages for $99 a month.
More On Demand – Comcast customers can choose from more than 7,000 titles On Demand, including hundreds of programs in high definition with almost 75% of it being FREE content. Verizon offers significantly fewer titles On Demand and much less FREE content.
See, this one at surface level makes it appear that Comcast’s On Demand offering is better than FiOS TV’s. I just can’t agree with that. Now, this is obviously something that is purely based on a person’s entertainment tastes, but from where I sit, while Comcast had more On Demand content, FiOS TV has better On Demand content - including a bunch of stuff that Comcast doesn’t have, that I would have wished they did. Things like Blip.tv On Demand, where I can see great web content right from the DVR interface. By the way, look out for Gear Live’s video shows to be featured On Demand with FiOS TV soon. Let’s see if we can get on Comcast as well.
FiOS offers limited customer service – The Verizon FiOS call center is only available Monday-Friday, leaving customers without billing, sales and technical support on weekends.
Hands down, this is the first point on the list where I feel Comcast knocks it out of the park - until I realize there is a lie right in it! It is untrue that technical support is unavailable on weekends to FiOS customers. Tech support is the one thing you can get support-wise with FiOS at any time of day, any day of the week. However, it is true that you only get billing and sales support during business hours Monday-Friday. It sucks that Verizon is that way, here’s hoping they change it. For now, Comcast wins in the 24x7x365 support.
FiOS customers without contracts pay more – Verizon doesn’t require contracts, but they charge more if customers decide not to sign a contract. In addition, they charge for cancelling your contract. Comcast does not require contracts for service, and customers are free to cancel at any time without penalty.
Comcast is right on this one as well. They don’t require any contracts, but neither does Verizon. You can choose to enter into a contract with Verizon, and if you do, you get a further discount on services. Still, if we are calling a spade a spade, then Comcast is contract-free, and Verizon isn’t. Comcast wins here.
But you know what Comcast failed to mention? While they don’t have contracts, they will have Internet usage caps beginning next month. If you are a Comcast Internet subscriber, you will have a cap of 250GB usage per month. If you go above that, watch out. Seriously. With FiOS Internet, you can use as much as you want, and you aren’t sharing your connection with all your neighbors. It’s your line, coming directly into your home.
Comcast’s investment in new products and services – Comcast’s Washington market invests an average of $100 million a year to maintain and improve its network, with plans over the next six to 12 months to deliver dramatically faster Internet speeds and dozens more high definition channels.
While it’s nice to hear that Comcast is planning to improve their network, they are playing catch-up at this time. Verizon Internet speeds completely obliterate anything that Comcast offers. When it comes to HDTV, again, FiOS blows Comcast away (despite what those dishonest Comcast ads on television tell you). With Comcast, I had about 25 HD channels. The move to FiOS TV left me with 101 HD channels. That is a sizable difference.
So there you have it, that was Comcast’s entire list. That was their attempt at convincing consumers that they are the better choice when choosing between them and FiOS. I think it was a pretty poor showing, especially considering that they slipped in a blatant lie. Let’s move on to the FiOS data, provided by Verizon.
Again, breaking it down point-by-point:
Speed
- Only the Verizon FiOS network delivers America’s top-rated, fastest Internet up to 50 Mbps
- Verizon FiOS offers connection speeds up to 53 times faster than dial-up
- Fiber optic speeds up to 50 Mbps give you the power to upload/download photos, movies and user-generated content in a flash (e.g. 200 pictures in only 90 seconds)
Can’t argue with them here, although I do wonder why they compare their speeds to dial-up rather than cable.
Picture Quality
- FiOS offers an amazing picture quality up to five times clearer than regular TV
- Verizon FiOS offers 100 HD channels and 100% digital quality, crystal clear picture and studding sound on all channels
- Unlike many cable providers, FiOS TV Quality is not deteriorated by the recompression of video signals before they are passed on to customers
Again, spot on. While to me this seems like it’s mostly fluff, the one important piece here is that FiOS doesn’t recompress their video signals. That means significantly fewer compression artifacts when watching high definition programming. Seriously, this is like night and day when compared to the HD programming quality we got with Comcast.
Reliability & Performance
- Verizon FiOS is the top-rated broadband service in America
- FiOS Phone Service handles over a billion calls a day with 99.9% network reliability
- With a dedicated line from Verizon’s home office directly to each customer’s home, FiOS Internet performance does not slow down during peak times
Here, they are addressing me as a consumer specifically with stats, and then they give the information that the connection doesn’t slow down during peak times, which it most certainly does with cable, especially if you live in a densely-populated area.
Equipment
- Verizon FiOS makes entertainment easy with Home Media DVR
- Verizon FiOS is the only service to offer Multi-room DVR and Verizon Media Manager
- Verizon FiOS offers over 10,000 Video on Demand titles per month
What I like here are the specifics. Instead of using terms like “more”, the way Comcast did, Verizon lays it out there - they have over 10,000 VOD titles per month. That is obviously more than I will end up watching, if Comcast has more than that, then that is also more than I will end up watching. The thing is, it’s about the quality of the programming, not the quantity. Quality is where FiOS wins that battle.
The other thing of note here is the Home Media DVR. This is another thing that Comcast just can’t touch. I can stream audio and video content from my PC to my FiOS DVR to play on my television and through my speaker system. The FiOS IMG DVR software is far and away better than the slow, horrible, poor excuse for an interface that Comcast is currently using. Multi-room DVR allows me to watch content stored on one DVR on other DVRs in my home - again, something Comcast has never offered.
So there you have it, those are the details provided by both Comcast and Verizon as they pertain to their entertainment and Internet packages. If you have the choice between these two specific services in your area, feel free to use my thoughts above as a guide. Like I said, I was a Comcast customer for over 6 years, and I know their services very well. Once I went with FiOS Internet, I was blown away. My recent switch to FiOS TV was just as mind-blowing. The fact that you get your own line of fiber, directly to your home, to carry all your communications is amazing.
Do you agree? Are we way off base? Let us know your thoughts.
- Related Tags:
- adslice, bothell, broadband, cable, comcast, fiber, fiber optics, fios, fios tv, fios vs comcast, ftth, hdtv, high definition, home entertainment, internet, kirkland, lynnwood, press releases, seattle, sidefeatured, verizon fios, washington
Digg ThisAdvertisement
Comments:
joe
9/19/08 5:07 pm
“How does the FIOS DVR compare with TIVO? “
—
A quick reply:
- The TiVo software is much smother in operation.
- You can not get VOD from FiOS through a TiVo.
- And, most importantly, with a TiVo you can get far more HD recording time both from the start and with replacement Drives or Add-Ons. I’m getting 157 hours currently.
Interesting, but this is written in a tone like an advertorial. Your site is sponsored by Verizon FIOS, isn’t it?
No, Gear Live is *not* sponsored by Verizon FiOS. However, Verizon, on the whole, has run a 2-month ad campaign on the site. Ad campaigns and sponsorships are very different. Aside from that, you say the post is written in the tone of an advertorial. You sure about that? Can you point me to any similarly written advertorial? As I said in the post itself, these are my *honest* feelings on both services. Then, in each point, I gave a real-world account. Show me where I didn’t, if you don’t agree.
Furthermore, you didn’t point out anything in the post that you disagree with. You just asked about a sponsorship. If you are implying that we would set our integrity aside due to an advertiser who chose to do a small 2-month campaign (compared to the many who do way more campaigns for longer lengths or higher amounts), you are sadly, sadly mistaken. Gear Live has been around since 2004, and we have yet to do anything biased towards any advertiser. If anything, we are tougher on them.
As I said, Verizon as a whole ran a campaign. I can easily say that Verizon Wireless is garbage. Verizon DSL is horrible. I wouldn’t touch FiOS phone service, as I instead stick with Vonage. But that wasn’t what this post was about. It was about Comcast and FiOS as Internet and television providers. I said nothing about Time Warner, Cox, Millenium, or any other cable provider, because I don’t have experience with them. Again, this was about real world experience.
Care to argue against any of the points I made? Feel free, that is what the comments are for. But seriously, if you, cabler, would rather just question our integrity without backing anything up, you are only making yourself look silly.
verizon wireless service is the best in the USA. at&t can’t even touch the reliability of verizon service in most areas.. PERIOD!!
This is pathetic… The difference in quality of FIOS, cable and Satellite is minimal. The most important part for most people is the price. FIOS didn’t bring anything new to the field. Is just another option at the same price. I was hopping FIOS would finally brake all the rules and offer A-La-Carte programming. I guess I was dreaming.
I still get a better deal than cable and FIOS with Dish Network.
You may need a better display (or a properly calibrated one) in order to see the magnitude of difference. Trust me, we get a lot of TVs coming through here at Gear Live headquarters, and we know how to compare signals.
How did you get video from your PC to go on your TV?? The Home Media DVR only does pics and music. Do you have special software? The software they supply does not do video…...please advise.
Yes, I would like to know how to stream PC video thru the FIOS cable box to my TV! I just received my cable box on 10/23/08 and the Media Manager option is right there when I go to the Menu. I downloaded the Media Manager software from “hxxp://www36.verizon.com/fiostv/web/unprotected/mediamanager.aspx”, installed the software (version 7.2.58) and I can only view pictures or listen to music on my TV from my PC. Even the link I provided says nothing about the ability to stream video from your PC to TV with FIOS Media Manager.
Is there another version (beta?) of Media Manager that I need to stream video? Does anyone know where I can get it? I even tried looking on torrents but couldn’t find anything.
i have verizon t1 and suppose to be getting aroundn 3684kbps but they have done something dumb and only getting 40kbps its the slowest ever its SO unreliable i get internet for about 6 hours a day and its down till 12 the next morning…. i am switching to comcast the customer supporst for verizon sucks…. my opinion and maybe its where i live but i am finally done…..
trop
2/9/09 4:20 am
Lying on the video streaming from the PC, ah? I’m glad it’s not just Comcast lying.
Congrats on the advertorial!
Fred
2/26/09 6:14 pm
FiOS is a failure! They melted the side of my house and would not fix it. The Internet is slower than Comcast and the OnDemand selection is horrible. The 20dB hot blew out the tuner on the set top box twice!
danny
3/12/09 7:49 am
good post i also have the fios 50/20 and i got to say it is the best. with that said i will tell you that some cable and dsl company are good because as some smart people know speeds dont make a connection good its the ping times and the backbone the company offers.as for the tv service over the air is the best hd you can get and fios does compress there signal dont let anyone tell you different i know because i work for them.
compression list
FIOS 20bit mpeg2
CABLE 12bit mpeg2
DIRECT TV 10bit mpeg4
cheermjm
3/22/09 11:06 am
I don’t think you have all the facts about comcast correct. Yes, Verizon has more HD channels then Comcast but Comcast offers my HD ONDEMAND content. As far as all those 100 hd chn are they anything you really want to watch?(how to boil water). I was at a family members home that has fios and the onscreen guide was a joke. It just should the chn # that you are on the time and verizon. wow like they didn’t know what company they had. it may have been more helpful if it listed the network and the program that was on. Comcast interactive program guide does do this. My husband asked how do you know what your watching? I picked up the paper channel line up off the floor and said here you go. wow thats cutting edge a paper chn line up. Fiber to the prem is not that great of an idea either. As you can see from other post it is too much for the boxes and will blow them out or cause other damage. The boxes that Verizon uses are the same ones that comcast uses.
Next time get it straight. Its cool for everybody to hate the cable company because people feel that they have had no other choice. They had other choices just none of them could give the same product and services, so they just felt that way. Alot of people will try Verizon becuase they are the new guy and have all these great offers, but most of them will end up back at Comcast for one reason or another.
Also Verizon is always bashing Comcast in ads but Comcast doesn’t do the same to Verizon…...sound like any other campaign?....Obama vs McCain…we all know how won that one too.
Jay Swartzwelder
4/3/09 8:56 am
Hate to tell ya…but Comcast is ALWAYS run’n adds about the “Phoney’s”. Pre-Fios they were brag’n about how slow DSL was. Anyone remember when cable was $12.95 a month for 13 channels with no advertising? Now we have $50+ cable with 35 min shows and 25 min advertisements. Amazing! Talk about selling on both ends and we the people paying on both ends!
Sarah James
4/7/09 8:49 pm
I switched to Verizon from Comcast, and I had just got the whole setup today….I really wish I had not switched. This internet keeps cutting out. With Comcast, it never cut out, except for when my router was acting up. Look, Comcast IS better as far as Internet goes. The channel selection with Verizon is….small, even if the image quality is an almost unnoticeable bitty bit better. I get an anime channel….but I really love my internet…..and It cutting out every five minutes is gonna be a problem…not to mention it’s so SLOW. I don’t care what Comcast was charging me, they were better and now I really wish I hadn’t gotten so worked up over ONE dollar. Yup. The upped me one dollar on my bill and I freaked….that why I switched. But…Verizon’s internet quality is poor, especially on my laptop. It cuts out more frequently and for longer periods. I wish I could switch back, but I’m going to be moving in about a year, and when I do, I’m switching then. I mean, my bill for Comcast kept changing…but I had had them for two years and only just recently freaked out. I’ve had Verizon for ONE DAY and I already hate it.
dingleberry
4/17/09 8:52 am
you must not like sports…and fios internet is way faster and way more reliable…get urself a new laptop
sport freak
4/18/09 1:36 pm
i have comcast and i really like all the comments and article but i will switch to fios once it is available in my area
nate
4/20/09 1:47 pm
I disagree with Sarah James. I was a loyal Comcast guy for years (customer AND stock-holder) and must say that their internet outages were both frequent and random, all the way up to the night before my FIOS install (about three weeks ago). Comcast tech support couldn’t provide any answers and typically stalled me long enough to threaten the dreaded “we’ll need to schedule a service call between 9AM and 5PM tomorrow”. I would kindly decline explaining that some of us have to work full time to pay for their services and couldn’t take off work every time service went down which was at least 2-3 times per month. Service would usually be back up the next morning but that doesn’t help you much when trying to network to the office to hit deadlines. Even worse, I’d get conflicting answers from tech support. One guy had me replace my cable modem that had gone bad - next time I called I imentioned the bad modem and was told flat-out that it couldn’t be the probelm since they “never go bad”. Guess what - when I switched it out my problems diminished again. Whether it was the true culprit or not I’ll never know, but having two techs giving opposing testimony does not instill confidence in their team.
All that being said, my brand-new FIOS router crapped the bed the second day after install. They sent a tech out that evening (he couldn’t get there before 9 PM so he called to see if he could stop by on his way home to drop off another box - rolled trhough around 10:30) and the new router is working fine. Speed and consistency of service have so far been good with the obvious exception stated above. TV blows away Comcast with single-tier pricing t get most channels and the large number of HD options. Picture quality is a wash as far as I can tell but I have fairly modest equipment - no 106” rear-projection screens around my house!
RE: cost - I’ll be locked-in to saving almost $120 a month with FIOS over Comcast for the next two years, and if current “retail” prices hold (yeah right!) I’ll still save about $85 per month after that. These numbers trump any others I’ve seen, especially given the much0-higher bandwidth now at my disposal.
Anne Nelson
4/26/09 7:43 am
I feel the exact same way. I went from Comcast to Fios because i wasn’t real fond of the on screen programming with Comcast. But omg! Verizon is much worse! It gives a chaotic feel when you look at it. It also doesn’t tell you if a show is rerun or not, you know the little (r) at the bottom of the program description. Also, I had one whole evening where I could not use my fast forward on my dvr’d programs, it was not working at all. Another time we had to literally unplug the dvr and replug it becasue the whole picture froze and would not do anything. Not what I want at 9pm at night when i am exhausted and finally ready to sit down for the first time all day! Verizon had to come out 3 different days to set up our system correctly. Their communication between themselves is very poor. I have only had this for 13 days and I have 2 days before i can decide to go back to comcast. It will cost me a bit more, the other reason i switched, but it may be worth it. Comcast is always available if i have to call for anything. I don’t get people all over the country everytime I call. The picture on Fios may be a bit better but they have very few on demand free channels and what there is is stuff like Starz and TNT shows that I can watch anyway with my other channels. And Verizon does not even offer all the on demand channels that Comcast does. and most of Verizon on demand is stuff you have to pay for. My kids love to watch the free shows and they can manuever much easier thru comcast than Fios. I want my Comcast back!!!!
Srinivas
5/3/09 5:32 am
FIOS delivers the committed ( or close to committed) speeds. I signed up for a 20/2 and my speeds are close at 96%. Comcast I have seen being flaky and most of the time at 50%
Alice
6/1/09 4:18 am
What about FIOS’s E-Mail features? Comcast recently came out with something called SmartZone which ruined my E-Mail experience and had to open an account with AOL which works well for me.
jaycut
6/9/09 11:25 am
That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. You have a T1 at your home? really? I will go ahead an answer that for you and say no, you dont. Do you even know what a T1 is?
stan
6/10/09 8:38 am
One downside to FiOS. You don’t get the channel guide or On Demand through the small set top boxes. You have to get the large box for online channel guide. The other one I don’t like is the lack of On Demand with TiVo
steve
6/10/09 5:35 pm
9-5???? i dont know what nate is talking about, I’m atech with comcast and i know for sure only in house techs do trouble calls, and the largest time frame we have is a three hour window, we are also available until 7 at night and on saturdays and sundays for your convenience, so this 9-5 window sounds like b.s. to me, Ive never seend that in many years, good luck when something goes down on a weekend with fios lol, their union dont work on weekends. they have fios in our area and i loooove it, so many people talked it up when it first came out and now its slower than our 3.0 service by half! lol, their on demand is a joke and i’m pretty sure they only have about 25-30 hd channels, although theyre always saying they have more, not sure where they get that from though or how they say it legally when every night i have 60+
Alice
6/11/09 4:35 am
My husband and I were thinking about getting Verizon FIOS but when we learned each additional TV would require a $10 interface box, we decided against it since we have a total of 7 TVs in our house connected directly to a Comcast splitter. If you visit your local Comcast office and tell them you are thinking about Verizon, they will give you a free movie package if you ask if they have any free specials. We now have free HBO, STARZ and Showtime.
iofu
6/11/09 7:30 am
7 tv’s? little over the top, no?
Anyway, while the original article was good, call me paranoid, but I cannot stop thinking that people commenting on this site are actually from comcast trying to give fios a bad name.. or vice versa. I do not particularly like Verizon as a company either.
Bottom line: FiOS is faster and they do not cap you at 250gb a month for internet service.
I couldn’t care less about HD or TV content, all that matters to me is that the company I choose doesn’t treat me like a criminal by assuming that if I am download/uploading more than said 250gb, that I must be stealing software or movies. How ridiculous is that? Not a good way to treat customers.
chris
6/11/09 10:17 pm
yes it does! Connect your computer to your home media/multi room DVR and you can get video and audio from your computer on to your TV. it’s simple. why didn’t you have the installer show you how to do that?
Josh
7/10/09 4:48 pm
Steve!!!! did you eat paint chips as a child!?!?!?
You call you self a tech and appear to know nothing about docsis 3, let alone fttp systems. well, enjoy your fast veriable speed internet with a 250gb cap. ooo and don’t forget to wave as i download and upload circles around you. lol
on a more serious note, i used comcast 8 down 1 up internet. worked ok as long as i wasn’t enjoying the internet too much. i also found that netflix seemed to stutter and degrade the more i used the service. i found the same true on my 22 mbps docsis 3 connection. i recently switched from that to a 25 down 15 up fios service and have yet to have any problems with media streaming, download run at 3.1 mb a second (not a typo), uploads have actually been about the same 3.1. internet speed test seem a bit lower than my comcast docsis 3 was 
go figure
Mike
7/16/09 4:51 pm
I was going to switch from Comcast to FiOS but canceled my appointment. When I called to cancel my Comcast service they tried their best to retain me. Now (minus phone service I rarely used) my bill is $94 instead of the $176 or so I was paying. FiOS couldn’t match it. Of the $111 or so my Verizon bill would have been, more than $30 was devoted JUST in rental fees. I didn’t like the idea of having MANDATORY boxes for a TV, then being made to pay for them. At least Comcast gave me basic boxes for free.
My service has been pretty stable and I love my HD picture. I might only get 36 HD channels, but I MAYBE watch 10 of them (only 4 or 5 on a regular basis).
My internet speeds have been good to. I have the 16/2 service right now. Even if there is a cap, how many people actually reach that? On a busy month, I may download 75gb of actual content (not sure how much I use just browsing websites or using XBL).
I would venture to say the average person who is thinking about switching couldn’t care less about speeds and 25 vs 100 HD channels. They are looking at price and what they can get for free during this “war”.”
Al Watkins
7/30/09 12:23 pm
A little too aggressive of an answer for a one sentence question… don’t you think?
Alice
8/4/09 4:49 am
Yes, Comcast will work with you, especially if you visit their office and ask if they can help you reduce your monthly bill. We now have 3 free movie packages (HBO, STARZ and Showtime). My husband just set up a way to watch movies from a computer since we joined NETFLIX who has many movies to stream. Had to buy a new PC just for that use which has a HDMI output connector. Many people are becoming disgusted with regular TV broadcasts and finding other means to pick and choose what they want their children not to see. For example, they had that Michael Jackson thing on every channel for many days. We also hate to see that Obama character speaking. The computer we bought is an ASUS Assentio DUO QUAD which is small enough to fit in our entertainment center.
Tony Friesen
8/7/09 9:19 am
People who obey specifications are like religious extremists.
TV- Have a good TV, a good digital receiver, a good installer, and a company that properly maintains their plant in your neibourhood.
Internet - Have a working modem, a good instal, a company that properly maintains their plant in that neibourhood - and a speed your comfortable with(1% of you will benefit from the different between 25meg - 50 megs(spread between providers). If you get slowdowns, your provider is cheaping out - not doing their job, and should be called on it.
Phone - Do you have dial tone, do you have the options that don’t annoy you? And as always, good instal, good plant, yadda yadda.
Customer service is a big one for me - The provider has to stand behind their product, meaning no cancellation fees, free service calls, and strong warranty on their hardware.
Toss in a decent price, and I don’t care if some egghead with 90/20 vision tells me that his 1080p plasma looks better watching the extended version of the latest Lucas movie on one service than another.
zook
9/3/09 12:59 pm
If you currently have Comcast, and your bill is all you care about, just call and tell them that you are going to switch to FiOS. The Comcast retention center will be happy to give you some price breaks and free movie packages. They don’t want to lose you as a customer so be sure to milk them hard.
George P
9/7/09 8:36 am
Just like one of the people wrote above:
“This is pathetic… The difference in quality of FIOS, cable and Satellite is minimal. The most important part for most people is the price. FIOS didn’t bring anything new to the field. Is just another option at the same price”
Plain and Simple, with out to much of the dramatic reasons/excuses/politics that some peoples likes to munch on.
An excellent comment for the one who wrote the paragraph above.
Unfortunately, George, that just isn’t a true assessment. We ran a side-by-side test, and it was clear that FiOS had better quality due to the uncompressed nature of their feed, and that satellite, with their 1080p on demand offering, had the highest-quality on demand feed.
Ted
9/17/09 2:04 pm
I have been a FiOS internet customer for about 3 years—hand-down the most reliable and consistent internet service I’ve ever had.
I’m now considering switching to FiOS TV from Comcast.
Here are what I see as Comcast’s plusses for TV:
* Considerably better customer service. Getting someone on the phone is easy and they have a retail location nearby. The equivalent with Verizon ranges from mildly irritating to nightmarish.
* Better for do-it-yourselfer. I use a Media Center PC and dealing with Comcast to get cablecards is quick and painless. Stop into the cable store, pick up a card, then call in to get them to send out the right signals to pair it with my PC (see previous point).
* Price… when unbundled. I am currently paying Comcast $55.75 for Digital Preferred (the $16.99 charge for the Preferred tier is waived), and a $1.60 for an extra cablecard. Verizon’s equivalent is $57.99 for Extreme HD, and then $3.99 for each of 2 cablecards. So if you want unbundled service and if you can work a deal, you can save a few bucks.
* HD quantity. This is different from when your article was first published; Comcast has added lots of HD channels with their analog reclamation project. I did a comparison of available channels and found that it’s largely a wash now; And, they have or will shortly have several channels that FiOS does not have (TruTV-HD, WE-HD, MSNBC-HD, etc). FiOS offers vew if any channels vs Comcast that I actually care about. (Disclaimer: I did not factor in sports channels at all since I don’t care about them.)
However, I’m leaning towards FiOS for TV due to its plusses:
* HD quality. I see occasional streaks of macroblocking with Comcast and from time to time SD channels like like a YouTube video. I don’t expect Blu-ray quality but I do watch on TVs where the quality difference of an unrecompressed signal will hopefully be apparent.
* Bundled pricing. Verizon is currently offering a bundle for $94.99/month that has Extreme HD + 25/15 internet, with 2 year price guarantee. That is a great deal, and one Comcast really can’t match… and which I would not be able to take advantage anyway since I would not switch to Comcast for internet..
The DVRs and on-demand features are completely uninteresting to me since I use a Media Center PC.
The big wildcard is the Frontier acquisition. I doubt we’ll get any new HD channels after they take over.
zook
9/17/09 2:36 pm
Don’t get me wrong, I think FiOS is a superior service over cable. It’s this very reason why Comcast will give you the farm if you tell them you are leaving for FiOS. They know 95% of those that leave for FiOS will never come back.
Austin
11/1/09 5:33 am
Although it may not be an add for Verizon, its completely bias. Yes, I understand you’ve been a comcast customer for years, and you’d think that this would be “even” but its not. Who are you to judge on demand videos?Are you a movie critic? Im “sure” comcast has movies that fios doesn’t have either but the reason your so happy is its a change. If you would switch back to comcast 3 years from now then you would probably write an article saying how comcast is the best because its something new to you. I live in Baltimore Maryland and I can assure you my Internet doesnt slow down ever even at peak hours. My download speed might take a few *seconds* longer but ill take that for the year round customer support and quality. The only problem I’ve had with comcast in the past 10 years, is…uh…well, nothing, and I use my internet pacifically for downloading files and psd’s. So maybe in the washington are your service and quality is horrendous. But here, where I live, its the number #1 choice.
Austin,
While I appreciate your judgmental and sarcastic tones, the fact is that FiOS has the best picture, period. It’s been proven time and again in independent tests. Also, I don’t recall reviewing any of their movies, which is what movies critics do. I talked about the quality - the PICTURE QUALITY, of the video on demand services. Again, FiOS has a much cleaner picture. Why? Because they don’t compress the signal like Comcast (and other cable companies) does.
I do this for a living, and I think I know what I am talking about. I’ve been with Verizon for about 3 years now. When my friends come over who subscribe to Comcast, they immediately notice a difference and comment on it.
Sorry, but you are wrong in this instance.
Mike
11/17/09 4:24 pm
I had comcast and I’ve had trouble with it on and off, the area I moved in is offering fios and I will try it out for the first time on tues(and I can’t wait) comcast will never see me again, no thanks for the memories.
Peter
11/18/09 1:54 pm
I have been a Comcast customer (WA state) for over eight years and overall have had an excellent experience. Just recently FiOS came to my area and I trying to evaluate if I should switch. I could not care less about the TV service but am very interested in internet and digital phone. I just tested my Comcast speed and got about 24 Mbps down and about 1.7 Mbps up. FiOS advertises 15/5 Mbps which is qute a bit slower on the download but faster on the upload. I am guessing that, as most other residential users, I care a lot more about the download speed. I have also read some posts that FiOS service has a very bad latency which makes the overall experience a lot worse for an average user. Any input on this subject?
Kat
1/1/10 9:55 am
With the speed of the internet nowadays I have tried software that allows you to watch tv on your pc and it is really good quality if you have a decent connection. I got some great software from http://watchlivetv-online.com and haven;t looked back since, no subscription fees and thousands of free channels. Hope this helps you!
Alice
1/2/10 2:13 pm
OK, my husband and I have found the perfect way to save a lot of money instead of having cable TV. It still requires Comcasts internet which we need anyway. By trying out a simple TV antenna, we found we could receive about 12 nice and clear channels, including the ION channel. Then by purchasing a new DVD player for $149, and joining Netflix for $8.99 a month, we have unlimited DVD deliveries one at a time and able to stream thousands of movies which really look good on our large screen TV. Since that Obama guy was elected, we had to put up with a lot of movies with Afro Americans in them on cable TV, even in their commercials. Now we can enjoy movies made for us.
Sophie
1/16/10 9:08 am
wow. I… don’t even know how to respond to that. I’m at a loss for words.
Actually, that’s a lie. There are PLENTY of words that come to mind…..
Comments: Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >
Advertisement
Follow Gear Live!
Recent Galleries
Facebook Fans
Featured Poll
Which is more important to you: Audio quality or video quality?
Thanks for voting in this poll.
Categories
Advertisement
Site Links
All About GearLive
GearLive Tools
Check out the Gear Live Tools that let you integrate Gear Live into your site and add Google features.
Advertise
GearLive Store
New! Get Gear Live hats, shirts, hoodies and more at the new Gear Live Store, coming soon.
© Gear Live Inc. – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.
Forum Discussion
Come join the discussion on this topic over on the Gear Live message boards. You need to be a member to participate, so sign up if you haven't already - it's free!