Which is the best cable tv provider in NY?

Roku?

verizon better service, time warner better programming( on demand movies etc

Used RCN for about 7+ years.. generally they'll keep raising their rates which is very annoying and/or splitting out packages and charging you more..then offer combined packages to new people it seemed like.
Realiability I'd give an a 6 out of 10 on the cable tv...their on-demand was horrible and kept stuttering for me. The tech staff was pretty incompentent and just follows set scripts and dialog (ie they don't have any real skills, they are just reading scripts based on words you say), but the wait-time was horrendous like 30 minutes. Service seemed to mysterioiusly go down every couple of months (i think it was maintenance but hard to know).

Have been on TimeWarner for the last 2 months now.Beter on-demand stuff and ny1 is great. Realiability wise tho lots of stuttering but i think it has to do with the cable box software b/c i don't get that problem with my non-dvr one. Tech help once again just follows same drone-script, which means the rep doesn't have any real knowledge..but at least you get picked up within 5 minutes usually.

have never tried Verizon, but if i can get it, I'd try that as I hear reliability wise its always been pretty good

Just switched from TWC to Fios when I moved. $148 bill (with internet, no DVR, no phone, yes HBO, No Show/Max) to 24 month Fios deal without a contract for $99 first year, $119 second: Faster internet, includes 2 TV DVR, phone (saves another $15-25 for Vonage) & Show/Max but no HBO (can be had for another $20). So far good service. Wireless included which reduces the clutter of one more router on/under my desk.

Too new to say how reliable it is.

TWC. Cable & Internet for $85/month. Near-100% reliability.

Oh.

how about dispensing with cable and internet and using virgin mifi for 40$ a month, unlimited use ...and watch less tv ..or at least not watch it live. I haven't tried the mifi thing yet but wall st journal gave it a rave review (and I'm told it is not that bad even though it is 3g).

The mifi and other wireless Internet plans aren't truly unlimited use. Almost all of them now significantly reduce your speeds when you reach 5GB in the monthly cycle. If you're going to be watching video, that 5GB cap will be hit in no time.

Of course, it's also subject to the strength of the signal in your apartment.

Time Warner offers wired Internet for under $50/mo with taxes included. But none of this really has anything to do with the OP's question.

Verizon and TWC both have the EXACT same on demand programming.

seriously, aren't lots of people dropping cable tv at least...is manhattan not seeing this? (maybe people are too rich to bother)

I switched from TWC to Verizon FiOS ... Picture quality is definitely much worse with Verizon. But the Internet speeds are higher.

Hulu, Netflix, all the networks have episodes on their websites. I enjoyed classic Saturday night live on nbc.com the other day.

But I'm still tethered to TW. Thinking of switching to FIOS, is it any better than TW?

I find the FIOS internet to be much more reliable than TWC - not faster, necessarily, but far fewer outages. The tv takes some getting used to, esp if you were locked into TWC for a decade or more.

We had RCN in our rental and Time Warner in our co-op.

RCN's on-demand was much less reliable, but we rarely had outages of the main channels and never needed a service call.

Time Warner has been a hassle from the start and is one of the worst companies I've ever dealt with. We've had them out seven times in nine months and went through periods of as long as six weeks with no TV. During the period where our cable was out, they insisted we pay our bill as usual (for service we did not receive) and then later receive a credit. When I balked, they told me they would turn off my service (which wasn't working anyway) and refuse to send anyone out.

Every service call was a hassle. Firstly, the show rate was about 50%. I spent entire days at home only to have TWC never show, despite multiple reassurances they were coming. Then when they came, they didn't have the right parts. Then our roof was "too dangerous" and "icy" even though I have pictures showing it was clear.

Each tech just tried the same thing as the previous tech. Although I had been telling them repeatedly that I suspected the problem was with the outside wiring because it tended to get worse in windy weather, they insisted on replacing every interior part, got the cable to work for five minutes, then hightailed it out of there. Half an hour later, "E-13" appears on the cable box.

Finally, we had a good tech who was willing to troubleshoot, who actually listened to me and looked at the documentation I had of all of the people who traipsed through our apartment and all of the steps they tried, and he was able to fix the problem. (In the end, the problem was a pinched exterior wire, just as I suspected.)

If FIOS were available to us, I'd be tempted to switch, but this whole experience has been so painful -- numerous wasted weekends, days off from work or working from home, etc. -- that I'm tempted to just leave well enough alone as long as the service stays operational. Sad to reward a company for truly terrible service, but the time involved in dealing with these companies is just not worth it.

Friends in another part of the country use an indoor digital HD antenna, which picks up (for no monthly charge) lots and lots of channels, including digital ones number x.y ... I assume that technology works no better in Manhattan than the old indoor (or even outdoor) antennas did, but does anyone have any experience with that?

Or comments on the teevee programming available via Netflix? (I'm not talking about on-demand-type streaming movie/TV content, but real-time programming.)

"numbered" x.y

Some more on my TW/Fios experience. Download speed much higher with Fios (3.2-3.5 gig vs 1.1-1.2 on TW).

My pic quality is also much better, but that could be because I had old equipment on TW (prob 10 years on the cable box but the internet router was new). Lots of frame freezes and pixelating on TW and haven't got any of that on Verizon so far.

I think the real answer is switching between them every few years. You get the benefit of the new customer deals and the new equipment.

$85 for tv/internet from TWC? how'd you manage that deal?

I think the real answer is switching between them every few years. You get the benefit of the new customer deals and the new equipment.

--
Free market at work. I had digital non-high def in one room. Time Warner never let me know that H.D. was now standard across the board. It was only when the unit broke and they replaced it with a hihg-def one that I found out.

Up until this year I have always had TWC (15 years) now I have Verizon. I thought i would see a bigger difference then I do. I dont think you can go wrong with either one

TWC sucks in every way.

Some people unforuntely can't take advantage of HD programming because they still have tube tvs. Hmmm, who do we know that still has a tube tv? Do you know of anyone Matt?

Free HD tvs, courtesy of the government, right?
Cash for clunker tube tvs, right?

I've never paid for a HD tv. My first one I got for free from a bank for opening a large account. And my second one I got for free from cashing in airline credit card miles.

How big was the account?

and my third one was a 26 inch LCD I got as a gift from a relative. I don't need a 3rd tv so I use it as my computer monitor.

I don't remember how large the account was since it was about 8 years ago. I think it was mid 6 digits. Incicdentally, I still have the tv since it was amde in America and does not break, unlike the Chinese made crap of today.

really, a tv 8 years ago was made in America? Zenith? RCA? Westinghouse?

Sony

oh, right, State of New York.

Verizon has NEVER had an outage for the year plus I have had it versus monthly outages with TW. Also, cheaper and faster internet. Downside: less DVR capacity.

WHy are you paying more for a DVR? in the long run, it's cheaper to buy a TIVO.