As an avid movie watcher, and major fan
of sports,
television has always been my way of keeping myself entertained. In
recent
years, with the advent of Satellite TV for PC software programs, I've
been
getting all of my favorite shows without the cable or satellite bills.
Even better is that, with these simple software programs, I don't even
need a cable
box, there are no complex equipments, and all I need is my computer and
an
Internet connection (my new 40" HD TV/PC monitor helps as well).
The reason why most people have n't adopted this
technology yet is simply because they don't know about it,
or they
haven't found a software package worth their money. There are however
many
of these free-satellite-tv services out there, and sorting through them
all can be quite difficult.
With that said, let's first cover what a good
satellite
for PC service is and is not..
First , a
satellite
for PC service is NOT a good solution if your main TV viewing includes
pay per view programs or expensive movie channels. Although you will
find a huge variety of movie channels, live sports broadcasts, and some
of the most popular channels, there is no pay per view with satellite
streamed to your PC.
Second, NOT everyone
will need satellite to PC software. If you don't have a decent computer
(less that 3-4 years old) and an Internet connection, this software
willn't work for you anyway.
Third, a satellite
for PC program IS the best and only way to get up to 4000 channels with
$0 spent
on monthly fees. In fact, with the best services the only money you put
out is a small one-time $40-$50 fee to get TV streamed to your PC 24
hours a day, 365 Days a Year. Now considering that the average cable
bill
costs as much as $1200/year, that's $1150 you can keep in your pocket
this year alone!!
Fourth, if you do
not
take the time to choose the right satellite for pc service
you'll most likely just be wasting your money
anyway. Worse than that, with the poorest services,
they really are fly-by-night operations
and your TV enjoyment might end at any time.
To help, along with a group of friends, we went
through the process of testing top satellite for PC services.
To
evaluate each service, we simply signed up for them and used them for a
period of 3 months. We then shared our results and rated each service
based on the following criteria;
- Number of Channels - How
many channels could we receive at any given time. The best services had
channel counts in the thousands.
- Quality of Channels - The
TV viewing requires more than just public broadcasts. Each service was
rated based upon the quality of channels we could receive.
- Consistency of Service -
Channels come and go wit some services . Higher
ratings were given to
those which had more channels and more consistently.
- Quality of Broadcasts -
When streaming video through the Internet quality sometimes gets
sacrificed. We gave higher ratings to satellite for PC software that
brought high quality pictures.
- Support when Needed -
Although these services are fairly straightforward, it is important to
have help when you need it. We contacted the support teams for each of
the services we signed up with and rated them on their responses.
- Value/Cost - Based on the
above criteria was the service worth the money spent. When
compared
to the monthly costs of cable obviously they were, but when compared to
each other - did they provide decent value?
- Overall Rating - Finally
we gave each service an overall rating based on all of our findings.
Below you will find our ratings for the top three
satellite to PC programs that we could find. With each of our top three
we got decent quality broadcasts, a good number of channels, and
consistent quality and support. Our recommendations are clearly laid
out below, but if you do need help choosing the right service feel free
to contact us (infor@satellitedirectreviews.tv).
To Never Paying a Cable Bill Again,
William K. Taylor