No, the title is not a typo. This is a biased review of satellite TV versus cable. This has to do with the fact that I am a happy satellite TV subscriber, and must admit, it was a smart move on my part.

After spending exorbitant amounts of money on cable, one day I decided I would give it up and start looking for alternatives. I admit, I was seduced into getting cable by their low introductory price which was only $29 per month, including the premium channels.

Of course, this lasted only 3 months, after which I was expected to pay the full price of $89 per month. Like everyone else, I put up with this and quickly realized what I had gotten myself into. I knew that with my tight budget, this luxury couldn't last. I knew I would have to give up my HBO (I love HBO--"Sopranos" anyone?).

However, even after I got rid of the premium channels I was still paying $69 per month!

There had to be another way. Unfortunately, cable companies tend to monopolize whatever area they get their grubby hands on, and I knew it would be difficult to find an alternative. The only other option for me was whipping out that old TV antenna, and getting my wife to stand next to the TV while moving the antenna around until we got a good signal. I can tell you right now, my wife wasn't going to go for that one.

I knew that even joking about it would lead to the single life.

The alternative came to me when I heard from a friend who just happened to have satellite TV. He told me about how much he loved his Dish Network, and that the TV commercials where they show the people losing the signal all the time, and having to go to the roof to adjust the antenna was a bunch of "hog wash."

In the year that he had his Dish Network, he hadn't had one problem with it. He loved his Dish Network, and he was only paying $42.99 per month for it while getting over 100 channels, including HBO.

I wanted in. I inquired about how I could get my own Dish Network system, but was a bit hesitant. Although the monthly price was cheap, what about all the equipment I would have to buy?

My friend just laughed at me. He told me that all the equipment was free.

How could hundreds of dollars worth of equipment be free? That included a satellite antenna, receivers for up to 4 rooms, a Digital Video Recorder, and even a High Definition receiver. It couldn't all be free. There had to be some sort of catch.

I decided to investigate this a bit further. After all, I was about to give up a reliable, albeit expensive, source of entertainment--my cable.

I checked out the website my friend recommended, www.vmcDishNetwork.net, and it turns out that Dish Network was indeed offering free installation, free equipment, and to top it off, even the first month free. That's a lot of free stuff and I love free stuff.

I jumped on it. I cancelled my cable, and scheduled my install. I couldn't get the installer in here fast enough.

Out of all the programs offered by vmcDishNetwork, decided on the 120 channels, including HBO (YAY!) and Cinemax, plus local channels and even includes 65 channels of SIRIUS satellite radio (I just happen to have a SIRIUS radio receiver--go Howard Stern!).

If someone were to ask me whether or not switching to satellite TV was a good move on my part, I'd have to say, "Absolutely, YES!"

If they were to ask me if they should give up their cable for satellite TV, I would tell them, "Do it as soon as you can, and stop paying ungodly amounts of money per month when satellite TV offer so much more, for so much less."
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