Or . . . why cable sucks.

DirecTV isn’t obviously better. It’s the subtle differences  that make DirecTV the better choice.

Here’s a few reasons why i think DirecTV is better then Cable:

1. -Better HD!!!!:  bottom line, compare cable HD to DirecTV HD and you will see how big of a difference there is. besides having MORE HD channels, the HD quality is waaay better. you can see it!
   

2. -
   

3. -DirecTV Screensaver:  when you pause anything you are watching, after a few minutes a screen saver comes up . . DirecTV understands that burn in on plasmas is not fun . . .
   

1. -Schedule Recordings - From Anywhere! :  pretty simple, but quite useful. schedule a DVR recording from any web based device  - including mobile phones!
   

1. -DVR - Managing Existing Recordings:  everything you record is not only organized by most recent, but also in folders. so when you have 5 LOST episodes, they arent scattered all over . . but instead they are in a folder , all together. it will even let you know which ones you have watched already, and which ones you haven’t!  Anything new is in Bold, anything watched is faded.
   

1. -DVR - Resume:  stop watching a recording at anytime, return later, just click resume to start watching where you left off . .
   

1. -DVR - Gets along well with LiveTV:  this is hard to explain, but when you finally realize it, AHA! - basically, you are watching LiveTV, you press pause, then you open up your list of existing recordings .. watch an Hour or so of the latest House episode. when you are done, just push exit, this will take you right back to where you left off on LiveTV. what you were last watching will still be there waiting for you since you had it paused. you now have about an hour of already aired TV waiting for you . .
   

1. -DVR - Last:  kind of related to the last bullet point . . if you are watching something from your DVR, and you press the last channel button . . it will return you to whatever you were last watching. pretty normal . . the cool part? press last again and it will take you right back to the DVR recording you were watching, letting you return to the exact moment you left off.
   

1. -QuickTune:  got 10 favorite channels? too bad, you only get 9! but who cares, this feature is so handy, even the smartest remote cant beat it (yet!). press Up on the DirecTV remote and it will bring up a small 3X3 grid that lets you store favorite channels in them, and access them from anywhere anytime. TBS HD is right smack in the middle of my grid. all i do to get to it is press Up, Enter - boom! TBS HD!
   

1. -XM:  need i say more, you have XM stations on your DirecTV, and since Sirius and XM merged, you have a great selection of music stations that are actually worth something.
   

1. -Active Channel:  current weather, horoscope, etc.. not excited ?
   

well one cool feature about the active channel is that it shows you the 5 top things being watched on the east coast, top 5 things Nationally, top 5 movies being watched, and top 5 sports being watched.

1. -Fast Forward Through Commercials:  sure most DVR’s do this (well all actually), but whats great about DirecTV’s version? while fast forwarding through the commercial, once you see your show start again, press play and it will automatically (within reason) start at the precise moment that the commercial ended and the show started. eliminating the need to rewind after you go too far.
   

1. -Record Easily:  if you are watching something, press the record button once to record
   

that entire episode. press the record once again and you will set your DVR to record the entire series of that show for you.

Same goes for when you are in your guide, press the record button once and it will                record that one episode for you, press it twice and it will record the entire season (you can adjust the details of how it records later, but the default is to record only new episodes - you can also change the default settings).

1. -Delete Easily:  if you want to delete an entire season of episodes, just scroll down to the folder, and press delete. if you want to clear out your DVR of random recordings, there is an advanced delete setting that lets you check off everything you want deleted , then just choose delete. this takes care of deleting multiple items a snap! cable on the other hand, complete torture to delete anything, and on cable, it takes forever!
   

1. -Previous Channel:S (as in multiple):  press the yellow button and access a list of 4 previous channels. thats better then one previous channel any day!
   

1. -Know what you can watch:  when browsing the guide, any channels you do not pay for are dimmed out, so you know what you can or can not watch . . .
   

1. -More Custom Friendly:  when designing a whole house video distribution system, cable companies can be a real pain to deal with. DirecTV on the other hand, let you assign special codes to each DirecTV receiver, and come with Discrete Power Commands. Besides that, the DirecTV boxes can also be controlled via RS232 Serial Commands (for advanced control), and some boxes even come with rack-mount ears to easily be mounted in an equipment rack.
   

1. -Game Mix, News Mix, March Madness, US Open:  watch 8 games of football at once, or the same with news. Choose the audio you want from which game just with a few clicks. Track Player stats in a custom list, check out future matches, etc.
   

things i dont like:

1. 1. slight delay when changing channels  (definitely worth it!)
   

2. 2. once in a blue moon you have service interruption? well ive never experienced it in over 6 months since switching . . but i hear it happens .. rarely.
   

im sure i am missing some other great features, so let us know what else you love below in the comments!