Antigone Arthur asked:




DirecTV vs. Dish Network and Satellite TV vs. Cable TV

With so many satellite TV providers competing for your business, how do you know who to choose from? Let’s take a look at two of the more popular satellite TV service providers, DirecTV and Dish Network for an apple to apples comparison.

Dish Network

Dish Network Satellite is the nation’s second largest provider of satellite TV. Does that mean that Dish Network offers better service? Not necessarily.

Dish Network does provide most of the satellite TV resources other providers do, including a satellite TV guide, free satelite TV dishes, free dish network deals and more. Dish Network also offers customers the option of purchasing HDTV equipment and service packages, giving viewers access to 8 high definition channels, a bonus for consumers with high definition TV sets.

In addition Dish Network does have a slightly larger channel selection that DirecTV which is a benefit to some customers.

Here is a summary of the major services offered by Dish Network:

More than 180 channels HDTV for up to 8 channels More than 30 sports dedicated networks including subscription options to NBA League Pass, and NHL Center Ice Foreign Language Programming in many languages More than 103 local channels available Monthly cost generally less than $100 Available in all 50 states
DirecTV

DirecTV is the nation’s largest provider. Like Dish Network, DirecTV is available in all 50 states. DirecTV’s claim to fame is that they offer more channels dollar for dollar than other satellite TV providers.

So how do you know whether DirecTV or Dish Network is right for you? Let’s look at some of the specifics of DirecTV. DirecTV does offer fewer overall channels than Dish Network satellite (but not much fewer) but it does feature exclusive sports packages including NFL Sunday Ticket, which are a bonus for avid sports fans.

DirecTV also offers a high definition package including four feature high definition channels. DirecTV also offers many of the same freebies Dish Network does, including free Direct TV receivers, free satelite TV dishes and satellite TV resources.

A summary of the benefits of DirecTV is as follows:

More than 150 channels More than 30 sports networks including special and exclusive sports package deals Foreign language programming in Spanish and Chinese Up to 8 HDVT channels Approximately 126 local channels Monthly costs less than $100 Available in all 50 states
DirecTV or Dish Network Satellite

So, with an apple to apples comparison, you can see that you get most of the same benefits regardless of which provider you choose. There are some subtle differences between the two, Dish Network offers slightly more overall channels and a larger foreign language programming selection. DirecTV offers some exclusive sports networks and greater access to local channels. DirecTV Tivo is an added benefit for DirecTV consumers, which providers channel recording capability to consumers.

Which provider you select may depend on your location. Some may offer better deals or service in some areas than others.

Satellite TV vs. Cable TV

The question of satellite TV vs. Cable TV is an age old one. How do you know which to choose?

Thus the two also deserve a comparison.

Cable TV

Equipment – Requires a TV set top box in order to access digital services Transmission – Usually Analog but consumers have the option of upgrading to digital for a higher premium. Analog channels don’t convert to digital in this situation. Programming – Supports more than 260 channels and offers options such as pay per view, where viewers can buy movies for a small fee. Usually cable TV offers more local channel options than satellite. Offers fewer HDTV services Pricing – Cable is usually more expensive, in part due to additional costs added onto monthly premium, which may include fees, taxes, pay per view and equipment
Satellite TV

Equipment – Requires use of satellite dish and receivers. Many providers offer free satelite TV systems, free satelite TV dishes to entice customers. Transmission – Satellite TV services are all digital, which consumers usually translate to mean better quality reception. TV reception can be subject to interference during inclement weather, but this happens with cable service too. Programming – Usually offers 200 or more channels, including more international and sports channels than cable. High definition channels are more easily accessed through satellite Pricing – Satellite TV can be less expensive than cable particularly if equipment is thrown in for free. Local channel packages are usually extra with satellite, but over time the expense is less. So which do you choose?

For many it’s a matter of price, and satellite TV seems to be at an advantage here. Both cable and satellite offer similar channel line ups, though if you plan on watching a lot of foreign or international films you might opt for a satellite provider such as Dish Network or DirecTV.

That said most consumers just end up getting whichever is convenient at the time they are setting up home. No matter your choice, you’ll end up with decent service and a wide channel range which is all most consumers are looking for in the end. Buyer beware, you should know that cable TV fans are very strictly cable, and satellite TV fans very strictly satellite.

You could literally cause an argument between two otherwise friendly neighbors simply by asking them to rate satellite TV vs. cable. That said, you’ll probably find that once you make your selection, you too begin an avid supporter of one vs. the other.

Frank

Tomas G asked:


You might picture young guys with too much money lining up for the newest fad to impress their friends. After all, it’s not unusual to see men comparison shopping at electronics retailers. But who is really buying into technology?

Glenn

Luis A asked:


ok well first of all im about to buy this computer and can yall tell me if this will make a good gameing computer im just gonna use it for like warrock and combat arms so yea can yall tell me?

Operating system
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor
AMD Athlon II X2 215 Dual-Core Processor @ 2.7 GHz

Memory
3GB

Memory speed
PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM memory (1×2048MB and 1×1024MB)

Total memory slots
2 DIMM (240-pin, DDR2) (one available)

Maximum memory expansion
N/A

Graphics card
Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE Graphics with 256GB integrated shared graphics memory. Up to 895MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows 7

TV & entertainment experience
N/A

Hard drive
500GB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive

PCI expansion
1 PCI (available); 2 PCI Express x1 (one available); 1 PCI Express x16 (one available)

Primary CD/DVD drive
SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology Write: 16x max DVDR, 12x max DVDR DL, 8x max DVD+RW, 6x max DVD-RW, 12x max DVD-RAM, 40x max CD-R, 32x max CD-RW. Read: 16x max DVD-ROM, 40x CD-ROM

Secondary CD/DVD drive
N/A

Networking
10/100Base-T network interface 56k modem

Sound card
Integrated audio

Speakers
6 speaker configurable

Front-side bus (processor dependent)
4000MHz System Bus

Power supply
N/A

I/O ports
4 USB 2.0 ports (Back) 2 USB 2.0 ports (Front) Headphone, Microphone (Front) 2 PS/2; LAN; Microphone/Line-in/Line-out (Back) VGA-out (Back)

Software, full versions
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe: Automatically fix and edit videos and create CDs and DVDs. Edit, burn and archive data to discs. Microsoft Works 9: Includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar. HP Total Care Advisor 3.2: HP Advisor makes your PC easier to use -view your status at a glance, access support, discover more ways to use your PC, and navigate easily to your favorite software and services.

Software, introductory versions
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 Trial: 60-day trial version Norton Internet Security 2009: Protect your PC out of the box (60 days of complimentary live updates)

Trial Internet service
Easy sign-up to major dial-up and broadband Internet Service Providers: MSN dial-up (offer included) NetZero Dial-Up (offer included) NetZero Accelerated Dial-Up (offer included) Juno Turbo Dial-Up (offer included) High Speed Internet Services Comparison Shopping

Dimensions
Unpackaged: 6.54″ (W) x 16.87″ (L/D) x 15.11″ (H) Packaged: 19.61″ (W) x 23.03″ (L/D) x 9.65″ (H)

Sam

jpollar asked:


I am trying to find out a way to compare my current NET income to what I could potentially NET back home. All of the salary comparison websites do not accurately calculate my tax exemption status and cost of living (lower) here in Germany.

My guess is that I’ll need to almost double my salary as I’m not paying most taxes here in Germany. Here’s some more info about my situation.

1. Income tax exemption – I don’t pay US or German income taxes. I’m exempt from both. I’m not paying US state income taxes either. This probably saves me at least 30% every year.

2. Sales taxes – I only pay sales taxes when I eat at a restaurant or shop for groceries on the economy (a german grocery store). I mostly shop at the commissary on base…and they sell everything at cost…you can’t get groceries cheaper anywhere else. All other goods (utilities, clothing, cars, electronics, etc) are tax exempt. I prepay for gasoline (current US national average price without sales tax).

Any suggestions?
I’m not a GS employee (civil servant) or in the military. I work for a private contractor. I file the 2555 with my 1040 every year. My taxable income is just below the allowed amount.

I am paying Social Security and Medicare.
I also have 3 dependents. My wife also works for a private contractor and is tax exempt.
I file EXEMPT on my W4. That way taxes are not taken from my paycheck. That’s what we call exempt status here. Call it what you want. We’re given a 3 month extension to file for being overseas.

Jacob

justtotalktobebet asked:


I am looking to buy an external dvd burner for under a hundred dollars. I am tired of reading reviews and doing comparison shopping. I have a Dell inspiron with windows xp, and the dvd burner would need to have usb connection. Must be able to buy it online, because i am in a remote location, and must be under a hundred dollars…. Ease of use is the only other deciding factor- Thank you!

Allen

greasytony asked:


….if Immigration Reform doesn’t pass, and more are deported?

Please be detailed as possible, stick to the question, and please provide sources that have been factchecked.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101400993.html
When Immigration Goes Up, Prices Go Down

Aviv Nevo, an economist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., said immigrants (legal & illegal) to the United States — and price-conscious consumers in general — have the same effect: “The broad principle is immigrants change the mix of consumers and will likely change the relative prices of different products.”

While sudden increases in immigration could drive up the cost of housing and retail items where production cannot be ramped up quickly, Nevo said merchants quickly realize there is more profit to be made by decreasing prices on everyday items: “You decrease the price by 10 percent but increase the amount you sell by 200 percent.”

As immigrants are pushed away, prices on everything from diapers to dairy items might go up. (Instead of paying more money for social services, residents will pay more money to Exxon.)

Lach found that new immigrants spend much more time comparison-shopping than natives — perhaps because their economic circumstances force them to look for the best deals, or because they have more discretionary time to compare prices, or because they have not yet developed brand loyalties.

Whatever the reason, they force markets to run more efficiently, and thereby make cheaper prices available for all.

The downward effect on prices that Lach found was most evident for everyday items. Ironically, what the research suggests is that poor, new immigrants — the folks who trigger the most concern among anti-immigration activists — might impose the strongest brake on prices because they are hungriest for good deals.

Gene

Ray asked:


can my pc handle fallout 3 at all, info listed below

Brand COMPAQ
Series Presario
Model SR5510F(KQ513AA)
Recommended Usage Home / Home Office
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+(2.6GHz)
Processor Main Features 64 bit Dual Core Processor
Cache Per Processor 2 x 512KB L2 Cache
Memory 2GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive 500GB SATA 7200RPM
Optical Drive 1 SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Graphics with TurboCache with 128MB dedicated graphics memory. Up to 831MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows Vista
Audio High Definition Audio
Ethernet Integrated 10/100Base-T network interface
Keyboard Compaq keyboard
Mouse Compaq scroller mouse
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
Software Included Photo and Video
muvee autoProducer Basic: Automatically create professional looking home videos and burn to DVD.

Entertainment
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe: Automatically fix and edit videos and create CDs and DVDs. Edit, burn and archive data to discs.

Productivity
Microsoft Works 9: Includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 Trial: 60-day trial version
Adobe Reader 8: Read and print PDF file
HP Total Care Advisor: Customizable desktop tool provides support, system health and shopping information.

PC Security
Norton Internet Security 2008: Protect your PC out of the box (60 days of complimentary live updates)

Online Services
Easy sign-up to major dial-up and broadband Internet Service Providers:
- MSN dial-up (offer included)
- NetZero Dial-Up (offer included)
- NetZero Accelerated Dial-Up (offer included)
- Juno Turbo Dial-Up (offer included)
- High Speed Internet Services Comparison Shopping
Motherboard
Chipset NVIDIA nForce 430
CPU
CPU Type Athlon 64 X2
Installed Qty 1
CPU Speed 5000+
L2 Cache Per CPU 2 x 512KB
CPU Socket Type AM2
CPU Main Features 64 bit Dual Core Processor
Graphics
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE
Graphics Interface Integrated video
Memory
Memory Capacity 2GB DDR2
Memory Speed DDR2 800
Form Factor DIMM 240-pin
Memory Spec 1GB x 2
Memory Slots (Available/Total) 0/2
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB
Hard Drive
HDD Capacity 500GB
HDD Interface SATA
HDD RPM 7200rpm
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive Spec SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 8x DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 32x CDRW, 40x CD-ROM
Audio
Audio Chipset Integrated
Audio Features High Definition Audio
Communications
Modem 56K
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2
Front Audio Ports 2
Back Panel Ports
PS/2 2
Video Ports 1 VGA
Rear USB 4
RJ45 1 port
Rear Audio Ports 1x Headphone, 1x Microphone, 1x Line In
Expansion
External Bays 2 x external 5.25″ (one available)
1 x external 3.5″ (available)
Internal Bays 2 x internal 3.5″ (one available)
PCI Slots (Available/Total) (1/2) PCI slots
(1/1) PCI-E x16 slot
(1/1) PCI-E x1 slot

Jesse

kellyclarksonami asked:


Basically in terms of shopping and recreation and food!! coz im goin to visit the place- how is it in comparison to Dubai – what makes Dubai so different when they are in the same country?

Daniel

Abby06 asked:


I am looking to take a trip to Cabo this spring and am doing some comparison shopping. Does anyone know the name of the hotel where the kids in Laguna Beach stayed?

Anita

Titus Hoskins asked:




As you probably know by now, Internet or online fax has become extremely popular with both individuals and business owners. Online faxing is a simple form of “cloud computing” which lets you use your web access and your email system to do all your faxing. It ties all your faxing into the modern workplace, which is becoming more and more connected with computers and the Internet.

First, you must realize, in order to use online faxing you have to sign up to a fax service provider where you are given a local or toll-free fax number which you give out to all your business contacts. Your faxes are sent as email attachments, usually in tiff or pdf format. You also get an online fax account or interface where you can logon to check or send your faxes. Because it is web based, you can receive and send your faxes anytime, anywhere.

However, what many people don’t realize, you can save major revenues or business expenses over the long haul if you do some serious comparison shopping before choosing your online fax service. Since this is an ongoing expense with a monthly fee and different faxing rates – it pays to shop around and compare fax services before you sign on the dotted line.

Average monthly rates are around $10, but if you shop around you can find quality services for much less, especially if you do minimum faxing. You usually get around 300 faxes for that monthly charge, but each company differs slightly in how many faxes you can send and/or receive in a month. There are also charges if you go over that number of faxes and again, each company differs slightly in what they charge. Also note, that some companies charge by the fax, while others charge by the minute.

You should thoroughly check-out all these different charges and fees before you pick the right online fax service for your needs. Many times, it is just a matter of precisely matching up the right service to meet your needs. If you do very little faxing, then an annual fax service for around $20 would probably suffice. If faxing plays a major role in contacting clients, making sales or communicating with your employees, then you need a more robust fax service. Keep in mind, many of these services are completely scalable for business, which means if you need to increase services quickly, you can do this since there is no additional hardware (fax phone lines, fax machines…) to install.

You must also realize, online faxing is much more cheaper than the traditional fax machine, mainly because you don’t have the expense of an extra fax phone line. Nor do you have the ongoing expenses of purchasing papers, inks and toners – which can quickly add up. But perhaps the biggest savings comes from the efficiency offered by online faxing since there are no more missed faxes because of paper jams or busy signals. Plus, your faxes are available anywhere, anytime, which means you’re open for business 24/7.

Of course, when shopping for any kind of business service, your first goal must be finding one that is of superior quality and has good support. You must be able to contact it at all times if you should run into trouble. Thankfully, most of these online fax providers offer free 30 day free trials so you can check out their services before you buy. While you can check online review sites, nothing beats first-hand testing of the fax service in your own working environment. If your chosen fax service doesn’t meet your standards, you can simply pick another.

So if you’re in the market for an online fax service do some major comparison shopping first and compare the different fax rates and fees provided by the different fax companies before you buy. Do your homework now and save yourself or your company significant savings over the long term. Choose wisely.

Judy