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You don't use sattelite for internet unless it's the only option you have, period. It's not made for that, and is not "broadband" in any real sense of the word as people know it today.
However, for TV DirecTV has no competition in my book, especially if you enjoy A/V stuff as a hobby. For me, watching movies/TV is the really only way I relax these days, and DirecTV HD is wonderful for that.
If you properly set your dish up, and give it a proper location (e.g. not behind trees, etc.) you should very rarely see rainfade. Only the largest storms (e.g. precipitation, not wind!) should knock it out, and usually only for a short period of time. Poorly mounted and aimed dishes make it a wildcard though - just be sure to do it right, and you'll have less outages than cable does.
Their HD DVR's blow comcast's out the water. They definitely are no Tivo (oh how I miss my HD Directivo...), but honestly are not terrible. They seem committed to working on them and making them better, so hopefully it improves over time.
TwinCities - judging by your name, are you in the Minneapolis area? If so, I am too. The only time I've gotten rain fade this year so far is during the large hail storm about a month back. There, it was out for about 5-10 minutes and came back. Conversley, my cable (internet) was out for about 8-10 hours.
For pricing, I can't really tell you. From what I hear, DirecTV is slightly cheaper than the equivilent HD cable package, but comes with some more channels. You'd have to do your own research there.
Customer service? DTV hands down. Comcast are complete fucking idiots, and do not give two shits about your business. DirecTV while it has gone downhill some in the past couple years, is so far ahead in this arena that it will make your head spin. They seem to actually value your business on some level and it shows. Basically, their reps can actually get shit done (and will!) unlike the cable companies who seem only interested in making you go away.
I don't "hold out" for many companies, but DirecTV has treated me well for 8 years now. They certainly are not perfect, but when compared to the cable competition they may as well be.
Hope the info helps!
-Phil
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