a family member is thinking of getting a new service and they want to know what the best is according to price, service, and quality.

Pricewise, you're probably better off going with one of the satellite services. In most areas your monthly cable bill will usually be *twice* what you normally pay for satellite, but it's not hard to see why: with cable, the cable company has to pipe that signal into your house - this means running lines thoughout the service region (along with the associated hardware), buying right-of-way access from the phone or power company to run those lines on their poles, etc. That's a lot of overhead to take care of. On the other hand, with satellite the company only has to transmit to the unit in orbit; the satellite can then reach your dish, no matter where you are or how far you are from the broadcast station. They don't have as much infrastructure to pay for, and it shows on the customer's bill.

dish is the best bet. direct is the close 2d. cable sucks.