I had Comcast (DC area) for 4 days and it was lousy. I have had a combination of DirecTV and Verizon DSL for the last 3 years.
About a year and a half ago, Verizon showed up, dug up my yard without as much as leaving a note on my door and left my front yard a mess. Three months later they called me to sell me FiOS, I told them that I was already a Verizon customer (except now an angry customer), explained the problem, and they just referred me to another number. I did try Earthlink DSL for a while but, as it turns out, it costs more and Verizon still gets a fee for the infrastructure. So I can't really protest with my wallet and am stuck with Verizon and a bruised front yard. Because of these tactics, Verizon FiOS has been a monumental failure in this area. I only know of one house in our entire development that has FiOS and that was someone who just moved in and was not victimized.

So I guess to sum up my post, I agree that Comcast is terrible in all respects. IMHO, the jury is still out on Verizon FiOS. If fiber-to-the-curb doesn't catch on soon, Verizon may just end up the proud owner of a buried treasure, while one of the wireless broadband protocols (that are cheaper to implement) passes them by. Robert Cringley had an interesting article on the potential of a decentralized media distribution network. The idea may just be too tempting to somebody like... Apple Inc.?
Well, those are 2 cents from a disgruntled Verizon customer, so pay me no attention.