Dish Network or DirecTV?

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TrainTrac

TrainTrac

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I'm going to ditch my crappy cable TV service soon for one of the satellite providers. I'm not looking for too many features. Probably a mid-level channel package, HD, and multi-room DVR, with three TV's on the system.



I had DirecTV service about 12 years ago, but it's so different (technology, services offered, packages, etc.) now that I can't really use that experience as a frame of reference. So I'd appreciate some feedback and/or advice from folks who've had current or recent experience with both Dish Network and DirecTV.



Thanks.
 
I've had DirecTV for 15 years now, swapped over to Dish for 2 days and went back. Dish DVR software was hard to understand, 2 sat dishes on the house... I would be recording 1 program and if another program was scheduled, it would swap over and I would loose the one I was on. DirTV TO ME is just so much more simple. Price is somewhat higher than Dish, but the service is much better on Direc
 
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I was looking at both last year. I went with Direct TV. They had a deal for 50% off for 1st year and 25% off 2nd year. A month later they went with free HD for life and this year is the free NFL Sunday ticket. Dish TV looked cheaper at first, but only gave a discount for the first year and charged extra for local channels if I recal. They also didn't carry or were threatening to drop FSN (fox sports north) so I wouldn't be able to watch the MN Twins games. If you do go with Direct TV let me know and I can give you my account number and you can get additional $10 off for 10 months, and I get it as well.



We've got 1 DVR and 1 normal box in our basement. I think now they have whole home DVR's where you can record in 1 room and watch in another. They also do some free movie channels for the first 3 months and periodically have some free movie channel weekends. We record a lot of movies in those periods and then watch them on a later date.
 
I had DirecTV for about 7 years and cut back on expenses in 2003-2004 in anticipation of my retirement. Went with a small local Cable company that had a good price for a good TV/Internet/phone package. I dropped the phone service when I bought a MagicJack. When I bought my new house in 2010 the only service here was Time Warner Cable TV/Internet or Satelite TV. I took the cable service but without a 2 year contract. I did not want to be locked into their crappy service. They increased the charges about 5 months after I signed up and I have to constantly keep booting the cable box/DVR



I am probably going to change back to DirecTV in the near future for my TV viewing, but will have to keep TW cable for my internet, since nobody else has internet service out here yet.



I always liked DirecTV and their customer service is way better than any Cable company's I have encountered.



...Rich
 
They also didn't carry or were threatening to drop FSN (fox sports north) so I wouldn't be able to watch the MN Twins games.
Click to expand...



This is exactly why I'm looking to ditch cable. They don't carry Fox Sports Midwest, so I can't watch any St.L Cardinals games unless they're on ESPN or local Fox affiliate as game of the week. MLB.TV was offering the Cards/Astros game Wednesday night as their "free" game of the week online, but when I tried to watch it on my laptop, found out it was blacked out because it was "available in my local area on my regional sports network" (FSMW):banghead::angry:.



If you do go with Direct TV let me know and I can give you my account number and you can get additional $10 off for 10 months, and I get it as well.
Click to expand...



Roger that. Will do. Thanks!



I think now they have whole home DVR's where you can record in 1 room and watch in another.
Click to expand...



Indeed they do. Found this out on their website last night while researching both companies.



Thanks for the feedback, guys. Good info on DirecTV. I'd still like to hear more opinions on Dish Network too. My brother-in-law has had Dish for several years, and has been very happy with it.
 
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They also didn't carry or were threatening to drop FSN (fox sports north) so I wouldn't be able to watch the MN Twins games.
Click to expand...

This past year, would that have been such a bad thing? :) (This is coming from a fellow Twinkies fan.)
 
Bill, I was going to make a comment like that, but we would've missed out on Thome's #600! I was able to see 2 of his home runs this year, and I saw Tosoni's Grand Slam on Tuesday night.

:back2topic:
 
I tried DirecTV two times a couple of years apart and both times went back to Cox cable. No contract, better picture, better customer service and no dish on the house. It's funny becasue DirecTV claims to have better pic quality than cable and the last time I had sat installed I also still had cable when I called the sat company back about pic quality. They sent a tech out who said I was crazy..nothing wrong with the pic quality, while the tech was still there I switched to my cable box..no other changes... and showed him the picture...they immediately took all the sat stuff with them.
 
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sdegroot,

Not sure when you tried DirecTV and compared it to Cox cable, but I suspect that some DirecTV channels had not switched over to the HD, or you did not have the HD service? Perhaps DirecTV was broadcasting at standard definition or 720p while Cox Cable was broadcasting at full 1080p?



I am on TW cable and they still have some channels that are broadcast on on standard definition and even a few channels are only 720p...not the 1080p



I have always found that with analog tv, satelite TV always had a better picture. With HD, there should be no difference. Digital TV does not get fussy, ghost, or have flecks or lines in the picture like you might get with the old analog broadcasts. With digital, you either get the best picture your TV can produce or you get nothing.



...Rich
 
Richard,



It's been about 1 1/2 years since trying DirectTv and I assure you that when I was comparing PQ between the 2 that everything was exactly the same but the problem wasn't with HD it was with SD programming. I liked DirecTV for the interface on the dvr and all the info it gave you but that wasn't enough to make me put up with the poor PQ in SD. Like I said earlier even the DirecTV guy just sat there and said yep..your not kidding, they tried everything from running new lines to putting up a new dish all with the same result.



In your statement above do you mean 1080i? Currently I don't believe that anyone braodcasts in 1080p and thought that only pay per view movies were delivered in 1080p and even then it is only a very select few.
 
l1tech,

One of my TV's displays 1080i....I don't know what the difference is between 1080p or 1080i??? 1080 is 1080 and I get that on my TV's on most digital channels.



Also, many newer TV's can simulate a higher definition even for SD, but that may require some special signal. Perhaps the digital signal from Cox can be interpreted by your TV to activate the enhansed definition, but DirecTV's signal does not???



The other thing might be that Cox is carrying some channels in a higher definiition than DirecTV does??



....Rich



 
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Ok, some good feedback so far on DirecTV. Still waiting to hear about Dish Network, good or bad.
 
We've been a Dish Network customer for 14 years. Overall, I'm happy with it. We have 3, dual-tuner HD DVR's. Two are in my house, my father-in-law has the other in his RV. What I don't like is pretty typical of all services these days; The deals are only available for new customers, existing customers aren't rewarded for their continued loyalty. Example, new customers get free NFL RedZone yet existing customers are expected to pay. Really wish they had a NFL Sunday Ticket type package. Rates are raised every-year, typically without notice. However, we've found that if we call and complain we get a credit for a year or so brining our bill back to what it was. We haven't had problems with the equipment or service and really love the quality of the picture, especially on my Samsung LED TV.
 
I echo what kimbros said. I have had Dish for 7 or 8 years and have had no problems with it. Love the DVR. There's pros and cons for both services. My suggestion is to go with the best deal you can make. Dish is tied in with my local phone company (Windstream) and I get an extra discount on their package deal, which made it more attractive to me.
 
I got rid of Dish after struggling with it for three years. Seems every time a cloud passed by it lost the signal. Their customer service ranks way down there like many of the other utilities.



Went back to cable. Customer service still sucks, but at least it works 99.9% of the time. I was calling the Dish Tech out sometimes twice a week to fix the weak signal problems.
 
Since all the TV services like DirecTV, Dish, and Cable only provide new customers with all the good deals, I might suggest just starting with one, and when the contract is up, switch to the next company. When that contract is up switch the third company. At the end of the final contract, go back to the first TV provider service and start the process over again...That way you get "New Customer" discounts ...Otherwise there is not much diffence between the different players. :grin:



....Rich
 
Well, after doing some research, I think I've decided to go with DirecTV. I like their whole-house DVR unit. The tech and pricing seems like a better deal overall than Dish Network.



Now I just have to find another internet service provider. If I get satellite TV, I can't keep my cable internet. The satellite signal and the cable internet signal can't share the same coax lines in the house. Probably going with DSL for that.
 
TrainTrac,



I'll shoot you over an e-mail with my account number. You'll need it when you sign up to get the 10 month $10 credit.

 
Email received, Andy. Thanks. I'm going to have a local A/V vendor do the install. Can I still use your account for referral, or would I need to call DirecTV directly?
 

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