Direct TV or Dish Network?

[RJ]

I've always had cable, but my local provider has become considerably more expensive than either satellite service. Since I have a new HDTV on the way, this seems like a good time to make a switch.

Any opinions on which service is better? Do you prefer the programming of one vs the other? Do you absolutely loathe one or the other?

I searched for a thread on this but didn't find anything recent. If you can point me to a previous thread, that would also be helpful.

Our TV viewing is mostly sports and kid's shows. I wouldn't know a DVR if it bit me in the ass, but might like it if I had it.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

A DVR is nothing more than a cable box with a 30gb or so hard drive in it to record your favorite programs. You'd love it.

I've always been a cable guy, so I don't know enough to steer you in one direction firmly over the other.

But I will say this. If I was going to switch, it would be Dish Network. From what I've seen you gain a lot more than you lose. More HD channels, and cheaper from what I've seen. The only thing DTV has going for them that I can see is NFL Sunday Ticket.

Again though, don't take my word for it. There are plenty of people here who have both services and can give you the pros and cons much better than I can.

[The Franchise]

Do you want NFL Sunday Ticket?

If the answer is yes. Go with DirectTV.

If the answer is no. Go with Dish Network.

[RJ]

Do you want NFL Sunday Ticket?

If the answer is yes. Go with DirectTV.

If the answer is no. Go with Dish Network.



I will want Sunday Ticket when the Chiefs are competitive again.

Guess I need to check the length of contract for Dish. I think I have a little time.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

I will want Sunday Ticket when the Chiefs are competitive again.

Guess I need to check the length of contract for Dish. I think I have a little time.

You could always buy the online access to Sunday Ticket from a DTV guy. That's what I did. It's Comcastic!!!

[Frazod]

I will want Sunday Ticket when the Chiefs are competitive again.

Guess I need to check the length of contract for Dish. I think I have a little time.

In that case, you should just go ahead and get DTV. No sense in screwing around with switching later.

[rockymtnchief]

In my area:

Directv...NFL Sunday Ticket, I've never lost signal, no local channels (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX), no VS. channel (PBR, and NHL).

I'm happy with it, except the lack of local weather and news.

[Scorp]

I have had DIRECTV(6 years), DISH NETWORK(for 2 days), and CoX Digital Cable.(presently)

I was disgusted with Dish Networks HD Picture quality.

Cox Communications has poor HD quality as well, but I am bundling services for now.

DIRECTV has the best HD picture quality of all 3, they just didn't offer local HD programming in my area and I got fed up with it.

[sparkky]

I get local Springfield channels here on my DTV. don't have a HD tv so I don't know about the "local" HD channels.

funny thing tho, it takes a separate dish for the Springfield channels so I have 2 on the front of the house. on a separate satellite I think the guy said. :hmmm: :shrug:

[Jack]

You could always buy the online access to Sunday Ticket from a DTV guy. That's what I did. It's Comcastic!!!

How does one go about this?

[seclark]

used to have directv at the old house. never had any problems.
switched to dish network at the new house because it came bundled w/the phone. no problems w/it either.

sorry i'm not much help. all your options do beat this:

[Sure-Oz]

I like Dish better, but i have no use for nfl ticket...

the guide sucks on dish imo as well. the HD quality is great at my parents, they switched from dtv to dish

[Mr. Flopnuts]

How does one go about this?

I got my access from someone right here on CP. Let it be known you're willing to pay for online access and someone will sell it.

I just plug my laptop right into my television and watch the Chiefs on my big screen. It's not HD, but it's a helluva lot better than the crappy streams that are out there.

[Jack]

Is it legal?

[Frazod]

I have had DIRECTV(6 years), DISH NETWORK(for 2 days), and CoX Digital Cable.(presently)

I was disgusted with Dish Networks HD Picture quality.

Cox Communications has poor HD quality as well, but I am bundling services for now.

DIRECTV has the best HD picture quality of all 3, they just didn't offer local HD programming in my area and I got fed up with it.

I guess nobody ever told you about hooking up the off air antenna to your DTV receiver. It's amazing that the pinhead customer service people won't mention that.

[Scorp]

I guess nobody ever told you about hooking up the off air antenna to your DTV receiver. It's amazing that the pinhead customer service people won't mention that.

Oh I am well aware I had that option. The point is Dish Network offered locals in HD and Cox Digital offered locals in HD. DIRECTV wouldn't so they lost my buisness for now anyway.

[CHIEFS58]

DISH sucks.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Do you want NFL Sunday Ticket?

If the answer is yes. Go with DirectTV.

If the answer is no. Go with Dish Network.

This is pretty much all you need to know about sat. tv.

[Frazod]

Oh I am well aware I had that option. The point is Dish Network offered locals in HD and Cox Digital offered locals in HD. DIRECTV wouldn't so they lost my buisness for now anyway.

The only problem I had with was it wouldn't pick up channel 2, which sucked because that's the CBS affiliate up here. Other than that it was great, and cost nothing extra (beyond the price of the antenna).

[ChiefsCountry]

I like DirecTV personally. Dish is cheaper though.

[DeepPurple]

I've had an HD TV set since 2005 and if your wanting more hi-def then Directv is the answer, also price is really better.

Case in point, with Comcast I had HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime with an regular HD box and in Maryland my bill was $115 as of June 2008. I had a grand total of 28 HD channels, although they have since added WGN and AMC for a total of 30. However, what really was a rip off was on the premium channels you only get one HD channel. For example there are 8 HBO's which costs $13 extra but you only get one of those in HD, and once you get addicted to watching movies in HD you won't want to see them in regular. That's one Starz, one Showtime and one Cinemax as well for a grand total of 4 in HD but yet it costs about $50 extra for the movie channels.

What really made me switch from Comcast to Directv was in 2008 I added a second HD set in the bedroom. Their website lists HD boxes at $5.99. Previously I didn't have any box in the bedroom since basic cable didn't require a box. My bill went to $142 and when I called to ask why it went up from $115 to $142 just because I added a second HD box they said, that's what it costs.

I switched to Directv in June 2008 and got their Premier Package which was also $142 a month, however with discounts it was $77 the first three months and $105 for the next 9 months. As far as HD, with the premium channels HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and Starz you'll receive 16 of those in HD. Overall, I receive about 90 watchable channels in HD versus the 30 with Comcast. They could be better, for example HBO and Cinemax each broadcast 8 channels in HD but Directv only gives you 2 each in HD. The real bargain comes with Starz and Showtime, which you get 5 or 6 of each in HD. Also, Directv is already advertising they'll be going to 200 HD channels soon. That will be 70 more since they advertise 130 currently.

[Baby Lee]

I have Dish and my Parents have Direct. The biggest gripe I have with Direct is their menu seems to intersperse a ton of useless channels among the ones you want to watch [or endless redundant channels], so you have to scroll FOREVER to get to things when channel surfing. I've had Direct forever and know the channels I want be heart, so I can't be totally unbiased, but I find channel surfing much better on Dish.
The biggest PITA on Dish is that closed captioning takes like 10 button pushes [setup, 1, 8, 7, scroll to select on/off, select, exit, exit, exit exit, IIRC], which sucks when you just want to catch something that was garbled or overthwise unclear.

[Taco John]

Directv easy. But I require NFL Sunday ticket.

[CaliforniaChief]

I've always had cable, but my local provider has become considerably more expensive than either satellite service. Since I have a new HDTV on the way, this seems like a good time to make a switch.

Any opinions on which service is better? Do you prefer the programming of one vs the other? Do you absolutely loathe one or the other?

I searched for a thread on this but didn't find anything recent. If you can point me to a previous thread, that would also be helpful.

Our TV viewing is mostly sports and kid's shows. I wouldn't know a DVR if it bit me in the ass, but might like it if I had it.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

I think you should go with DirecTV and I'll be glad to refer you.:thumb:

[Skip Towne]

I have Dish and my Parents have Direct. The biggest gripe I have with Direct is their menu seems to intersperse a ton of useless channels among the ones you want to watch [or endless redundant channels], so you have to scroll FOREVER to get to things when channel surfing. I've had Direct forever and know the channels I want be heart, so I can't be totally unbiased, but I find channel surfing much better on Dish.
The biggest PITA on Dish is that closed captioning takes like 10 button pushes [setup, 1, 8, 7, scroll to select on/off, select, exit, exit, exit exit, IIRC], which sucks when you just want to catch something that was garbled or overthwise unclear.

You have to make a favorites list to avoid scrolling thru all the crap.

[Chief Henry]

Do you want NFL Sunday Ticket?

If the answer is yes. Go with DirectTV.

If the answer is no. Go with Dish Network.

THIS


Some day the KC Chiefs will be good again (i hope). You'll want Direct TV
for this so you can get the Sunday Ticket.

The DVR is great to use and very handy.

[chiefs1111]

If it wasn't for Sunday ticket,I would switch too Dish Network

[Baby Lee]

You have to make a favorites list to avoid scrolling thru all the crap.

Well, like I said it may be because I'm more familar with Dish, but I can flip through 'All Subscribed' and still get information quickly, the MTVs/VH1s/CMTs/PLDIAs are all together, The HBOs/Cinemaxs are all together, the Sports channels are all together, same for the HD channels, so I can got to 4 or 5 numbers and get a broad range of what's on now. With DTV, it just seems like you scroll through interminable crap to find anything, like [and this is totally hypothetical [ESPN, ESPN2, shopping channel, shopping channel, VH1, CSpan, Telemundo, Religious channel . . . that's a page]

[DaFace]

Well, like I said it may be because I'm more familar with Dish, but I can flip through 'All Subscribed' and still get information quickly, the MTVs/VH1s/CMTs/PLDIAs are all together, The HBOs/Cinemaxs are all together, the Sports channels are all together, same for the HD channels, so I can got to 4 or 5 numbers and get a broad range of what's on now. With DTV, it just seems like you scroll through interminable crap to find anything, like [and this is totally hypothetical [ESPN, ESPN2, shopping channel, shopping channel, VH1, CSpan, Telemundo, Religious channel . . . that's a page]

I think it must just be your perception. I think the channels are grouped pretty well, personally. It does help to 1) change your favorites list to only channels you get and 2) hide non-HD duplicates if you have an HDTV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DirecTV_channels

[Skip Towne]

Well, like I said it may be because I'm more familar with Dish, but I can flip through 'All Subscribed' and still get information quickly, the MTVs/VH1s/CMTs/PLDIAs are all together, The HBOs/Cinemaxs are all together, the Sports channels are all together, same for the HD channels, so I can got to 4 or 5 numbers and get a broad range of what's on now. With DTV, it just seems like you scroll through interminable crap to find anything, like [and this is totally hypothetical [ESPN, ESPN2, shopping channel, shopping channel, VH1, CSpan, Telemundo, Religious channel . . . that's a page]

Yeah, you have to filter out all the crap with the favorites list. Mine has 25-30 channels I regularly watch and it takes less than 5 minutes to scan them all. You can still keypad in a channel that is not on your list.

[DeepPurple]

From channel 2 through about 620 there is only about 250-300 channels that I would watch. For example if your using an HD TV, you want to eliminate the basic version of the channel, that's going to take out about 130 channels right there. Then there are tons of channels that just sell products. On the remote when the menu is on the screen, you have to hit the yellow key and then hit "edit channels". You can create two lists and then give them names. It might take 30 to 45 minutes the first time but it makes viewing great. There is also a newer feature, when the menu is not up, hit the yellow button and you can preset 9 channels' logos that will pop up on your screen in a cluster and you can go to any of those 9 channels with one click.

[tmax63]

I had Dish for about 10 years and my equipment got so old I couldn't receive all the channels that I was paying for and Dish wouldn't upgrade me for less than $150-200 out of my pocket to buy the new receivers and dish. I went to Direct and they have given me much better customer service. I had a receiver get hit by lightning about 6 months after I'd been with them and the guy got me a new one free by renewing my contract to the original 2 yrs. Also gave me 3 months of Showtime for free for being a good and loyal customer after a year or so. That's more than Dish ever did for me in 10 years.

[Donger]

I've been a Dish customer for 10 years, but they will be fired in February, and I'll be going to DirecTV. They 'upgraded' the firmware in my 722s (three of them) and now each f*cking one has to be hard rebooted every morning. I'm actually kind of disappointed about it, because until recently, I've never had any major issues with them, excluding having to sweep snow off the dish.

[RJ]

Direct TV by a landslide. I'm impressed. I expected them to be favored on a football board, but not by that much.

Thanks for all the very excellent info.

[Donger]

Direct TV by a landslide. I'm impressed. I expected them to be favored on a football board, but not by that much.

Thanks for all the very excellent info.

If you really want to get some incredible information, go here:

dbstalk.com

Freaks, all of them. And I doubt one has ever been blown.

[Reerun_KC]

If you want sports - Go Direct TV

If you want movies and old people shows - Go Dish NotWork

If you want nothing and pay for nothing - Go Cable

[Skip Towne]

If you really want to get some incredible information, go here:

dbstalk.com

Freaks, all of them. And I doubt one has ever been blown.

Those guys know their shit. Most are technicians.

[Donger]

Those guys know their shit. Most are technicians.

Yeah, like I said, never been blown.

[ClevelandBronco]

I will want Sunday Ticket when the Chiefs are competitive again.

Guess I need to check the length of contract for Dish. I think I have a little time.

Don't worry about the contract. DirecTV will pay your way out of the contract when you want to switch.

I have had cable, DirecTV and Dish. I voted DirecTV, but for two minor reasons. I like their interface better, and Dish interrupts service periodically (in the wee, small hours of the morning) for brief downloads to update your system.