Direct TV or Dish

[Randy Klein]

It seems like SMC can answer just about any question asked so here's one. I'm a current Time Warner customer who's fed up with them. You know they charge about $20 a month to have their DVR service (box plus remote plus the service). That's ridiculous.

So what's better Direct Tv or Dish network? I'm really interested in what people think of their DVR.

I still have the Series 1 Tivo for the bedroom and think that nothing beats that interface, and it's 7 years old.

[Fred Voorhees]

Randy, like you, I finally got tired of the cable companies and went the sattelite (sp?) route. Have never looked back! And don't care to. I have DirecTV and love it. You are going to probably end up paying a little extra for the service, but I have never regretted it. To be honest, in the what seems like ten years that I have had the service, I think my rates have only gone up maybe twice and they were not large jumps. I have three tv's hooked up, have HBO and Cinemax package, three converters, local news and pay about $80 per month.

[Nancy Laird]

We have Dish, and love it. We got it because, when we were cogitating on a dish over cable, Dish was the service that included our local channels without an extra fee; DirecTV wanted an extra fee for those locals. That's been four years ago and things may have changed. Son has DirecTV, and I prefer the program listings on Dish, too.

Just my .0198.

Nancy

[Matt Meiser]

We chose DirecTV mostly based on the fact they used Tivo. However, I've been tempted to look at Dish for the new subscriber discounts as our bill has gone up close to $10 (20%) in the past ~3 years.

You don't have Wowway (or however its spelled) in your area do you? My brother has them in Columbus and switched from DirecTV. He had his choice between TW and Wowway and they were significantly cheaper. They get phone, internet and TV all from them.

Edit: Fred posted while I was reading. Sounds like I should call DirecTV and ask why my rates went up when others didn't. We've had the exact same service the whole time.

[Don Eddard]

I use DirecTV and have been happy with them for years. I've got two of the DirecTV TiVo boxes. They are different from the Series 1 TiVo. They have dual tuners, allowing you to record two shows at once and still watch a third, already recorded, show. You're right, nothing beats the TiVo interface.

Unfortunately, I believe DirecTV has ended their relationship with TiVo, so the DVR units you get from DirecTV now use a different interface. A friend of mine had the DirecTV TiVo, and when it died, it was replaced with a non-TiVo box. She hated it, so she bought a used DirecTV TiVo on eBay.

[Randy Klein]

You're right, nothing beats the TiVo interface.

I've gotten accustomed to the TW DVR unit in the living room and enjoy the dual tuner and more storage, but you'd think that after 7+ years, they could beat Tivo that was programmed when Pentium III's were the hot stuff...

[Randy Klein]

You don't have Wowway (or however its spelled) in your area do you? My brother has them in Columbus and switched from DirecTV. He had his choice between TW and Wowway and they were significantly cheaper. They get phone, internet and TV all from them.

Never heard of them, but just checked and it's not available:(

[Randy Klein]

We have Dish, and love it. We got it because, when we were cogitating on a dish over cable, Dish was the service that included our local channels without an extra fee; DirecTV wanted an extra fee for those locals. That's been four years ago and things may have changed. Son has DirecTV, and I prefer the program listings on Dish, too.

Just my .0198.

Nancy

All the locals are free now, that I know of. But do you know about Dish's DVR. I can't tell from the website, but it seems that they have a dual tuner that is shared between two rooms. So does that mean each room has a dual tuner and can access each other, or do 2 rooms share the single dual tuner?

[Joe Mioux]

We have Dish with HD, we can do the tivo thing via DVR, (I think).

My folks have Direct and I personally like the way the channel and programming is displayed on Dish.

Other than that, I really wish Dish had the NFL package.

Joe

[Nancy Laird]

All the locals are free now, that I know of. But do you know about Dish's DVR. I can't tell from the website, but it seems that they have a dual tuner that is shared between two rooms. So does that mean each room has a dual tuner and can access each other, or do 2 rooms share the single dual tuner?

Randy, we don't do the TIVO thing. It's all I can do to turn on the TV at 10 for the news!! With two full-time jobs, we don't get a lot of television time.

Joe, I think that Dish does offer the NFL package. I seem to recall having seen that offer last summer/fall, but I wouldn't stake my life on it.

Nancy

[Steve Clardy]

Have Dish here.

Have the recorder also, another 5 bucks a month.

Never had Direct, so can't compare

[Jim Becker]

Tivo just released a new machine (http://www.tivo.com/) that is quite affordable at $299, supports HD and will take a cable-card. It may be an option to consider rather than paying big bucks for the TW DVR.

[Ned Bulken]

I'm a directivo fan, have two, and want a third for the shop once I'm to the 'luxuries' stage out there.

[Randy Klein]

Tivo just released a new machine (http://www.tivo.com/) that is quite affordable at $299, supports HD and will take a cable-card. It may be an option to consider rather than paying big bucks for the TW DVR.

I've been looking at that lately but cable-card technology is very infant and I've heard of nothing but problems. Maybe in a few years...

[Joe Mioux]

Joe, I think that Dish does offer the NFL package. I seem to recall having seen that offer last summer/fall, but I wouldn't stake my life on it.

Nancy

Are you surrrreeeeeeeeee................???????????? :)

[John Shuk]

I have had Dish and now have Directv. I found the service to be comparable. I think Directv has been a little more customer friendly for us.
You may be able to get a good deal on one or the other through your telephone company.
Here in NY Verizon sells Directv service and offers a single bill situation that gives a fair discount. I know ATT has a similar alliance with Dish Network so if you have one of these companies then you might get a bit of a price break.

[Eddie Watkins]

I have Dish and have had it since 1997. My price stayed pretty level with a couple of small increases until I decided to upgrade to HD. Last year I ordered a new HD receiver and 2 new regular receivers since my old ones were 9 years old. Dish no longer sells the receivers they only lease so it costs $5/mo for reglualr receivers and $6/mo for HD receivers EACH. That's an extra $16/ mo. The eight HD channels package was $9.99/mo. The new 28 HD channel package is, I believe, another $20/mo. Directv has nothing at this time to compare to the HD packages on Dish but I understand they are agressively trying to acquire HD channels. Satellite is the only premium connection I can get here I live. Anything but the basic package is fairly pricy on Dish as well. Having said all that, nobody made me do it and tv is one thing that is truly a choice.

Eddie

[Scott Lingle]

We started with DirecTV (w/Tivo) when we moved into our current house almost 10 years ago. Things were good (NFL package was a plus) There were a couple things that started to bother me though. 1) The tivo isn't the 'real' tivo so as real tivo customers got newer and better software upgrades directivo customers were left behind with promises that directv would make similar upgrades, but nothing. 2) As noted before in this thread, the bill started to climb steadily. Last, and most importantly, our directivo started to show its age, so we decided it was time to get a new one. My wife called (twice - and never gave her name - just that we had DTV already) to talk about a new one after researching what was available (on cable and directv and dish) and was told the really cost-effective packages were for new customers only and the prices we were quoted were the best they could do for their "loyal" customers :(. So we went to Dish, within 15 min, we had new service (took a day for the installer to come mind you) that dropped our monthly cost in half. Granted we didn't choose HBO this time but our bill dropped from $80/mo to ~$40/mo! Plus you get the 2 room DVR (and yes there are 2 tuners but only one DVR, it shares its signal to the rest of the house via cable and a uhf remote - theres a little more to it than that)
The funny thing is that when we called directv to cancel (after the Dish order) then suddenly, they were interested in giving us a deal :mad: (still not as good) but it irritated me that they wait until the cancellation call to work on you rather than just trying to keep loyal long-time customers in the first place. When we told them we had already gotten dish, the guy complained to us that "we didn't even give them a chance." We explained that we called twice (remember - no names?) only to get the argument that "It says here we haven't heard from you since you renewed your NFL Sunday ticket last year." After being told we didn't give our names, he just repeated that we hadn't called since last year - "It says so right here on your account." Because, of course, we couldn't have called from, oh, I don't know, another phone with a different number that wouldn't get logged on our account. After that, we felt validated at our decision to switch. I must say, as an honest comparison feature-to-feature, I think I do like Dish a little better, the DVR is better and faster and there are lot of nice features that DTV doesn't have (yet)

Sorry so long, my post turned into a rant. :D

[Kyle Kraft]

Randy,
My FIL has Direct TV and I have DishNetwork with the $5/month DVR. Personally I like Dish better than Direct. I think the guides, navigation, DVR, etc. is more user friendly. I have had little use for tech support, but when I have had to call them, they help me out quickly.

I really wish you could purchase channels a-la-carte instead of the "packages" loaded with spam channels that I don't want. Let's say $0.25 per channel per month.

[Randy Klein]

I really wish you could purchase channels a-la-carte instead of the "packages" loaded with spam channels that I don't want. Let's say $0.25 per channel per month.

I'm totally with you on that one. I figure I would need at most 30 channels for my whole family. At your rate, that would only be $7.50.

[Justin McCurdy]

I had DirecTv for 2 years and was completely tired of the stuff they pull. I had complained about the tuners because they would constantly shut themselves off and need to be unplugged for 15 seconds before they started working again. Out of 3 tvs, I had to replace the remotes on two of them. Just a pain. When I asked to have the tuners replaced, they said they could do that, but they could not gaurantee what models my replacedments would be. I was hoping to be able to check around the net to make sure that the replacements didn't have the same problems as the ones that I currently had. I had talked to them about upgrading to a DVR, but they wanted me to sign on for 2 more years just for the equipment that I think you have to send back at the end anyway. I said I would not have a problem doing that if they gave me 1 month to try out the new equipment before I committed, just to make sure that the receivers were not messed up like the previous batch. "No Go" they said. I told them to sit and spin on their service. All this on top of the fact that for the first 1.5 years I had to be handled by Pegasus customer service. They raised rates $15 in that year and a half above what the DirecTv customers were getting charged. What a crock

So, I switched to Dish Network. As mentioned, the guide is better. The customer service has been nothing but great, mainly because I haven't needed to contact them yet. That is the true mark of a company, staying off the customer's radar. The receivers are $5 per month to rent (after the first receiver), each receiver being a dual tuner. This means that for the same price as DirecTv was for 3 Tvs and no DVR, I am now getting 4 tvs plus DVR on two of them. There are only 2 physical boxes, each of which need to be located at a TV. Wiring is run to the back of the second two tvs. The remotes us IR for the boxes attached to the tvs, but RF (radio frequency) for the 2nd TV on each tuner. This works great for bedrooms where there is usually not a lot of room for extra boxes. I don't know how I ever lived without DVR in the past, it is great.

The DVR box allows you to record shows based on a bunch of criteria. Mainly, you either record a show per instance, every show under that name, or every new show. You can choose which tuner to record the shows on, (1 or 2). You can also be recording 2 shows while you are watching something that has already been recorded. I think my DVR has about 100 hours. I think about the only thing that you cannot control from a single location is when you are watching TV1 and something is recording on TV2. You actually have to go get the remote for TV2 to stop its recording. I think it is a little protection so that you can't mess up someone else if they are watching the second tv.

[Matt Meiser]

Access to the DVR in the bedroom might be reason enough to switch for me.

Is there anything stopping you from sending the "TV2" output to 2 TV's? Obviously they would both see the same thing, but I assume it is just a regular RF output? We have a rarely-used TV in the basement that I send the Tivo to right now.

We got the same run-around with DirecTV when they pushed a software update and messed up our Tivo so it just kept rebooting. I threatened to leave and they jumped through hoops to fix it then. I've heard that trick from several people. They agreed to replace it without a contract extension (it was still under warranty and there was no mention of contract extension in the warranty terms) but I "had" to have someone come out and install it, and I "had" to dispose of the old one myslef (BTW, mine had a really nice 80GB hard drive which works fine in a PC after reformatting :D )

[Ken Garlock]

Well folks, I have just check my bill and the programming page on the Dish website. The cost of local channels is $5.99 per month plus local taxes.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.:rolleyes:

[Lee Schierer]

I would recommend Direct TV. They will match the Dish Network free DVR if you ask. Service has been good in our location and no problems with billing.

If you decide to go Direct TV, tell them I sent you so I get the $50 referral bonus. :D

[Matt Meiser]

Well folks, I have just check my bill and the programming page on the Dish website. The cost of local channels is $5.99 per month plus local taxes.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.:rolleyes:

Plus, the FCC decides what is local. They've decided that I live in Detroit even though I'm 9 miles from the Toledo, OH city limits and probably 40+ from Detroit. But if you don't take the local channels, the DVR won't be able to record anything from NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX/PBS.

[Mark Pruitt]

I've had DirecTV for over three years, but IMO their rates are highway robbery. I have just the basic and pay over $55 a month, and that is with a discount for being a Verizon customer. DishNet has a basic pkg that has fewer channels but it costs a lot less than DirecTV.

[Ken Garlock]

Plus, the FCC decides what is local. They've decided that I live in Detroit even though I'm 9 miles from the Toledo, OH city limits and probably 40+ from Detroit. But if you don't take the local channels, the DVR won't be able to record anything from NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX/PBS.

That is stupid, isn't it:confused: Some desk jockey in the FCC decided that your mailing address was Michigan, therefore you were a Detroit TV user.

The government always finds some new and inventive ways to foul up the works.

[Pat Germain]

I've had both Dish Network and DirecTV. Here's my take:

- The services are very similar. DirecTV has the NFL package and Dish does not. Unless you want the NFL package, going with whomever has the best promotion going should be OK.

That being said...

- I now have DirecTV, but I preferred the Dish Network's user interface/program guide. It allowed at least three, possibly four, "Favorites" lists. DirecTV offers only two. Also, the DirecTV box has somehow "lost" my favorites lists twice so far. (Grrrrrr...)

- DirecTV has all their stupid Pay Per View channels on the lower channel numbers. Thus, if you're using the "All Channels" listing (because your favorites was lost) and you want to go from locals to, say, History Channel, you have to advance past many pages of "PPV" with last month's unfunny comedies and lame action flicks.

- I have a Hi-Def TV and Hi-Def satellite box. DirecTV is supposed to be adding more Hi-Def channels. It was postponed because a launch vehicle ahead of the DirecTV flight exploded on the SeaLaunch pad. (Ka-BOOOOM! You can find video of it on youtube. It was quite spectacular and, since nobody was hurt, you can watch guilt-free. Just search for SeaLaunch.)

[Scott Lingle]

Matt,

You can send TV2 to multiple TVs. When the installer hooked my TV2 up, we split it and sent it to the input on the splitter that runs the original cable wiring of the house. That way, TV2 is effectively on all the rest of the TVs in my house. They don't get as strong of a signal as the main "TV2" but its more than adequate when running on the treadmill, etc. The only thing is, all the TVs in the rest of the house have to watch what TV 2 is tuned to.

Scott

[Don Taylor]

I had a 60' tower with a good antenna installed on the house several years ago and get quite a few more channels than local for this area. They are still local channels I suppose but don't come in on the average low antenna. The tower cost me $750 including installation and it has more than paid for itself.
I cringe every time I think of what folks pay for Television. If I had no option but to pay $50 to $150 a month for TV I would sell the darn thing and listen to the radio. :eek: ;)
OH! and it even works when it rains. :D
DT

[Greg Cuetara]

I picked up dish about 18mo ago and have had really good luck with their tv service. I enjoy the programming although it would be nice to do an a la carte so that i could pick up a few extra channels rather than going with the bigger package which has too much extra stuff...anyways... one thing to be aware of or to look at is to make sure you have the insurance on the equipment. The box inside the house you rent (i have the dvr which the LMOL loves and will never go without again) but the equipment outside the house you own. If something goes wrong with the equipment it is up to you to get it fixed at your own cost. I just had a problem and the dish outside and the controller box died on me and I was not getting a satellite signal so I called them up...they were great on the phone, very nice and professional...but he said that since i own the equipment if something is wrong I would have to pay for it. The controller box he said is like $300-$400 to replace. He also said that it was $99 to get someone to come out to the house and look at the problem. I was like WHAT...but then he said oh wait you have the insurance so it is only $29 to get the guy to come out and they will fix whatever the problem is and they ended up replacing the whole dish with a brand new one. I was a little upset that it had to be replaced so quickly but it is taken care of and I can't complain too much other than that...so just make sure you pay for the insurance. if you do get either service I would recommend to pick a friend on SMC (ME!...lol) and get their info and give it to the company as a referral because in the end you both will make out in the end...i think you will get like $5 off per month for 10 months not a lot but better than nothing.

[David G Baker]

I have cable. Every year at contract renewal time I threaten them with switching to Dish or Direct and they do their very best to make sure that I have the best possible package. I now have phone (unlimited local and long distance), Internet and TV with most of the premium channels. The service costs me around $130 per month including all of the taxes. When the power goes out, the phone goes away (gotta get a battery back up). I am not sure if the phone stops when cable does, but it did the other day. If the satellite service in my area starts offering high speed Internet and a reliable phone service I may check it out when my cable contract expires.

[Matt Meiser]

David, if you have wired internet available, you are better of with that than satellite. Satellite is the "Internet of Last Resort" in my opinion (and I've had cable, then satellite, and now PCS-based Internet.)

What you are paying isn't bad at all. We pay DirecTV about $60/mo, Sprint about $60/mo for internet, and Verizon about $45/mo for the home phone (and another $45/mo for the office phone.)

[Bob Moyer]

I have direct tv, The Dish installer said that since our house is located on a wooded lot, they would not be able to provide service. The Direct TV installer said we would not have any problems and we do not. As a point of information, on two different occassion, we were offered great deals by the cable company; I call Direct TV ask for the retention department and they either match or beat the deal from the cable company.:)

[Justin McCurdy]

Access to the DVR in the bedroom might be reason enough to switch for me.

Is there anything stopping you from sending the "TV2" output to 2 TV's? Obviously they would both see the same thing, but I assume it is just a regular RF output? We have a rarely-used TV in the basement that I send the Tivo to right now.

We got the same run-around with DirecTV when they pushed a software update and messed up our Tivo so it just kept rebooting. I threatened to leave and they jumped through hoops to fix it then. I've heard that trick from several people. They agreed to replace it without a contract extension (it was still under warranty and there was no mention of contract extension in the warranty terms) but I "had" to have someone come out and install it, and I "had" to dispose of the old one myslef (BTW, mine had a really nice 80GB hard drive which works fine in a PC after reformatting :D )

As far as I can tell, you should be able to run the output from TV2 to as many tvs as you need. I would just buy a cable splitter and have at it. The only thing you might need for long cable runs is some sort of amplifier, but I doubt it.

[Justin McCurdy]

Plus, the FCC decides what is local. They've decided that I live in Detroit even though I'm 9 miles from the Toledo, OH city limits and probably 40+ from Detroit. But if you don't take the local channels, the DVR won't be able to record anything from NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX/PBS.



One thing you can do is find a friend within the Toledo area code, change your billing method to electronic, then change your address to his/hers. You will appear as though you are from Ohio, and the satellite has no way of checking to make sure. I have been thinking about doing this with my parents address so that I can get the Steeler games every week. The only downside is that I would get to see the Yankees play even less than I do now (PGH is in the NL as opposed to the AL like the Tigers). If we could only get baseball to end sooner, I would just change my address every 6 months.

[David G Baker]

David, if you have wired internet available, you are better of with that than satellite. Satellite is the "Internet of Last Resort" in my opinion (and I've had cable, then satellite, and now PCS-based Internet.)

What you are paying isn't bad at all. We pay DirecTV about $60/mo, Sprint about $60/mo for internet, and Verizon about $45/mo for the home phone (and another $45/mo for the office phone.)
Matt,
I also think I am better off sticking with cable from the research I have done. I did the math prior to signing the new contract with cable and am about $40 a month ahead of what I was paying for cable plus phone. I also received a call from the local satellite business prior to signing the cable contract and found that they could not give me their package plus Internet service (not much better than accelerated dial up) with a cost that compared with the cable service. I will stick with cable as long as they can give me good service at a reasonable price.
I will still threaten the cable service at every contract renewal time.

[Burt Alcantara]

Had dish network for about 6 months. The service went out 8-10 times a month. In the beginning of the service, tech support told me how to realign the dish. That only lasted about 2 months. After that, they said they would never tell me how to do this and it was against company policy. Instead, they wanted to come to the house and pay $50-100 per service call.

That same day, I canceled.

Went to DirectTV. Never had to call them. System is up all the time. I will admit, the programming was better on dish network but was not worth the hassle.

Lately, we watch less and less. TV is getting worse and worse. People in the TV business have IQs of 12.

Burt

[Doug McLauchlan]

I have just the basic and pay over $55 a month, and that is with a discount for being a Verizon customer.


The cheapest DirecTV package is $29.99 a month for 40 chanels.

$55 with discount gets you several steps up the programming ladder.