Direct TV or Dish Network?
 

I've decided to switch to satellite TV from cable. my primary reason is due to cost. My basic cable service has now increased to $59 per month, and that's without any boxes or digital converters to rent - the cable plugs directly to the TV. Not having the box reduces the bill by about $7 but I don't get any benefit of free on demand stuff.

So, I'm wondering what people like better - Direct TV or Dish Network.

Next, I thought I would compare pricing and, just like cable, nobody can give a straight answer.

I look on-line at Direct TV and it looks like $24 per month + rental of boxes + $10 for HD

I went to Best Buy and you can buy the box for $99 (per room) but then the monthly pricing structure looks completely different than the on-line version - even the channels look to be completely different choices and the price seems much higher (and you pay for the boxes)

Anyone have any opinions or advice?

I switched to Dish network mainly due us owning a 5th wheel toy hauler that we used to haul the vintage race car around in and go camping with also. I have an extra box that came as part of a 3 box deal when we signed up and it is inactive except when we need it. Dish charges us $20 for activation/deactivation over a race weekend. Really handy so I can watch races, etc when relaxing at night or when it is raining.

I can't speak for Direct, however I'm a long time Dish customer and their customer service could use some work. The few times I've called in have not been the best experiences, and most tech support calls seem to end up with them wanting us "upgrade" our current system.

Hmmm, I'm a little skeptical. I looked online at direct TV and the cost will be $34.99 + $10 for HD + $5 for equipment rental = $49 per month. Then after 12 months, the price increases $29 per month as they are advertising a $29 savings for 12 months.

While online, an online chat popped up with a sales rep on the other side. I had him explain all the fees and he did so very well. He asked how it all sounded and I said it sounds like a 100% price increase in 12 months. He quickly responded that the price does not double but would increase $29 per month after 12 mths. Then he said "how does that all sound?"

I said great! it's not 100%, only 60% increase - thanks for clarifing. Good bye.

In the state of Washington, the Attorney General just hit Direct TV with a big fine for misleading advertising. Basically, get rolling for cheap, don't read the fine print and then we'll hit you with the real cost after it's too late to back out.

I've been Dish for about 15 years, one you get set up, it's reliable and the cost is competitive. If you play their game, you can have receivers in more than one home on the same account (So, I've heard!!!!!!!)

Dish here..
great service...
my dog has muched the remotes several times..
quick replacement & no charge for remotes..

Rika

call your cable co and tell them you're going to switch.

should get you a temporary discount.

DirecTV just sued Dish Network for false advertising as well over their "we are cheaper" ads from last year.

UPDATE: DirecTV Sues Dish Network Over 'Why Pay More' Commercials - WSJ.com

I've only owned DirecTV, but I use Dish Network a lot at a friend's house. I prefer DirecTV immensely more than Dish. There's little difference between the boxes, but DirecTV's customer service is the best I've ever encountered. Unfortunately, both have raised rates continuously year after year which can't be avoided. Locals are FREE on DirecTV compared to Dish too. It's expensive, but the picture quality on DirecTV is all mpeg4 compressed, which means far better picture quality than the mpeg2 on Dish or Comcast. The difference between them is very noticeable.

Direct here. Have four boxes, three for the house and one for the camper. No problems. Had to take a water hose and wash the snow off the dish twice yesterday. Customer service is good once you get to a human. Never tried Dish but have friends that did. They are now with direct. Best hd tv you can get out here in the country.

DirectTV tried to charge me all kinds of up front fees- almost $300 worth.

Dish Network -- ZERO up front fees.

Thread from the dead...

Didn't want to start a new thread on this topic, so I revived this one. What is the current consensus for best tv package for lowest cost overall. Currently pay around $250 mo for cable (HBO and around 200 channels without HD) with mid speed internet (for Netflix and xbox live.) Last time I tried to switch, the company wanted all my financials and future firstborn before they would even give me a quote so I just passed. Would like to switch to some form of dsl for internet with either dish or something else for tv. Older house where wifi doesn't reach all rooms. What say ye?

Oh... and it snows here... a lot... I understand that with dish you gotta grease the dish with cooking spray to keep the signal in a blizzard. Seemed to snow just about everyday last winter. Will a dish be a real pita to keep a signal on in the winter?

We have Direct TV with the basic package which gives us about 200 channels(about 150 are crap I don't care about). It costs us $65.00 a month. We AT+T for internet and it's $20 per month.



The tv signal gets crappy in rain or snow. Mostly it will get fuzzy but we have not lost the signal completely as of yet.

We have not had any real issues at with AT+T save for having to reboot the modem once in a while. I can never find the cause for the outage and it has always come right back.

One of the local dsl providers has a plan for 6mbps internet + home phone and cable tv for around $70 month (before added fees.) Another local provider offers the same for $125 for all three.

Currently do a lot of internet gaming and Netflix across multiple computers usually at the same time. Is 6mbps enough? They only list download speeds and not upload speeds. Just for reference, I did a speed test on the cable internet and it returned around 5mbps.:eek:

As long as some of the channels in the package are BBC America, NBCSports, AMC, Science Channel, Syfy and the History Channels. All the rest are just filler for me at the moment.

Direct TV have any long term contract gotchas or high equipment rental costs?

I've been with Dish for many years. They have been reliable and any price increases have been small and not common. Just had them come out to replace an original ecostar box. They replaced that box plus the box on the other tv, installed a new dish, gave us 3 new remotes, and hooked up a second tv to one of the boxes. Did that for no charge. Even contacted us later to see how everything was working. If that is poor customer service then I want more.

I want to pick and pay for the channels I want ONLY
not the package screw the packages
no homeshopping or religious BS
and I want to be able to drop MTV when they drop music
or the history channel when they morf into a redneck truckers sawmen and junk channel

and sell the damm tuners I hate renting esp never ending rents

and one price for the life of the contract
no cheap teaser rates
or jump in price for some reason MID DEAL

and if I pay for the channel it should have far less commercials NOT MORE
then on the air tv

We've been very happy with DirecTV over the years but the cost does just go up and up. Last month's bill was around $140 for only two boxes plus HBO and Showtime. With the little programming that we watch these days and all the other 'net content options we also have, I'm really starting to question keeping it. They nickel-and-dime for everything: Oh, you want HD? Ka-ching. Wanna DVR? Ka-ching. Each additional TV? Ka-ching.

Be aware also that whichever you go with, if you get gusty winds there then the dish needs to be properly mounted to stay stable over time. Ours came loose at least twice until a good tech finally got it right. Other than that, it's been highly reliable for us.

Haven't had TV for three months.....while I miss a few of my fave shows....not a big whoop.

I haven't had DTV in over ten years, but it was great for nearly as many. They would turn it off for a period of time, saying I needed to call ext. 721 or 745, but it always came back after a few adjustments.

Our Dishnetwork bill is $28.15 OTD each month and has been for several years. We called to cancel for good and they came up with a package you won't find on their web site. Had almost every channel we watched.

Direct TV changed their dishes a few years back, and the new dish they tried to install was unable to get a clear signal, so I had to switch to cable.
Direct TV attempted to charge all sorts of cancellation fees and it took a series of calls and letters to get them to comprehend that I cancelled because they could not provide service.
As pointed out, they have been sued by the government for shady practices.

I'm rural.
I've had Dish TV. I've had Direct TV. I've had Hughesnet.
They are only interested in locking people in contracts and fining $$$$ if you attempt to leave.

I ditched them all for a wireless internet with NO contract.
I use netflix/ etc over internet for TV.

About 10mb/s down/5mb/s up 1 ms ping, which is better than the broadband we have at work. Fast enough for my wife to watch her british murder mysteries on one roku, my daughter to watch barney on another roku, and for me to lurk on pelican site and watch youtube videos. The lag is so small she also uses it for video/tele conferences for work with no need for a landline voip thingee.

I'm rural. That's smokin'

Cheaper. Better. In every measurable way. The grass really is greener on the other side.

I was using Dish for TV ($180)and Comcast for Internet ($80)

I looked at the packages and reduced our channel count to what we watch, and went totally Comcast. Total is now under $145/mth.

I am starting to rethink the whole dish thing after checking more prices locally. Two dsl providers in my area are providing triple-play (phone/internet/tv) packages for a little over $100 mo. Even the cable company has a bundling package (for a short time period) that is in that range. Dish providers seem like they want to lock you in long term for one service only.

I have to think that pay per channel is right around the corner or at least I hope so ! I have at&t u-verse for cable and internet. I have 8 TV's hooked up........no we don't watch them all but every bedroom, family room, kitchen, basement and man cave have a TV. I like everything about AT&T except the price. Picture quality is great and it rarely ever has a problem. Internet speed is fine for what we do. Google and others are supposedly rolling out pay per channel and I can't wait. If I only watch 10 - 20 channels that's what I want to pay for. I plan on retiring in the next 2-3 years and I will have to cut back on the current cable bill. It will have to be pay per channel or over the air antenna for me.

Been with Dish for about ten years... best I can tell it is same as Direct but cost less.

What to go to internet streaming but every time I look into it seems like many of the networks are blocking the internet to get their slice of the pie.

Than I want HD and surround for my home theater and not sure all that will work with internet streamed video.

Is this a DISH or Direct TV antenna?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1432838055.jpg

.......unfortunately hands down DirecTV. I say that as the price has spiraled upward every year. They have at least re-added the El-Ray channel recently to the 2nd tier programming which I have. Really no comparison to Dish. It's now about time to cancel it (again) and have the wife order it to get all the new customer discounts............

Satellite TV
 

We have used Directv for years and are happy with the product. Every couple of years I can get a hardware upgrade at no additional cost. We just had the new "Genie" system put in consisting of a master box and 3 HD satellite boxes. Everything works great, can record up to 5 shows at once, can get the Picture in Picture and other tricks. Don't know about Dish Network, never used them or really considered using them since the Directv system works so well.

Dish or Directv
 

That looks like the current "Genie" style dish from Directv.

Interesting timing. Our Direct TV signal went out yesterday during heavy rain. It came back after about 30 minutes.

This morning we seem to have a couple of new channels, ELREY and CHILL. Caught a Miami Vice episode this morning.

We didn't ask for them so it' cool.