Dish Network Question

[jenrock]

Hello, I'm pretty new with the satellite stuff and have a few questions to ask.

I currently have cable and was hoping to switch to the satellite sometime this year. My friend has Directv and loves it and she thinks that I should go with that company. The only problem is that when looking at Dish Net package they offer more channels in the top 150 which is $40.99 a month. On the other hand Directv $31.99? package doesn't offer that many extra channels, in my opinion. So I think that I might have to go with Dish Net.

Here's some of my questions:

1) Is it good or bad to order and get your equipment installed by a local private satellite business?

2) Does Dish Net have good customer service and tech support?

3) Is their picture quality good or bad?

I've been looking at this deal which gives you one free satellite system and free intallation w/ one reciever for $22.99. I'm going to pay extra for the second reciever though. By the way it comes with the Dish 301 system.

4) What do you think about the Dish 301 system? What are the pros and cons?


Sorry for all of the questions. I just want to make sure that I'm the right direction. Any other advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
Jen

[Curtis0620]

Go with Directv and a DirecTiVo PVR. You will be very happy.

Don't forget about the Total Choice Plus package with local channels for only $39.99.

[platinum]

Directv pq is also superior, get the tivo, i got one for xmas it is excellent.

[Mark Holtz]

Just be forewarned. There are folks who are pro-Dish and people who are pro-DirecTV. The question I have for you is what channels do you want?

1. No comment.
2. According to JD Powers, DirecTV is tops, followed by Dish in customer support.
3. It depends on the channel and how much bandwidth is allocated for the channel. To me, the picture looks as good as or better than my cable system. Your milage may vary.
4. The biggest problem with the 301 is that it has to constantly load the guide. The 50x and 721 PVR recorders store the guide on the hard drive.

I would strongly encourage you to consider a PVR unit. Both Dish's and DirecTVs PVR units record the bitstream as it comes down and the timer functionality is built into the box. Dish's PVR products are timer-based, but there is no monthly fee. DirecTV's PVR product is the DirecTivo, and uses keywords in order to record programming. Depending on the package you take with DirecTV, there may be a $4.99 monthly fee.

[Chris Freeland]

Go to a local satellite dealer and compare D* pq with E* pq, contrary to the D* pom pom waivers above their is not much difference in pq between D* and E*, it depends on tv and personal taste. Both D* and E* have better pq then most but not all cable systems. As far as channels and packages go, go with E* if AT150 meats your needs the best, if not go to D* TC+. If a PVR is important, the E* PVR 508 and 721 have no additional monthly charge, the D*DVR Tivo runs an additional $4.99 per month but has a couple extra pvr functions and 2-tuners (E* PVR508 has only 1 tuner, 721 has 2 ).

[platinum]

the 721 is 500 big ones

[jerryez]

If you like football, D* is the only one with the NFL Sunday ticket. Otherwise the pq is the same, customer suport is bad on both. Go with whichever one offers you the best equipment deal at the time that you buy.

[Steve Mehs]

First off, Hi Jen and Welcome to DBSTalk :hi:

1) I'd go with whoever can give you the best deal, if a local retailer can give you a better deal I'd go there, if national then that's where I'd go. For additional add on receivers, personally only place I'd ever go is Sears, due to periodic store wide sales and coupons. We went with an independent retailer from Rochester for our initial install only because he was in town on business and gave us a real nice deal if we got hooked up ASAP Around here we have a chain of regional Dish retailers, they have about 40 installers plus management and have various locations around the Western NY area, I like them the best.

2) Tech Support is average, it depends on who is get and how well they were trained.

3) That's a pretty general question, the PQ between E* and D* is about even. You'd have to do a comparison yourself, generally, I find PQ to be okay. It could be a lot better, but it's not as nearly as bad as what we had with Time Warner Cable.

4) The 301 is a basic receiver, major cons are no UHF remote (although you can get a UHF add on kit for ~$50), no Dolby Digital/PCM capabilities and only one set of composite A/V outs. The pros are it's only $99, or can be found cheaper, it's part of the Dish Pro line, very sleek design and runs on the OpenTV interface, which includes Dish Home and local channel mapping. Personally, I'd go for the PVR508, which has all the features I mentioned above (except for a thin/sleek design) plus, UHF remote, toslink out and 2 sets of composite outs. Plus it's a PVR so you can record 60 hours worth of programming on it. And since the guide is cache on the hard drive, it's a full 9 day guide with no 'Retrieving guide data from the satellite' messages.

[dbronstein]

Another thing to consider is if either one carries your local stations.

Dennis

[bunkers]

I would not get the 301 personally. The 301 works fine, but the 508 would be a much better choice. At www.dishusa.com you can get the dish 508 system +install for $89.98 . THey have a 508/301 combo for only $100 (wow!).

The only reason to get the 301 is because of its small size (or as a 2nd receiver) -- if you have only a small vertical space to put it in, then the 301 fits the bill. THe 301 and 508 would look and fell very much alike -- but the 301 has the IR only black remote and the 508 has the silver platinum remote. THe main downside to the 301 is its lack of any PVR capabilites and its 4 hours worth of informstion in the guide -- resulting in a lot more downloading of info from the satellite and waiting for that. The 508 has a guide for 7-9 days out, which is nice for looking into the future with and picking out programs to record on the PVR (also has a search).

If your someone who needs the NFL ticket (a couple hundred+ dollar package for all the NFL games each season), then go with DirecTV.

I agree with others that TIVO is superior to DISH PVRs -- but both are pretty good. So don't thing that one just sucks, but TIVO is the winner overall. The DISH unit probably has more recording time and is more like a VCR, whereas TIVO is name based and takes a little getting used to.

So in general, sports buffs usually go with DirecTV, but the difference is mainly the NFL ticket.

Some folks decide based on HD content, where DISH might have a slight lead. Neither has that much HD content, but its more than you'll find anywhere else.

What makes the different for me is that I just like the DISH menus, and guide -- which look and feel better to me. Its guide is also faster than DirecTV (I may get arguments on this -- but trust me, the DTV guides are slower, smaller print, harder to read, slower redraw, etc.) You'll find that DTV menus vary depending upon who the maker of the reciever was, with Sony being the best (from what I have heard).

[Nick]

Jenrock

Welcome to DBSTalk, where opinions are like noses - everyone has one and most are pretty obvious. :)

Z'loth said,,,

"According to JD Powers, DirecTV is tops, followed by Dish in customer support." The way I look at it, DishNetwork came in 2nd, and Directv came in next to last! :D Presently, there are only two DBS providers. The JDP 'award' :rolleyes: was given to DishNetwork the two previous years.

I second the motion on getting a PVR. It's a whole new way of watching TV, or as I like to say, 'TV the way it was meant to be.'

If you haven't already, take a look at the 'Information" links on the www.dbstalk.com home page. There, you can get general info about both providers, look at programming comparisons, and get a somewhat less biased look at the two providers.

Finally, if you are into sports, Directv (D*) would be your choice. OTOH, if movies are your preference, Dish (E*) would be the way to go. Either way, you can't make a bad choice going with either D* or E*.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

Nick :wave:

[Neil Derryberry]

Again, welcome Jen! :hi:

As far as tech support goes... stop here first! There are so many folks on the boards at any given time you can bet if you can't find a solution to your problem by searching the posts here, post a message and you will most likely have a handful of responses within an hour!

I had Dish for a long time, and I switched to Directv because I wanted a two-tuner PVR and I felt that Dish Network's price for a two-tuner pvr was way out of line. I have to admit I do miss the Dish service... If only my ulitmatetv's worked with dish, I'd have the perfect setup.

Which ever way you decide, DBS in general is the way to go!

[Jacob S]

1) It is good to go to a local private satellite business to buy your equipment and have it installed and serviced.

2) Dish does not always have good customer service and technical support. It depends on the CSR that you get. The local retailer does a better job at that.

3) The picture quality is very good but may not be quite as good on big screens as you can see the pixelation more at times, it really depends on the tv that you have. The smaller the tv the better.

4) The 301 is a good receiver. It does not have UHF where you can turn channels through walls and it does not have Dolby Digital, and you have to wait on the guide information and on the electronic on screen program guide you have to wait for the picture while it retrieves the guide info if you have it on PIP (picture in guide).

The Free Dish, $49 second receiver deal is a good deal, but it is a better deal to purchase the two receiver system for $199 and then you get $204 of credits ($17 a month for 12 months) therefore both receivers are free (instead of being charged the $49 for the second receiver) after the monthly credits, but you have to put the money upfront vs. not having to put so much up front but having to pay the $49.

[jenrock]

Thanks everyone!

I changed my mind and think that I'll go with Directv instead. I'll let you all know how things work out.

Thanks again
Jen