Help! Dish vs. DirecTv

[tjcnole]

I want to get into the satellite market, but I can't decide which service to go with. I want a DVR receiver. I have a Hitachi wide screen HD monitor, but I'm considering waiting awhile to get in the HD market. Which service offers better upgrades down the road? Both offer good deals to get you in, but what about next year?

It looks to me as if Dish offers a better program package, but maybe I'm missing something. I have several tvs in the house, but I'm a little unwilling to ditch cable altogether since I have my internet service with them. They have been very good to me from a service standpoint, but I want to see if I can get better audio/video via a dish. Any comments are appreciated.

:confused: TJCNOLE

[Pete K.]

It is personal preference really. Some folks here swear by the Direct Tivo, others swear at the Dish DVR's. For my money, Dish is the way to go. The DVR's are more stable than in days gone by. The most annoying thing about Dish is the fact they slap on a monthly charge per DVR. (Models 510 and up). Direct's monthly charge is per account. Direct is the only satellite service offering NFL Sunday Ticket, at least in the US. Picture quality is awesome on both services, way better than cable. Want to keep cable? Ask about "lifeline" service with locals only. It is hard to say which service will have better offers down the road.

[RAD]

You don't say if you want a HD DVR or not. If you are looking for a HD DVR I'd recommend that you strongly consider DirecTV, if you can make due with their programming. The HR10-250 is a more stable box then the Dish 921, has two OTA ATSC tuners vs. one for the 921 and has in intergrated program guide for the ATSC OTA channels (the 921 is supposed to get that eventually).

Plus if you check some of the recent threads, it's strongly rumored that D* will be rolling out additonal HD channels fairly soon, so you might want to wait a few weeks and see what happens.

[mallu2u]

Also if the consideration is Int'l channels, then Dish is the way to go since DirecTV is very week with Int'l programming....with HD DVR, DirecTV has an edge over Dish Network

[mini1]

If its a DVR you want, DirecTV and Tivo is your choice. No questions asked, the HD DirecTivo is a much, much better unit then a Dish 921. If its an SD DCR you want, DirecTV is still the winner. Tivo is a much better operting system then Dish's, which is more like a digital VCR. DirecTV also cares about their customers more, giving them $99 HD upgrade deals with receivers that actully work. Go with DirecTV, you will be happy you made the choice in your case.