Does Dish have any advantages over D*?

[MitchL]

Does Dish have any advantages over directv. Cause i am not happy with hughes directv recievers, and i tried the new thomson recievers and they suck as well.I have the the gaybo that every one is talking about and i am sick of pulling the plug out every couple of days. I cant believe they expect us to do this. I mean it didnt say on the carton "this hughes reciever requires the user to pull the plug out every few day" I called hughes tech support @ 954-597-2080 and they said that they were working on a patch, but had no date for its release, they said that oct. 15 date someone posted was just a rumor and very unlikely.Maybe if i complain enough to the right people at directv i can get a free PVR or tivo , that would make me feel better otherwise Dish is offering free installation with 2 recievers.Does Dish have any advantages over Directv ??

[Geronimo]

Boy what a flame baiting thread title!

DISH is usually a bit cheaper but not always. In the old days that advantage was clear cut now it depends on what paockages you order.


DISH offers the superstatiosn which makes it the choice in my family. This is particularly important id you live in an are awithout UPN or WB.

However it lacks most of the sports packages.

DISH ahd more transponder slots but they are spread around. IF I were you I would start with what cahnnels you want and go from there.

[raj2001]

DirecTV has better picture quality (IMO). They also have better sports packages (NFL Sunday Ticket) and more choice in equipment. The PVR's under DirecTV are better and cost less. They carry monthly fees, however, but those are waived if you subscribe to the highest programming package. In terms of HDTV, they have a channel called HDNET, which is exclusive to DirecTV. The Music channels sound better and you have more variety. You also have more Pay Per View to choose from.

Dish has better premiums (namely HBO Comedy and Zone), and tends to be cheaper. They also have more HDTV available and the Superstations package (UPN and WB) is also available. But since I live in NYC, that's a non issue for me. Dish also has no fee PVR's, but the best currently released one (PVR721) is quite expensive compared to DirecTV's new HDVR2 TiVo box.

[markh]

Mitch, I posted Oct 15 because I saw it in athread on DBSForums from somebody who said they worked for D*. Sorry if I spread a rumor, it looked like a reasonable statement in his post.

[scooper]

Mitch - that is such a flame-bating topic.

Each service has their pluses and minuses compared to the other. If you're unhappy with your Hughes receivers, you do have a choice of other manufacturers, but with Dish, the only receivers are made by E*.

[papillo-j]

I am switching from E* to D*. I was not unhappy at E* it is just that a snow drift damaged my dish and it was cheaper for me to go to D* than to try to get it fixed.

From what I can tell, I hear far fewer complaints about the D* PVR units than the E* PVR units. For the regular run of the mill recievers I hear about the same number of complaints (few to nil).

D* does have the advantage that lots of differnt people make lots of differnt units so you have options to find one that you like. Several of the online stores have a "compare receivers" button that lists most if not all of them in a feature list. Just be advised that it says that the HDVR2 does not do interactive but it actually does.

Good luck,

-J

[platinum]

i have a hdvr2 and it works as advertised

[Chris Freeland]

In my humble opinion the following are E* vs D* advantages and disadvantages.

E* Advantages:
AT50 has many popular basic cable channels for its low $24.99 or $29.99 w/locals package which is less for new subs then D* or cable.
AT150 is a larger basic package then what is available on D* and even though it cost $5-$9 more then TC+ it includes some movie and sports channels that require you to purchase a premium package or packages to get them or they are not available on D*.
E* has more premium movie channels then D*.
E* has more International channels available then D*.
AT100 W HBO and Cinamax at $49.99, AT150 w/HBO and Cinamax at $59.99 are better values in my opinion then comparable packages at D*.
No extra monthly charge for PVR function on PVR STB's.
Slight advantage if you want HDTV.
E* has Superstation package, D* does not, big advantages for us that do not have local UPN or WB and for those who want some additional sports without buying expensive sports packs.


D* Advantages:
If Locals are available, they are cheaper and all are on one dish.
More ppv channels
NFL-ST not available on E*.
MLB-EI not available on E*.
If you live in NYC, YES not available on E*.
TC and TC+ better value then AT100.
Spanish programing is a much better value then E*.
Bigger selection of Hardware choices.
Better PVR's.

Just depends on your wants and needs as to which is better. As far as PQ goes for SDTV, their are advocates on both sides that claim one or the other has better pq.

[Brett]

Another E* advantage:

More flexibility with packages. Customer can take locals and HBO, NBA League Pass, or some combination with an access fee, but DirecTV customer would be required to take a base package first.

[tampa8]

Re: Chris Freeland post above

That is the best ,concise, fair comparison I think I have seen. It really does sum up the differences and shows that depending on what you want probably determines which to go with.
When I saw this topic I was certain it was bait to start yet another round of flame posts.

[DCSholtis]

Not with Sunday Ticket, Brett you do not need the base package.....You can sub to that alone.

[Mike123abc]

Another thing to check is local market coverage. Now that they are moving into smaller markets it is very likely that many of the smaller markets will only be served by one of the two providers. If you are unable to get a good picture with an antenna you may want to consider this. Also, the PVRs tend not to record OTA antenna broadcasts.

Over the next year I see a race between E* and D* on the smaller markets (down to 150 or so). But, I do not expect both providers in the small markets (below 75) since they realize that if the other company is already there, they can make more money in a different market with no competition.

[dishrich]

Originally posted by raj2001
Dish has better premiums (namely HBO Comedy and Zone),

When DID Dish get HBO Zone - I must have missed THAT!:confused: :confused: :confused:

[Brett]

Originally posted by DCSholtis
Not with Sunday Ticket, Brett you do not need the base package.....You can sub to that alone.

Also, no base package is needed for the Chinese channels like Phoenix TV.

But you need a base package for locals, any of the premium movie packages, and all other sports packages. Not with Dish. That was my point.

[raj2001]

Originally posted by dishrich


When DID Dish get HBO Zone - I must have missed THAT!:confused: :confused: :confused:

SOrry, I meant HBO Comedy. Zone slipped in there because I had both on cable.

[waydwolf]

Just to be a smart ass, Dish Network has better porn for the price than DirecTV. I'm waiting to see someone dare to launch that in HD at which point, I'm getting out a loan and buying as big a plasma screen as I can find and putting it in my business office just to see the reaction. :evilgrin:

[DCSholtis]

Originally posted by waydwolf
Just to be a smart ass, Dish Network has better porn for the price than DirecTV. I'm waiting to see someone dare to launch that in HD at which point, I'm getting out a loan and buying as big a plasma screen as I can find and putting it in my business office just to see the reaction. :evilgrin:
IF that ever happened with D*.....count me in!!!!:D

[Jacob S]

Only Playboy can be ordered by the month on DirecTv whereas Playboy, Extasy, TEN, and Erotic Clips can be ordered by the month on Dish.

The extended warranty on Dish is only $2 where DirecTv charges $6.

Dish charges a $25 restart fee, DirecTv does not according to what someone had said on the forums.

DirecTv has card swaps and charges you for a new card if you happen to have had no service when the card swap took place then you want to restart services. Dish has never had a card swap nor this issue.

DirecTv receivers do not come with cards so you have to wait in the mail to get them activated.

DirecTv hardware is cheaper than Dish.

DirecTv hardware changes channels quicker than Dish hardware does.

DirecTv has most of their channels from one orbital slot with a dish 2 inches smaller and costs less.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Dish Charges $5 when you remove any service from you account such as Starz, while DirecTV charges you nothing to drop services.

[Mike500]

No one mentioned the dreaded Pegasus. If you live in a Pegasus area, you will pay more for service and not get discount deals on DirecTV receivers.

[Karl Foster]

Check the date of the original post. I haven't seen any problems listed with the Hughes GAEBO receiver for months.

Both companies have their niche. For the average user, the differences are pretty transparent. For the techie, each person needs to determine who will best meet their needs, and go from there. I have had both, and prefer Directv, and especially Ultimatetv. YMMV, but programming is king. If you need NFLST and MLBEI, you know where to go. If you need TV Polonia, or other foreign language networks, you know where to go.

[Jacob S]

I have heard that DirecTv does charge the $5 downgrade fee.

[Scott Greczkowski]

No DirecTV does not charge downgrade fees, they dropped them last year.

[raj2001]

Originally posted by Jacob S
I have heard that DirecTv does charge the $5 downgrade fee.

They never charged me one, since I've had their service in the US anyway...

[papillo-j]

What was that about receivers not coming with cards? Does that mean that I will not be able to fire up my receivers that are coming tomorrow when they get installed on Sunday?

I must not have understood you right.

[TerryC]

Originally posted by papillo-j
What was that about receivers not coming with cards?

Both the DirecTV receivers I bought last month came with cards.

[raj2001]

Some of them came without cards, but I believe that the majority of new receivers come with cards. If you didn't get a card with a brand new receiver, you can call DTV and they will give you one for free. IF you didn't get a card with a used receiver, you have to pay $30 for one.

[Crazy 1]

The only new receivers I ever seen without cards, was when Wal-Mart sold D* systems in the store, now they only sell the certificates, at least around here in MO. The receivers without cards was a anti piracy thing. Due to people buying them just for the cards and chucking the IRD in a dumpster.

[Karl Foster]

Actually, they charge $20 for a card if you have a used receiver, and they Fedex it overnight. It isn't like you have to wait a week. All of the new receivers I have purchased have had card in them.