[lparsons21]

I'm pretty well satisfied. I came over from Dish because I wanted more HD channels than Dish was offering and Direct had the ones I wanted.

I gave up a better DVR and Voom. Since then Voom is gone from Dish and the HR21 has gotten better with each software upgrade.

When I first started, I was very frustrated. I got an HR20 at first and got the 771 error on Tuner 2 that seems to plague some of them. Direct's CSRs were helpful and shipped me 4 more HR20s before sending out a tech to find out and fix the problem. The fix was the HR21. Even though I lost OTA, Direct had lit up my local channels in HD before I was first installed, which made that a non-issue.

From the standpoint of the delivery of television service, I can't complain. The price was right, the equipment is OK but not quite as good as Dish's IMO and the PQ and SQ is superb on the HD, with SD being good enough. So overall a big plus for this part.

The CSRs have been a mixed bag. While they were fine when I was going through DVRs like a hot knife through butter, they weren't so good when it came to the web offering of a free year of the maintenance plan. After a few calls, and quite a few emails, I ended up with the plan but not free. But I've noted the $72 it will cost me for the year and I'll recoup that when I renew after my 2 years are up.

For those that are contemplating a switch, well both sat services offer good service for the money, with DirecTV having an edge in HD quality and channels offered and Dish having the edge in the hardware. The customer service at both is a mixed bag, neither earning kudos from me, but neither making me cuss much either.

I'm still a bit frustrated with the slowness of response to the remote that the HR21 has, but it is quicker than when I first got it, so I suppose that will keep improving. I wish the DVR allowed for adding, not replacing, the disk drive and also allowing it to be moved between DVRs should I ever need to switch, but that doesn't seem to be on Direct's radar at the moment.

 

[nn8l]

Just out of curiosity, what did you like better about Dish's DVR?

 

[lparsons21]

Fair question, here's a few things off the top of my head.

1. Faster operation
2. Adding another HD to the DVR had a one-time cost that was to the account, but not locked to the DVR
3. The additional disk was additional, not replacing
4. More user defined channel lists
5. All tuners could record while playing a 4th recorded show. When I had the HR20, only 2 tuners could record at any given time while there were 4 tuners in there. Seems like a waste of good tuners.
6. Could run 2 rooms on different channels with one receiver.

That's just the ones I can remember. #1 is the one people see at first when coming over from Dish. Sluggish performance!

 

[rustynails]

I'm pretty well satisfied. I came over from Dish because I wanted more HD channels than Dish was offering and Direct had the ones I wanted.

I gave up a better DVR and Voom. Since then Voom is gone from Dish and the HR21 has gotten better with each software upgrade.

When I first started, I was very frustrated. I got an HR20 at first and got the 771 error on Tuner 2 that seems to plague some of them. Direct's CSRs were helpful and shipped me 4 more HR20s before sending out a tech to find out and fix the problem. The fix was the HR21. Even though I lost OTA, Direct had lit up my local channels in HD before I was first installed, which made that a non-issue.

From the standpoint of the delivery of television service, I can't complain. The price was right, the equipment is OK but not quite as good as Dish's IMO and the PQ and SQ is superb on the HD, with SD being good enough. So overall a big plus for this part.

The CSRs have been a mixed bag. While they were fine when I was going through DVRs like a hot knife through butter, they weren't so good when it came to the web offering of a free year of the maintenance plan. After a few calls, and quite a few emails, I ended up with the plan but not free. But I've noted the $72 it will cost me for the year and I'll recoup that when I renew after my 2 years are up.

For those that are contemplating a switch, well both sat services offer good service for the money, with DirecTV having an edge in HD quality and channels offered and Dish having the edge in the hardware. The customer service at both is a mixed bag, neither earning kudos from me, but neither making me cuss much either.

I'm still a bit frustrated with the slowness of response to the remote that the HR21 has, but it is quicker than when I first got it, so I suppose that will keep improving. I wish the DVR allowed for adding, not replacing, the disk drive and also allowing it to be moved between DVRs should I ever need to switch, but that doesn't seem to be on Direct's radar at the moment.

I moved from Dish to Direct a few months ago due to los problems. I am like you in that the Dish Dvr is much better and the the HD programming is better with Directv. I really do miss that HDDVR 722! It is a wash as far as customer service but I haven't had much need to call csr. My installation went without a hitch and I have had few problems with the HR21 but it is really slow when changing channels. I miss the pip and the customized channel guide and real slow motion.

 

[RACJ2]

I have had few problems with the HR21 but it is really slow when changing channels. I miss the pip and the customized channel guide and real slow motion.

I am suprised that neither of you mentioned DLB. That is what I will miss when I move from TWC to D*.

 

[lparsons21]

I'm not big on sports so it hasn't been an issue for me. But I can sure understand those that are sports fans wanting it.

 

[gopherscot]

Curious on the HD programming ... they lack the HBO' and Cinemax, lack several key channels like WGN-HD, Travel Channel, Hallmark Movie Channel, Lifetime and Lifetime Movies. The only channel I really want that Direct has is FX . No HD on MTV and VH1 and really could care less for the car channels (Fuel and Speed). The RSN's are 24/7 but Dish carries the same HD. So what makes Direct's HD better? Just my opnion and just wondering why you think D*s is better? Thanks for your review!

 

[lparsons21]

At the moment Direct has the channels I want in HD. Well, not all of them yet, but I'm assuming that they will very soon. And BTW, Direct has the Showtime that Dish doesn't yet.

As to the others you mentioned, I don't even have those in my favorites list.

But the HD picture quality is better on Direct than on Dish imo.

In a year I suspect that all the channels will be on both services.

 

[gopherscot]

At the moment Direct has the channels I want in HD. Well, not all of them yet, but I'm assuming that they will very soon. And BTW, Direct has the Showtime that Dish doesn't yet.

As to the others you mentioned, I don't even have those in my favorites list.

But the HD picture quality is better on Direct than on Dish imo.

In a year I suspect that all the channels will be on both services.

That is what is great about competition. You can have Showtime ... I'll take HBO. As for channels Travel is in my top 5 and my wife is a huge Lifetime fan. Come next year hopefully both will have everything we could want. As for picture I like Dish better but again only an opinion and the receiver is so much better ... again an opinion.

 

[Islandguy43]

I'm pretty well satisfied. I came over from Dish because I wanted more HD channels than Dish was offering and Direct had the ones I wanted.

Great Thread. I am sure it will be very helpful for us E* subs contemplating switching.

 

[cebbigh]

I switched 10 months ago after being a long time Dish customer and agree with Lloyd's initial observations.

IMO there is one thing simple thing that DTV could do that would make the differences in the receivers much more acceptable. With the 622/722 you can lock out channels so it's like they don't exist at all. The makes searches so much simpler if you want to screen out PPV or SD or duplicate channels or channels you don't subscribe to. Yes, you can kind of get around some of it using the boolean commands, but not as simply or effectively.

Dish gives you 4 favorites lists (if I recall) that you can build in any way you want. DTV gives you 2 but supplements with predesigned filters. The problem with the filters is that someone is asleep at the switch when it comes to deciding what channel gets associated to each filter. Much simpler and less frustrating the way Dish does it.

Program descriptions are better on Dish. You get more detail of what a movie is about. And Dish lists the episode number on programs.

BUT overall I am much happier with DTV in general. The PQ is better IMO. And I have not experienced signal loss at all. Being stuck with using the 129 sat (E5) was extremely frustrating requiring it's own separate dish and still watching the signal fluctuate wildly every 20-30 minutes because they can't keep the dang bird pointed correctly.

I don't miss the soap opera of lawsuits and Charlie cutting off channels to negotiate better deals. That makes for lots of interesting posts and good discussion in forums like this, but DTV seems to have it together in terms of planning and running with a better business model.

 

[Norm]

I was with D* for 9 years and when I wanted to go to HDTV they wanted to put it to me $$$$. So I switched to dish in May 07. My major problem with dish was they told me that the Jacksonville, Fl. locals would be HD very soon because thee is a NFL team in the city. That was over a year ago. With college football season coming up I called dish to enquire when the locals would be HD they said by the end of the year In my PC room I wanted to add a 3rd HDTV and they told me I had to purchase the receiver because I could only lease 4. The cost would have been S400 + for a single receiver DVR. Well that did it ffor me I contacted D* and signed back up (had to pay dish $75 early termination fee) got 3 HR21's and my HD locals for about what dish wanted to hose me for. It agree that the menu for the dish recievers had better features but D*s HD seems to be better. Also I could never get audio and video to sync right with dish. It was like watching a Bruce Lee movie.

 

[lparsons21]

BUT overall I am much happier with DTV in general. The PQ is better IMO. And I have not experienced signal loss at all. Being stuck with using the 129 sat (E5) was extremely frustrating requiring it's own separate dish and still watching the signal fluctuate wildly every 20-30 minutes because they can't keep the dang bird pointed correctly.

I had forgotten about the issues with 129. For me in the southern part of Illinois, 129 would flake out at the mention of rain or clouds, very irritating at the time. Had someone not been asleep at the switch I would never have had that problem because I had the standard dish plus another pointed at 61.5 which they decided needed changing.

As it sits right now, I will most likely stay with Direct even after the obligated service unless they pull some bonehead stunt or Dish makes me an offer I can't refuse. But today Dish doesn't have my locals in HD, nor are they on any list I've seen for the future and Direct does. Hopefully the HR series DVRs will continue to improve and of course, more HD!!

 

[RACJ2]

Curious on the HD programming ... The RSN's are 24/7 but Dish carries the same HD. So what makes Direct's HD better? Just my opnion and just wondering why you think D*s is better? Thanks for your review!

The RSN's in HD are not the same for D* and E* and the biggest reason I chose D*. If you check, E* does not have MSG or MSG+ in HD. And for NHL CI, from what I could tell, E* did not broadcast many games in HD last year. Also, D* will provide both teams feed for NHL CI and I don't beleive you get that with E*. And no MLB or NFL package in SD or HD. So as people have said in the past D* is the sports lovers provider and E* is the movie lovers choice.

Great Thread. I am sure it will be very helpful for us E* subs contemplating switching.

And Islandguy43, Can you even watch Sabres games in HD with E*?

 

[cebbigh]

I had forgotten about the issues with 129. For me in the southern part of Illinois, 129 would flake out at the mention of rain or clouds, very irritating at the time. Had someone not been asleep at the switch I would never have had that problem because I had the standard dish plus another pointed at 61.5 which they decided needed changing.

As it sits right now, I will most likely stay with Direct even after the obligated service unless they pull some bonehead stunt or Dish makes me an offer I can't refuse. But today Dish doesn't have my locals in HD, nor are they on any list I've seen for the future and Direct does. Hopefully the HR series DVRs will continue to improve and of course, more HD!!

E5 at 129 is really the deal killer for me as far as considering going back. I'll need to see it's replacement launched and in service before considering going back. And you're right, maybe by that time the HR series DVR's will have caught up. As far as I can tell the faults I find are less hardware and more software. Software can be fixed a lot easier!

The HD is coming. SatelliteRacer's comment about being it being easier and quicker to switch PPV to a channel rather than starting from scratch makes sense to me. The next few months are going to be fun as they add a little at a time.

 

[Islandguy43]

The RSN's in HD are not the same for D* and E* and the biggest reason I chose D*. If you check, E* does not have MSG or MSG+ in HD. And for NHL CI, from what I could tell, E* did not broadcast many games in HD last year. Also, D* will provide both teams feed for NHL CI and I don't beleive you get that with E*. And no MLB or NFL package in SD or HD. So as people have said in the past D* is the sports lovers provider and E* is the movie lovers choice.

And Islandguy43, Can you even watch Sabres games in HD with E*?

E* many times did have both feeds for the CI games, however if they were both in hd, you ususally only got one hd feed; unless Colorado was playing. I wonder whom lives in Colorado and would want to make sure their team was always in hd???

The only hd Sabres games we got were the national games on nbc, versus or hdnet.

E* did do pre and post game shows on cbc hockey nite in canada on saturday nights. I give them credit for that, but yes it was only in SD.

 

[RACJ2]

E* many times did have both feeds for the CI games, however if they were both in hd, you ususally only got one hd feed; unless Colorado was playing. I wonder whom lives in Colorado and would want to make sure their team was always in hd???

The only hd Sabres games we got were the national games on nbc, versus or hdnet.

E* did do pre and post game shows on cbc hockey nite in canada on saturday nights. I give them credit for that, but yes it was only in SD.

Thats what I thought and the reason I didn't consider E*, I want to see our Sabres in HD. My whole reason for leaving cable.
Also, I am afraid that they may not even carry NHL CI this year, since they dropped MLB last year. D* already has pricing for NHL CI, E* still says check back next year.