[mraviator]

I'm sure everybody has their own opinion on this, but I'm an absolute newbie to satellite TV. Is there a major difference between Dish and DirectTV?

From what I can tell, the programming is similar, prices are similar, both off HD and DVR (which is what I need). Does one company have a better customer service, or reliability, or better future plans, or better signal quality, or better *insert here* over the other company?

Thanks for any info....
Michael

 

[GaryPotter]

I'm sure everybody has their own opinion on this, but I'm an absolute newbie to satellite TV. Is there a major difference between Dish and DirectTV?

From what I can tell, the programming is similar, prices are similar, both off HD and DVR (which is what I need). Does one company have a better customer service, or reliability, or better future plans, or better signal quality, or better *insert here* over the other company?

Thanks for any info....
Michael

Both tend to suck when it comes to customer service. However, I'd go with Directv. Simply because it offers better picture quality, more room for growth in number of channels, and a better pricing structure. Plus Dish has been known to randomly drop channels at times.

 

[woj027]

Hey there, I bet you get lots of answers to this question.

I have only had DirecTV so I've got a big bias.

I am a DirecTV fan because of their Sports Programming. You can only get the NFL Sunday Ticket (all Sunday games) on DirecTV. You can get MLBEI (MLB Extra Innings) on DirecTV as well.

Everything else is fairly similar. DirecTV currently touts the most HD channels.
I like their HD DVR as well. My dad has Dish, and I don't like his DVR, but most of that is because it's Differrent. Like going to Britian and trying to figure out what side of the road to drive on.

I reccomend DirecTV to my friends too.

So, thats one of many answers you will get. Good luck

The only thing I can say for certian is that HD TV rocks, so if you can invest in a HD TV, Satellite is definitely the way to go.

 

[Nick]

Pretty much a toss-up, except that Dish has prettier trucks.

Oh, and then there's the HD DVR reliability thing. Dish has the rock-stable VIP 722
HD DVR, while Directv has a multiplicity of assorted boxes that garner 90% of the
posted user complaints on these DTH satellite boards. Why anyone would want to
put up with that I don't know.

If it were me (and recently it was), I'd go for reliability, dependability and ease of use
over marketing assertions of huge (not hugh) channel numbers and bleeding-edge
features most peeps will seldom if ever use. After all, if what you want to do is watch
tv, you don't want to spend your time fussing over distracting technical issues.

 

[tcusta00]

Everyone has their bias. Understand that the people with issues will be louder than those without. Go into each forum for the HD DVR for each provider and you'll see a slew of complaints.

Go into the service department of a Chevy dealer and you'll see customers in and out all day. Do the same for a Mercedes dealer. Same.

It's all about how it's handled. I think the customer service from both companies leaves a lot to be desired. I think the DirecTV side has come a long way. I personally haven't had an issue with my HD DVRs from DirecTV in over 6 months.

YMMW with each service. Look at the channels you want and decide from there. DirecTV will likely be launching new channels next month so you may want to wait and see what the offerings are at that time.

 

[jclewter79]

If you want a rocksoild DVR, Dish Network is the only way to go. Service is also a little cheaper with Dish also. Unless you are really into sports, I say Dish is the way to go.

 

[jimmy_27320]

I have had both and prefer Directv.
The picture quality is better with Directv; you can really see a difference in the color.
I have not had any problems with my Hr20; I have two of them.
I like Directv’s GUI much better than the Dish GUI.
You have more HD channels with Directv.
Directv has better Customer Service, but who needs a CSR when you have the great folks at DBSTalk.
You have to be careful with Dish Network pricing also.

This is just my opinion.

 

[MattDL]

In my experience:

DISH - builds their own hardware so they have always had better receivers, IMO. Their ViP722 HD/DVR is the highest rated by CNET and provides some pretty amazing features such as web-enabled VOD through the Homebox adapter (thousands of movie titles available this way).

DISH also is the only one with a 100% HD package, so if you watch a lot of HD content then there is some advantage to going with DISH.

DirecTV - you are a sports fan, DirecTV offers more programming. NFL Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings are available but very expensive. So you need to be a pretty die-hard fan. If you live in a very large home, DirecTV will allow you to have more receivers per account (DISH only allows 6 receivers, up to 12 tuners, per account) although the last I knew they still hadnt begun to offer a dual-tuner receiver yet, requiring more wires/cabling.

Price wise they are both pretty comparable depending of course on which promotion you hit. Beware of lofty HD channel claims from either, as they include regional programming and PPV channels in their HD channel count. They have both been doing this for quite some time now.

 

[jclewter79]

Dish network offers many dual tuner receivers. All of the current SD and HD DVR's are dual tuner models. Most of the can operate 2 TV indepedently something that none of the Directv receivers can do.

 

[jclewter79]

All of the dual tuner dish network receivers are capable of operating with only one coax Dish Pro Plus technology predates SWM 8 technology by many years and is a standard item in current installations with no extra cost.

 

[Grentz]

All of the dual tuner dish network receivers are capable of operating with only one coax Dish Pro Plus technology predates SWM 8 technology by many years and is a standard item in current installations with no extra cost.

That will be changing very soon as the SWM rollouts are in full swing. There is also no extra cost

 

[jclewter79]

That will be changing very soon as the SWM rollouts are in full swing. There is also no extra cost

That is great news, it is long overdue.