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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

[Satellite] Dish Network vs DirecTV

My satisfaction with DirecTV is starting to decline, they dropped the Weather Channel and who knows what channels are the next to get axed. God forbid that they drop Fox News or WWLP-22. And they are happy about raising rates. My grandma liked some shows on INSP and that got axed as well.

I had a less than satisfactory experience with Dish Network in 2005 but I may in the future may give them a second chance. The only other option is Comcast. I also would like to get the Blaze, I was watching it on a Dish Network demo at RadioShack and I was impressed with the five minutes I watched it.

If I did get Dish, I'd go for a Hopper and two Joeys. I'd install it myself as I don't let installers touch my house (they typically cut corners with sloppy work like the Dish contractor I had that didn't even ground the system). You can get the components from Solid Signal.

I'd like thoughts on Dish Network vs DirecTV and the advantages of each. Who do you think is better. I'm not a big sports fan. Is the Hopper worth the hype. Are the prices more reasonable. Has their customer service improved.

I'd wait until my contract is up or at least until a year or less in the contract to take the dent out of the ETF.
comp
Premium Member
join:2001-08-16
Evans City, PA

comp

Premium Member

I will never leave directv again.... and dish usually has harsher rate hikes than directv... and could care less about the weather channel i watch local weather...

Hayward0
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium Member
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL

2 recommendations

Hayward0 to IowaCowboy

Premium Member

to IowaCowboy
Whho would care. Just like the Weather Channel not weather (anymore) Fox is NOT News. (never has been)

scots
Are we there yet??
Premium Member
join:1999-12-06
Raleigh, NC

scots to IowaCowboy

Premium Member

to IowaCowboy
You really aren't safe from "channel-axing" with any provider. Dish does the same thing, and even the cable companies have started doing it as well. And INSP was not axed by DirecTV. There are certain channels that pay the providers to carry their channels rather than the provider paying the channel. INSP was one of those channels. INSP made the decision to no longer pay DirecTV to carry the channel - so INSP axed themselves from DirecTV, and INSP is the one you need to be unsatisfied with. Most of the shows on INSP were reruns of older shows that can be found on other channels - so I don't see it as any loss. I don't see the axing of The Weather Channel as any great loss either. They rarely showed weather anymore, and there are so many other ways to get local, up-to-date weather these days that TWC is pretty much irrelevant. You also aren't safe from rising rates with ANY provider. They ALL raise rates at least annually...some twice a year.

So...the best thing to do is find the provider that has the channels and/or features you prefer the most and stick with that one - and when the price increases start kicking in try to negotiate with them.
dbamber
join:2003-02-07
Bandon, OR

dbamber

Member

X2 for Directv. It's been over 8 years with them. We have had DTV out on multiple occasions to re-align the dish, and other things. We have never paid for a service call, and we don't have their protection plan either. Last Fall our power company blew out the hard drive on one of our DVR's when they changed the electric meter. DTV had a new Genie DVR installed in a couple of days, changed some of the cabling, installed a new LNB, and moved an existing DVR to another room. The only charge to our account was an additional $3 a month for the Genie DVR, and a 24 month commitment. In the past we have subscribed to MLB extra innings, and NFL sunday ticket. I'm not going to be getting those on DISH, or our local Cable lineup. We have always negotiated with customer service for a discount on the baseball, football programming. Last year they took off $10 monthly for a DVR fee when NFL Sunday ticket was on.

ilikeme
Premium Member
join:2002-08-27
Stafford, TX

ilikeme to IowaCowboy

Premium Member

to IowaCowboy
DirecTV is way better than Dish. I have had both and currently have DirecTV. DirecTV has much better picture and sound quality. No provider is immune to channel disputes. I had Dish when they had the huge dispute with Viacom and lost channels such as Comedy Central and Nick for a few weeks.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

I think I'll stay with DirecTV, maybe the Weather Channel will cave in to D* demands as 22 million subsribers is a good chunk of their revenue.

I don't even watch the weather channel much even though I have it comming in on my basic cable subscription in the bedroom (I have as part of a HSI/basic tv bundle through Comcast).

portrhombus
@frontiernet.net

portrhombus to IowaCowboy

Anon

to IowaCowboy
We just had DirecTV and switched to Dish. They had a cheaper package than DirecTV and comparing the two equivalent packages, you get more stuff. Examples for my package would be Encore channels and Sirius. My husband was unsure of switching and when I looked them up there were complaints about customer service so I was a little unsure myself. But we went for it and I am very happy. We haven't had a chance to see about the customer service, but using DirecTV for 3 years we never really needed customer service anyway. I like the software Dishe uses, like I like the way the guide is set up. There are some better features, like you can put recordings into folders (which is good because then my husband doesn't have to look at my recordings that he complains about when looking at his own stuff). There is an option for picture in picture (although I think it only works on the hopper not the joeys). When recalling channels, you can see the last four channels watched and pick which one you want. I also like the skip forward function better because it skips faster, instantly without showing what it is skpping. And you can customize more things, like choosing colors for closed captioning (I have purple, ha). Things like this. I am also very happy to have Sirius channels, I'm totally into Sirius Chill. And I believe we have quite a few other added channels compared to the DirecTV package, but I can't remember right now what they are.

The downside of Dish is that there are not On Demand free content, as in On Demand shows from TV networks, so if you use that a lot, that is one thing to think about. Also, about the Hopper. When you get the Hopper you have 3 tuners to use, plus the four that are available just for the primetime recordings. So they tell you you can record three shows plus the other four. In fact, they told me you could record three (One guy told me four) and watch another, but this is wrong. You can only use the three tuners, so that is a combination of recording and watching only three shows at once. But what they definitely don't tell you is that if you have joeys, and they are being used, they also take up one of the tuners. So with the hopper and the two joeys on at once, you are taking up all three tuners unless two or more of the tvs are watching the same channels. So, that means, you can't record as much with more than one TV turned on.

OldCableGuy2
@209.252.169.x

OldCableGuy2 to IowaCowboy

Anon

to IowaCowboy
Weather Nation is so much better than the weather channel, I am considering switching to DirecTV just to get away from the "Weather" channel which has nothing to do with weather. I have not tuned in for 4-5 years since they started naming winter storms. Local news for weather will always beat national, and at least Weather Nation actually shows weather forecasts, unlike the "weather" channel.
comp
Premium Member
join:2001-08-16
Evans City, PA
·Armstrong

comp to portrhombus

Premium Member

to portrhombus
said by portrhombus :

We just had DirecTV and switched to Dish. They had a cheaper package than DirecTV and comparing the two equivalent packages, you get more stuff. Examples for my package would be Encore channels and Sirius. My husband was unsure of switching and when I looked them up there were complaints about customer service so I was a little unsure myself. But we went for it and I am very happy. We haven't had a chance to see about the customer service, but using DirecTV for 3 years we never really needed customer service anyway. I like the software Dishe uses, like I like the way the guide is set up. There are some better features, like you can put recordings into folders (which is good because then my husband doesn't have to look at my recordings that he complains about when looking at his own stuff). There is an option for picture in picture (although I think it only works on the hopper not the joeys). When recalling channels, you can see the last four channels watched and pick which one you want. I also like the skip forward function better because it skips faster, instantly without showing what it is skpping. And you can customize more things, like choosing colors for closed captioning (I have purple, ha). Things like this. I am also very happy to have Sirius channels, I'm totally into Sirius Chill. And I believe we have quite a few other added channels compared to the DirecTV package, but I can't remember right now what they are.

The downside of Dish is that there are not On Demand free content, as in On Demand shows from TV networks, so if you use that a lot, that is one thing to think about. Also, about the Hopper. When you get the Hopper you have 3 tuners to use, plus the four that are available just for the primetime recordings. So they tell you you can record three shows plus the other four. In fact, they told me you could record three (One guy told me four) and watch another, but this is wrong. You can only use the three tuners, so that is a combination of recording and watching only three shows at once. But what they definitely don't tell you is that if you have joeys, and they are being used, they also take up one of the tuners. So with the hopper and the two joeys on at once, you are taking up all three tuners unless two or more of the tvs are watching the same channels. So, that means, you can't record as much with more than one TV turned on.

There is an option for picture in picture (although I think it only works on the hopper not the joeys). When recalling channels, you can see the last four channels watched and pick which one you want.

you can do this on DirecTV also

portrhombus
@frontiernet.net

portrhombus

Anon

Picture in picture or recall four channels? Neither one was an option with what we had with DirecTV, as far as I know. Looks like you can do picture in picture with the Genie though with DirecTV.

DJ
Premium Member
join:2001-06-13
Opelika, AL

DJ

Premium Member

PIP is available on the Genie only (not the clients), and last 4 channel recall is available on all HD receivers.
Edit: All HD receivers H21 and above.
bgr134
join:2002-11-01
Frisco, TX

bgr134 to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy
Both of them are useless you are way better off getting rid of both them. If you looking for good advice go to this website it will help you get rid of them for good.

Alternative to Cable

ilikeme
Premium Member
join:2002-08-27
Stafford, TX

ilikeme

Premium Member

said by bgr134:

Both of them are useless you are way better off getting rid of both them.

I disagree.
iknow_t
join:2012-05-03

iknow_t to IowaCowboy

Member

to IowaCowboy
said by IowaCowboy:

I think I'll stay with DirecTV, maybe the Weather Channel will cave in to D* demands as 22 million subsribers is a good chunk of their revenue.

I don't even watch the weather channel much even though I have it comming in on my basic cable subscription in the bedroom (I have as part of a HSI/basic tv bundle through Comcast).

you don't even need the weather channel, you can add a weather gadget to your desktop on your computer, or go to msn or another weather site on the internet.