Direct TV or Dish Network (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks, Gene. That's good to hear as well.

No horror stories about outages or dishes going out of whack and trying to fix them yourself or expensive repair visits from Dish technicians? Those are the stories my cable company keeps wanting me to hear!

 

[dreemin]

Thanks for the Welcome, Mike!

Sorry to hear about your installation being canceled. I've had a few different installation companies come out over the years -- since I always deal with DISH directly -- so it appears that they farm things out to different installers they contract with. You might want to call DISH back and let them know of the cancellation (unless they were the one that canceled it) and see if they can hook you up with another installer.

As for equipment issues, I've not had any -- having had 3-4 different models over the years (switching from a standard receiver to a DVR to a 2-tuner DVR and now to an HD DVR). And, only in very heavy snow or rain, have I had signal problems -- which is rare. (They seemed to have resolved many issues that occurred "in the old days", by going to a dish a few inches larger than the 18" dish they first tried.)

Back in 2004, I think, they stood up to Viacom regarding some price increases and channel lineup changes they were mandating to DISH in a new contract. We lost the Viacom channels for about 4-5 days, and I think they ultimately gave in -- but I think it was mostly because of demand from customers to settle the issue so they could get the channels back. (At least they let the customers appear to drive the decision.)

There are a few channels in the DIRECT lineups that I wish DISH had (mostly for the kids), but for the price and service I've been getting, I'm not complaining (though I've contacted DISH to ask them to do what they can to get these).

 

[gene c]

No, none of that. I live right in the middle of three major airports so occasionally there will be a little interference but nothing to complain about. A severe rain storm can cause the screen to go blank but we haven't had that kind of rain here for a very long time. Not sure how a snow storm affects the reception. I have to drive 250 miles to find the fluffy stuff.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks, fellas! I'll let you know how things go...when they finally get here. Glad I didn't cancel the cable outright until the satellite install is complete!

No snow, Gene? Hmpf! We got nearly a foot...just today!

 

[King Ghidora]

I had DirecTV for about 10 years and it was one constant headache after another. I also had their satellite internet service. It worked great early on but it got progressively worse until it was unusable. My area was contracted out to Pegasus which possibly made a difference.

I have since switched to Dish and Wildblue. The difference in customer service is nothing short of amazing. I've almost never had any problem with Dish. I had hundreds of problems with DirecTV. I wouldn't go back for $10k.

Dish has 65 HD channels plus their on demand service and their regular PPV service. I don't think DirecTV has that many more channels if they have any more at all. Dish also has my local channels in HD now and I live in an area that's way down the list for upgrades.

The Dish DVR allows you to connect an external hard drive for additional storage. It has to connect via USB. You can swap hard drives as often as you like for storing programs.

To me the difference in customer support is well worth any lack of channels and again I don't believe there is much of a difference. DirecTV no doubt claims there is but they are bad about making claims they don't live up to. They are also bad about changing packages so that you end up paying more money for the same channels.

Also my price increase for adding HD to my package was $10 per month. That's not bad for 65 channels of HD a month even if you can get the same channels via SD. And the list of channels is growing. Like someone already said they launched a new satellite for HD programming but it failed. They will put a new one up soon enough. But from what I see DirecTV counts their on demand service as part of their channel total. If that's true then Dish is right on par with them in how many HD channels they provide.

Again I wouldn't switch back for $10k.

 

[dragonetti]

Yes, I have had those horror stories with Dish and I only have two more months that I have to stay with them (thank you Jesus). The first installer was at my house for 10hr. trying to align this Stuper Dish. I already had a poll set and all my drops made to my rooms so all he had to do was align the dish. SD channels seem to never lose signal. HD channels go out a lot. $30 every time they come out if it is anything except equipment failure. The last installer that came out know what he was doing and finally got it right. It is too late though I am running from these people as soon as I can. I have been dealing with this crap for 13 months. Dish couldn't give me HD locals like they said they could, and they stopped giving me my local ABC in SD because off price fights. They are now talking about dropping Fox for the same reason.

I had SD Direct for years before Dish, with no problems, I am going back to them. I went through two hurricanes with Direct and they come out a realign for free if needed. One hurricane with Dish cost me $30.

That Dish DVR USB additional storage, if I am not mistaking, will cost you $40 to use. I don't have a land line either, that will cost you another $5 a month too.

 

[samramirez]

Personally, I do enjoy both services though people have different satisfaction with what they think is useful for them. As I browsed over the internet, I came across with a topic which merely summarizes the difference between cable TV and dish network.
You may find this link useful: Dish Network Vs Direct TV