DirecTV or Dish and FoxSportsNet and DVR? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Koegel]

I'm trying to advise my brother-in-law on satellite alternatives to the fraud that is digital cable, and in reviewing the DirecTV offerings, I'm puzzled about one thing--it looks like you can't get any of the local Fox Sports Nets (for my vicinity, Fox Sports Bay Area) without the Premiere $87.99 package--which is outrageous.

Another question re FSN--do you get just the local FSN feed, or do you get all the FSN feeds--which would be cool.

I also poked around over at Dish, and see that they are offering their own DVR/dish combo. As a loyal ReplayTV guy, I'm dubious that a home grown DVR would be as good as a Replay or a Tivo. Any views on that?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Todd Henry]

If you get the SportsPak which is like an Extra or included in Premier then you get all the FSN feeds, but many of the major sporting events are blacked out without the extra sports packages.

However, I am 99% you do automatically get your local FSN with just the Total Choice.

Todd

 

[Robert_J]

You get one Fox sports in your area. Not sure which one or how to figure it out without calling Dish or DirecTV.

As for the DVR, the free one with Dish is a single tuner model and is timer based. It records in timed blocks just like a VCR. The dual tuner model is about $500 and still doesn't add named based recording. The DirecTivo is dual tuner, has all the bells and whistles (season passes, wish lists) and is $39 for new customers.

-Robert

 

[Tom Koegel]

Todd and Robert,

Thanks. If FSN is not an issue, then DirecTivo sounds like the way to go, although the almost freebie version is inadequate in terms of storage space. (And my nervous nellie bro-in-law would never let me hack into the machine to slap a few extra drives into it.) Maybe one of the after-market versions is in his future. Any thoughts on those: Philips, Samsung, etc.

Tom

 

[Robert_J]

All DirecTivos are made in the same factory in Mexico by Solectron. Inside the case, they are identical.

-Robert

 

[Tom Koegel]

Robert,

Thanks for the scoop. I just guess it turns on how much disk space the bro-in-law thinks he needs.

Tom