DirecTV or Dish Network? (1 Viewer)

[Drew Bethel]

Which gives the best bang for the buck? What are the pros and cons of each service?

Also, any outstanding deals out there at the moment?

Moving into a house in a week and cable is just too bloody expensive.

I will have tvs in two rooms. Thanks!

 

[Robert_J]

Check each service's web site and compare programming. Is there a channel or sports package you can't live without? The programming is close with Dish (E*) having a few more movie channels and DirecTV (D*) having more sports including the NFL ticket. If you are thinking about HD, then E* has Discovery HD and a full time demo channel while D* has HD-Net.
E*'s hardware is made in house and the interfaces are kind of plain. D* makes their hardware also under the Hughes name (their parent company) and some third party manufacturers. Both have PVR's, which are great. E*'s model 508 is a single tuner digital recorder and the 721 is a dual tuner digital recorder. D*'s PVR powered by Tivo is the best piece of equipment I have ever purchased. I could never go back to regular TV again.
Both companies have deals all of the time. Check their web sites. There is a pre-order for the new Series II DirecTivo for $199, $189 or $139 depending on Circuit City price match. People are getting the regular dish for $0.01 and cheap or free installation. Check out Tivo Community in the DirecTV section for all of the details.
Since you want two receivers, both companies will charge a $5 mirror fee for the second receiver.
-Robert

 

[Drew Bethel]

Thanks Robert. I should add that I probably won't be watching a whole lot of movies because I use Netflix. And my favourate sports are tennis, golf, track & field.

What's does PVR stand for?

Anyone else care to add their experience with either product? Thanks.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

PVR - generic term for a Personal Video Recorder. It's like a hard-drive based VCR.
Dish has the PVR, Direct has the DirectTivo units.
You wont believe how wonderful these units are.
In both these units, the digital feed is written to a hard drive before you see it. This means you can pause live TV, then pick up where you left off after a few minutes. You can rewind to catch dialog, do your own replay, etc. In some cases you can be in the middle of a show, decide you want to keep this for later/your spouse so you re-wind and hit RECORD. It saves the show for weeks/months.
You will actually HATE to watch live/cable TV after you take control with one of these units. No longer must you wait for a commercial to run to the bathroom, get a snack, be mad when someone calls in the middle, make a spouse/kid wait for a commercial, etc.
These units usually have a "search" feature so you can look ahead 1-2 weeks for shows, see plots, mark things for recording, etc.
I canceled my TV Guide subscription and my VCR has not been used in months. Of all my HT toys, the PVR is the only one I have ever heard my wife brag about to friends.
(Can you tell I'm a fan? )
There is also a fourm dedicated to sat systems that is very informative: DBSForum
Go to the Discussion fourms and you will find separate sections for PVR's, HDTV via Sat, etc. Highly Recommended.