OK..considering a switch from Dish to DirecTV...convince me not to (1 Viewer)

[Brian W. Ralston]

Ok.....I am getting more and more disappointed with Dish Network.

The Picture quality is just bad and has been discussed endlessly in many forums.

I currently have a stand alone Sony TiVo which I am using with my dish box. Of course, since Dish does not support, I have to use an IR blaster to change channels (an extra second or so), yet sometimes it will miss a number and not change the channel for a recording.

Since it is a stand alone model, and not directly encoding the sat stream, I can only record one show at a time. With a DirecTV TiVo unit, I could record two shows at once.

Programming was holding me back to Dish before. I have to have RSNs because I am a die hard AZ Wildcat fan and their sports are most always on Fox Sports AZ. I enjoy Discovery Wings a lot (which Direct does not have....but I read will be adding Feb 1). Both carry all locals for LA.

Direct TV has a much better picture quality.

Since I have a stand alone Tivo (but a Dish 4900 box with optical out), I have never been able to use the digital out on the Dish receiver because it will not be in synch with the video from the TiVo since it is delayed about 1 second due to MPEG encoding. With a DirecTV Tivo unit, I could use the optical out finally and get digital sound for TV/Movie channels, etc....

It should be an easy switch since the wiring is already done right? Just change out the dishes and the box.

I am not in a contract with Dish (due to a cool coupon I had with the install), so I can basically tell them what they can do with their picture quality and say bye.

Well......what should I do?

The only real downside is that I would lose the lifetime subscription on my Tivo unit and have to pay for another one for the new Direct TV box. I would probably give the old box to my parents though so it would just remain in the family.

 

[JerryLA]

Brian,

I've never had Direct TV but my inlaws have it, came as a Christmas gift. Comparing the two systems, with my limited experience with Direct I'd vote for Dish any day of the week. I have heard others mention that there seems to be more sports programming on Direct. What are the problems you have with the picture. I have had Dish for about 7 years now and have not really had any major problems with them. My local channels from Denver are about as good as regular TV gets. HD quality from HBO, Showtime, PPV and the demo channel are superb. I found the on screen menu's of Direct hard to work with, maybe cos I'm just not used to it. IMO it might be a mistake to switch over the the company that apparently is about to be changed after the merger. I just can't believe that Charlie Ergen would spend this much time, effort and money on a proposition that would not get approved. I guess only time will tell.

Good luck with your choice.

Jerry

 

[Robert_J]

Brian,
Check over at the Tivo Community in the DirecTV With Tivo section. There are a couple of deals right now with DirecTivos being free with free installation (one year programming commitment required). Or you can get them for $79 each with no commitment (no 18" or installation either).

It should be an easy switch since the wiring is already done right? Just change out the dishes and the box.

I did it a month ago. I got the Orbit CommunicationsHughes deal with an eliptical dish. It took about 10 minutes to aim the dish (after I spent two days looking for a bad connector).
-Robert

 

[Frank_M]

Brian -

Go for it!

There's never been a better time to jump in to DirecTV.. and DirecTivo, since they are virtually giving away the hardware. You can get a DirecTivo as a new subscriber for as little as $49... which is unbelievable compared to what it costs for the standalones!

My friend who is buying a standalone is paying $299 for a 40 hour unit... which is considered a good deal!

And remember, with the DirecTivo's, ALL your recordings are at "BEST" quality. In fact, they're better than what you're recording now because they're really at SOURCE quality. So a 35 hour machine.. really gets you 35 hours.

 

[Bill Griffith]

I geuss it kind of depends on what you want.

I've had both in the past year. I've ended up with Dish.

The picture qualities are simialr, I see no difference. I like Dish's Graphic user interface more than Direct TV's.

The only complaint I have was with Direct TV, Speedvision wouldn't come in all the time and that was annoying.

Cost for Dish is less becaus I purchased the equipment instead of renting like I did with DirectTV.

Not sure how the recording aspect is as I've never had a need to record shows.

Also talking with some guys down here they said Dish was looking at aquiring DirectTV. Could be rumor but you never know. Could also just be a local thing.

 

[Ryan Wright]

It may not matter in a year. DirecTV and Dish are merging. The only catch left is government approval.

 

[Takosan]

I'm contemplating a jump too. I just got a RPTV & I hate the fact that I will have to put up another dish pointed at a different bird. My contract has ended some time ago so I can jump anytime.

The Dish waiting approval from gov to eat up DirecTV does make me worry whether the equipment will become obsolete but I don't necessarily think that the gov will approve ... still it is one reason I'm not jumping yet.

Takosan

P.S. I got a letter saying they'll increase $1 across the board :-(