I really thought I would know what to get when I finally got a house. The time is coming in June, and after reading this board for a while, I am on the fence. The eternal question? Dish or DirecTV? Don't need any sports channels, HDTV, or PPV, so the programming costs about the same. Can't get any networks, so that's out. The hardware: Dish 301 for free with free installation from Allsat.com vs. the DirecTV for pickup at Walmart for $49--a wash really. Quality of picture? One brother has DirecTv, the other Dish, neither has any quality equipment to make an informed decision. Can someone give me a clue? Thanks for any help. Bob.
Unless you can set up an A/B comparison on the channels you most want to watch you won't be able to tell. My purely subjective observation is that the DirecTV picture on the premium movie channels and History Channel have improved since the spot beam satellite became functional. DirecTV might be ahead in the picture department right now. Of course, if the two companies' merger goes through it shouldn't matter in the long run.
I just got a flyer in the mail for Dish Network. Free stuff, free install, and the 50-channel pack is $22.95 a month. You can get two DirecTV receivers free this week from Circuit City I think I saw the ad at. So, now I just made your decision harder/easier because DirecTV is free, too! The main thing I wanted to mention was the 50-channel package. I've seen it online at other sites for more like $28 a month. If you were going to go for the 100-channel Dish package, that's the same price and channels as the basic DirecTV package, but if you wanted a few less channels, maybe the 50-channel package for cheaper would do it, and only Dish Network has any packages that cheap. I can hopefully scrounge up the flyer if you're interested and can't find the 50-channel for $22.95 on your own. I'm not sure if the ad is for local people only or what.
Dish lets me keep my original package ($15 for my choice of 10 channels + a few other packages) years after it's no longer available. Does Direct TV do this as well?? Do they almost never raise the price on the plan you're on? Please let me know your experiences with Direct TV! Another thing I liked about Dish is THEY make the equipment and support it. When there is a problem there is no finger pointing, they are on the hook to take care of it. My experience is that they have been very good at taking care of hardware issues, even when it was out of warranty. The perks of Direct TV I'm aware of I've pointed out in numerous posts, just do a search.
Thanks guys for the input. I guess it would be fair to say both since both systems have comperable pricing, programming, and image quality, that I would be happy with either/or. I guess I could do with Dish and let someone else install it! Bob.
