Dish Network vs Direct Tv

[Norman Sooner]

Just went through a divorce and the cable was under her name. We have three choices to my knowledge in blanchard being Pioneer(they only have 7 HD channels), Dish Network and Direct Tv. Any of you guys have an opinion on which is better? Im trying to be cost effecient and still get all the sports channels and my mtv..

[bonkuba]

I have Dish and am very happy with it. I am sure Direct is good too. However, the 722 DVR (HD) is awesome (Dish).

[Veritas]

Dish > DirectTV

[olevetonahill]

Just went through a divorce and the cable was under her name. We have three choices to my knowledge in blanchard being Pioneer(they only have 7 HD channels), Dish Network and Direct Tv. Any of you guys have an opinion on which is better? Im trying to be cost effecient and still get all the sports channels and my mtv..

I have Direct and enjoy It. Dish pissed Me off a few years ago and I wont go back .
Plus dish charged me 5 bucks a month when I would have em turn it off after the Season . Direct Just says Let us Know when you want it Back On .

[Mandibleclaw]

Here is a good link for comparison http://www.direct-vs-dish.com/

I like DirecTV over Dish because of local channel ability, but if you are in it for pricing then Dish may be your route.

:edit: Well after looking at that site, locals are available on Dish but it doesn't say if there is a cost.

:edit: Don't let the price completely fool you though because local channels are an extra $5.99/mo whereas DIRECTV includes local channels free.

[shaun4411]

ive used both. ive had directv for the past few and had dish before that. directv seems to have more channels, and more hd content (again, i had dish before i was an HD consumer). theyre both mostly the same sans a few small differences. noteably with dish, they charge for locals for some odd reason. both charge for additional receivers. however, i recently went back to dish because of availability and i have one receiver that provides service to two tvs so there is no additional receiver for that other tv-- so that pretty much washes out the additional cost for the local channels.

what i am waiting for is uverse. that's the best!

[stoops the eternal pimp]

same for me..had both...when my contract with direct ends, I ll go back to dish for some free stuff and then back to direct....

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

I have Dish and love it. It is very much cheaper than Cumcast and picture and sound is better!!! I would recommend them. Plus, they show up on time to install it, something DirecTV and Cumcast never did.

[soonerboomer93]

dish or direct doesn't matter

dish does charge for locals simply because there's a charge that dish has to pay to transmit them to you (to the locals). Direct just burries it in the price.

I worked for dish, preffered direct (because i like tivo, which they no longer have).

you're going to get comparable service accross the board as far as tech support sales, installation (some have good, some have bad, but both services are overall rated far superior to cable).

[r5TPsooner]

I have DirecTV and it is great when the equipment works and it's not stormy outside. They do have serious issues off and on when ordering PPV movies when using their HD DVR boxes, as far as audio goes. Sometimes the PPV will record fine, but sometimes the audio will make the movie unwatchable because it cuts in and out which is extremely annoying.

Also, try to order a movie on PPV during the NFL season on a Sunday before 6pm. I was told by DirecTV last year that due to bandwidth issues with their HD feed and the NFL Sunday Ticket, that you cannot order a PPV movie because all of the space is being given to the NFL Sunday Ticket consumers and that I would not be able to watch or order a PPV until later that evening when most of the NFL games were ending on Sunday Ticket. This came directly from CS at DirecTV!

Also, if you purchase any type of box at say a Circuit City or Best Buy... it's not really yours to keep, but a "rented" unit that DirecTV will demand back if you cancel service.

Besides everything that I've written above, DirecTV is a good company.

My only TWO experiences with Dish Network are pretty simple... I called them on two different occasions last year to set up NEW service, both times they came to my house and the installer did not have the equipment that I ordered online... TWICE! Then the installer would call his "manager" and claim a paperwork error. TWICE, Dish left my house w/o doing a damned thing except wasting my time.

THEN, you have to call to get the "one time" fee credited back to your CC and explain to them that their installers are too lazy and stoopid to do the install. It must be true, because I received my "one time" fee back on both occasions.

Besides everything that I've posted above, Dish Network is a good company.

BTW, I used to pay for my local channels w/DirecTV. I'll have to look at my last bill to see if I still do? However, they used to charge $4.99.

[Sooner_Bob]

I've had both and found that one isn't any better than the other IMO.

[BudSooner]

When it comes to dish tv, Direct has better quality channels...dish has the quantity(TITTAY!)due to the defunct Zoom HD channels.
If football is your thing, especially NFL then Direct is a no brainer..just go hang out at someones house that has it and get them to tune to the RedZone...it's pretty great.

[bluedogok]

I have had Directv for about 10 years and have not had many problems with it, Multimedia Cablevision in The Village is what pushed me to satellite. I went Directv because of NFL-ST, I could never go back to cable. My sister has Dish, she likes it. In all of my time I have had to call them maybe 10-15 times, but then I usually do my own installations.

I will stay with Directv, Dish nor Time Warner Cable have anything interesting for me (TWC has the Whorns on Demand) and Verizon FIOS and AT&T U-Verse are not available in Austin, only a few of the burbs have them at this time. Not that I would go with them anyway, since they don't have NFL-ST and I don't think they have MLB-EI.

For awhile Dish had the HD lead, then Directv had the lead and now that Dish has sent up a new bird I think they both have about the same HD offerings with a few differences here and there.

[OU-HSV]

I'm thinking about signing up for Dish Network tomorrow, and cancelling my Cox service. Dish has a deal right now in my area....for 49.99/month highspeed internet and unlimited phone service (local and long distance, caller ID, call waiting, etc.). It's a 2 year guarantee. I can also get their America's top 200 for $45/month with 2 DVRs.

Currently I have Cox with one DVR local phone service only, high speed internet and I'm paying damn near $130/month.

Thoughts on if switching to Dish is a good idea??

[Widescreen]

I've been with Dish for 11 years. The main reason I stay is that their DVR is outstanding. Pretty much any switch I made would be a downgrade in the DVR.

[OU-HSV]

I've been with Dish for 11 years. The main reason I stay is that their DVR is outstanding. Pretty much any switch I made would be a downgrade in the DVR.

Good news. thanks