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Topic: DirecTV vs Dish Network

Mitchell Dvoskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1869
From: West Milford, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 02-08-2006 07:57 AM

Does anyone here have Cablevision's Optimum IO digital service with HD channels. That is what I am thinking about dumping DirecTv for. I'm interested in finding out how the quality is. My only hesitation in dumping DirecTv is that I have not forgotten how unhappy I was with cable when I dumped them for DirecTv 11 years ago.

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-10-2006 02:55 PM

Mean while.....

Has anyone been following C-band offerings? (the big dish)
Are they offering anything like "High Def"? Or is that a dead medium?

I always enjoyed playing with the one I had (right when they started scrambling) The funnest thing was watching the back feeds. The whole thing reminded me of radio DXing except of course you couldn't transmit

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Jeff Taylor
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 601
From: Chatham, NJ/East Hampton, NY
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 02-10-2006 03:08 PM

Don Anderson wrote:I'd switch back to Directv, but I pulled my home phone and went cell only. Directv requires a landline connection for billing purposes.

Actually, I've got 6 sets in two houses on Direct and not one is hooked up to a phone line. The installers said it wasn't necessary and I've had no problems. On the rare occasions I want a PPV movie I call in.

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-10-2006 03:18 PM

Yep, I'll add to Jeff's statement. I disconnected the telephone line a couple of years ago thinking that it might be slowing down the signals on my internet dialup. It wasn't, but I never reconnected the phone line

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Jeff Taylor
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 601
From: Chatham, NJ/East Hampton, NY
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 02-10-2006 03:36 PM

Internet DIAL-UP? You must be a patient man. What about Direct Way, Greg. As the chunky dark haired girl says, "...and you diserve it".

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-10-2006 03:52 PM

I finally did get Directway and had that for about 2 weeks over a year (contract requirement) then Sprint FINALLY offered DSL out here in the sticks. I'm spoiled now. 3meg down and 512 up!

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-16-2006 03:09 PM

quote:
.... Just make sure you get their MPEG-4 receiver (model ID H20) and 5-LNB dish (which I'm told you cannot self-install due to complications in aligning the dish).

It should also be noted that DirecTV is apparently going to a leasing scheme with all equipment starting in March. So it'll be just like renting a box from cable companies. The upside is that this will allow for future equipment upgrades and receiver repairs at no cost to the customer. DTV will waive the first receiver fee and charge $4.99 for additional receivers. Since customers are currently charged a $4.99 fee for "mirroring" service to each additional receiver, and THAT cost is going away, you'll pay basically what you pay now without the up-front costs.

Thanks much for those tips. I just talked with DirecTV this morning and I'm making plans to switch to them and get the unit you described. They did confirm that they will be going over to the lease program that you mentioned, in March, but did not give an exact date. I was hoping that they would allow me to buy the unit and not activate it until my current paid up 1 year subscription with Dish Network runs out in mid July, but they wouldn't go for that. The most they will go is 30 days. So it looks like I'll have to lose a few dollars in wasted subscription.
I did call Dish Network and went through the whole problem with them again and they could offer no cures. All they wanted to do is have me pay for another receiver. So it's lose money one way or the other.

So I guess I will wait until Feb 28 and buy the DirecTV unit and have that installed at the end of March.

I'd wait and go with the lease deal, but that reminds me too much of the cable and I like owning the stuff I have. Unless I misunderstood how it works to have a lease unit.

Thanks Sam, for the help

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-17-2006 03:50 PM

After reading some reviews on the "model ID H20" it might be more prudent to lease that gizmo. One reviewer started out very happy with the unit and still is in most respects, but he's on his 3rd unit now after the first two failed apparently due to h-drive failures.

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 02-19-2006 09:58 PM

BTW Greg...I did respond to your PM. Not sure if you knew because they're flagged "Unread". But they're there.

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Greg Mueller
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1687
From: Port Gamble, WA
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-20-2006 09:18 AM

Thanks Sam

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Don Anderson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 312
From: West Bend, WI, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 02-20-2006 12:36 PM

Glad to hear that you guys don't have your Directv receiver hooked up to a landline phone. I'll be switching service back to Directv soon! I never watch any of the pay per view movies. Heck, I've seen them all before they get to PPV. Thanks guys!

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System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

posted 03-16-2008 02:48 PM

It has been 755 days since the last post.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 03-16-2008 02:48 PM

BUMP.

I'm trying to decide on just what choice to make in upgrading my satellite TV service for HD, whether it's DishHD, DirecTV HD or just waiting a couple or so months for some better offers and more channels to become available.

I still have the same Dish Network setup that was installed in 1999 and am ready to do something if Dish Network or possibly even DirecTV can offer me a good deal.

It's pretty annoying that the advertised deals are for "first time customers only" and that you have to make threats of switching to other providers to get some sort of good deal on new equipment, installation and programming packages.

The choices are difficult. Dish Network seems to have better quality receivers, if you believe those c|net reviews.

DirecTV has a bigger variety of HD channels (many of which are not available at all on Dish), but quite a few are confined to much more expensive programming packages. And I've heard complaints about image quality and that many HD channels don't really show much of anything in real HD.

Dish Network has one all-HD programming package for only $29.99 a month. But the 40+ channel package is lacking many "must have" channels you would expect in a cable/satellite lineup. There's no HD-quality channel for Comedy Central yet. There's not much in the way of news channels either.

For those of you who do have HD channel packages with Dish or DirecTV, what specific packages do you have? What are you paying for them? Which packages do you feel give the most bang for the buck?

Right now I'm paying close to $60 per month for Dish's Top 200 channel package and HBO. I'm strongly considering dumping the HBO package regardless of what I do since I just haven't been watching it much at all in the past few months.

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

posted 03-17-2008 01:20 PM

I have DirecTV and am very happy with it. On the HD front, the complaints about image quality were coming from the original set of MPEG-2 encoded channels. These channels were squeezed in and the 1080i channels were downgraded in resolution to something like a 1080x1440 squeeze (don't remember the exact resolution) to reduce the bandwidth requirement. This is the infamous HD-Lite that you will read about. All of the channels added in the last year (the vast majority of HD Channles) come off of a new satellite are MPEG-4 encoded and the quality is great. It isn't blu-ray quality but it is very good.

Another satellite is being launched this week which will allow another 50 or so national HD channels to be added. DirecTV also announced that they will launch what was supposed to be a ground spare satellite in 2009 to bring the capacity up to 200 national HD channels (up from the planned 150).

I have directv's HR20 DVR (since replaced by the HR21 which moved the OTA HD reciever to an external device) and I am very happy with it. The UI is intuitive and it does everything I need it to do. It also has some unpublished features like the ability to add an external SATA drive to the unit to give you added recording capacity.

I am also impressed that directv uses real users to beta test software releases. At dbstalk.com there is a forum that you can join to become a beta tester. You will be able to download beta versions and report bugs. DirecTV seems to be very proactive in monitoring internet forums and responding to the wishes of actual users.

The HR20 got a bad rep because they released it way too soon (when they ended their relationship with Tivo) and it was very buggy initially. I have seen a bug once in a while but it performs better and better with each software release.

Also, with a DVR you can get DirecTV "On Demand" which is basically the ability to download content over broadband to your DVR.

I can't comment about dish since I've never used them but I've subscribed to DirecTV for about 9 years now.

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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!

Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 03-18-2008 01:31 PM

Glad to hear DirecTV has improved. I wasn't impressed with their picture quality back in the 1998-2001 era when I worked for their sister company PanAmSat. Intelsat now flies DTV's birds from the old PAS control center in Long Beach, CA through tracking antennas in Castle Rock, CO.

I've considered going with Dish in order to receive some Japanese-language programming not otherwise available locally. Expensive though - approx $40 per month on top of the basic subscription, plus an extra dish to pick up the second spacecraft that carries that Japanese channel. Yikes!

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