milkman71

I am getting ready to move on December 15th. The house I am moving to has a sattelite dish, and I don't know if either one is bettter than the other. I see ads for 3 to 5 room setups for either one but have heard some say DirectTV is better. Anyone have an opinion on this?

Brian Shannon

I have Direct TV, my brother in law has Dish Network.

We are both happy.

It depends too much on the packages and your hardware needs to say which is better. Better is too much of a subjective term.

milkman71

Well, I am looking to purchase a Plasma TV after I move and setup my 5 disc DVD Player. Also, possibly getting a TIVO or DVR (which I believe DISH network has). Price wise it looks like Dish network may be the cheapest. But then I am just new to this, is there a place that has coupons/deals for either one?

Otto

DirecTV is better. For one thing, the DirecTivo beats DishPVR hands down. It's far better overall. For another thing, the picture quality on DirecTV has increased dramatically since they started using the spotbeams for local TV coverage. Pricewise it's really not all that big of a difference except in the special "new user" deals that dish offers. Those can make dish cheaper in a larger way for a short period, but I think more people are happier with DirecTV overall.

Best bet for finding deals and comparisons is www.dbsforums.com .

Best offer I'm currently aware of is through Dell. http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topi...=19&l=en&s=dhs

When you follow the links, you'll find that you can get up to a 3 room DirecTV system with standard receivers for FREE, or a 3 room system with one DirecTivo and 2 standard receivers for $49 (after a $50 rebate from Dell). There's also 1 and 2 room deals listed.

adamblast

The running concensus on the forum here... is that the DirecTivo is so superior to all the other PVRs (time-shifting recorders)--and that a good PVR with satellite will rock your world *so* much--that it really makes DirecTV the best option by far if the channel packages are similar in your area.

Y2K Falcon

Prior thread for your perusal, 34 posts:
Which is better, DirecTV or Dish Network?
(looks like they just reversed the wording of your title )

Also, a search on "DirecTV" (which is what I did) finds numerous threads discussing "satellite television". Also, yes, I would visit the dbsforums (satellite system discussions), and perhaps tivocommunity.com (PVR discussions, mostly centered on TiVo, but includes other Dish/Cable PVR/DVR products).

milkman71

sorry about that! Been away from DVD Talk for quite some time. I originally had posted this in the Other forum not realizing that there was a TV forum. (Getting too old I guess). Is there a place for newbies to sattelite tv? I am getting confused with all the acronyms PVR/DVR, E*, Etc.?

djbrown

I would recommend DirecTv for the integated DirecTivo unit alone. It's far and away better than any PVR that Dish has to offer.

wendersfan

That's your opinion, and from my point of view, your opinion is wrong.

I have DishNetwork, and I wouldn't (and couldn't) have anything else. The amount of international programming on Dish far outstrips that of DirecTV. Since all I care to watch beyond Angel and the occasional movie is international soccer (most specifically Spanish and Italian), DishNetwork is the only way to go.

I don't watch enough television for a TiVo to be of any value to me. It all really comes down to programming, and to put it bluntly, if I couldn't have DishNetwork I probably wouldn't even have a television anymore. How's that for an endorsement?

Spooky

DirectTV is far better. If only for NFL Sunday Ticket!

huzefa

I have perused many a satellite thread and my general feeling is this:

Directv - good if you like sports
DishNetwork - good if you like movies and international channels.

IMO, the international channels is the kicker to get DishNetwork. Also, Dish's entire package (all American channels, all movies packages, all sports packages + locals) is $79.99, compared to $87.99 for Directv (for the same entire package). Directv gives you a few more sports channels, Dish gives you a few more movie channels.

As far as PVR is concerned, anything is better than a VCR (or shudder! nothing). The DirecTivo is very nice to have, but don't think that Dish doesn't have a decent enough PVR. It does have name-based searching now, but no name-based recording though (I think Tivo holds the patent to that!). My suggestion is to read up some more about each service's PVR. A great forum for that is www.dbstalk.com.

guywall

I like my DishNetwork DVR very much. No problems, no monthly fee, no name-based recordings though (which isn't important to me, but would be nice & DirecTivo does have it).

This is like the Apple v. PC/Windows debate - some swear by one and hate the other.
My advice, go to a local retailer, tell them your thinking about both, and ask to see the different units in action. I know Radio Shack and Sears carrier one of the two. See what format and features you like best and go for it.

Either way, you'll love it. It will change the way you watch (and don't watch) TV.

MEJHarrison

I'd love to go on and on about how great my DirecTiVo is. Even my wife says she loves it, which is quite a statement if you knew my wife. There's no way I'd trade it for anything less unless I had no choice.

But I'd also advise checking around to see what's right for you. Here's another great resource, PVR Comparisons. Click on Feature Chart and make sure your looking at the DirecTV DVR and not a stand alone TiVo when checking out features since the two do have quite a few differences between them.

If you're not into doing the proper research, I'd give my vote to DirecTV in a heartbeat. International program isn't important to me, nor is sports. And we don't really watch a ton of TV. But the TiVo has totally changed the way we watch.

huzefa

BTW, there is one aspect of Dish I do not like and that is the management. They might try hard to please their customers, but ultimately end up screwing them over. Case in point, the addition of monthly fees on their PVR's (which are totally not worth having the monthly fee); especially since PVR's made before Sep. 2003 with the same technology are free.

Rascal

I just recently had the new Dish DVR installed and am still learning it. I didn't like the new Video On Demand (VOD) fee and looked into possibly getting DirectTV. In the end, Direct TV was considerably more expensive at my price point.

I may miss out on some Tivo only features, but for my use, it works well. With the new fee, I get the DVR for free as a current customer (although commited to 2 years). I look at the fee as an upgrade price for new equipment. After 2 years, I can shop again and compare service and prices with new deals.

[edited: DirecTV does have a few more channels and does now include NASA.]

huzefa

Rascal, what price point are u referring to? I know that if you get America's Everything Pack, you can get the DVR fee waived. But the same applies to the DirecTivos. If you get Directv's Total Choice Premier package, you can get the TiVo fee waived as well. IMO, if you're not interested in getting International channels and movies aren't that big a deal, I'd go with Directv and its TiVo. Besides that, the only other reason to stay with Dish over DirecTV (besides the few $$ saved) might be because Dish has your locals whereas DirecTV doesn't.

Rascal

I have Dish 50 with local at $29. When I checked the directTV website, their cheapest at 38 or something like that. With the extra Dish VOD fee of $5, I'm still ahead. I had difficulty enough in accepting that $5, that I didn't consider the extra $10 or so. I get everything in Dish that I normally watch, except perhaps PAX which I don't remember what I'm missing.

I didn't realize DirectTV had free equipment and DVR. That's good to know.

huzefa

Dish has free equipment and DVRs too. However if you'd bought the 501 or 508, you could have avoided the DVR fee altogether. But you're right, the Dish 50 IS the cheapest package around (even compared to cable cos). Plus once your contract is up, you can cancel the Top 50, keep your locals and HBO for about $20/month.

WarriorPrincess

I have dish and couldn't even consider changing. why? because I'm unwilling to give up any of my shows, and dish gives me multiple time zones. I get 3 wb channels (east, west, mountain), two upn (east, west), 2 nbc (east, west), 2 fox (east, west), abc and cbs (west - local) and the rest of the stations get east coast feed. This allows for staggering of shows so that with only two tvs, one of which has a dish pvr, I can see all of my shows. Wednesday alone makes it worthwhile - just look at how many shows are on at 8 pm and 9pm and you'll see the dilemma if you've only got two tvs/receivers.

I know people gush about directtivo, but I've been perfectly happy with my dish 508. I have about 60 hours of recording time, and at perfect quality. It misfired once and didn't record a show, but in three months of usage that has been the only problem (and since I caught it on the later showing I was fine).

It's a personal choice, but for me it all boiled down to programming. I not only couldn't get the multiple time zones for the channels mentioned earlier, but I've heard bad things about the quality of local channels on directtv. I have no antenna to pull in those stations, and I watch a lot of wb and upn, so the quality of those stations mattered a LOT to me. Paying so much and not getting what I would want just completely rules out direct, at least for me.