Sattelite: DirecTV or Dish?
 

Looking at getting rid of cable, and getting sattelite.

Which is better, DirecTV or Dish? Just from a quick look at both sites, Dish looks slightly better... a bit cheaper, and easier to get local channels?

Only premium stations I'm interested in are the HBO lineup, and with Dish!, I'd at least like the America 100 so I can get the Speed channel.

Looks like that would be around $30 for America 100, $13 for HBO, and $6 for the network lineup.

I'd also need it to be available on 2 TV sets

One more thing... I'm in Alaska, so I'll need a 1 meter dish, right?

Brian

I know I went with DTV for the fantastic world that is a directivo, and I would encourage you to do the same.

Esp that you are thinking of switching to a dish, you need to get a directivo. there is no question.

It's the best thing there is, mine is loaded up with my season passes for the new shows, and I don't even have to worry about changing channels, forgetting to put atape in the vcr etc..

Timeshifting to the extreme. Series 2 are allegedly out mid October.

I chose Dish because I had to have WB and UPN- and at the time (two years ago) DirectTV didn't offer either network. I have no idea if it offers them now. I also love the fact that I not only got WB and UPN, but I got 3 different WB feeds (eastern, mountain, and pacific), and 2 different UPN feeds (eastern and pacific). This allows me to be able to get all of the shows I want/need on tuesday nights (when the geniuses at the networks schedule the great shows on opposite each other) all with only 2 tvs/vcrs. It costs $5 extra per month to have the second receiver/feed.

If I could get an integrated pvr/satellite receiver I would - but there's no question that I'll stick with Dish, as the channel lineup is far too important and convenient. I have held off on getting a pvr until Dish pvrs catch up with Tivo in its software quality (no lost shows, no random deleting of stored shows, etc). I'm hoping to get an integrated unit sometime next year, when the bugs are worked out of the Dish 721.

i chose the directv simply for the nfl sunday ticket. i have to have my football.

I chose DirecTV because of the DirecTiVo, quite simply man's finest achievement. If you're not a serious TV junkie, then it really doesn't matter. Common belief is that DirecTV is better for sports fans and Dish is better for movie fans, but it's a toss up. My personal opinion is that Dish is the "easier" of the two: less choices, less hassle. Also their website doesn't suck ass like DirecTV's.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd get DirecTV in a heartbeat, but I have no problem recommending Dish either. Just so long as you don't sell your soul to AT&T, you'll be fine.

das

continued support for DirecTv, based almost entirely on the greatness of the DirecTivo. That and the sports packages (MLBEI, NFLST, Basketball and NHLCI). Basically, if you want a sports package, you'll need DirecTv.

But the DirecTivo should be more than enough to make it a pretty easy decision, all other things being equal. It's a tremendous product.

I have had Dish Network for many years now and the service has always been good. Excellant channel selection put the local cable company to shame. The pricing is also much more favorable than the cable company here. I own a standalone TiVo and it works well with Dish Network, not the same as a DirectTivo with DirectTV as that records between quality since it is a direct save from the incoming signal stream. If you are into archiving your favorite shows digitally , it can be done with the DirectTivo with some hacking, but for ease I recommend the Dish Network with a Dishplayer or a 501/502 receiver as there is software out there to do it. It just requires removing the harddrive, hooking it to the computer and extracting away. Then you can encode it in any format you like. It's very easy to do. It may be just as easy with DirectTV and DirctTivo, but I haven't looked into that, so I don't know how easy it is. The main thing with archiving recordings this way is that it is easy to do and the quality is great. Or you can easily swap in a bigger harddrive and store all your best recorded shows on the harddisk. You'll barely use your VCR and you'll have the convenience of your favorite shows instantly.

How much does DirectTivo cost for new customers? We'll have to get two additional receivers for my roommates too if that changes things.

I was going to go with Dish and maybe a 501 but I heard nothing but bad things about the 501s (even from the Dish guys). The Dish guys said they'd install 3 or even 4 receivers for free, and toss in a free month of programming too. I haven't seen this offer from DirectTV (or even advertised by Dish).

So which should I go for?

If you can afford to wait a little longer, wait for the Series 2 DirecTivo's to come out. There's not a firm release date, but signs are pointing to a release in October at some point. There are bound to be good deals with these for new subscribers. The series I DirectTivo's are still in pretty short supply, and you might as well wait for Series2 if a few more weeks doesn't mean much to you. They have a MSRP of $199, but there's likely to be some good deals out there for new subscribers, as the Series II boxes are being released mainly to get new DTV subscribers on-board, as their churn rate is very low.

Essentially, once you witness the greatness of DirecTivo, there's no turning back. And DTV knows this. They WANT to get new customers hooked when these suckers are released.

Do you have to subscribe to DirectTivo? With DISH PVR you don't have to. I'm just curious.

tivo and directv are very closely linked now and depending
on your package its either 9.95, 4.95 or free for the tivo sub.

What exactly is DirecTivo, and how does it differ from regular Tivo? Does it allow you to record on a channel you're not watching with a single receiver? Since our house has 2 TVs I'd want hooked up (mine, and my parents) I'd need 2 receivers anyway, but I am curious.

I have noticed that Dish's website is a lot nicer... I'm wondering also, does DTV offer UPN now, and how much extra is it for the networks... there are no local broadcast stations here.

I'm curious about DirecTivo also. I have DirecTV now. What would it take to get me into DirecTivo, and what exactly would I get from it?

I have a standalone TIVO and it works wonderfully. They truly have the best (IMHO) graphical user interface/controls over the other guys. The DirectTivo is advantageous to a standalone in a couple ways:

1) Quality: DirectTivo simply saves the signal as it is sent from orbit to the internal harddrive, whereas (like me), if you have a standalone Tivo, the incoming signal is being recompressed again for storage, hence a slight decrease in quality over the DirectTivo.

which leads to ...

2) DirectTivo can record two channels simultaneously, but standalone Tivo cannot. The reason why is simple.. the standalone Tivo only has one tuner and it is busy compressing the incoming signal for storage, but the DirectTivo is simply saving the signal directly to the harddrive (much less work). The DirectTivo can therefore afford to handle two sources simultaneously. You can record two different channels at the same time while watching a third previously recorded show off the DirectTivo.

See
Tivocommunity
for all you've ever wanted to know about Tivos.

Alright. I just read up on this, and damn, this looks too cool. And really not too expensive at about $200 for the unit and $9.95 extra per month or $250 for a lifetime subscription.

Here's my question, though. With DirecTivo, would you need two dishes in order to record a show while watching another? That's a little vague on the website.

Tivo stuff

here

Okay, I answered my own question. It says you must have a dish with dual LNB capabilities in order to watch two shows at once. How in the hell do you know if your dsih has dual LNB capabilities?

I'm assuming mine doesn't since I've had it now for over four years.

No one has answered the UPN/WB question - does DirectTV offer both of these networks? And if it does, does it offer more than one feed of each (eastern, mountain or central, and pacific)?

boot if you get the new directivo, you will get a new dish as well.
there are 2 cable runs from the dish to the tivo and then all is golden.


Record 2 shows at once, and watch something else previously recorded, I safely know that all the shows I want to watch will get recorded. Tivo is just the dogs bollix.

Sorry yes, I have both upn and wb, and to be honest I have no idea which feed I get as I have never watched anything on either channel. I think though and can check later that I get the west coast feed being west coast myself.

Ok, if I get a DirecTivo unit, this would mean I'd have an extra DTV receiver, right? How much does DirecTV charge for an extra receiver?
How much is the NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX package?

There are coax cable runs already in our house... would we be able to use these with the DTV dish?

Brian

bdshort -

The DirecTiVo is much better than a SA TiVo if you have Directv.

The DirecTiVo has 2 TUNERS in 1 unit for recording programs, and each DirecTiVo requires 2 lines from the dish to record 2 channels at once. The unit only displays 1 channel at a time through the outputs, so for 2 TVs you would need 2 DirecTiVos (1 for each TV). With 2 DirecTiVos you could record 4 programs on different channels at the same time :D

Getting NY/LA networks from Directv is hard (maybe easier in Alaska). Each network you qualify for costs $1.17 each for 2 channels(E&W) so all 4 networks (8 channels) is $4.68.

For DirecTiVos you cannot use the cable already in place because you need 2 seperate lines for EACH DirecTiVo as explained above. 2 DTiVos = 4 lines, so 1 cable line ain't gonna work.


Boot -

The monthly sub for TiVo service for DirecTiVo owners is no longer $9.95, it's $4.99 a month, effective Sept. 17. This single fee covers ALL DirecTiVos on your account, whether you have 1 or 10. If you have Total Choice Premier (all basic & movie channels), TiVo service is included at no extra charge. The "lifetime" sub option is no longer available.

A dual LNB allows you to run 2 lines for your dish into the house. Normally you run 1 line to each of 2 rooms for regular receivers but a DirecTiVo requires both lines in order for the dual-tuner magic to work. If you only have 1 room wired with 1 line, you will have to check the LNB to see if it has a second cable hook-up; if you have 2 rooms wired you will need a multiswitch (no splitters) to keep a DirecTiVo and a regular receiver running off 1 dish - OR - set up a 2nd dish just for the DirecTiVo (like I did - 2 DTiVos, 2 dishes)

Rascal -

You must subscribe to the TiVo service for a DirecTiVo to work, but that $4.99 is worth it compared to Echostars half-assed junk. I owned a 501 for a year and sold it as soon as my contract expired to buy a 2nd DirecTiVo.

WarriorPrincess -

Directv has no national WB or UPN channels (like Dish Network's "superstations") available. If you live in a market covered by Directv's locals they are included in that package.

Thanks for the info BadlyDrawnBoy and NC-36, it's much appreciated. :)

off-line would you shoot me an e-mail about how easy you think the upgrade process was..

I have the 35 hour, and am somewhat technical, been an nt admin for oh 7 years or so, but for some reason never ever play with stuff at home, only in the office.

So lmk if you don't mind. I know all about tivocommunity and sometimes browse around there, but I trust dvdtalk so much more.
cheers
bdb

Thanks for all the replies guys, gives me some info to give to my dad. I have a friend with DirecTV and he does get the NY/LA networks, so I dont see a problem there. We can't get any of them over the air (I think there might be a CBS station but that's it), so it's probably not a hassle here.

**edit**: Ok, I know people here have said they get UPN, but I don't see it listed as an available channel. I checked DisnNet's website, and didnt see it listed there either. Is it listed under something besides UPN?

**edit 2**: Also, I'm in Alaska, and have heard that I need a 3 foot dish instead of an 18" dish. Will places that offer the DirecTivo sets offer a 3" dish that will work with dual tuners?

Brian