costanza187

Which is better, DirecTV or Dish Network?

I've been out of the satellite dish business for a couple years now, and I may be in the position to get back in, which one should I go with?

joshd2012

Whoever has the channels you want.

Jadzia

You'll find lots of debates about this over in the TV Talk forum.

The concensus there is usually to get a DirecTivo. It makes DirecTV an easy choice.

Heat

Go with DirecTV if you watch a ton of sports, or if you want a combination English / Spanish language package.

Go with Dish Network if you want a basic package at a good price or if you want foreign channels (other than a English / Spanish mix).

In general, Dish Network charges a couple of dollars less per comparable package.

sn9ke_eyes

which is the only place to get the NFL Sunday ticket ?

'nuff said

theedge

DirecTV!

Plus they just added these hi-def channels (yesterday):

ESPN - HD
Discovery - HD
HDNet Movies

(Plus HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, HDNet, HD PPV)

Numanoid

I've had both. DirecTV is superior in almost all regards, IMO. Get the DirecTivo (actually called the Direct DVR with Tivo) and you're set with the absolute best combination of satellite and digital recorder on the market, no question.

Dish Network's in-house DVRs are buggy, pale imitations of the DirecTivo and will lead only to frustration and, eventually, suicide.

DaveNinja

either have G4TV?

wendersfan

I have DishNetwork, and naturally I think it's better. This is primarily due to better programming choices. Tastes vary.

Either's better than cable.

One thing I will say about DishNetwork - they are the only "information delivery" company (telephone, cable, cell phone, internet, satellite) I've ever done business with that I have been completely satisfied with their service. I've used them for 3 1/2 years, and I've never had a single complaint, ever.

DodgingCars

Honestly, I believe that depends on your cable provider and what area you live in. In my opinion the South Bay's (Los Angeles) Time Warner is superior to Satelite. And even they're offering DVRs now.

http://www.accesstimewarner.com/cabl...blevssatellite

Unfortunately, I'm not in their area.

huzefa

[sarcasm]Yah, I'm sure they're not biased. [/sarcasm]

The lies on that webpage are sickening. Dishnetwork has 10 HDTV channels for me, has over 35 PPV channels, has more international channels than anybody else. Directv has 11 HDTV channels, just as much PPV, and NFL sunday ticket. And they have TIVO (dual tuner kicks ass; let's see cable come up with that). And don't even look to cable for international channels.

Plus cable doesn't even give you the option of not paying for your cable channels. Atleast satellite gives you that option.

Now regarding HDTV, TWC says it has CBS, NBC, ABC, CET, FOX, HBO and Showtime. With my Dishnet receiver I get all of those channels for FREE (except for HBO and Showtime which I get anyway with my sub). However, I also get DiscHD, and soon ESPN-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, and an HD-PPV channel!

DodgingCars

Not that I doubt they could lie, but that sure is risky... False advertising, etc.

Are you sure you are comparing the right packages? I.e.: Total Choice Plus Package with Local Channels vs. Cable's Total Choice Plus Package with Local Channels

If so, then I agree that Time Warner is pretty low for lying.. and I wonder what kind of law suits there could be for false advertising.

edstein

I haven't had any trouble with my Dishnetwork setup either. The DVR they other is very good. My only beef is the old HD receiver, model 6000. They were supposed to come out with a model 9000 that would record HD.

j123vt_99

I have a dual tuner DVR through cable (time warner).. $10 a month.....no one can beat that price

huzefa

Directivo is $4.99 a month; and it's FREE if you get Directv's total choice package. Dishnetwork's dual tuner PVR is always free (no monthly charges).

das Monkey

• Quoth jbrotheim •<HR SIZE=1>I have a dual tuner DVR through cable (time warner).. $10 a month.....no one can beat that price <HR SIZE=1>

My neighbor sells me his dog's crap with a bow on it for $0.50 ... no one can beat that price.*

das

*My intent isn't to criticize the Time Warner service, just to point out that "price" isn't everything.

j123vt_99

how much did you have to pay for the unit itself?

j123vt_99

for me in this case, price and service is everything... i get the advantages of a tivo with no cost to purchase the unit..

das Monkey

• Quoth jbrotheim •<HR SIZE=1>for me in this case, price and service is everything... i get the advantages of a tivo with no cost to purchase the unit.. <HR SIZE=1>

A) You get a PVR. You don't get all the advantages of TiVo. TiVo's much MUCH more than a digital VCR.

B) You're renting instead of buying, which is simply a different approach. Of course, this means you can't pop open your case, add 250 hours to it, an ethernet cart, a web server, an ftp server, file extraction, a telnet server, and countless other tweaks because you don't own the device ... and it's not TiVo.

If you don't desire all that stuff, then you're in fine shape with your current setup, but as I said earlier, price isn't everything. Some things are worth paying for. And speaking of the price issue, I have a Series 1 and a Series 2 DirecTiVo. The Series 1 cost me $100 over 2 years ago. I paid $10/month for the first 6 months and haven't had to pay anything since. My Series 2 cost $150 last month, and I never have to pay anything on it.

Quick math ... using your $10/month pricing structure, my first TiVo had paid for itself after 16 months. I've had it for over 24. My second TiVo will pay for itself in a little over a year and will last much longer than that. The total system of both TiVos cost $310. Take out the $240 for the first 2 years, $10 for my first month, and $20/month after that (2 devices), and both TiVos will be completely paid for in 3 months ...

... the difference between renting and owning. Renting may work better for you, but you can "beat that price."

das

RoQuEr

I have that particular DVR, and I have to say it sucks donkey balls. While I've never used a tivo, I can say that this is far inferior to the DVR that comes with the dish network. The only advantage it has is that it has 2 cable tuners so you can watch/record 2 things at once. However, there are often glitches in the recordings, lost moments. The fast forward is pretty slow in the first place, and sometimes it won;t work at all, the screen just freezes. If you are watching a show with a slight time delay, and the show ends, it will kick you out of your place, and then you will have to fast forward thru the whole show to get back to your spot. Oh yeah. It also randomly crashes. And you can't do anything for 5 minutes while it reboots.
[/rant]

Red Dog

I have digital cable and I would never consider one of those crappy PVRs (like the SA8000) over my Replays.

kenbuzz

Pffft. I can. My DirecTiVo Sony SAT-T60 was $99 and costs $4.99 a month. The hardware cost will be recouped after 20 only months, which for me will be sometime after New Years. Also, as pointed out above, TiVo is more than just a DVR. I don't know if yours "learns" about programming I like, "suggests" things I might want to watch, can be configured with Season Passes and Wishlists. I know TiVo does that.

To each his own. You like cable. More power to ya.

Mark Holtz

The advantage of the DirecTivo/Dish PVRs over Replay TV/Standalone Tivos is that the PVRs record the exact MPEG stream that is sent down the satellite, so the data is already compressed.

As for Dish verses DirecTV... first check to see what area you are living in. If you are in a Pegasus area, you will pay a higher price for DirecTV service and may or may not be able to get a DirecTivo.

Then, check the programming packages. The superstations package (which is unadvertised) is worth it. On the other hand, the DirecTivo has two tuners verses the one for the Dish's 508, and DirecTV is strong on the sports programming.

If you get DirecTV, be sure to get the triple LNB dish.

And, a good web site for DBS information is www.dbstalk.com ...

Chew

I had that DVR, and I agree.

Oh, and you can now get a DirecTiVo for $49.95 , which would only take a very few months of cable DVR $10/month to pay off.


sale only good for two more days!

cruller54

I have compared DirecTV and Dish Network side by side and there is hardly any difference between them. But their picture quality is way, WAY better than analog and digital cable!