DirectTV or Dish Network?
 

I know that there is another thread but it is over a year old and I figure the technology is better now. The cable company wants to charge me $1,700 to hook me up to cable even though my neighbors have it. So it looks like it's going to be dish and dsl for me. I love the NFL but my favorite team in the Lions so I don't know if it is worth it for me to pay for the NFL package to watch the Lions.

Help me.

I've had both. Dish for 4 years and now DirecTV for about 2 1/2. I won't be going back to dish any time soon. I've had better luck with DirecTV Cust Serv Reps than Dish, and when we moved into our new house, Dish wanted to charge us $75 and we got to keep our 4 year old boxes. Screw that - we got Directv installed for free. The DVR is powered by Tivo and is great. So great that my wife and I have 4 of them, all dual tuner activated :D. It's a sickness.

One word. DirectTivo

A few words. Tivo doesn't have a license to make set top boxes for DirecTv anymore. DirecTv will coming out w/ their own in the coming year. Even with that said, DirecTv has more that interested me than Dish ever did, especially w/ the specialty sports packages.

Def, please stop dispensing the FUD about TiVo. They have several years left on their contract with Directv, and in fact a new DirecTiVo model, the R10, was just released this week.

Directv is planning to release a new, low-end DVR sometime next year. Both platforms are going to be available, and I guarantee that the new box will NOT get the endorsements that the DirecTiVo does.

Started with Dish, but switched to DirecTV for the DirecTiVo. Have no plans of going elsewhere. :)

Same here. :up:

You think so, huh?

So you honestly think DirecTv is going to continue to support the DirecTivos for years to come when they have their own competing box coming out next year? :lol:

The contract may stipulate the continued updates of DirecTivo for the next few years, but there will most certainly not be anymore "new" Tivo boxes through DirecTv anymore.

What he said.
And the NFL Sunday Ticket should be reason enough to go with Directv,even if you don't get it at least the option is always there for you if you change your mind.

DTV :thumbsup:

I got DISH and am pretty much happy over it. Comcast had 3 price raises over 2 years.

DISH have their own DVR. Can hold up to 100 hours.

If you're a football fan, Sunday Ticket is a must. Think about it, 17 weeks, 10+ games a week, well worth $200. By the time the season starts, you'll forget the $ you spent and enjoy all the football games. Even better if you play fantasy.

I used to have Dish Network and their shitty PVR. Have been a DirecTV customer for a few years now, with the Tivo of course (two, in fact). Wouldn't go back to Dish unless I had no choice.

I think the only one around here who will stand up for Dish is kvrdave and that's just because he can't admit when he's wrong. :D

I've only had DirecTV, and I liked it a great deal. I've had friends with DISH, and it didn't seem that much different to me (other than a few channels here and there that the other didn't offer).

One friend who had DirecTV first and then DISH said he likes DISH better, but I don't really know what his reasoning is (other than being able to get the SuperStations package which, at least, gives him some "network" programming since he says he can't get the local networks package where he lives - Snyder, TX - which seems to weird to me since DISH offers local channels from Lubbock, which is where his broadcast signal comes from and what the cable system carries).

Yep


As you perhaps define "support", maybe not. I doubt my Philips DSR6000 Series 1 DirecTiVo will ever get another software upgrade, yet it does exactly what I want it to do. I also still have a working 1st generation stand-alone receiver that Directv "supports" to my satisfaction - it still works as it has since I bought it.

As long as the DirecTiVos I own can continue to function the way they do right now, the Season Passes and Wishlist features (which TiVo owns patents for, btw) will trump any half-assed implementation NDS can come up with. I sincerely hope that the tech support headaches Directv will have to deal with for these new non-TiVo DVR units will make them think twice about EVER dropping TiVo.


There are already more redesigned units in the pipeline, the 2nd gen HD-DirecTiVo is in the works and TiVo is actually working on implementing a DirecTiVo-friendly version of HMO at Directv's request. Doesn't sound like TiVo's throwing in the towel just yet.

:lol: I have been with Dish since within about 3 months of their launch. I have started to get thoughts of switching, however. I upgraded to a PVR when my old 7100 finally crapped out, so I think I have about 6 months left that I have to stay with Dish, but after that, I will probably look hard at Direct. I hate to go through buying all the receivers again, but it's a small one time deal. The only other problem is that because of the way my house is set up, I have two actual dishes. Don't know if they will give me crap for that.

Crap. The Tivo only comes with a 40gb HD? That's weak.

Nope, not any more.

The Series 1 DirecTiVos (Philips DSR6000, Sony SAT-T60 & Hughes GXECBOT) and the first Series 2 DirecTiVos (Hughes, Philips, Samsung and RCA) all came from the factory with 40 gig drives which could easily be replaced/upgraded by the user. As drive manufacturers stopped production of 40 gig drives, Samsung and RCA began building units with 80 and 120 gig drives as stock.

Directv is currently running a promo for existing customers - get a 35 hr DirecTiVo (40 gig) for $50. This is to use up the existing supply of older hardware. All currently produced receivers have at least an 80 gig drive, some have 120's. These are the ones available at retail stores and for new subscribers. They are also easy to upgrade if 70 or 105 hours isn't enough :)

Best Buy: 80GB (70 hours) = $99 everyday price.

What he said.

CircuitCity has this one for $99 and it does 70 hours.

What he said he said. :up:

Best thing about DirecTiVo: dual-tuner setup. That way, networks having a habit of "overrunning" programs won't be a problem anymore as you can record overlapping programs. :)

I prefer DishNetwork, simply because the programming I want isn't available from DirecTV.

I've had Dish for several years, and have never been less than completely satisfied with their service. They are the <b>only</b> company I can say that about.

Go to www.solidsignal.com and you can get a DirecTiVo, 3 regular DirecTV receivers, the DirecTV dish, and free DirecTV installation for $39.99 + shipping. You can't beat that.

Another :thumbsup: for a DirecTivo.

Out of curiosity, what makes you think they will stop support? I ask because I had the DishPlayer for Dishnetwork, which was a Microsoft product. Microsoft and Dish never could get along and they ended up getting rid of their relationship pretty quickly, but the Dishplayers still work to this day.

My mom has had it w/ Charter Communications and asked me to find a DirecTV dealer/installer that can hook them up w/ a four-room system for a decent price. They need 1 HD box, 1 DirecTivo (possibly 2) and 2 stand-alone boxes (possibly 1). Right now, I am trying to find a decent reputable dealer.

I am also in the process of getting DirecTivo hooked up at my house - but am trying to find the best place to purchase one from.

I never said they'd stop working. It has been said in several articles that once DirecTv puts out their own set top boxes, they will focus completely on that. Does that mean your Tivo will become obsolete and rendered useless? Of course not. But I wouldn't be surprised if the updates for them slowly dwindled into nothing.

Considering the lack of updates they actually release now, it doesn't appear anything will change. ;)

no shit :( I want the ability to network them together over my LAN

I completely agree.

Dish has three feeds of wb, two upn, and I have waivers for east coast fox and nbc. This allows staggering of shows so that I only need two receivers to see everything I want to see. Direct wouldn't give me east coast or mountain feeds, so I'd be stuck with west coast only. Plus dish has dual tuner dvrs just like direct does - I still need one, but they exist. :)

In the several years I've had dish, my reception has been interrupted perhaps three times, each of which lasted just a few minutes. When I had cable it would go out all the time in a storm. Can't make a comparison to the reliability of direct, as I don't have it, but direct just doesn't have the programming I want.