Would I be making a mistake to switch from Directv to Dish Network?
 

I now have Directv with two Tivo recievers which I love very much. I am thinking of switching to Dish network since I cannot get my locals on D* but could on E*.

Right now I get the distant feeds (NY & LA) for ABC, NBC and CBS but Fox wouldn't sign the waiver for me. By switching I would save a few bucks a month, and be able to get my local networks, but I would lose my Tivos and have to use the Dishplayer DVR's.

I have read a lot of opinions about the Dish DVR and it seems that anyone who has had Tivo likes the Tivo much better. Is it worth it to gain locals and Fox, but give up my Tivo's?

What shows do you watch on Fox? Do you have an ETA on when the locals will be avail? How many times have you requested a waiver from Fox? Can't you get Fox OTA?

Honestly, there aren't too many shows on Fox at the moment that I couldn't do without for a while or at least deal with recording OTA. If you'll <i>never</i> get Fox, that's one thing, but if it's a few months away, that's something else. The Dish DVRs are fine, and most of their customers are satisfied with them. Personally, I wouldn't give up my DirecTiVos or my Sunday Ticket for anything, but I don't think you'd be making a huge mistake. However, I'd make sure it's absolutely necessary to switch before doing so.

das

I had that problem before Directv got local channels here and ended up "moving." As far as Directv knew, my house was located where there is a Wendy's in Portland (Portland had locals, Eugene didn't). I had the bill sent to my parents' house. Not sure if it would be worth it for just Fox, but it would be easier than switching and you could keep your Directivos. It's morally ambiguous though since you have to lie (yet why getting extra channels is so difficult, I have no idea. I always felt like I was getting around a monopoly situation and not really hurting anyone, much like when I watch out of region dvd's.)

If you do decide to go with Dish, find out what they charge extra per dvr. I'm not sure, but I think their charge is per unit instead of the flat fee Directv has. I've never had Dish, but at one time I considered getting it because it seemed cheaper than Directv. "Seemed" is a key word; when I started comparing similar lineups and equipment, it wasn't much cheaper at all.

I had Dish Network from '97 to '02, and DirecTV since then (my remote was going bad, it was cheaper to switch and get all new equipment than to buy a new remote - serious).

I actually prefer Dish Network except for one area... the Spanish and English mixed package. Dish Network has more Spanish and less English, DirecTV has a little less Spanish and a lot more English stations. As for your locals, I just use an antenna on my roof for all but CBS (not available over the air). Have you considered an antenna? You'll save $5 per month, and will have a second feed into your TV, plus if the weather gets really bad and your satellite goes out, you have your broadcast stations.

One neat thing that Dish Network did that DirecTV doesn't do is shows ratings for the movies, and the ratings were usually very good (that is, I agreed with the ratings the vast majority of the time).

As for the Tivo and Dishreplay (or whatever it's called), I have no idea, never had them.

I just switched from Dish to Direct, and I would switch back no problem. Tivo is nice, but I never had a problem with the DVR. It would have been nice to have the Season Pass, but that just meant I had to erase things on occasion. No big deal.

The big advantage of Dish is the menu. You can actually read it.

Anyway, I think Dish (aside from the Tivo, which is only slightly better than the PVR) is a better way to go.

I'd say wait it out until the end of the season. Then try out the other service during the summer rerun months.

I don't watch any Fox shows since I have not gotten Fox in 4 years. (been with D* that long). I tried an off air antenna with no luck. D* also has my locals, but the sat is in a different location and they could not get a signal (too many trees). Over the 4 years I have tried to get Fox to waive 3-4 times with no luck. Don't think they will.

The main reason I want Fox is so I can watch my hapless Lions :( (although I won't need that until this fall.)

I don't really understand why a station would refuse a waver. What's in it for them if you can't watch their channel anyway? Why not help out a "sister channel" in a different city?

Re: Dish DVR.

As a new signup you can get the 522 DVR. It's a 2 room, dual receiver 100 hour DVR. Unlike DTV, Dish charges $5 per DVR room. You can either set it up to service two rooms, or configure it for 1 room and record and watch a second channel at the same time like with the DTivo. If you set it for 2 rooms, as long as you keep it connected to a phone line you will not be charged a 'mirror' fee and only be charged $5 for the DVR service for both rooms.

The 522 has name based recording and a 'season pass'-like feature. It also has the 30-second skip button without having to tinker with the setup like a Tivo. From the opinions I've read most users still prefer the DTivo, but the 522 comes a lot closer than other Dish DVRs.

Local ads. California's not paying for me to see Prop 68 ads. Conversely, when Jim Bob's Bait and Tackle pays for local air time, they expect me to have a chance at seeing it.

das

IIRC, the 522 is only available for lease. When I quit my service, they asked why and I told them the Tivo Season pass, and they said, Did you know we now have....". I told them that they might want to think about telling me about those things prior to me changing. :lol:

But I won't lease equipment, anyway.

What is wrong with leasing? There is no commitment and the 522's lease fee in included with any programming package. I'm not arguing a point here, I'm actually looking to sign with Dish myself and am wondering if I missed something.

Supposedly Directv is putting up a few new satellites this spring/summer, and more HD broadcasting will be available as a result. I've given some thought to switching to Dish, but I'm gonna wait and see what happens in that area. I've had Directv since 1996, and have very few gripes.

This should be a big consideration. DirecTV is pouring millions into new satellites and upping their HD programming, so I'm sticking with them (since I have since 1999).

Dish user here - Here's one reason I love the dish. I get local (west coast) channels- wb, upn, fox, nbc, abc and cbs; automatic mountain feed of wb; automatic east coast feed of wb; and I pay $1.50 per month each for east coast nbc and fox. I used to have distant abc but they nullified my waiver after a year, didn't bother trying to get another because it wasn't worth it. I can't tell you how great it is to be able to stagger my shows so that I can pretty much record all of them on my dish pvr (I only have one - my other receiver is pretty old).

The dish receivers tend to have hard drive failures after about a year or so, so keep the drive pretty empty or you might be sorry (I lost about 35 hours' worth of shows, all farscape and miniseries, so it was ok). I also record 30 or so hours a week every week, so we're talking heavy usage.

Leasing is a great idea for that reason - no equipment failure costs to eat - they just send you a new one (and quickly, too). I'd give a lot for a 522, but since I'm an existing customer they don't care too much about giving me a deal.

The monthly base cost just went up - I used to pay 67.81 per month($9 locals, $3 distant, taxes, plus base cost of $50 if memory serves) - now base cost is $53. But I think that's the first hike in 3 years or so. They definitely don't raise prices a lot, and will fight when individual stations try to increase costs (from what I've heard, d* tends to just roll over and allow increases).

Overall I'm quite happy with dish - and until/unless I ever get HD, I have absolutely no reason to switch.