Dealing with my 2 year contract

[SaveStargate]

I recently signed up with DirecTV before I really know about DISH and I am now in a 2 year contract. Now I see DISH is far cheaper and their receivers/DVR is far superior than DirecTV‘s. Does anyone know if DirecTV has any plans to upgrade their equipment to stay competitive with DISH in the future or am I just out of luck?

If anyone can tell me any benefit DirecTV has over DISH to make me feel better about my situation I would appreciate it. I will not be purchasing any sports packages or HD channels anytime soon. At least tell me if they have any future plans for improvement. Updating the DVR and GUI in their R15 for example.

[wneilson82]

Sports packages are my big thing and Cable sucks here AND I know D* will have more HD channels in less than a year

[SaveStargate]

Sports packages are my big thing and Cable sucks here AND I know D* will have more HD channels in less than a year

I not concerned with extra pay packages. I will never oder the sports packages, and will not order HD for a long time.

[taclearo@earthlink.net]

I am going to cancel my Dishnetwork contract and owe them a good chunk of change. I'm doing this because I have had many issues with their DVR. I have had the eintire content of it erased twice in five months due to my "hard drive being corrupted"...whatever that means. My remote skips channels while going through the channels, and I have had to have installers out three times for issues that should have been resolved from day one! I admit they do have more HD, but I'm hoping that D in fact comes through and increases their HD content this year. Previous to last summer, I was with D for eight years with no issues whatsoever. I switched because of the sheer amount of HD programming, but I found out that at least for me, it's not content I want or need. I'm not saying that E is bad, but for me, it was not as I had hoped.

[FavreJL04]

At one point there were things that attracted me to DISH more than DTV. In my middle-of-nowhere existence cable was OK, but I needed something more. At first DISH seemed to be the way. I figured I would pick up some Distant Networks (DNS) and Superstations(SS) for more local programming and sports from different areas. DISH had DNS from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York, and Los Angeles where DTV only had NY and LA. DISH had 5 different SS from I think NY, LA, Boston, and Denver carrying at the time WB and UPN, now CW and MyN. DTV did not offer SS packages. DISH had Sirius radio and DTV had XM....I preferred Sirius. DISH includes a few non-commercial movie channels in the top 180 package where DTV doesn't have any unless you subscribe to a movie package. Finally, DISH had more HD channels than DTV.

Now that is all the good I could find from DISH over DTV. There have since been some things that make me glad I picked DTV instead of DISH. Here is why:

1) DISH has more fees and charges that are unneccessary in my opinion like charging extra for a receiver to NOT be connected to a phone line.

2) DISH seems to have issues with channels coming up missing due to incomplete contract negotiations. In the last few years there have been Court TV and Lifetime (I think). There was also a thing where a group of channels disappeared for a time from DISH due to contract issues.

3) There is talk about many HD channels being added to DTV when the new satellites are launched. I do not know of any details which networks will become HD, but it should be considered.

4) Exlusivity sucks when it comes to paying the piper and in the end it is the consumer who pays. DISH cannot claim exclusivity for any sports packages where DTV can with 2 or 3 sports. That means DTV can attract more customers just by the sports offerings. So if you ever decide a sports package is for you then having DTV makes it as easy as calling to set it up.

5) DISH seems to have issues with following programming guidelines. Remember how DISH had 5 cities to choose from for DNS??? Now they have none. There is a company that provides San Francisco and Atlanta DNS for DISH customers since DISH couldn't follow guidelines. They do work with DISH's equipment just fine, but require a separate bill from that of DISH. DTV follow guidelines for the most part so they can still supply you with DNS where eligible from NY and LA.

6) I have had DTV for almost a year now. I think I lost signal 3 times for about 10 minutes a shot. There was a thick thunderstorm cloud each time. Cable outtages seemed to be a norm. I cannot comment on DISH's signal quality.

At one time I thought DISH may have been the way to go. Even after the research on both DISH and DTV I thought DISH looked a little better. After seeing the stupid things happening to DISH and the future of DTV I am glad that I went with DTV.

[GadgetGirl]

At one point there were things that attracted me to DISH more than DTV. In my middle-of-nowhere existence cable was OK, but I needed something more. At first DISH seemed to be the way. I figured I would pick up some Distant Networks (DNS) and Superstations(SS) for more local programming and sports from different areas. DISH had DNS from Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, New York, and Los Angeles where DTV only had NY and LA. DISH had 5 different SS from I think NY, LA, Boston, and Denver carrying at the time WB and UPN, now CW and MyN. DTV did not offer SS packages. DISH had Sirius radio and DTV had XM....I preferred Sirius. DISH includes a few non-commercial movie channels in the top 180 package where DTV doesn't have any unless you subscribe to a movie package. Finally, DISH had more HD channels than DTV.

I have had E* for 8 years and am having D* installed tomorrow and will drop E*. I will miss the Superstations, Sirius and the extra HD. I already have XM in my home but have trouble with the signal for Sirius so having it on E* has been great. I am hoping D* comes up with the new HD channels soon.

Now that is all the good I could find from DISH over DTV. There have since been some things that make me glad I picked DTV instead of DISH. Here is why:

1) DISH has more fees and charges that are unneccessary in my opinion like charging extra for a receiver to NOT be connected to a phone line.

This is true. They are also hitting their top tier customers with a big jump. If I stayed with E* it would cost me $13 more a month.

2) DISH seems to have issues with channels coming up missing due to incomplete contract negotiations. In the last few years there have been Court TV and Lifetime (I think). There was also a thing where a group of channels disappeared for a time from DISH due to contract issues.

They have had trouble with the Viacom stations, Lifetime and Court TV in recent years. There seems to be some issue now with Cinemax/HBO.

3) There is talk about many HD channels being added to DTV when the new satellites are launched. I do not know of any details which networks will become HD, but it should be considered.

I hope we see some soon.

4) Exlusivity sucks when it comes to paying the piper and in the end it is the consumer who pays. DISH cannot claim exclusivity for any sports packages where DTV can with 2 or 3 sports. That means DTV can attract more customers just by the sports offerings. So if you ever decide a sports package is for you then having DTV makes it as easy as calling to set it up.

This is the main reason I am switching with MLB going to D*. I don't like this at all and hurts not just E* subsribers, but those that can't get satellite.

5) DISH seems to have issues with following programming guidelines. Remember how DISH had 5 cities to choose from for DNS??? Now they have none. There is a company that provides San Francisco and Atlanta DNS for DISH customers since DISH couldn't follow guidelines. They do work with DISH's equipment just fine, but require a separate bill from that of DISH. DTV follow guidelines for the most part so they can still supply you with DNS where eligible from NY and LA.

This is not always bad. E* pushed this too far and it bit them. E* has tried to push for some things that help the consumer.

6) I have had DTV for almost a year now. I think I lost signal 3 times for about 10 minutes a shot. There was a thick thunderstorm cloud each time. Cable outtages seemed to be a norm. I cannot comment on DISH's signal quality.

My experience with E* is similar to what you have had with D*.

At one time I thought DISH may have been the way to go. Even after the research on both DISH and DTV I thought DISH looked a little better. After seeing the stupid things happening to DISH and the future of DTV I am glad that I went with DTV.

I hope I have made the right decision to switch. I am not thrilled with being required to have a 2 year commitment. A lot can happen in 2 years.

[Jimbo]

I hope I have made the right decision to switch. I am not thrilled with being required to have a 2 year commitment. A lot can happen in 2 years.

Well then you can be happy that you are leasing receivers then, because it would be easier to upgrade a receiver by just calling and they will send one out to you, you don't have to buy it and then sit it in your closet when you move on to another newer unit.
I must have a dozen receivers collecting dust that I paid for.

Jimbo

[SaveStargate]

Thanks everyone. That makes me feel a lot better about going with DTV. I do wish DTV was not going up on their rates next month (I think they are expensive enough), and I wish they would get digital local channels in my area like DISH has. Currently I have two dishes on my roof. One that is fairly low quality (not as bad as cable) local channels, and the other is fantastic quality network channels. There is a big difference in the two.

I pay $61 ($-5 for the first 12 months) for the cheapest package 'Total Choice' with DVR and 1 extra receiver. That is $13 more than cable ($48 for extended cable) in this area on unlimited TVs, but without the DVR service. Of coarse the picture quality is a lot better with DTV. Now I will be paying $64 once DTV raises their rates next month which will put DTV $16 more than cable. I would have actually saved money with DISH Network. I guess you get what you pay for.

All in all I am fairly happy. There is no "good deal" when it comes to cable. No matter who you go though, Comcast, DTV, or DISH it is all very expensive.

[sksatellite]

Tell the true, Dish receiver does has its problem, when I was worked with dish installer, encountered so much problems on their DVR and at least 1/3 will require return call, its not on installation but for the DVR as main problem.

[wneilson82]

I am a little surprised that reading multiple HDTV boards....there are quite a few that have said they WILL be switching to D* for MLB.....

I knew some would do it but the amount of a little surprisingq