Thread: Making the switch w/ an honest opinion on *D vs. *E

Ok, I hear everyone tout how great dish's boxes are, I've always thought they were one of the better ones (wouldn't go as far to say they are better than tivo, but comparable).

After owning both Dish & DirecTV boxes now, I see the good an bad of both systems.

Lets start with speed, Dish has this one down without a question. Above an beyond anyone cable, directv, tivo, etc.

Now we can talk about this wonderful thing called stability of software/hardware. Putting together both Dish & DirecTV hardware I was by far more impressed at the quality of directv's dish.. echostar's seems flimsy in comparison.. as for software, I've never seen software less stable than the crap echostar dares to call tested.. DirecTV has the CE program.. Tivo has their beta groups.. echostar has their entire user base.. it's pathetic.. wake up echostar, test your software..

Picture quality.. directv by far.. haven't seen even 1 marco blocking effect.. it takes echostar a little to find a happy median between quality and transponder space..

Software features.. this is a close one.. Dish has some cool features.. but after playing with the directv box I found it's by far easier to turn CC on.. very cool I can watch movies & play music from my pc.. even though I can do it with my xbox it's a nice feature to have.. dish has more favorites and they are a bit easier to get to.. dish's guide if by far prettier, but directv is more accurate and shows items broken up within the 30 minute window (mean 10 & 15 minute shows).. though I'd like to call this one on directv, I'll call this one a tie.. just a little to close for me to pick my favorite..

rain fade, I haven't had any good rain storms yet to pick a winner.. we'll have to check this one after florida's summer (aka rainy) months..

VOD, haven't had much time to verify this one yet.. but if directv categorizes their list it would be enough to abuse echostars pathetic offering..

outside of my personal comparison of the two satellite choices.. i think it's odd that echostars CC is always garbled, I've yet to see that on DirecTV.. i never though much of it.. but I usually use CC when the little one goes to bed so I don't wake her..

Overall I like certain aspects of both services.. I'll be cancelling dish soon due to the wife getting PO'd with their piss poor software updates and the lack of FXHD.. I was just personally annoyed with the noggin/n crap.. but I would been ok staying with dish if the boss didn't demand the change..

on a side note, the SWM freaking ROCKS.. what a simple installation.. now my main tv has all these extra coax cables (back feed, 2 sats, ota, etc) lol..

from personal experience i've had less rain fade than i ever had with dish. i had the dish for dishnetwork always peaked but with directv i've experienced much less rain fade. here in florida that's very important

Originally Posted by rey_1178

from personal experience i've had less rain fade than i ever had with dish. i had the dish for dishnetwork always peaked but with directv i've experienced much less rain fade. here in florida that's very important

Me too.
Untill I got the 1000.4 dish for Eastern Arc. Then E* and D* were tied
Now I got the Dish 500 + that is the same size as the slimlime, But don't have a slimline anymore , so I can't compair them too. But Rain Fade is Hardly an issue with this Dish.

Hemi. I haven't followed Dish as much as I used to so I was wondering if they ever did anything with 129 yet? This was 99% of the reason that I switched back to Directv.

Originally Posted by JAG72

Hemi. I haven't followed Dish as much as I used to so I was wondering if they ever did anything with 129 yet? This was 99% of the reason that I switched back to Directv.

they launched a new sat to replace the old one at that spot.

Originally Posted by VinceT3

Ok, I hear everyone tout how great dish's boxes are, I've always thought they were one of the better ones (wouldn't go as far to say they are better than tivo, but comparable).

After owning both Dish & DirecTV boxes now, I see the good an bad of both systems.

Lets start with speed, Dish has this one down without a question. Above an beyond anyone cable, directv, tivo, etc.

Now we can talk about this wonderful thing called stability of software/hardware. Putting together both Dish & DirecTV hardware I was by far more impressed at the quality of directv's dish.. echostar's seems flimsy in comparison.. as for software, I've never seen software less stable than the crap echostar dares to call tested.. DirecTV has the CE program.. Tivo has their beta groups.. echostar has their entire user base.. it's pathetic.. wake up echostar, test your software..

Picture quality.. directv by far.. haven't seen even 1 marco blocking effect.. it takes echostar a little to find a happy median between quality and transponder space..

Software features.. this is a close one.. Dish has some cool features.. but after playing with the directv box I found it's by far easier to turn CC on.. very cool I can watch movies & play music from my pc.. even though I can do it with my xbox it's a nice feature to have.. dish has more favorites and they are a bit easier to get to.. dish's guide if by far prettier, but directv is more accurate and shows items broken up within the 30 minute window (mean 10 & 15 minute shows).. though I'd like to call this one on directv, I'll call this one a tie.. just a little to close for me to pick my favorite..

rain fade, I haven't had any good rain storms yet to pick a winner.. we'll have to check this one after florida's summer (aka rainy) months..

VOD, haven't had much time to verify this one yet.. but if directv categorizes their list it would be enough to abuse echostars pathetic offering..

outside of my personal comparison of the two satellite choices.. i think it's odd that echostars CC is always garbled, I've yet to see that on DirecTV.. i never though much of it.. but I usually use CC when the little one goes to bed so I don't wake her..

Overall I like certain aspects of both services.. I'll be cancelling dish soon due to the wife getting PO'd with their piss poor software updates and the lack of FXHD.. I was just personally annoyed with the noggin/n crap.. but I would been ok staying with dish if the boss didn't demand the change..

on a side note, the SWM freaking ROCKS.. what a simple installation.. now my main tv has all these extra coax cables (back feed, 2 sats, ota, etc) lol..

All I can Say,
I get more for my Money with E*.
E* DVR's Sorry Are the Best out there, and No One is even going to convince me D* HR compairs. I don't care what CE crap you throw in it, or the size of the hard drive . Its still way too buggy and none of the functions are mastered.
PQ I used to think D* SD was Better then E* , But Not anymore. It looks like someone turned the Sharp way up. Anyone who has done this knows exactly what I mean.
HD PQ D* Wins that, I would say 85% of the channels on D* have better HD PQ.
D* Single wire ,Way over priced,and not eveyone gets them.
MRV Seems kindof point less since you still need a Receiver in every room,and you are still limited on your recording ability.
Call me when D* Has 1 Master receiver feeding 4 rooms HD with the ability to DVR 8 different shows at once.

Originally Posted by rey_1178

they launched a new sat to replace the old one at that spot.

That is good.

what's your number Hemi?

Originally Posted by JAG72

Hemi. I haven't followed Dish as much as I used to so I was wondering if they ever did anything with 129 yet? This was 99% of the reason that I switched back to Directv.

Yes Ciel2. I've heard its better then the 61.5. and the signal strength is way up there now.
Western Arc is where to be, 2 Brand New satellites 110 129.