Considering DirecTV

[ncted]

I left Dish last month. I had no real complaints with Dish. I just wanted to see if I could make cable work at my new place. So far, between Tivos and TWC Navigator, I am unhappy. I am trying out DSL later this week as I only have 2 coax feeds into my new house and Dish would require both. I should be able to get the same downloads speeds as I have with cable (and better upload speeds!).

As I was happy with Dish over the years, I am tempted to just go back with them, but I like the sound of DirecTV's MRV & SWM setup. I also like the sound of better PQ. I had issues with rain fade and billing when I was with DirecTV before (2004-2006). With Dish, I never had any billing issues and rain fade seemed a lot less common than with DirecTV.



I was wondering how people who have switched from Dish to DirecTV think things compare in these areas:

1. Billing/Customer Service
2. Reception/Rain Fade
3. Picture Quality
4. Equipment reliability (missed any recordings due to equipment/software failures?)
5. Responsiveness of MRV setup as compared to Dish and/or TWC Navigator. A friend says trick play controls are a little sluggish when watching a remote recording.
6. Was it annoying learning the new remote? It looks very different from Dish's.

Thanks,
Ted

[SkiKing]

This thread here may help: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...-my-first.html

[ncted]

This thread here may help: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...-my-first.html

Yep. I read that. Didn't really answer my specific questions though.

[RedWings]

I have only had DirecTV for a few days so take my input for what its worth.

1. Billing/Customer Service - So far the billing seems straight forward. I have reviewed all the set-up charges in the "Recent Activities" part of my account online. It is pretty much updated instantly when you have a change (add/delete programming/equipment). It is listed clearly and I don't see any mess ups. Customer service has been so/so. But that is pretty much the standard across any large company like D*, E*, Sprint, etc... All depends on which CSR you get. If you get a bad one, call back and you'll probably get a good one.

2. Reception/Rain Fade - Weather has been nice, so I can't provide any input on this. My signal strength is strong and I have a very clear LOS. I'm sure it'll be just like Dish. When it rains cats/dogs, I'll probably lose it for a minute or two.

3. Picture Quality - So far it looks better than Dish

4. Equipment reliability (missed any recordings due to equipment/software failures?) - seems pretty rock solid so far. I've been jumping around the menus, changing this, changing that, etc.. and it hasn't hiccuped. Also the equipment is smaller and quieter than my Dish equipment.

5. Responsiveness of MRV setup as compared to Dish and/or TWC Navigator. A friend says trick play controls are a little sluggish when watching a remote recording. - Dish didn't have a MRV solution I was aware of. I had a 622 feeding 2 TVs. With D* I have the MRV and access my 2 DVRs from my other 2 non-DVR HD boxes. When going to play something from another box, it takes a few seconds to load up. But that is expected based on what it is trying to do (pull video from another box). I think it works just fine.

6. Was it annoying learning the new remote? It looks very different from Dish's. - The remote was simple to learn. I liked the feel of Dish's remote in my hand better. But I like D*'s remote better for functionality. They have incorporated some cool stuff into it (i.e..right arrow brings up widgets, up arrow brings up Quick Tune (think radio presets), etc...)


Here is a thread I posted yesterday with my comparison between the two:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-net...-my-first.html

[msmith198025]

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Redwings, I noticed in another thread you said that channel changing was a little slow. Do you have native on or off?

[RandallA]

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Redwings, I noticed in another thread you said that channel changing was a little slow. Do you have native on or off?

Good point. I turned mine off because it was too slow for me.