Wow, people seem excitable about this. Seems to me that the original summary was correct, subject to wildly differing opinions, of course: DirecTV is better for sports and has more versatile DVRs. FIOS does not compress picture or sound, and most think picture and sound are better, is more reliable in bad weather and costs less, IF you bundle FIOS services, and IF you can get FIOS.
Originally, in our neighborhood, when FIOS became available, an unofficial homeowners association poll indicated that more people dumped what was then Comcast and satellite and went to FIOS than the number who kept whatever service they were on.
I am still waffling and have both, FIOS in one room and D* in the rest of the house. My dislike for the FIOS DVRs is so intense that I'll have to buy TiVos and get cablecards if I want to switch completely and be happy, and it will take me a little over a year to ammortize the cost of buying the boxes. At least I'll OWN the boxes and Verizon will not add a service commitment for hooking them up.
I don't think it's an easy choice, and the same choice does not work for everyone.