Coming back to Satellite and need help deciding

[dotdotdot]

Hello All, new guy here.

I've been away from satellite since 2009 doing the internet thing(Netflix, Hulu, MLB.tv, etc.) which worked fine when I lived in Cali around my teams(USC, SF Giants, Niners, Kings). Now that I'm living in Ohio, this just isn't working anymore. Back in 2009, I was a longtime Dish Network subscriber and pretty happy with them.

I'm having trouble picking between Dish and Direct TV and was hoping if I gave you all some criteria of what I would like to be able to do, you could help me with my choice. I didn't see a general satellite discussion forum to post this in, so I chose this forum because I heard Direct TV was the king of sports and I also didn't want to work off a bias of having Dish before. Besides, from lurking around here I see a lot of you have or have had both setups anyway.

Some Goals I would like to achieve are:

• Being able to watch my teams: USC Trojans, SF Giants and SF 49ers. I currently have the MLB.tv package on my Xbox 360 for the Giants, but would like to use my satellite provider next season.
• HD is a must and important
• Cost will be watched heavily as well. Price point is a big deal for us.
• Local channels in HD
• DVR
• 3 TV's at most
• All the ESPN's in HD
• iPhone and iPad integration
• Hardware with a high WAF.
• Is either provider using apps(pandora, netflix, etc.) in their software now?
• Sports, sports, sports

Any suggestions or guidance would be most appreciated. Thanks!

 

[jdspencer]

We need to know your city to answer if your locals are available in HD.
Price can be determined by visiting the DirecTV web site.
Searching this forum will help answer your other questions.

 

[zim2dive]

Hello All, new guy here.

I've been away from satellite since 2009 doing the internet thing(Netflix, Hulu, MLB.tv, etc.) which worked fine when I lived in Cali around my teams(USC, SF Giants, Niners, Kings). Now that I'm living in Ohio, this just isn't working anymore. Back in 2009, I was a longtime Dish Network subscriber and pretty happy with them.

I'm having trouble picking between Dish and Direct TV and was hoping if I gave you all some criteria of what I would like to be able to do, you could help me with my choice. I didn't see a general satellite discussion forum to post this in, so I chose this forum because I heard Direct TV was the king of sports and I also didn't want to work off a bias of having Dish before. Besides, from lurking around here I see a lot of you have or have had both setups anyway.

Some Goals I would like to achieve are:

• Being able to watch my teams: USC Trojans, SF Giants and SF 49ers. I currently have the MLB.tv package on my Xbox 360 for the Giants, but would like to use my satellite provider next season.
• HD is a must and important
• Cost will be watched heavily as well. Price point is a big deal for us.
• Local channels in HD
• DVR
• 3 TV's at most
• All the ESPN's in HD
• iPhone and iPad integration
• Hardware with a high WAF.
• Is either provider using apps(pandora, netflix, etc.) in their software now?
• Sports, sports, sports

Any suggestions or guidance would be most appreciated. Thanks!

The HR34 currently does not have Pandora in the official release... I believe it is in the "cutting edge" releases (think of these as beta releases.. altho the quality of the national release is only of beta quality).. so hopefully it'll show up one of these months in the NR.

I can't imagine any provider integrating Netflix... that would be like BurgerKing deciding to offer McDonalds products... they want you to buy your movies thru THEIR pay-per-view.. not spend your $$ on a 3rd-party solution.

You can check the offered-channel listings at each website to see who currently offers more flavors of ESPN... my guess would be DTV.

Last time I ran the numbers, for a NEW customer, Dish had the edge (when you sum up the total cost of the 2 year commitment)... if TV2 and TV3 don't have to be in HD, you have other cost savings options too (the TV2 output of the 622/722)... for us, we saved > $500 while we were with Dish by doing this... 90% of our viewing was on the main screen (HD), so it was an easy decision for us.. other folks will value the tradeoffs differently.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Hello All, new guy here.

I've been away from satellite since 2009 doing the internet thing(Netflix, Hulu, MLB.tv, etc.) which worked fine when I lived in Cali around my teams(USC, SF Giants, Niners, Kings). Now that I'm living in Ohio, this just isn't working anymore. Back in 2009, I was a longtime Dish Network subscriber and pretty happy with them.

I'm having trouble picking between Dish and Direct TV and was hoping if I gave you all some criteria of what I would like to be able to do, you could help me with my choice. I didn't see a general satellite discussion forum to post this in, so I chose this forum because I heard Direct TV was the king of sports and I also didn't want to work off a bias of having Dish before. Besides, from lurking around here I see a lot of you have or have had both setups anyway.

Some Goals I would like to achieve are:

• Being able to watch my teams: USC Trojans, SF Giants and SF 49ers. I currently have the MLB.tv package on my Xbox 360 for the Giants, but would like to use my satellite provider next season.
• HD is a must and important
• Cost will be watched heavily as well. Price point is a big deal for us.
• Local channels in HD
• DVR
• 3 TV's at most
• All the ESPN's in HD
• iPhone and iPad integration
• Hardware with a high WAF.
• Is either provider using apps(pandora, netflix, etc.) in their software now?
• Sports, sports, sports

Any suggestions or guidance would be most appreciated. Thanks!

With DIRECTV it depends on what you want & are willing/able to spend. It offers the best choices in sports packages,but each individual sports package can start to add up on your bill if you order more than one & the paying cycle of each overlaps with the other. You said that you follow the Kings,which team,the Los Angeles Kings or the Sacramento Kings? With DIRECTV you can order NFL Sunday Ticket & MLB Extra Innings(neither of which Dish Network carries),& depending on which Kings team you like & follow,you can order NHL Center Ice or NBA League Pass. Don't order the ESPN college football package,it doesn't broadcast in HD & chances are any number of sports channels will carry USC anyway.
Do you also want MRV(multi-room viewing) whole-home DVR system? If all of your TV's are HD,you could order the HR34 5-tuner DVR,a HD DVR(it could be a HR20/21/22/23/24 DVR,as you have no choice in what 2-tuner HD DVR you get,it's mostly what's on the installer's truck during time of installment),& a HD receiver(H21/23/24/25 receiver,again what's on the truck) which will give you the 8-tuner limit on a SWM LNB dish.

 

[lparsons21]

I think only Direct has all the ESPNs in HD, or at least more of them than Dish.

With the new customer deals going out 2 years now, with a big rebate 1st year, followed by a 2nd year of somewhat lesser rebates, that the cost differential between Direct and Dish won't be much at all during those 2 years. And with Direct these days you also get NFL Sunday Ticket free the first year, which is also a big plus.

And as you indicated, sports is the big one, then Direct just has more. Some of them in the base subscriptions, some in the Sports Pack, and some with the various 'ticket' deals that cost more.

For equipment with 3 rooms and multi-room viewing, here's a breakdown that you could consider :

DirecTV :
HR34 Home Media Center : Upfront cost of $99 for a new customer. 5 Tuners and 1TB of hard drive space
Hxx receivers : I think you can get up to 3 of them for no upfront hardware cost, but these are just receivers and would get their recordings from the HR34.

HRxx HDDVR : If you choose to go to an HDDVR at one or more of the locations, then there may be an upfront charge.

Dish:
Hopper + up to 3 Joeys : No upfront cost. 3 full-time tuners, but one can be used to record the big 4 broadcast channels during primetime.

The Joeys have no tuners in them and rely on the Hopper providing everything to them. Lots of arguments here and in the Dish forum about the plus and minus of these as well as comparison to the HR34.

Monthly hardware costs are nearly the same these days.

DirecTV has the 'advanced receiver fee' which is $20 and includes DVR, HD, MRV fees. The HD fee portion ($10) is waived with autopay.
DirecTV has a $6/month lease fee for all units beyond the 1st one.

Dish has DVR+MRV @$10/month and also waives the HD fee of $10 for those with autopay
Dish has a $7/month lease fee for all units beyond the 1st one.

 

[Lkr]

Dish is missing a few ESPNs and lack MLB EI

 

[dotdotdot]

Wow, I posted and went to lunch expecting to come back and see one or two posts. Thanks for the replies. To answer some questions and reply to some comments:

• Local Channels: I live about an hour from Cleveland, OH, so I'd be looking for those channels.
• Apps: The "Netflix=Burger King food in McDonalds" comment makes sense. It's good to hear they're working on Pandora though. Our family uses it quite a bit.
• Kings: Sacramento Kings, not LA Kings. Not much of a hockey watcher.
• Multiple TV's: All of our TV's are HD. We, especially my wife, abhor SD now.
• I didn't realize the ST and MLB EI were only with Direct TV. This may be a deal breaker with Dish for me unless someone knows of another way I can watch my 49ers and SF Giants with Dish.

Lloyed, so I basically have to buy the receiver and then pay to get to use it?

One last question, has anyone heard any news on the Pac-12 Network negotiations with Direct TV and Dish?

Thanks

 

[Lkr]

if you want sacramento kings you'll need NBALP. Dish has this, dunno if they offer as many games in HD as D*. You can watch the Giants with Dish if you use your 360 for MLB.TV

 

[JUCJ85]

If you want the 49ers and Giants and live in Ohio than DirecTV is the way to go. ST is exclusive to DirecTV and MLB EI isn't like said on Dish Network. NBA LP is though, but it was hit or miss with HD when I was with them and had NBA LP.

 

[dotdotdot]

Anyone know if the local Cleveland stations are available in HD with Direct TV?

 

[Mr Tony]

yes

here are the locals

WKYC 3 18 D10 or D12 @103W
WEWS 5 18 D10 or D12 @103W
WJW 8 18 D10 or D12 @103W
WOIO 19 18 D10 or D12 @103W
ION 23 30 D9S @101W
WVIZ 25 18 D10 or D12 @103W
WUAB 43 4 D4S or D9S @101W
WEAO 49 17 D10 or D12 @103W
WBNXDT 55 18 D10 or D12 @103W
WQHS 61 4 D4S or D9S @101W
WMFD 68 4 D4S or D9S @101W


bold are in HD

 

[lparsons21]

Lloyed, so I basically have to buy the receiver and then pay to get to use it?

Thanks

No, you are not buying it. I'll try to break it down a bit better, but also go to either the Direct or Dish site and start a build and you'll see exactly what is involved.

DirecTV's HR34 is their newest and most-tuner filled unit. For a new/returning customer, it is generally going to have an upfront cost of $99 for one of them. But it is still leased.

And if you get HDDVRs vice just receivers in addition to that, there might be some upfront cost involved.

With Dish you can get one Hopper plus up to 3 Joeys for free. But if you want a 2 Hopper setup, that second Hopper will cost $199 according to Dish's site if you do some digging around.

Again, those are upfront costs, you aren't actually buying anything from either of them.

Hope that clears it up for you.

 

[dotdotdot]

Awesome, thanks for the list Iceberg.

Lloyd, totally clears it up. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

One last question, I keep seeing "HR34" here, but I don't see it on their site. Am I missing something? The only 5 tuner unit I see is the HMC DVR. Same thing?

Thanks

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Awesome, thanks for the list Iceberg.

Lloyd, totally clears it up. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

One last question, I keep seeing "HR34" here, but I don't see it on their site. Am I missing something? The only 5 tuner unit I see is the HMC DVR. Same thing?

Thanks

Yes,that's it.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

If this has already been said,then i'll just repeat it. ALL DIRECTV receivers & DVR's are considered leased & property of DIRECTV. That means if you were to order a DIRECTV receiver &/or DVR from a third party(a lot of people do that to insure that they get the DVR or receiver that they want) & pay full price for it(usually $199.00 for HD DVR & $99.00 for HD receiver),it IS STILL considered a lease(you don't "own" it),& you are expected to return them to DIRECTV if you cancel DIRECTV service. When you order DIRECTV,make sure that you order everything that you need/want upfront as a new customer. When you activate your receivers/DVR's,a 2 year contract activates with a penalty if you cancel DIRECTV before the 2 years are up. Except for the HR34 HMC DVR,you are not guaranteed a specific model of DVR or receiver during your installation set up. A lot of people order third party particular receivers & DVRs to insure they get the newest model out. The HR24 is the newest 2-tuner HD DVR,& the H24 AND H25 are the newest HD receivers out. The H25 is the neatest to have because it is tiny,with a special mount,you can't attach it to a wall & out of site,& with a special antenna,you can control it with a RF remote.

Anyway,get all you need now,because your 2 year contract is extended each time you both add & upgrade a receiver/DVR for 2 year from the time that the new receiver/DVR is activated or upgraded(say you wanted to upgrade your receiver to a DVR).

If you have a technical problem with a receiver or DVR that you have "purchased" 3rd party & it needs to be replaced,you don't return it to the 3rd party you got it from,you return it to DIRECTV & they'll send you a replacement(although not always the same model you replaced).

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Also,if you want MRV whole home DVR,don't be "beguiled" by the DIRECTiVo THR22. It is a "new" receiver based on "old technology" of the HR22 HD DVR & old TiVo SD GUI. It cannot be integrated into the whole home DVR system.

 

[dotdotdot]

Thanks, roy. I appreciate the information.

 

[Lkr]

if you have had Dish and used the ViP series of DVRs, getting anything other than an HR24 or HR34(the HMC) will be a disappointment to you. most of us have put up with it though because D* has much better sports programming, such as full time RSNs, MLB EI, NFL ST, the bonus coverage channels for every major tennis/golf event, etc.

 

[dotdotdot]

Just put my order in. Went with the Choice XTRA and HMC. Gonna use up my MLB.tv subscription for this current season on my Xbox.

I ended up getting an additional $5/mo for the first 12 months off because I went to the MLB EI page to just check it out and some pop up offer for another $5/mo came up. I clicked on it and it added it to the cart on top of the auto-pay, email, 1-12mo and 13-24mo discounts. Saturday install can't come soon enough!

Now just crossing my fingers they pick up the Pac-12 Network sooner rather than later. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Jimbo]

Just put my order in. Went with the Choice XTRA and HMC. Gonna use up my MLB.tv subscription for this current season on my Xbox.

I ended up getting an additional $5/mo for the first 12 months off because I went to the MLB EI page to just check it out and some pop up offer for another $5/mo came up. I clicked on it and it added it to the cart on top of the auto-pay, email, 1-12mo and 13-24mo discounts. Saturday install can't come soon enough!

Now just crossing my fingers they pick up the Pac-12 Network sooner rather than later. Thanks for the help everyone.

Dot,
Congrats and Welcome to the Site !!!

As for Pandora, it is already available on some D* recvrs, mainly on HD recvrs, just not on the HR34 yet.

Many of the Pac 8/10 games are on the Sports Package, if you get that, Pac 10 seems to have contracts with them.

Where abouts are you in Ohio ?
I'm in the NW corner, outside of Toledo.