DirectTv question

[BatteryDude1975]

Hello. This question is for all the former Dish subscribers who have recently switched to Direct. I want HONEST oppinions and not abunch of fan boys from Direct. Im not one to be a die hard for any certain provider. All I want is good service and be provided with what I expect.

I am currently with Dish and my contract has recently run out. Any other time I wouldnt even think about renewing a two year contract, but I just got another HD tv and will need another reciever. Adding a reciver to my current setup will bring about another two year contract. So before doing that. I figured I would think about switching to Direct.

-Dishes reciever fees are OUTRAGEOUS, but I enjoy how they work.
-The idea of whole home setup with Direct is really something my wife and I would like.
-I would lose some HD channels I get now, but get some HD channels that I dont have now.
-Just wondering how Direct recievers compare to Dish recievers.

So, my question, For all the former Dish subscribers is. How you like Direct service(IE. whole home setup, recievers, HD channels,etc.)

This would really help me out.

Thanks alot.

 

[mdram]

well i swiched oct 1st
the hr24/h24 is very comparable to the 622 as far as speed goes
the mrv is sweet.
no issues with service, yet (ya never know)
it takes some getting used to, but once you do its fine.
the info for programs in directv is much more extensive then on dish
you can see when that program is playing again, view the actors info and other stuff they are in
even record from those options
the smartsearch blows dish outa the water.
all in all im very happy with the switch and dont know why it took me so long

oh and i now have locals

 

[mdram]

heres a thread on the hardware

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-vs-directv-war-zone/214465-hr-24-vs-vip-series.html

 

[BatteryDude1975]

Thank you for your help. Anyone else have any advise?

 

[Jimbo]

You've come to a D* thread and posted that you don't want replies from anyone that hasn't had DISH, that narrows your replies right away, also, some people, probably most here have jobs as well. (I'm on Vacation) or I wouldn't be here either.

 

[PhillyUnionSoccer]

Dish vs Direct Receivers

I also just switched over after 10 years with Dish & love Directv!

Dish VIP 622 seemed a little faster changing channels than my Direct HD DVR BUT I prefer Direct HD DVR for features noted above.

HD picture does also seem a little better on Direct.

Direct Techs could not install Whole Home dvr service so Direct sent me another HD DVR(came 3 days later) to replace the HD reciever & I could not be happier as I would rather have two HD dvrs anyway (no charge on any equipment -I only have 2 hd dvrs)

My bill is much cheaper as I also have refer a friend rebate

 

[oldlibmike]

I switched after around 6 years with Dish and overall am happy.
With Dish I had a 622 controlling 2 tvs. With DirectTV I have an H24 DVR and 2 HD receivers on other TVs with Whole Home service.

The good:
Price went down from Dish package around $105 to $69 on DirecTV - I expect to get socked when the year rebates are up though...
I can watch recorded output from the DVR on either of 2 tvs (one at a time though!)
Picture seems better
There seem to be fewer "contract disputes" and lost channels with DirecTV
The "remote" TVs still get HD feeds from the whole home service - Dish only fed the "remote" TV a 480p signal.

The bad:
I don't like the guide as much in DirecTV - might be what I was accustomed to but it seems to show less info per page - much more navigating
On the "remote" HD receivers - you cannot pause a program UNLESS you are recording it on your HD DVR
Some recording functions and options are only available on the HD DVR - so if you want to set up recording and add an extra hour, set series options etc, this cannot be done directly from the remote TV - have to go to DVR to set it up. Basic recording is possible from the remote TVs though.
If you are trying to watch recorded content on 2 remote TVs at once - you can't!!! This is stated by Direct but is in very fine print - you can watch a recorded show on the DVR and on ONE remote tv at a time but if all 3 want to watch recorded content, you cannot if you have only the one DVR.

Overall I am satisfied with the switch - my wife is a bit more on the fence. I love the sports packages and definitely love the savings for now.
I have not had to use customer service as of yet (which I guess is a good sign). I have had to reboot the HD DVR twice when it appears to have hung up but lately it has been good.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Mike

 

[Jimbo]

I switched after around 6 years with Dish and overall am happy.
With Dish I had a 622 controlling 2 tvs. With DirectTV I have an H24 DVR and 2 HD receivers on other TVs with Whole Home service.

The good:
Price went down from Dish package around $105 to $69 on DirecTV - I expect to get socked when the year rebates are up though...
I can watch recorded output from the DVR on either of 2 tvs (one at a time though!)
Picture seems better
There seem to be fewer "contract disputes" and lost channels with DirecTV
The "remote" TVs still get HD feeds from the whole home service - Dish only fed the "remote" TV a 480p signal.

The bad:
I don't like the guide as much in DirecTV - might be what I was accustomed to but it seems to show less info per page - much more navigating
On the "remote" HD receivers - you cannot pause a program UNLESS you are recording it on your HD DVR
Some recording functions and options are only available on the HD DVR - so if you want to set up recording and add an extra hour, set series options etc, this cannot be done directly from the remote TV - have to go to DVR to set it up. Basic recording is possible from the remote TVs though.
If you are trying to watch recorded content on 2 remote TVs at once - you can't!!! This is stated by Direct but is in very fine print - you can watch a recorded show on the DVR and on ONE remote tv at a time but if all 3 want to watch recorded content, you cannot if you have only the one DVR.

Overall I am satisfied with the switch - my wife is a bit more on the fence. I love the sports packages and definitely love the savings for now.
I have not had to use customer service as of yet (which I guess is a good sign). I have had to reboot the HD DVR twice when it appears to have hung up but lately it has been good.

Hope this helps and good luck!
Mike

Mike,
Are you having issues with your recvrs ?
You have always been able to pause a show weather it's recording or not.
Now, you cannot do that on the H24 as it's not a DVR and doesn't have a buffer in it.
You should also be able to change your Recording options on anything that is set to record, pad time , delete whatever.

Are you sure your not confusing the two recvrs ?

That said, I don't have the Whole House thing, so maybe something is different when using it that way.

 

[cparker]

I switched from Dish to DirecTV afer something around 13 years. Got a pair of HR24 DVRs and MRV and it's just excellent. My son also uses DirecTV2PC on his computer in his room to access the DVRs and watch programs he has recorded. That's a nice plus that we really didn't expect. (His computer screen is a 27inch Samsung LCD TV).

The BIGGEST problem we have is that after all those years with Dish, we knew the channel numbers. I still don't know the channel numbers of the channels I watch most often, but the QuickTune on the HR24 is nice and I programmed some favorites into our universal remote.

I went from AT250 package to Choice Ultimate. Lost a couple channels, gained a couple. You have to look at that and judge for yourself which ones are important to you. No premium channels. We have Netflix. I have my OTA antenna running right to the TVs. The DirecTV DVRs didn't have the OTA tuner and even if I add it, you still can't record more than 2 streams so I figured the heck with it. We planned out recording (we record a lot) so that we could switch over to antenna to watch local if the DVR was busy. I'm seriously considering setting up a dedicated computer to record OTA and use as a media server. Haven't got there yet. Just not an emergency.

Overall.... VERY happy with the switch and I'm saving a TON of money due to promotions. When promotions are over I'm still saving a couple dollars a month. It was a good move for us.

 

[Jimbo]

I switched from Dish to DirecTV afer something around 13 years. Got a pair of HR24 DVRs and MRV and it's just excellent. My son also uses DirecTV2PC on his computer in his room to access the DVRs and watch programs he has recorded. That's a nice plus that we really didn't expect. (His computer screen is a 27inch Samsung LCD TV).

The BIGGEST problem we have is that after all those years with Dish, we knew the channel numbers. I still don't know the channel numbers of the channels I watch most often, but the QuickTune on the HR24 is nice and I programmed some favorites into our universal remote.

I went from AT250 package to Choice Ultimate. Lost a couple channels, gained a couple. You have to look at that and judge for yourself which ones are important to you. No premium channels. We have Netflix. I have my OTA antenna running right to the TVs. The DirecTV DVRs didn't have the OTA tuner and even if I add it, you still can't record more than 2 streams so I figured the heck with it. We planned out recording (we record a lot) so that we could switch over to antenna to watch local if the DVR was busy. I'm seriously considering setting up a dedicated computer to record OTA and use as a media server. Haven't got there yet. Just not an emergency.

Overall.... VERY happy with the switch and I'm saving a TON of money due to promotions. When promotions are over I'm still saving a couple dollars a month. It was a good move for us.

Don't forget to make up a "Custom Channel Guide" that will make your looking for channels much easier.
You can remove all the stuff you don't watch.
As a reference Channel 200 has a channel guide for you to refer too.