DirecTV v. Dish

[RealMadrid]

Which is better in terms of
1) Reception
2) Service
3) Quality
4) DVR/Tivo

Basically I want my wife to have TVE (from Spain) and I want all the Real Madrid games. This means Setanta (DirecTV only), GolTV(both), ESPNDeportes (Dish) and World Sport/RushHD (Dish).

I have DirecTV right now but wonder which will more likely pick up the other's loose channels and which is better.

Advice??

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

D* customer service is 10 times that of E*. I would flip if the nazis call my wife demanding card and IRD dumbers in the middle of a movie etc.

There are to many advantages with D* for me to even consider E*, as E* can not give the same service I get with D* for any price point.

 

[Sean Mota]

moved to "appropiate" forum.

 

[stone phillips420]

dtv for me no contest

 

[jokeworm]

As a new(ish) user who first tried D* and soon became very frustrated with the lack of empathy from the D* customer service people ... I would personally plump for E* every time.

For me E* customer service seemed to want to help me .. D* just wanted me tied to that contract before they could schedule anyone to come and troubleshoot my signal problems and poor quality feeds.

So in answer to your questions --- for me ...

1. E* .. better for my locals ... similar for SD and much more HD.
2. E* .. seemed to care and were willing to work with me on my problems.
3. see #1
4. No idea .. not used either.

As for channels - i suspect E* will add setanta before D* will add the other two or three channels .. and if you are desperate for setanta right now and have a half decent Internet connection - go with ITVN ... http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=74157


or better yet - do what i did - install one - if you don't like it or if you get the runaround - or if CS won't help you until you are locked in .. or if you are not happy with the quality ... cancel and go with the other ...



Good luck either way.

 

[johnny q]

Anytime I see a thread like this, I immediately tune in (no pun) because right now I want to drop Dish Network in the worst possible way. My picture quality on most stations is a blurry washed out mess. The locals, and VH1 classics in particular, and a whole host of others. This was not the case when I first signed up in 2001, my PQ was as good as a DVD - all stations...its been getting worse slowly but surely. I have had service calls etc and nothing changes.

With all that said, out of all the Dish vs Direct posts, I never have seen a conclusive comparison of PQ. I would love to hear from someone who has seen both systems on the same channel and on the same equipment side by side. Some of the posts I have read have said they both look the same, and both suffer from the same over-compression. While others have said without hesitation that Dish PQ is better and mention that this is the general consensus among most people. Meanwhile, on another forum a former installer swears that any Direct system he has installed for previous Dish owners, the customer ALWAYS comments on how much better the Direct PQ is. I dont know what to believe!

 

[MikeD-C05]

Directv has a sharper image on the face of the people in the scene but the back grounds are full of pixelation, blocking and jaggedy lines. Dish has a smoother more even picture , some say softer but with less artifacting in the back ground.

This is what I saw on both services on an analog television when I had both in my home back in 2003. As to hd Dish rules. THEy have more hd channels then any provider- satellite or cable. Their hd is more in true hd and their hd lite versions are in better resolution than Directv. Do a search on picture quality in regards to Dish vs Directv and you will see that most perfer Dish now.

I perfer Dish as they have better picture quality using a 622 dvr on a Toshiba rear projection 57 " hdtv. It looks great on all channels . Now analog receivers over hdtv will always look worse to me than a hd receiver. In the end it is up to you to judge. If you lean more to one provider over another , then you will most likely see the merits of that service over the competitor , and you will then say that the picture quality is better. I for one can not stand back grounds that move , pixel or block . It distracts me from the show and takes away from the whole tv viewing experience to me.

 

[C1787GJ]

Had Directv a few years ago. Switched to Comcast. Switched to Dish. Out of the 3 Dish is the best in my opinion. I have only had one box go bad, which they replaced no problems. When the installer was setting it up he went above and beyond what I call a 49 dollar installation. I have had no problems with there customer service, all my experiences have been great. Picture Quality with Dish is also the best and I find the Dish DVR much easier to use than the TiVo my friend had, but that could just be I wasn't used to it. For Quality, I feel like I get the most for my money with Dish Network also. Just my opinions though, Good luck!

 

[jhamps10]

I agree E* is the best, and I have seen cable, and D*, and D*'s PQ is just well petaefic. I have no problems with pq on E*. CSR's are basically non-existant to help over at directv, and dish network (IF YOU CAN GET ONE WHO IS NOT FROM INDIA) not to sound rude here, but american CSR's ARE easier to deal with, I have never hade trouble with CSR's at dish network, over the phone and on-line. i would never leave E*.

 

[mbetts]

I switched from D* to E* a couple of months ago but D* does have some advantages.

1) Reception - Advantage D*. I lose signal with E* everytime there's a storm.
Rarely with D*.

2) Service - Slight advantage D*. Neither one is great.

3) Quality - Matter of opinion. My opinion is advantage E*.

4) DVR/Tivo - I do miss the Tivo interface but I'm used to E*'s 622 now and I like it very much. If HD is your thing, I'd go with E* for better PQ and selection. Doesn't matter who has the better DVR if you don't have anything to record.

 

[shanewalker]

I was a D* customer for seven years (after jumping from cable and never looking back--it's HORRIBLE in the city limits of Chicago). Tried to get anything close to the deal V* would offer as far as HD choices and equipment packages and it was no contest. After V* folded (pretty cool while it lasted), I compared what E* was offering w/ D* and again, NO CONTEST...I went w/ E* and have thoroughly enjoyed the 1.5 years of top-notch HD programming and DVRs that I've had w/ them. Of course they've not been perfect...but they've impressed the hell out of me so far.

1) Reception - same. They've both suffered occasional rain fade. Very occasional...but I'm right by Lake Michigan and it can get super nasty w/ lots of lightning.

2) Service - close to the same, but advantage E*. They've been willing to work it out as far as upgrades, etc. (in my experience) more than D* ever was and made sure things were right w/ my tricky initial and subsequent upgrade installs.

3) DVR/Tivo - I never owned a Tivo, but my neighbors did. My experience w/ the 942 and now the 622 has been stellar, though. Only the occasional hiccup, and overall a joy to use and excellent PQ and user interface. The V* hardware was nice (a bit more solid on OTA antenna signal lock than the 942, but the 622 OTA is pretty solid).