Dish or Directv

[Dugan5468]

I am having a hard time deciding whether to get Dish or Directv... I have 4 tv's and am interested in 1 dvr. Equipment cost seems to be the biggest expense? As far as programming, just the basics and sports.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Dugan

 

[KAB]

Dish has the hands down advantage with the Hopper 3 system. Much more reliable and simpler than Directv's. Equipment fees are pretty much the same with both at the end of the day. Just go with the package that has the channels you want. That's totally up to you.

 

[HipKat]

There are some intangibles beyond equipment. To a T, almost every customer who has DirecTV that I replace with Dish, which is every day, complains about the bill and that it consistently goes up. The 2nd complaint is signal going out in weather that doesn't seem bad enough to lose signal. I saw this in the hotel in Columbus the other day during a light snowfall and my neighbor, who has DTV and play a game where he texts me when he's lost signal and in most cases, I haven't with Dish. When I lose signal, he has also, every time

 

[LQQK]

1st yer asking in a DISH Forum! That's like asking a question at a Republican Convention, Republican or Democrat for president?

I switched from DTV.

DISH:
Best DVR.
Like Hipcat said works better in bad weather.
Love Multi-View.
Better Guide.
Better remotes.

DTV:
More HD & 4K available (this was 2 years ago).
IMO, better signal (I'll get hosed for saying that here)
Price was easy to reduced if yer willing to play the game, most people get frustrated or just don't play, so the pay!

 

[charlesrshell]

I think there is no better DVR than the 16 tuner Hopper 3.

 

[satjay]

Take a look at what channels are important to you as both have a few that are not on the other.

One plus I think on the Dish side is channel packages, many choices with some flexibility if you are looking to downsize every so often. As others mention, great DVR, great to have the 16 tuners.

In regards to picture quality, many who have both while see a difference, say it’s very close. But again personal view can play a role

 

[glynnp]

I think there is no better DVR than the 16 tuner Hopper 3.

Hard to imagine using anything else.

 

[charlesrshell]

Hard to imagine using anything else.

Yep. Picture quality, number of HD channels, package prices, etc. takes a back seat to me versus quality of equipment.

 

[glynnp]

Yep. Picture quality, number of HD channels, package prices, etc. takes a back seat to me versus quality of equipment.

People like to nitpick the H3 because it won't do this or that. All DVRs can be nitpicked about something.

 

[oldford]

Since the ATT merger, Direct customer service has gone down hill fast

 

[navychop]

If the Sunday Ticket is important to you, and you might be willing to pay $300 or so for it after the first free year, go with AT&T/DirecTV.

Otherwise, I believe you will be happier with Dish.

Now, if HBO is important, there are many ways of obtaining it, in case it does not return to Dish.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[HipKat]

If the Sunday Ticket is important to you, and you might be willing to pay $300 or so for it after the first free year, go with AT&T/DirecTV.

Otherwise, I believe you will be happier with Dish.

Now, if HBO is important, there are many ways of obtaining it, in case it does not return to Dish.


Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

There are many ways of watching football games, too

 

[Claude Greiner]

I wouldn’t write Directv off. There are a lot of advantages

 

[comfortably_numb]

I wouldn’t write Directv off. There are a lot of advantages

You mean, like, they don't owe you $2.8 million?

 

[lgb0250]

After having been with both of them, several times, I came back to DISH. The Hopper 3 is way better than the HR54. The clincher this time was the two year price guarantee versus only one year that Direct offers. It used to be that DISH pic quality was not quite as crisp as DTV but even that has improved. Unless you are a stone cold sports addict I would go with DISH, at least for two years.

 

[sam_gordon]

I've been with Dish for 20 years. I do NOT have, and have no plans to get, a Hopper. I have two TVs, and only one with a DVR. Every year or so, I look at Direct. It's never been worth it to switch. Key for me is the programming I want. Who cares about all the bells and whistles on the latest/greatest hardware if the programming I want isn't available?

So, for me, #1 is to check programming. #2 is to look at costs, ESPECIALLY after the introductory price wears off, and knowing how long the contract is. If everything is equal at that point, I'd look at hardware/user interface, but it's never gotten that far.

 

[Nebugeater]

You mean, like, they don't owe you $2.8 million?

Allegedly

 

[ncted]

I am having a hard time deciding whether to get Dish or Directv... I have 4 tv's and am interested in 1 dvr. Equipment cost seems to be the biggest expense? As far as programming, just the basics and sports.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Dugan

Can you be more specific about sports. They each have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to sports.

 

[Claude Greiner]

You mean, like, they don't owe you $2.8 million?

No, Directv owes me about $7200 as of this morning. However I fully expect for them to pay me, unlike those thieves at Dish

 

[pattykay]

I am having a hard time deciding whether to get Dish or Directv... I have 4 tv's and am interested in 1 dvr. Equipment cost seems to be the biggest expense? As far as programming, just the basics and sports.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Dugan

One thing that nobody has mentioned in this thread so far is that Dish gives you the ability to have DVR service for no monthly fee. You will need a Wally and an external hard drive. Pay the one-time $40 fee to activate the DVR functionality, and never pay a DVR fee after that again. The one $40 fee covers DVR service for every Wally on the same account. Additional receiver fees would be the same either way. (Additional Wally receivers are $7 per month, the same price as each Joey added to a Hopper system.)

As far as programming, be sure to look at the low-cost options, such as Welcome Pack and Flex Pack. At regular pricing, Directv does not have any package that comes close to the bargain price of these packages, nor do they offer a DVR for no monthly fee like the Dish deal that I explained above. Dish's Flex Pack gives you the ability to add and remove Channel Packs at will with no penalty. (There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, which do have a $5 penalty for cancelling them less than 30 days after adding them.) This means that you can choose to only pay for additional channels on the days that you need them, and drop them the rest of the time to save money.