DISH or DIRECTV

[MDJAK]

I'm a relatively new member around here and I have certain medical allergies, one of which is that I break out in hives if I attempt to search forums, so please bear with me.

I've been a directv subscriber for a few years now, but have become totally fed up with their customer service.

Should I switch? I know nothing about DishNetwork.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[davideo]

I'm a long time Directv subscriber and a new Dish subscriber. If pic quality is real important to you, go with Dish.

 

[M Sparks]

Wow, has DirecTV gotten that bad?

I moved to DISH several years ago. I didn't have a problem with picture quality on either. But now, about half my DISH channels seem ultra soft and/or pixelated. It's not enough to really bother me, but I'm surprised to hear someone say DirecTV is worse.

BTW, my DISH HD pictures are fantastic IMO. There is no OTA HD in my area, so maybe I just don't have anything better to compare it to.

 

[hdtvtechno]

There is no OTA HD in my area, so maybe I just don't have anything better to compare it to.

What is your location ?

 

[goaliebob99]

keep in mind that if your picture is pixolating that it is sunoutage season... and within the next few weeks it should stop..

 

[joeyjetsfan]

Switch

I was a DirecTV subscriber for almost 2 years and just switched to Dish. Well, technically I am switching this Sunday when the install is done. I recently purchased my first HDTV and had just missed out on the $199 HD TIVO rebate. DirecTV wasn't willing to budge on the $499 price, so I went ahead and signed up for the $250 new customer lease of the 942 HD-DVR with Dish. I'll post here on Monday if you would like to know my opinion of my new Dish setup, but it's going to be apples and oranges (HD vs. SD). I can tell you that Dish has been very helpful thus far, as can be expected for new customers though. Call them and see what they offer you!

 

[M Sparks]

What is your location ?

Parks, AZ.

 

[M Sparks]

keep in mind that if your picture is pixolating that it is sunoutage season... and within the next few weeks it should stop..

That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the "blockiness" you get with low bit-rate MPEG-2. In dark scenes, it just comes across as tiny rectangles and most people don't notice. But for fast motion or high contrast scenes, the "blocks" can be huge.

Sorry if that's not how the term is used in the satellite world. I'm in digital video production and pixelization is over-compression to me- a sun-outage is running out of natural light!

 

[Dish Dude]

i believe at this time the pic quality with Dish is a little better, and the channel layout makes a little more sense. The layout seems a little better to me anyways, i also used to have Direct and changed for better prices at the time. I stayed because of the layout of the channels and i believe an easier DVR system to figure out, although with a few limited options compared to Tivo

 

[M Sparks]

Dish Dude is absolutely right about the channel layout. It's not as important nowadays as it was in the days of cable. But DirecTVs lineup is a mess. DISH only has a few things that seem out of place, and most are due to changing formats. (SpikeTV is still by the country music, Travel Channel is still near the shopping channels.)

Believe it or not, when I was a Broadcast Management major in college, we actually had to design a 36 channel (!) cable system lineup, and explain why we grouped the channels the way we did. So I actually think about these things.

 

[dish522noe]

I stay with *E because I like the 522 because it works great, when it doesn't have it spells. Overall, I'm happy with my 522 now.

Overall, for me I have *E because of the 522, DVR, dual tuner, good price, digital pictures.

Its a far cry from my cable company.

 

[David Dietzel]

Dish, in general, has:

* Better picture quality in SD and HD
* Dish is the HD leader in sat biz
* Dish will add several more HD channels in January
* Dish 942 is half the money out of pocket than Direct's unit
* Dish customer support is good if you always ask for technical support staffers
* Dish programming guide on 942 is fabulous -- fast and logical
* For most, monthly programming package costs are less

Most people feel that Dish has the edge over Direct at this time.

Plus, they have a super deal for new subscribers.

 

[ericpd]

I've been with Dish for 2 billing cycles now. Was with DirecTV for 9 years, and I agree with everything said so far. Their PQ to me is much better. I also had Voom for a while, but switched back to DirecTV after they imploded. Mistake!

Initially, they got some things wrong in my install but made things right by adding the proper switching to my still standing Voom dish at no charge. Very nice having Rave & Equator. Not very much into the skinny girls bouncing around though.

Customer support has been good so far and the equipment in my opinion is superior to the receivers offered by DirecTV. I have three receivers, the 942, 625 & 510 lighting up 4 rooms. Careful though, with the 942 & 625, you need to have them plugged into a phone jack if you don't want to pay an extra 5 bucks per month on each. For some Dish doesn't care about the 510 being plugged into a phone jack.

I just installed a new Hitachi 57S715 HDTV into the family area, and the quality of Dish's HD material is awesome. Since the new TV came around the same time I made the service switch, I'm not real sure whether it's due to the switch from DirecTV or the Hitachi vs the old Toshiba HDTV. It's prolly a little of both, but there is a very visible difference between DirecTV HD on the Toshiba and Dish HD on the Hitachi.

As far as channels, after my promotion period, I'll be switched to the Everything pak, which for me equates to more channels at a cheaper price than what I was paying DirecTV.

I just wish you could select your channels al-a-cart (sp) like in Canada.

 

[Purogamer]

Dish, in general, has:

* Better picture quality in SD and HD
* Dish is the HD leader in sat biz
* Dish will add several more HD channels in January
* Dish 942 is half the money out of pocket than Direct's unit
* Dish customer support is good if you always ask for technical support staffers
* Dish programming guide on 942 is fabulous -- fast and logical
* For most, monthly programming package costs are less

Most people feel that Dish has the edge over Direct at this time.

Plus, they have a super deal for new subscribers.

oh...my...god...Work for E* much?

 

[M Sparks]

oh...my...god...Work for E* much?

Yeah, but he's right about most of it. Of course, as someone who just dropped $700 on a 942, I question how that could be "half" DirecTV's unit.

Face it, DirecTV and DISH are going to go back and forth over the next few years. Which is good news for all of us... but especially DISH customers. DISH was never better than when they were trying to catch up to DirecTV. The last couple years have been dull, because they just haven't been trying to compete.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

For years the PQ from D* was better, but E* slipped past them a few months ago. There are watchdog sites monitoring the bitrates on HD channels and E*'s are frequently higher than D*'s. Sure it could be better and there are still the occasional channel or program where it is lousy, but on the whole, E* is putting out a better picture. D*'s PQ has gone downhill under Rupert.

 

[M Sparks]

I didn't think of the Rupert factor...

 

[Sarang]

For years the PQ from D* was better, but E* slipped past them a few months ago. There are watchdog sites monitoring the bitrates on HD channels and E*'s are frequently higher than D*'s. Sure it could be better and there are still the occasional channel or program where it is lousy, but on the whole, E* is putting out a better picture. D*'s PQ has gone downhill under Rupert.

Well consider FOX is cheap with their SE budgets in movies COUGHX-MenCOUGH so why wouldn't they be with their Satellite service?
Have any of you seen FOX HD, the OTA sh*t? In my opinion they're being cheap there as well. Honestly I think Letterman and Conan look better than anything I've seen on Fox HD so far.

 

[CPanther95]

D*'s PQ has gone downhill under Rupert.

It has nothing to do with Rupert other than timing. They're in the middle of an expansion of capacity unlike anything proposed before he arrived. It's all about staying competitive with limited resources, and since I don't think you'll find many people who feel that D* has an offering that blows away the competition (exclusives aside) - it appears that they haven't added much more than absolutely necessary to remain competitive. We'll see what happens when they have capacity to burn.

IMO, D* still has the clear advantage in hardware (MPEG4 is a big unknown) and by most objective reports, E* has an advantage in delivered PQ.

 

[BobMurdoch]

A quick crib sheet.......

If you can't stand buggy receivers, go to D* (for now...... D*'s homegrown DVRs are replacing the Tivos.... we'll see how this one pans out over time). E*'s receivers will drive you to drink sometimes.

If you can't stand overcompressed HD, go to E*.

If you HAVE to have every NFL game go to D* for Sunday Ticket.

If you have to have HBO Comedy, Showtime Beyond, and a handful of other movie channels go to E* (D* doesn't carry these)

If you have to have Universal HD, go to D*

If you have to have TNT HD or the Voom Channels go to E*.

If you want XM music channels, go to D*

If you want Sirius music channels go to E*

If you like high quality, free concerts, go to D*

If you like low quality, public access quality shows with the CEO of E*, go to E* and watch the Charlie Chats

If you speak a foreign language, go to E* (HUGE international channel lineup, cricket, and a bunch of other world-centric programming)

If you want to buy your equipment at Best Buy, Circuit City, or most regional electronics chains go to D*

If you want to go to Sears or Radio Shack, go to E* (independents may carry either).

If you are in a TV market where the networks are owned and operated by the parent corporation (O&Os), AND you want D* delivered broadcast channel HD, go to D* (for now, this may change SOON due to the Rainbow 1 satellite sale just approved by the FCC last week).

Anything I miss?