Is it possible to buy a receiver nowdays so there is no long term contract???
I don't know about Direc, but with Dish you can for sure... I'm doing it. If you go with a single tuner receiver, it's even pretty cheap.
I bought a brand new 211k (which also does HD) for $110 delivered, and about $60 for a brand new HD dish (110/119/129). Installed it all myself, then called Chuck. Also, the 211k has a built in ATSC tuner. You can record a local channel & a sat channel at the same time... even while playing back something else from the HDD.
I did pay the one time $40 fee to activate it as a DVR using my own external HDD. But there are no monthly DVR fees that way. I also paid the one time $99 fee for "HD For Life". So by the time you do those things, it costs a little more to get setup.
Still, that's $309 to get going. And if you don't want HD & DVR, it's only $170. Of course, these numbers assume you already have the $15 cable, lol.
If you don't do HD & DVR, you can start & stop & start & stop without much to lose. If you do it too much though, they might start charging a reactivation fee. I don't do that because I don't wanna lose my HD & DVR fees (I'd have to pay them again anytime I restarted service if I wanted them back).
But if you do quit, you don't have to send back the receiver & LNBs (and pay to do it). Plus, you could always sell the equipment on the flea if you were done for good.
I'd rather not have to do pizza at all. I wish it was still like 1995 for BUD subbing... but it's not. These days, you really do gotta make a deal with
some devil if you want the channels I want. As much as I'm not a Chuck fan for what he's done in the past, I chose him over Direc just so I could own & maintain my own equipment.
(Sorry tvropro, but it keeps peace in the home)
Cheers