I hope some find this useful. I was a Dish Network subscriber for more than 10 years. I was always happy with the service and loved the equipment. But over the last 2 years or so, I have become increasingly frustrated with the fees and rate increases, and I was always fighting every 3 months or so over some charge that appeared on my bill that did not belong or that I had no idea what it was. The dual DVR fees pushed me over the edge, and their counter to that was to suggest I dumb down my equipment or lower my programming tier. And “oh by the way, did you know our receivers are way better than Direct TV’s? You won’t be happy with those.” But enough with that. My biggest concern was could I be happy with the switch. If you are struggling with that like I was, this might help. For the most part, I am quite happy with the switch and even pleasantly surprised.
Thoughts on DirecTv services vs. Dish Network
Cons
When one DVR is in use, you cannot playback a recorded program from that DVR on any of the other receivers. The installer told me that a future software upgrade may make it possible, but for now, it is a bit of a limitation. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen where you cannot watch something because that DVR is in use. To be fair, Dish doesn’t even have whole home DVR sharing, but two TV’s connected to the same receiver could playback any recorded event without limitation.
What is the difference between First run and Repeat? Same episode will record multiple times, even with First Run selected. I can work around this by setting up manual recordings, but not the best solution. Dish’s scheduling has a few more options, is a little more intuitive and just works better.
No auto tune for DVR versions. I thought this was a handy feature with Dish. You can auto tune with the H24 receivers, but that option does not appear to be available in the HR24.
Guide is only 1.5 hr. window vs. Dish 3 hr. window. Dish has a bit better channel organization I think. For example, all the news channels are grouped together in the low 200’s on Dish, but you will find them more spread out on Direct. CNN is off my itself in the 200’s. Then you have FOXNews and MSNBC and their related stations in the mid 300’s. This may seem minor, but it this is one example of several which does make for easier browsing through the guide Dish. Probably most don’t care about this, but it is something I have noticed.
More favorites list and I like the way dish changes the color of your selection in the guide as an obvious indicator which list you are looking at. Direct has it tagged, at the bottom, but not quite as obvious.
Sirius music seems a little better than sonic.
No PIP. I didn't use this much and haven't missed it yet, but it is not there. Worth noting.
Pros
Picture quality! This is not my imagination. It is better. Even my wife noticed it enough to comment on it and trust me, that is saying something. I wonder if it has something to do with the native resolution pass through? I know this was a feature that was requested a lot over the years with the Dish receivers, but was never added. I am particularly struck by how good programming looks on channels like TBS-HD. I always thought that HD programs on some of those channels on Dish looked worse than by standard def. DVD’s. This is such a hard category to rate, because it is so subjective. But I am seeing an improvement, for what it’s worth.
Double play – I really like this feature! It allows you to quickly switch between two channels, holding the program in the DVR buffer so you can rewind and view what you missed. On Dish, if you tried this, you would lose your place. You could sort of do that with PIP, but always had to have the PIP window open.
Quick Tune – Another nifty little shortcut which is very nice. For channels you frequently flip to without checking the guide (i.e. Weather Channel, a news channel, local station), this is very handy.
Remote Control programming is WAY better with the new receivers. I was pleasantly surprised with the on screen selection of additional A/V devices by name and model number, and then programming the remote. Even the setting of an A/V receiver as primary volume control was easy. I never did memorize the programming sequence on dish’s remote, always had to look that up when I needed to reprogram one.
Really like the TV and Receiver simultaneously on feature. Wish I had the option to add an a/v device to the sequence and turn on three things, but who can complain.
Apps are cool and don’t interrupt viewing. I always found the Dish interactive stuff sluggish and not useful, and oh if you accidently activated one, you painfully had to wait for the app to launch with no TV and then the same thing when shutting it down. I like Direct’s approach to this much better.
Multi Room Viewing is great, but sure wish I could transfer recording from one DVR to another. Regardless, having this capability is very nice. It works well and has already proven to be handy.
Smart Search is significantly better than Dish search feature.
Bookmarking a specific time in DVR recordings. Had no idea it could do this until I read about it in the manual (yes, I actually read the manual!). I tried it and it works.
I like the fact that when you turn the receiver off, it turns off the display. My TV will turn itself off if it is getting no signal after awhile. But when Dish started their standby only mode with the little tips and advertising I had to pay more attention that I got the TV turned off, otherwise it would stay on forever.
VOD definitely better. I’ve always read this about DirecTv, but it is true.
I like how it asks you whether you want to keep or delete the event after you stop recording.
Final thoughts
During the last 10 years, I always firmly believed Dish has the edge in hardware. Whenever visiting a neighbor or relative who had DirecTv, I was always underwhelmed with the sluggishness of the receivers and how the whole interface just seemed less intuitive. But much of that has been addressed with the new HR24 and H24 receivers, and there are some clever features and capabilities that Dish simply doesn’t have. If you are holding back making a switch because of the technology, in my opinion that is no longer a barrier. I also think the whole dual dvr concept that Dish has deployed across all of it’s HD VIP series receivers is dated. It is sold as two TV’s from one receiver . . . and it is, but only one and always only one TV can be an HDTV. So if you are like me, and had one 722 receiver and two 622 receivers, you are getting slammed hard in new monthly dual HD DVR fees for a set up which can manage up to 6ea. TV’s, but of course only 3ea. of them can be HDTV’s. Stardard def. TV’s are going away, rapidly. You can’t buy them anymore and the day is quickly approaching when very few homes will have even one (less the old tube TV stuck out in the garage because it just doesn’t make sense to throw it away yet). So it is amazing at this stage, Dish double downs on this dated concept by slamming its customers with the extra fees for those extra standard def. feeds. And I can’t help but wonder if the extra fees being using to cover the added cost of receivers which fail a lot? I went though three 722 receivers before the final one seems to be stable and may actually last awhile. (yes, it is in a very cool place with good power) Am I now paying for this? I wonder. By contrast, I was able to get 4ea. HDTV receivers from DirecTv at one low monthly fee per box. Yes, two of them are not DVR’s so I can’t pause live TV. But any of them can play any recording on either of the DVR’s. It’s a reasonable trade off.
Thoughts on DirecTv services vs. Dish Network
Cons
When one DVR is in use, you cannot playback a recorded program from that DVR on any of the other receivers. The installer told me that a future software upgrade may make it possible, but for now, it is a bit of a limitation. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen where you cannot watch something because that DVR is in use. To be fair, Dish doesn’t even have whole home DVR sharing, but two TV’s connected to the same receiver could playback any recorded event without limitation.
What is the difference between First run and Repeat? Same episode will record multiple times, even with First Run selected. I can work around this by setting up manual recordings, but not the best solution. Dish’s scheduling has a few more options, is a little more intuitive and just works better.
No auto tune for DVR versions. I thought this was a handy feature with Dish. You can auto tune with the H24 receivers, but that option does not appear to be available in the HR24.
Guide is only 1.5 hr. window vs. Dish 3 hr. window. Dish has a bit better channel organization I think. For example, all the news channels are grouped together in the low 200’s on Dish, but you will find them more spread out on Direct. CNN is off my itself in the 200’s. Then you have FOXNews and MSNBC and their related stations in the mid 300’s. This may seem minor, but it this is one example of several which does make for easier browsing through the guide Dish. Probably most don’t care about this, but it is something I have noticed.
More favorites list and I like the way dish changes the color of your selection in the guide as an obvious indicator which list you are looking at. Direct has it tagged, at the bottom, but not quite as obvious.
Sirius music seems a little better than sonic.
No PIP. I didn't use this much and haven't missed it yet, but it is not there. Worth noting.
Pros
Picture quality! This is not my imagination. It is better. Even my wife noticed it enough to comment on it and trust me, that is saying something. I wonder if it has something to do with the native resolution pass through? I know this was a feature that was requested a lot over the years with the Dish receivers, but was never added. I am particularly struck by how good programming looks on channels like TBS-HD. I always thought that HD programs on some of those channels on Dish looked worse than by standard def. DVD’s. This is such a hard category to rate, because it is so subjective. But I am seeing an improvement, for what it’s worth.
Double play – I really like this feature! It allows you to quickly switch between two channels, holding the program in the DVR buffer so you can rewind and view what you missed. On Dish, if you tried this, you would lose your place. You could sort of do that with PIP, but always had to have the PIP window open.
Quick Tune – Another nifty little shortcut which is very nice. For channels you frequently flip to without checking the guide (i.e. Weather Channel, a news channel, local station), this is very handy.
Remote Control programming is WAY better with the new receivers. I was pleasantly surprised with the on screen selection of additional A/V devices by name and model number, and then programming the remote. Even the setting of an A/V receiver as primary volume control was easy. I never did memorize the programming sequence on dish’s remote, always had to look that up when I needed to reprogram one.
Really like the TV and Receiver simultaneously on feature. Wish I had the option to add an a/v device to the sequence and turn on three things, but who can complain.
Apps are cool and don’t interrupt viewing. I always found the Dish interactive stuff sluggish and not useful, and oh if you accidently activated one, you painfully had to wait for the app to launch with no TV and then the same thing when shutting it down. I like Direct’s approach to this much better.
Multi Room Viewing is great, but sure wish I could transfer recording from one DVR to another. Regardless, having this capability is very nice. It works well and has already proven to be handy.
Smart Search is significantly better than Dish search feature.
Bookmarking a specific time in DVR recordings. Had no idea it could do this until I read about it in the manual (yes, I actually read the manual!). I tried it and it works.
I like the fact that when you turn the receiver off, it turns off the display. My TV will turn itself off if it is getting no signal after awhile. But when Dish started their standby only mode with the little tips and advertising I had to pay more attention that I got the TV turned off, otherwise it would stay on forever.
VOD definitely better. I’ve always read this about DirecTv, but it is true.
I like how it asks you whether you want to keep or delete the event after you stop recording.
Final thoughts
During the last 10 years, I always firmly believed Dish has the edge in hardware. Whenever visiting a neighbor or relative who had DirecTv, I was always underwhelmed with the sluggishness of the receivers and how the whole interface just seemed less intuitive. But much of that has been addressed with the new HR24 and H24 receivers, and there are some clever features and capabilities that Dish simply doesn’t have. If you are holding back making a switch because of the technology, in my opinion that is no longer a barrier. I also think the whole dual dvr concept that Dish has deployed across all of it’s HD VIP series receivers is dated. It is sold as two TV’s from one receiver . . . and it is, but only one and always only one TV can be an HDTV. So if you are like me, and had one 722 receiver and two 622 receivers, you are getting slammed hard in new monthly dual HD DVR fees for a set up which can manage up to 6ea. TV’s, but of course only 3ea. of them can be HDTV’s. Stardard def. TV’s are going away, rapidly. You can’t buy them anymore and the day is quickly approaching when very few homes will have even one (less the old tube TV stuck out in the garage because it just doesn’t make sense to throw it away yet). So it is amazing at this stage, Dish double downs on this dated concept by slamming its customers with the extra fees for those extra standard def. feeds. And I can’t help but wonder if the extra fees being using to cover the added cost of receivers which fail a lot? I went though three 722 receivers before the final one seems to be stable and may actually last awhile. (yes, it is in a very cool place with good power) Am I now paying for this? I wonder. By contrast, I was able to get 4ea. HDTV receivers from DirecTv at one low monthly fee per box. Yes, two of them are not DVR’s so I can’t pause live TV. But any of them can play any recording on either of the DVR’s. It’s a reasonable trade off.
