To you guys that have D* and E*

[gadgtfreek]

Ive noticed a bunch of guys on the D* and E* forums sub to both.

Just curious as to the reasons why youd have both? Sports bar, tv nut, etc...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I need to keep up with the Joneses.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I need to keep up with the Joneses.

You dont count! I know why you have both hehe

 

[rockymtnhigh]

If my wife would allow it, I would have both, AND Canadian sats as well.

 

[Eva Greczkowski]

You mean all I have to do is say NO? We have Dish, Direct, Bell, Cox, ITVN,OTA (he got a BIG AZZ remote control antenna on my roof), and of course FTA. He did allow me to cancel the AT&T though.

And no, we don't watch a lot of TV.

 

[gadgtfreek]

You mean all I have to do is say NO? We have Dish, Direct, Bell, Cox, ITVN,OTA (he got a BIG AZZ remote control antenna on my roof), and of course FTA. He did allow me to cancel the AT&T though.

And no, we don't watch a lot of TV.

 

[narnia777]

I had dish network and sky angel kept the dish up and only get free PI package with Dish and I kept Sky Angel but Directv is my main service.

I suspended Directv for the summer months and got a cable promotion to save money but next month Directv is back and cable will be downgrade d limiited basic soon.

Jim

 

[dfergie]

I started with C-Band... saw how portable DSS was so bought a Direct system in 96 and installed, quickly bought another receiver and I was set for Satellite Tv while camping etc... when UPN scrambled, I needed my Voyager fix and bought a Dishnet system. I still have all three, but no programming active on C-Band...

 

[Jamey K]

Just D* but I want "American Life TV." Where do I get that....it's running Hill Street Blues!

 

[shodobe]

I have both. Direct is only for MLBEI and Dish is for everything else. Once baseball season is over the Direct account gets suspended until next April. I have been with Dish for 10 years and have had no complaints and it provides me with all, except baseball, that I want.

 

[ahearst]

If my wife would allow it, I would have both, AND Canadian sats as well.

Well I don't have the Canadian sats yet but my wife allowed me to have both D* and E* subscriptions a few weeks ago. We agreed that I would pay the D* bill in full each month, while she splits the E* bill with me, and so far it works out well. My D* subscription's primarily for sports, NFL-ST in particular (I'd rather follow my Carolina Panthers in HD while sitting on my cushy sofa instead of a wooden barstool surrounded by strangers and cigarette smoke and my wife prefers me to watch at home even if we don't speak for 6+ hours on Sunday afternoons during the season) in addition to channels not carried on E* (BTN comes to mind). E* gives me the HD programming I like (Nat Geographic HD, RAVE, MHD, Food Network HD, Discovery HD and HD Theater) and my wife likes (superstation package to watch multiple Raymond repeats, Food Network HD and HGTV-HD) along with the fact she seems to find the 622 and 522 remotes easier to use than the HR20 (its a mystery to me).

If you can afford both services, go for it. I wish I hadn't waited so long to do it. There are advantages to having both. I have E* on three televisions in my home, and I have both E* and D* on my 52" Sony Wega HD in the living room. My wife prefers E*, yet she didn't utter a single objection when I said I wanted D* and would pay for it on my own. Now that we have both services she's starting to see the advantages. For instance, when the next contract renewal war erupts we're prepared. When E* removes a channel for weeks on end as a negotiating ploy, I should be able to continue watching that same channel on D* without missing a beat and vice versa. I never experience programming envy anymore or get pissed when my favorite channel is removed for weeks at a time due to contract wars. By the way I also have an XM and Sirius radio subscription so I guess having the best of both worlds (Sat TV and Sat Radio) is a recurring theme in my household

 

[Ronnie-]

I have both because my work provided me with a free Dish subscription and equipment, cant beat free, and it includes all channels except HD. I signed up for D* on my own because i wanted to add High Def, and it would have been very complicated to add it to my companies account

 

[mike1973]

I have Dish and my roomate has DTV, both hooked to the same tv so its good for comparisons. He is probably moving out in a while though so I have to decide if I want to stay with dish or go dtv, it'll depend on HD channels at that time.

 

[mikew]

I need to keep up with the Joneses.

You ARE the Joneses! Everybody wants to be like Scott.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I have both because I like Directvs Customer service and equipment,and hope fully the New HD. I have E* because D* doesn't have any HD worth having,and E* also has more premium channels. But I've had D* longer by 4 years. I would have never signed up with E* at all if Directv got the thumb out their @#$ and got Better HD programming in a timely manner.I waited 2 years, And decided while I'm waiting I might as well watch HD with E*. Thats my story.

 

[nyhd_enthuse]

how does the D* PQ compare to that of E*? we've had E* for more than 10 years now and have no idea how the other ones fare.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Directv SD picture I think is way better. E* HD looks better then D* for now.

 

[iceturkee]

You mean all I have to do is say NO? We have Dish, Direct, Bell, Cox, ITVN,OTA (he got a BIG AZZ remote control antenna on my roof), and of course FTA. He did allow me to cancel the AT&T though.

And no, we don't watch a lot of TV.

your roof? is there room for any more dishes and or antennas up there?

 

[TheForce]

MY reason is a matter of evolution.

I had D* first when they first came out and added E* when they added Showtime HD. That was in year 2000. Since that time E* has always been the leader in HD programming with more variety. E* also had the first receiver that was compatible with a DVHS HD recording system. Then they solidified that lead with HD DVR. But that was a 921 which had lots of problems and limited storage. Then came the HD TIVO with swappable main hard drives for huge amounts of storage but that was only on D* so I gave the bulk of my programming $$$ to D*. That lasted until E* came out with the VIP 622 and added a boat load of HD channels with the Voom network and others. Since the VIP 622, I have switched the bulk of my programming back to E*. Presently, I have no good reason to stay with D* except to follow their promises of "we're the leader with future 150 channels etc. So, while I still have the HDTIVO, I can't get any of D*'s new MP4 channels, but why would I? Nothing they have announced satisfies my interests that is not already on E*. In addition, the latest upgrades to the VIP622, with unlimited hard drive capacity makes it a superior design as well.

As far as the money goes. I had a fixed budget for TV programming- It was a good budget that allowed me to pick one major and 2 minor competing packages. When VOOM went down, I freed up that portion and to do a modest D* plus everything pack on E*, I had to drop Comcast as well.
I do have both D* and E* but my D* is basic cheapest SD and the HD pack as an add on. While E* is everything package with HD.
I don't need NFLST with HD since I can see all the NFL games I'm interested in for free, If they are blacked out then they would be blacked out for NFLST as well so that sports package, IMO and in my case is a ripoff.

Soon when I see the outcome of D*'s 150 HD nationals next week as promised, I will make a determination if they have anything better that would prompt me to switch back the bulk of the progamming again to D*. But I am capable of prioritizing those in the list. IMO, getting TLC HD and Science channel HD would way out weigh adding QVC in HD if you know what I mean.

So if DirecTV continues their ad con game as they have been doing for the past couple years, I may indeed drop them altogether and save myself $56 per month.

Please understand, I don't favor one over the other, ever. However, it is a fact that E* offers better customer feedback than D* and D* doesn't have a monthly chat program both marketing and technical with CEO and VP and other engineers, ad people and programming. Under the old management, D* would never talk about future plans. Today they talk too much and don't follow through.