Dish vs Direct tv on eastern shore

[OldTee]

I have been given the task of helping my son decide which of the two companies to contract with. There is ample confusion documentation on line, and it looks to me to be a fairly close decision. A few dollars here, a few programs there, kind of thing. What is not answered are the intangibles such as service and reception.

Here is his tv profile, kinda.

Sports
Kids shows for the granddaughter
Probably 3 TVs in the house, at least one hdtv.
XXX not required! He is Headmaster.

So?

Service experience like interruptions. Adjustment of the antenna? Come when called? Static? Quality of the equipment? (comcast sucks).

Personality: Bitchy collection policy? Good telephone support?

Overall impression?

I would really appreciate some input for him. We have all moved to a new location and know how difficult it is to get good information.

Thanks

ARF

[vascott99]

I have used Dish for the last 11 years and they have only raised my rates several dollars...Other than upgrades...I have been very happy with them...Other than readjusting the dish no problems maybe during a big storm it will have issues...Customer service has been great and sending a technician is fast...

They have a great multi room DVR and the program guide is easy to use and not cluttered with ads and bs...

Bottom line...I get plenty of channels and does not cost an arm and a leg...Compared to Cable etc...

[pookie]

I had DishNetwork while in SC. And it sucked. Customer service sucked. Channel selection wasn't great, and rate increases were sporadic and you weren't notified until you got the bill. Plus when we moved from one house in the county to a different house, the new house had a wooded lot and DishNetwork couldn't get a signal. So they couldn't provide me with service, but since I was under contract still had to pay (luckily only had one or two months left). But the customer support person who was hearing my greivance that day said before buying the home I should have checked with them to see if they could provide me service.

I had Direct TV when we were in WV and it was great. Customer service was much better and I don't remember there being any random rate hikes without them letting us know in advance. Service was good and very rarely went out.

We moved to TN I got Comcast cause it was cheaper, horrible mistake.

We now went back to DirectTV, and we got a new TV with HD capabilites. I am happy now. DirectTV has more HD channels than DishNetwork on the basic and one step up from basic packages. DirectTV has BBC America (Top Gear), Speed which was pretty good for the 24 hour races, and if you like Nascrap, plus they have a channel called HDNet which has car programs and motorcycle programs two nights a week. Stuff like Wheeler Dealer and the like. Signal here has been good except during super super heavy thunderstorms. They roll in and the signal goes screwy for a few minutes, but usually comes right back on. I bet the longest it went out was 25-30 mins maybe and then it came back on during a horrible storm. Even during the storms once it comes back on it usually stays on.

As far as channel coverage I think to get the same channels that DirectTV has DishNetwork will cost you more. DiretTV Sports coverage other than cars is very good. I get sports channels I've never even turned too, just because I had to move one section up to get Speed. But I get Golf and Tennis, Big Ten Network and all kinds of local channels. I'm not sure how DishNetwork works, but like here alot of the Braves games are blacked out on ESPN2 or whereever, if its blacked out DirectTV will find it on another channel for you and tune to it. DirectTV also has a channel where you can veiw all the sports channels to see whats on. Its really only nice during football season where you want to keep track of different games on different networks.

We don't have DVR. And we don't have the movie PPV option on ours. I've never had to deal with the collection issues.

DirectTV has a ton of kids channels. And it also allows you to easily program the channels you want to view and don't want to view. Plus you can have multiple setups. So you can have the kids channels and when they go to bed flip it over to the grown up channels. Mine is currently set to only get channels I pay for, and then I also removed all the home shopping and other crap channels.

In the end I am happy with DirectTV.

P.S. If he decides to go that route can he take my DirectTV number with him so we both get $100 like the commercial?

[HoodPin]

.......XXX not required! He is Headmaster.......

You know.....this can lead down several paths......:twisted:

[Landjet]

I had Direct TV for a number of years while I lived in California. Only problem I ever had was very bad to no reception during heavy rain storms.

[jerome951]

I had DirecTv for ~8 years before I sold my house. Just the basic package (1 TV, non-HD). Reception was pretty good; would only lose it couple times a year in very heavy rainstorms. Pricing didn't increase much. I really had no reasons to contact customer support so can't comment.

I did have the Directv-supplied tivo box and it was the most user-intuitive device I've ever experienced. Not sure how it compares to the Dishtv unit, though.

[OldTee]

Thanks, good stuff to chew on. Sounds like equals.

Wonder about the financial strength?

If'n it was me I would go the RFP route to both companies. Something like:

Requirements:

2 hdtv boxes
1 regular box
installation
channels a,b,b,e,g,k...etc
free period value.

Then pick the cheapest.

But this is me.

[realroadrage]

DirecTV has more subscribers and more HD channels. They also have an exclusive with the NFL on the Sunday Ticket, so if being able to watch every NFL game is important, there is only one choice.

[Chakka]

DirecTV in my house for the last 10 years. Minimal issues. Plenty of sports(Speed channel), Plenty of kids stations, HD is great, costs around $60 per month(HD, extra receiver($5), local stations. I agree with Landjet, sometimes storms play havic with the HD and even lose regular signal, but not that often to warrant not getting it. Make sure he asks about upgrade deals, i.e. free HD upgrade, DVR, etc.........

[berettafan]

IMO (live on the very eastern most shore of the eastern shore) sat TV is runner up to cable every time.

[berettafan]

oh and NO issues, lots of HD channels (that you actually watch), speed tv, HD Theater, etc etc