Dish vs. Direct?

[Hookedagain]

The cost of cable T.V. is outrageous. We have been thinking about switching to satellite. Is one network better than the other? Do they offer internet service? They both are much cheaper than Comcast but am I getting what I pay for. Cheaper cost=less service? Any input will help our decision. Thanks.

[chefchris401]

since we moved we opted not to get cable tv, i dont miss it at all.

we bought an HD antenna at target and get like 20 channels, local news, fox, a couple spanish stations and all the usual ones.

The cost for cable/dish is crazy.

Before we moved we had direct tv, it sucked, service would always going out, had to constantly call for credits. plus no local stations and if you wanted one station you had to get a whole package, like its a new car or something.

then we switched back to cable, had full channel, it was decent, cost was still like 68 a month for basic after all the taxes and what not.

Now we use the hd antenna and got netflix streaming thru the computer to the tv, we watch movies and tv shows thru hulu and some other sites. we still get internet from full channel, its like 35 a month for super high speed.

funny thing is when we went away to NH the room had cable after flipping around for hours and seeing the same pointless dribble on tv we couldnt be happier not paying for cable, and the shows we did watch were the same ones that come on the free stations.

[The Dad Fisherman]

No AMC on Dish....so if you are a Walking Dead or Breaking Bad fan, you will lose those

[likwid]

After the first year, its the same price as cable.
Directv is generally bundled with Verizon DSL, when we had it I opted to get cable internet in addition because it was more reliable/faster.

Channel lineup is a wash except for Directv missing a bunch of local channels generally.

[BMEUPSCOTTY]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

No AMC on Dish....so if you are a Walking Dead or Breaking Bad fan, you will lose those

They recently settled that, AMC is indeed on Dish, channel 131.

[The Dad Fisherman]

Thats Good...I'm a FiOS guy myself....but I would hate to have him switch and find out he is missing something he wanted.

[Matt D]

DISH has a wider variety of lower cost packages. I guess it all depends on whether or not there's channels that you "must have". Each provider is good at setting up their packages so there's something in the next package up that you probably want.

A well aimed dish from either company shouldn't lose signal much. Only when there's thunderhead type clouds in the area, you probably should have your TV off then anyway. And it will come back as soon as the storm passes. Last year when we had the freak snowstorm my cable (I have it for local channels and internet) was out for over a week. Ran the DISH off a generator as soon as I ran an extension cord.

Internet is much better with cable. If you've got a "triple play" cable deal you'll probably make out better keeping it.

I like having DISH for a couple of reasons. Their DVR's are top notch and much better than cable's. And I have a RV that I use about 8 weeks every year. It's nice to be able to bring your TV service with you.

[Stripersurg]

Go Directv, much better than Dish. Get the mid range package, I think its a 2 year deal, only around $65/month with 3 receivers, one of which is the DVR , I like it waaaay better than cable

[RIJIMMY]

I had direct tv for about 6 years in MA and loved it, never a problem and prices remained stable.

[BMEUPSCOTTY]

Originally Posted by Stripersurg

Go Directv, much better than Dish. Get the mid range package, I think its a 2 year deal, only around $65/month with 3 receivers, one of which is the DVR , I like it waaaay better than cable

Curious as to why you say that? Maybe it depends on what you watch, I have not looked at DTV's packages in a while...
They are both better than cable, no doubt about that. I brought my DirectTV service with me when I moved in here, but the trees around the house prevented us from getting all the sat's and we were missing a lot of channels. For the heck of it I called DISH and they came out and did their survey and said we should have no problems. They have a new(er) satellite that is at a higher angle or something. Went with Dish and have been happy since. Now we have THE HOPPER with 2 Joeys and it is awesome. I have seen commercials for a new Direct TV box with 5 tuners recently that probably compares pretty well with The Hopper. I'd say that you can't go wrong with either, and it's a matter of comparing packages and setups depending on what you watch, how much you watch, and in how many rooms you want to watch your shows, but if you have tree problems you may find Dish more feasible.

What I find incredible is how much all these services are still charging for new release movies on Pay per view, when you can go to the Redbox machine and rent Blu-Rays for a buck fifty...

[Matt D]

Originally Posted by BMEUPSCOTTY

Curious as to why you say that? Maybe it depends on what you watch, I have not looked at DTV's packages in a while...
They are both better than cable, no doubt about that. I brought my DirectTV service with me when I moved in here, but the trees around the house prevented us from getting all the sat's and we were missing a lot of channels. For the heck of it I called DISH and they came out and did their survey and said we should have no problems. They have a new(er) satellite that is at a higher angle or something. Went with Dish and have been happy since. Now we have THE HOPPER with 2 Joeys and it is awesome. I have seen commercials for a new Direct TV box with 5 tuners recently that probably compares pretty well with The Hopper. I'd say that you can't go wrong with either, and it's a matter of comparing packages and setups depending on what you watch, how much you watch, and in how many rooms you want to watch your shows, but if you have tree problems you may find Dish more feasible.

What I find incredible is how much all these services are still charging for new release movies on Pay per view, when you can go to the Redbox machine and rent Blu-Rays for a buck fifty...

DISH has the Blockbuster@Home plan for $10 a month. Gets you one mailed DVD/BluRay out at a time, around 20 extra channels including EPIX and Starz Cinema, and streaming (works ok but is a big stepback from Netflix). A MUCH better deal than ordering one or two PPV's per month.