Dish Network or Direct TV?

[Martin]

TWC poor customer support is also the reason I'm dumping them as well....



One time I called them, I spoke with 5 different tech's in trying to figure out why I have no tv or internet service working. After aprox an hour on the phone, they said they would need to set up an appt. to come check out the system etc. and that it would be about two weeks before they could come out....Not Acceptable!!



As it turned out, they blew one of their trans stations near here and everything was ok within a day or two. But their tech guru's couldn't tell me that was the problem over the phone.



Back when we had Comcast, I don't remember having any issues with the service or support, but they sold the service to TWC and everything went down hill from there.

 

[Dreman]

Big rooftop antenna for broadcast TV. No monthly bills. No outages. No waiting for the cable/phone/dish guy. Instant channel changes. 12 local channels.



Haven't been happy with cable for 15 years. It's been a lot cheaper.

 

[TomT]

Seattle. What did you finally decide on? Comcast took over Time Warner last summer and it's been a nightmare ever since. After staying home 3 days within the last week waiting for their techs and being screwed each time, I have decided to leave Comcast. (Absolute worst customer service in the world). Now trying to decide between Dish or DirectTV. The new Dish ViP722 DVR looks mighty impressive. Has a really big hard drive for recording HD shows.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

I've had DirectTV since 1999 (more than 8 years now.... geeze!)



You can get free equipment upgrades, I've done it without any problem.



The lag between channels has more to do with your settop box. I had a Hughes box and there was near ZERO delay. I now have Phillips.... delay city, especially when rapid switching channels.



I've never had a tech install my systems (I've moved 7 times in 8 years) and have done the install myself EVERY time. I put it where I want and have never had an issue. I had a tech scheduled to install the box 5 years ago when I moved to my current house. Three days of delays and I told them to cancel the order and I'd do it myself. Took 10 minutes. Now a tech will point it in around 5-6 minutes with the correct tools.



I have (2) boxes connected to 4 TV's and a PC with video capture card. One box is for (1) TV. The other box controls 3 tv's and the PC. That part sux. I'm too cheap to pay another $5/month for another box (and I still own my origional Hughes box... anyone want to buy it??).



I've seen Dish and I've had DTV. Personally, I think DTV is better based on the channel lineups that me and my family want. To get the same channels we get for $39 on DTV would take the $59 package on Dish. My total bill is around $60 right now. I do not have premiums. I do however have ABC, NBC and FOX out of New York since I don't live in a market that has locals on DTV. Those alone cost me about $7 a month, where in most markets you get ALL the locals for $5-6/month (St Louis has around 10 locals for comparison sake).



Overall, I love DTV. However, if I could get digital cable and cable internet, I'd drop DTV in a heartbeat so I could also drop the telephone line and exclusively use cell phones. Done it before (the cell phone only part).

 

[TomT]

I've been doing a lot research. Since HD and a DVR are high on my priority list, I'm going with Dish Network. Their new 722 DVR that just came out blows away anything DirectTV offers. If HD and a DVR wasn't important then I would probably go with DirectTV. Just depends what your looking for.

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Still with Comcast. Seems to be faster now when going to other channels. Plus, I've been so busy in the last month that I haven't really watched that much television other than the programs I record.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I'm in the industry and Comcast is one of my company's biggest customers so I'm a little conflicted.



I wish I could reduce my monthly costs, but I don't want to lose anything I have now. We have Comcast for:



- Highspeed Internet

- VOIP

- Premium Digital service (w/ HBO, Starz, Showtime).

- Standard-Def digital settop box

- HD settop box with DVR



I'm paying about $170/month.



The #1 thing I don't agree with on my bill is what I consider "double dipping" on my 2nd settop box. I pay $9 for the DVR capability and $9 for the 2nd digital settop box. That's very expensive. We really only have the standard def box because my wife likes the EPG (online program guide).



TJR

 

[kil roy]

i have had direct TV for just under 4 years

had cablevision cable before that



all i can say is



I LOVE MY DIRECT TV!!!!!:wub::wub::wub:

 

[TomT]

Well I just signed up for Dish Network. Won't really be saving anything over Comcast but for the same amount I'll be getting a way better DVR, more HD channels, more regular channels and best of all: NO MORE SH*TY COMCAST SERVICE!! I should have done this a long time ago but then again they didn't offer the 722 DVR until just recently and that was the deciding factor.

 

[Bill V]

Like I said before--You can avoid all the headaches with Comcast/DirecTV/Dish/etc's crummy service, AND avoid the headaches with signal/sevice interruption, AND drastically reduce your cost, AND get lots of HD channels, by doing what dreman and I did--just go with an OTA antenna.



AND you can still get your DVR, simply by subscribing to Tivo. In fact, it's DVR that, but all comparisons I've seen, is superior to those provided by any of the main cable/satellite providers. Available in either HD or SD, depending on what box you get. Total cost--jost over eight bucks a month.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill V, OTA won't give me premium HD content.



And, your $8/month cost doesn't include the ammortized cost of the HD Tivo DVR, and Tivo subscription costs.



And, I my current HD set doesn't include an HD tuner, so I would probably need Tivo HD settop to get anything, meaning I can't even "test drive" OTA without a pretty costly investment.



Still, thanks for the suggestions.



TJR

 

[Bill V]

Bill V, OTA won't give me premium HD content.

Depends on your definition of "premium".

And, your $8/month cost doesn't include the ammortized cost of the HD Tivo DVR, and Tivo subscription costs.

Actually, MY $8/month does include the cost of my (non-HD) Tivo DVR, plus subscription costs. The rebates on my box amounted to more than the cost of the box itself. But yes, you're right, the cost will be more with an HD box. I'm not sure how much more--I know the boxes for the more basic of their two current HD units retails for about $300, but I have no idea if there are any current specials or rebates available for new subscribers.

 

[TomT]

OTA antenna won't give me a lot of cable channels I now watch. If your viewing requirements are that simple, then that's fine.