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Dish Network or Direct TV

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Ok, so based on what i have read here, it seems if I want more for the money for HD, go with DirectTV. unfortunately, I support family and an HDTV is yet to be purchased, although i am considering getting one in the next year. So, HD is honestly not that important to me. Second, it seems Dish network does not make you sign contracts to off-set installation costs, only a $50 set-up fee, this seems worth it because if i hate directv i lose $200 bucks for buying the DVR box. Both have dual tuner boxes so no worries on the number of tv's I need. The only reason I am considering satellite is because Comcast in my area sucks NUTS!! The box resets and shuts off like 4 times a day and I am just plain sick of their crap customer service. I defer, any other complaints, ideas about either dish provider. It seems the support is pretty much split 50/50 which is good in my eyes.
 
Just got Dish recently and still signed a contract, not a big deal anyhow since you are gonna get TV from someone.
 
Originally posted by: griffis
Ok, so based on what i have read here, it seems if I want more for the money for HD, go with DirectTV. unfortunately, I support family and an HDTV is yet to be purchased, although i am considering getting one in the next year. So, HD is honestly not that important to me. Second, it seems Dish network does not make you sign contracts to off-set installation costs, only a $50 set-up fee, this seems worth it because if i hate directv i lose $200 bucks for buying the DVR box. Both have dual tuner boxes so no worries on the number of tv's I need. The only reason I am considering satellite is because Comcast in my area sucks NUTS!! The box resets and shuts off like 4 times a day and I am just plain sick of their crap customer service. I defer, any other complaints, ideas about either dish provider. It seems the support is pretty much split 50/50 which is good in my eyes.
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Dish has a fee but that was waived for signing the contract, Dish advertises as the lowest priced of the 2 while Direct advertises they are better for sports. Do your homework visit their sites see what promos they have going. Just a tip on Dish they work on commssion so research both then call and haggle with them, dunno about Direct but you can haggle your way into a good deal.
 
Originally posted by: griffis
Ok, so based on what i have read here, it seems if I want more for the money for HD, go with DirectTV. unfortunately, I support family and an HDTV is yet to be purchased, although i am considering getting one in the next year. So, HD is honestly not that important to me. Second, it seems Dish network does not make you sign contracts to off-set installation costs, only a $50 set-up fee, this seems worth it because if i hate directv i lose $200 bucks for buying the DVR box. Both have dual tuner boxes so no worries on the number of tv's I need. The only reason I am considering satellite is because Comcast in my area sucks NUTS!! The box resets and shuts off like 4 times a day and I am just plain sick of their crap customer service. I defer, any other complaints, ideas about either dish provider. It seems the support is pretty much split 50/50 which is good in my eyes.
Click to expand...

DirecTV does not charge $200 for the DVR box up front when you sign up with them. Or did you mean you pay $200 if you break contract? I'm not sure what they offered you because their offers change all the time so your contract will probably be a little different than mine was.





***EDIT***

I removed this second part of the post because after some research and post made xchangx, I realized that this was not true.
 
Originally posted by: Xavier434
Originally posted by: griffis
Ok, so based on what i have read here, it seems if I want more for the money for HD, go with DirectTV. unfortunately, I support family and an HDTV is yet to be purchased, although i am considering getting one in the next year. So, HD is honestly not that important to me. Second, it seems Dish network does not make you sign contracts to off-set installation costs, only a $50 set-up fee, this seems worth it because if i hate directv i lose $200 bucks for buying the DVR box. Both have dual tuner boxes so no worries on the number of tv's I need. The only reason I am considering satellite is because Comcast in my area sucks NUTS!! The box resets and shuts off like 4 times a day and I am just plain sick of their crap customer service. I defer, any other complaints, ideas about either dish provider. It seems the support is pretty much split 50/50 which is good in my eyes.
Click to expand...

DirecTV does not charge $200 for the DVR box up front when you sign up with them. Or did you mean you pay $200 if you break contract? I'm not sure what they offered you because their offers change all the time so your contract will probably be a little different than mine was.

Also, one other thing that I did was ask co-workers/friends that I knew personally about how DirecTV was in my area. Everything they said was positive. Since this is a satellite network, the quality of the service will vary from place to place unless there are plenty of satellites for constant coverage everywhere around the globe. Currently, no satellite cable provider guarantees that. However, DirectTV is launching 2 additional satellites before the end of this year which is a plus for those people who may happen to be experiencing signal issues which are not obstacle related.

Ask around and see what the people from your area have to say. The same goes for Dish.
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That's not true... You have to have a direct line of sight to I think the south east sky. Anyone that has a view gets the same signal regardless of where you are in the US. It just depends on if you have trees in the way or any obsticle like that. The 2 new satellites are mainly for HD bandwidth, however they do have spot beams for local HD.




 
Originally posted by: xchangx
That's not true... You have to have a direct line of sight to I think the south east sky. Anyone that has a view gets the same signal regardless of where you are in the US. It just depends on if you have trees in the way or any obsticle like that. The 2 new satellites are mainly for HD bandwidth, however they do have spot beams for local HD.
Click to expand...


You are correct. The representative I spoke with described a LEO type of satellite network while the truth is that DirecTV uses GEO. Still, more HD bandwidth is a really big factor to consider if you are like me or the OP who plans on getting an HDTV in the next year or so.

 
we just got set up with Dish Network at my parents earlier today... HD looks SUPERB on their new LCD.

DirecTV sucks for retentions. My parents were loyal customers for around 6 years, all DirecTV offered was $50 off the HD DVR (still $150), nothing off on the second receiver, no free dish, no free install, no package deals, nothing... We called a few times, didn't budge an inch. They never upgraded in 6 years of service, when their tv died earlier this week, they decided it was time for HD.

With Dish they got EVERYTHING for free - HD DVR (VIP 722), Install, Dish, 6 free months of HD Programming, 3 free months of HBO/Cinemax.


Overall (day 1) we love the new Dish. The 722 rocks, especially the multi room support w/ RF Remote.
 
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