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Pros/Cons of switching from DirecTV to Dish

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fustercluck said:
Sweet crackers. I might stay with DirecTV if they can give me that receiver for free. Anyone know if it's readily available?
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that depends on how long you have been with them, here are some links to read in that regard -
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/272992-directv-hr34-home-media-center-12.html
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/277531-hr34-existing-customer-discounts-3.html
they would not give me any rebate or deal and wanted to charge me full price plus install fee which would have come to over $500 to do it. they told me to wait till i was with them a little bit longer before i was able to get rebate on it
 
After reading all the horror stories I am glad I don't have any tv service. ATT dsl, OTA tv with a windows pc for DVR, and Netflix streaming with 2 discs at a time ftw. $37 a month total for all of it.
 
I just recently moved into a new house that didn't have cable yet so I could only get satellite service...when I was choosing DirecTV was the better option for having the whole home DVR with HD on all receivers, Dish only had 2 room DVR's and it was SD only on one of the 2...that just wasn't acceptable to me...since that was only 6 months ago I doubt anything has changed but you might not care about that...
 
I use my service very simply - just a basic HD receiver, one television, no DVR. That said, I switched to Dish from DirecTV years ago and found Dish to be WAY superior. Better menu system, doesn't go out as much, better packaging, significantly cheaper, etc. I've encouraged several family members to switch from AT&T/Comcast/DirecTV to Dish and they're all super happy about it.
 
I think Dish as way better hardware than Direct TV. The way they price you for hardware is better to, so your bill may be cheaper.
 
Fritzo said:
Their 722r has two tuners to service 2 TV's.
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As long as you only want SD on that second TV...who still has an SD TV here? Show of hands please...

The hopper does look sweet but who knows what pricing is going to be...
 
Fritzo said:
😕 Does not. Their 722r has two tuners to service 2 TV's.

Their new Hopper system will have SIX tuners. http://www.dish.com/technology/hopp...NHOPPER_2980&gclid=CJPbosCuoK4CFULrKgodnmQr5Q

I think after it's said and done, the price of the service is about the same, but Dish has better hardware, that's all.
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Now I'm curious..I was reading the page on their Hopper and is says:
Record up to six live HD channels at once* and stream four HD programs to different TVs simultaneously. That means you can watch more and miss less of your favorite programs.
* During primetime hours
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What's with * saying during primetime hours?
 
corwin said:
As long as you only want SD on that second TV...who still has an SD TV here? Show of hands please...

The hopper does look sweet but who knows what pricing is going to be...
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Satellite Guys is saying $99 upgrade for existing customers.
 
corwin said:
Now I'm curious..I was reading the page on their Hopper and is says:

What's with * saying during primetime hours?
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I think it means you can also stream Network TV shows without recording. I know you're going to be able to do that with the Hopper.
 
corwin said:
As long as you only want SD on that second TV...who still has an SD TV here? Show of hands please...

The hopper does look sweet but who knows what pricing is going to be...
Click to expand...

Most people with a TV in their bedroom? Those with 32" or smaller TV's, the HD picture isn't all that important. It still broadcasts in a solid 480i, which is about DVD quality.

Anyway, like I said, wait two weeks and the Hopper will be fixing this.
 
corwin said:
Now I'm curious..I was reading the page on their Hopper and is says:

What's with * saying during primetime hours?
Click to expand...

because the Hopper really only has 3 tuners. However, during primetime hours, the top 3 networks are auto recorded. Basically, they are saying their VoD counts as 3 tuners.
 
Fritzo said:
Most people with a TV in their bedroom? Those with 32" or smaller TV's, the HD picture isn't all that important. It still broadcasts in a solid 480i, which is about DVD quality.

Anyway, like I said, wait two weeks and the Hopper will be fixing this.
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It's important to me:colbert:
Rage187 said:
because the Hopper really only has 3 tuners. However, during primetime hours, the top 3 networks are auto recorded. Basically, they are saying their VoD counts as 3 tuners.
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Ding ding ding...we have the winning answer...DirecTV has a true 5 tuner DVR
 
I don't think I've ever had a friend say they were happy with Dish. They all said DirecTV was better. I had DTV for years and finally got fed up with how expensive it was per month coupled with my AT&T dsl.

I still don't understand why they offer better deals to NEW customers vs. trying to keep their existing ones. This goes for any TV service.

So I canceled both and got Comcast, faster internet and lowered my monthly bill by $40 for basically the same cable package.
 
fustercluck said:
Sweet crackers. I might stay with DirecTV if they can give me that receiver for free. Anyone know if it's readily available?
Click to expand...

I got it in December when I signed up for Direct, and paid $99. Like a week after it came out I believe. Anyway, I never really use all five tuners. But I think the real advantage is if I ever hook up extra TVs to it. That's where the 200 hours of HD storage and extra tuners would really help.
 
I've had both, and am currently with Dish. Both are good services, but IMO dish wins because of price. Dish is significantly cheaper. They also own the company that makes slingbox, so you can add an HD slingplayer that plugs directly into your receiver for $99, which is a fraction of the price of a standalone HD sling player. They also dont have that menu lag that has been prevalent on direct receivers, but I have heard that has gotten better.
 
Whole home DVR service from DirecTV is an extra $20 a month. Kind of a deal breaker. I really like the idea of having a 5 tuner receiver, too. Bill's already too high though, and the $20 a month fee kinda sounds like BS.
 
I have directv and the Whole Home Charge is $3.00 a month. I added it a couple of months ago. I am running whole home unsupported by directv since I self installed by hooking my DVRs to my router using the ethernet port.
 
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