Trying to decide between Dish Network or DirectTV.

[leglez]

I am getting ready to have satellite hooked up soon. I am trying to decide what to go with right now. Currently Cable is costing me $70/month for around 50 channels, with no hd channels or dvr or anything. I am wanting to switch to either Dish or DirectTV. With Dish I saw going through their online order you can say if you want a 24 month contract or not. I don't want a contract because I am not sure if I will be in the current house for another 2 years or not, and my current roommate might possibly be moving out in August and I don't want to have to worry about picking up his half of the bill. So is there anyway to get out of the contract with DirectTV?

We are mostly just wanting like 50-100 basic channels (discovery, CNN, food network, tlc, etc...). HD isn't a must have, but a few channels would be nice since we both have HDTVs. Don't really need DVR on both TVs, but if it isn't much more we might consider it.

 

[Modelworks]

Yes, if you call them you can get service without a contract. But you will have to purchase the receiver. That is the reason they ask for a contract is because they sell the receiver under cost and need people to keep service long enough that they don't lose money .

 

[leglez]

Ah ok, do I have to purchase the receiver from them? Or could I purchase a used one off ebay/craigslist?

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: leglez
Ah ok, do I have to purchase the receiver from them? Or could I purchase a used one off ebay/craigslist?

I remember that some of the older HD receivers had some problems, but mine (A current one) works fine.

I would just buy it from them.

 

[zoiks]

I have Dish and no contract. I'm not sure about my receiver situation. All I pay every month is $29.99 plus taxes which comes out to $35.xx. I have the Turbo HD package and I get all channels in HD except for the premium ones (Showtime, HBO etc).

 

[rivethead]

Dish has the Dishmover deal.....if you move, they'll move your Dish for free (actually, you just pack up your DVR and then when you get to your new place, they come out and install another dish).

And as Zoiks mentioned above Dish has all HD packages starting at $29.99 month (not including local channels which are another $5...or you could get them free over the air depending on where you live). I don't believe Directv has all HD packages - yet.

The $29.99 DishNetwork HD package is for 50 HD channels.

 

[hclarkjr]

might want to post this in off topic. there are lots of people there who have satellite TV and are more than happy to give their opinions. that being said i have dish right now and regret it a little as dish customer service is horrible. if you are a sports fan i would suggest you get direct TV but if sports are not that big of a deal to you dish does have a great DVR in the VIP722 which i have. the HD service is nice too, you mention that you want to run 2 TV's in HD. to do that you need 2 receivers to run 2 TV's in HD as the receiver only outputs HD signal to one TV only and other one gets just SD.

 

[Modelworks]

yIf you have dish and the HD receiver and paid nothing or little to set it up, then you have a contract. The HD DVR that dish uses, the VIP722 is $499 if you purchase it. They aren't going to give that away without something to insure they get their money back. The non DVR HD receivers from dish are about $180 straight purchase. Neither of course includes the dish , average $100-150.00 + installation .

If you want to do it cheap up front then you are best to go with the contract. Averages about 50-75.00 out of pocket with either company.

I have had both and prefer direct.
I like the direct dvr better as well as the programming packages.

You do need to purchase the receivers new from the company you go with.
If you get a used receiver and there is a balance attached to it, you will have to pay that balance to use the receiver. They are kind of like cell phones, the serial number is permanent to the box so they know who has had it.

 

[kalrith]

I would personally go with one of Dish's Turbo HD packages that have all ready been mentioned. You get a lot of HD channels without having to pay for a bunch of crappy SD channels as well.

I remember reading on dbstalk.com that DirecTV HD DVRs cost $699 to actually buy them. They might give you a price break if you still lease it from them, but it will certainly be more than when under contract.

 

[Slick5150]

I just signed up last month with Dish's Turbo HD Silver package. I did not sign a contract. You have to pay an activation fee if yuo don't sign the contract and maybe miss out on some free HBO for 6 months offer, but I didn't care about that.

Its a pretty good option if you're like me and don't like the idea of locking into a 2 year contract.

 

[cvrefugee]

The Dish Network DVRs are the best IMO, especially the VIP722.

 

[DarkTXKnight]

Not exactly meaning to hijack the thread, but we've been tlkaing about going satellite for months and switching from comcast (houston) . Right now we have two boxes ( both non DVR ) one is SD and one HD . there are 3 other TV's in the house that are just attached to the wall jack. for the 2 boxes and extended basic we pay about 60.00\mo

where can we find good deals on dish or direct TV ? We dont watch sports at all, but it would be nice to get extended basic on all of the TV's and we could do local with OTA receivers.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: DarkTXKnight
Not exactly meaning to hijack the thread, but we've been tlkaing about going satellite for months and switching from comcast (houston) . Right now we have two boxes ( both non DVR ) one is SD and one HD . there are 3 other TV's in the house that are just attached to the wall jack. for the 2 boxes and extended basic we pay about 60.00\mo

where can we find good deals on dish or direct TV ? We dont watch sports at all, but it would be nice to get extended basic on all of the TV's and we could do local with OTA receivers.

You are going to get the best deals by just going with the companies directly. The resellers are just their to make money and will in the end hand you off to the company anyway.

Just go to dishnetwork.com or directv.com and you can go through each site and choose what channels, receivers you want and it will show how much it will cost, you don't have to give your name or anything to just price it.

 

[SAWYER]

Originally posted by: zoiks
I have Dish and no contract. I'm not sure about my receiver situation. All I pay every month is $29.99 plus taxes which comes out to $35.xx. I have the Turbo HD package and I get all channels in HD except for the premium ones (Showtime, HBO etc).

WTH, I pay that or more and I don't have HD stations :/ What HD stations do you get?

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Sawyer

Originally posted by: zoiks
I have Dish and no contract. I'm not sure about my receiver situation. All I pay every month is $29.99 plus taxes which comes out to $35.xx. I have the Turbo HD package and I get all channels in HD except for the premium ones (Showtime, HBO etc).

WTH, I pay that or more and I don't have HD stations :/ What HD stations do you get?

That is why I left DISH. They refused to allow me to subscribe to TurboHD alone because I was already an existing customer. Only new customers could get the TurboHD by itself. I would have had to keep the SD channels to get the HD, so I told them to shove it and sent them back the receiver.

 

[sportage]

Its all in the equipment, " if " you can get " them " to co operate.
Dish hd dvr actually has tri tuners. Two satellite, one ota HD.
If you have an antenna added in, you can get and record HD ota locals.
VERY NICE!!!!
But... seems all these companies, satellite thru cable treat their dvr's like you were asking for free gold or the family jewels. The'll give you one, but two... not easy to get.
That really irks me. Even cable will tell you "only one dvr per household policy".

After years with dish I managed to get two HD 722 dvr's. Finally.
Just what I wanted. Just what they refused to do for a long time.

Also, dish has a promo where you get the max channels for 1 cent a month for a year, when enrolled in auto-pay billing.

But you can't beat their HD tri tuner dvr. Does directv have them also??? (I dont know)

 

[leglez]

It looks like dish is going to be the best route for me. For $57/month, I get 2 HD receivers, classic bronze 100 channels, and bronze hd 50 channels. There is a $100 setup fee, but there is no contract Is it possible to haggle with dish? I know with directtv you can somewhat haggle with their prices. If I call them can they change some numbers around?

 

[hclarkjr]

you should call dish anyhow to find out exactly what they are going to charge you for everything including the install. that is one of the mistakes i made with them. ask them if they will give you a deal, what is the worse they can say? no? be warned their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Sawyer

Originally posted by: zoiks
I have Dish and no contract. I'm not sure about my receiver situation. All I pay every month is $29.99 plus taxes which comes out to $35.xx. I have the Turbo HD package and I get all channels in HD except for the premium ones (Showtime, HBO etc).

WTH, I pay that or more and I don't have HD stations :/ What HD stations do you get?

That is why I left DISH. They refused to allow me to subscribe to TurboHD alone because I was already an existing customer. Only new customers could get the TurboHD by itself. I would have had to keep the SD channels to get the HD, so I told them to shove it and sent them back the receiver.

FYI as of Feb. 1 TurboHD has been available to existing customers.

I agree with you though. New customers typically get the best deals, and long-time customers get the shaft. This is one of the many reasons I'm going with free TV and cancelling DirecTV.