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Satellite TV question

Eshaw99

Eshaw99

Just livin' the dream
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
2,162
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
First Name
Eric
We moved here to Indiana and bought our house last April. At the time, our cable provider was Insight Communications. About 2 months ago, they were bought out by Comcast. We've been getting letters for weeks informing us of the switch and to be prepared for changes in our service. Well, we've had no change in our service at all except for the fact that our bill last month jumped up 30 dollars :angry: . For that 30 extra dollars a month, I get exactly not one damn thing more that I wasn't already getting before. I told them that the next call they get from me would be the one to cancel my service while my new dish is being installed...

I've always had cable, so I have no experience with satellite TV. Should I get DirecTV or Dish Network? I don't have an HDTV, so I'm not really worried about their HD service. Does anyone know the pros and cons of each? The only reviews I can find seem to come from biased sources.

Damn cable company...
 
I have had Directv for 8 years, so I can't say what is better about the other service. However, you should know that when it rains real hard, the service goes out.
 
I've had Directv since day one. Except for rain fade I've had no problems.
 
The signal will start to freeze and break up. It's nothing like when an anolog TV loses it's signal. Depending on how strong the signal is will determine how much cloud cover will screw it up. Kind of an ambiguous answer, I know. Usually a downpour-type rain or snowfall will do it. Light rain or average cloud cover won't bother you.

Also, make sure you have a clear line of site to the satellite when you put the dish in. Trees or buildings in the way will reduce or prevent reception. If you're installing at this time of year and there are trees in the line of site, remember that when they grow leaves, that will cut down the signal.
 
Eshaw- I have had DirecTV for 10+years, and have loved everything about it (the service, the picture, the pricing, etc) up until just recently... Their service has faded quite a bit, IMO, and am considering going to Dish Network because of it.

I have a friend that just signed up for the AT&T bundle, which includes Dish Network. He had DirecTV, and loves Dish Network. One thing he says is great is the On Demand movies, where you can pull up any movie from HBO, "Skin"-imax :cool: , Starz, etc (if you subscribe to these channels) and any given time, no additional charge. I think you can do this with Pay-Per-View as well...

Good luck with your decision. Either way, you won't look back at cable...

Hope this helps.

Regards,

BT
 
I had Directv for years then switched to Dishnetwork to get local channels (abc, cbs, etc.) I can't see any difference accept for locals Directv didn't offer them in my area. Might check into that for your area.

John
 
We have Dish Network and have for a few years now. I have had zero problems except for the mentioned rain fade. That has happened about 4 times over the last 6 years and only once since we moved out of town and have a clearer path to the satellites. That was during a blizzard.

I'm a little concerned with the slow addition of HD programming, but other than that I have been very happy. My in-laws have Direct TV and they've been very happy as well. I like the Dish Network DVR A LOT more than their's.


Direct TV does have the NFL ticket which tempts me every fall, but so far that hasn't been enough to get me to switch. If the addition of HD doesn't catch up here pretty soon, though, I may make the change.

Good luck. From everything I hear they both beat the pants off of cable.
 
I like dishnetwork better, ours goes out during snow storms and real bad rain storms but thats to be expected in WI.
 
I would take direct in a heartbeat. We have dish and its terrible.Out all the time. Line of sight is ok too(SW for dish, S for direct) and theres nothing in the way. I will be switching to direct when we move. actually I have to call dish today and see if i can get them out here to look at it. Everything is out but the local channels.grrrrrrr

But one thing I will say is that whne ours is working the picture quality is alot better than the standard cable service here..

art
 
We got DirecTV when we moved to Miami so that I could continue to watch Illinois sports. We couldn't be happier. The rain fade doesn't occur more than once every few months, and only then during some storms--not every time it's cloudy or rainy. We've never had Dish so I can't truly compare the two, but I'd recommend printing out both channel lineups so that you can compare them side by side. DirecTV does have some proprietary sports programming--ESPN Full Court, Mega March Madness, whatever the MLB near-monopoly package is called, I think the NFL network as someone previously mentioned, etc.

If you do go with DirecTV, find a current subscriber that you'd like to hook up with $50. If you mention their account number during your setup process, both you and they will each receive a $50 credit.
 
I have had both Direct and Dish, and I like Direct much better. A couple of years ago when Florida was struck with several Hurricanes (Tropical Storms by time they reached me), I seldom lost signal due to rain and when I did lose the signal it was very heavy rain.

Direct also runs specials which will allow you to have the 1st year of the NFL package for free with new installations.

Ken
 
I have Direct TV with HD and a DVR. The only time our signal goes out is if 1) the dish is caked with snow or 2) the cloud cover is extremly thick. We barely ever lose signal.

I have a few friends here in teh Detroit area that have Dish. The only problem that they have is that most of our sports are on Fox Detroit sports. If the wings are playing when the Tigers are then they will move the Tigers to Fox Plus. Sometimes Dish will not have th Fox plus channel where as Direct always does.
 
I the past 4 years I have had dish network and Directtv. Started with Dish for two years. It was ok, but it went out alot and in our case did not come with local channels. We now have had driecttv for just under 2 years. I love it. The only thing that I actually liked better about Dish's setup is the menu's. The driecttv one seems more thrown together whereas with Dish I could just scroll through channels that we subscribed to. That would be the only little thing that we wish Directtv had. Ours does go out during some storms, but not often enough. And our satelite is pointed right through my neighbors house. We were told, and it seems to hold true, that it is moving stuff that hurts the satelite signal, not just something obstructing the view. maybe someone else could explain that better than I, but we love our HD and we have no problems with the signal going through someones house. :)

Don
 
Ask your neighbors, I bet they could tell you how clear or how often the picture goes out, or who gives better service for your area. They just installed Dish at my house yesterday, but so far it's fine. And DVR kicks ass.
 
Eshaw99, is there plans for an HDTV in the future? I would lean towards Directv if so, their HD capacity is much better than Dishnetwork's and the picture quality is better than Comcast's due to Comcast compressing their HD channels to provide faster internet service. The rainfade is not an issue for either Dish/Direct atleast in my local and shouldn't be for you in Indiana. Here is a couple of links discussing Comcast's degrading PQ.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24238071/

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271

C&R
 
MandyPi said:
I have had Directv for 8 years, so I can't say what is better about the other service. However, you should know that when it rains real hard, the service goes out.
Click to expand...

x2. I have NEVER had problems with my service. Only time it has ever gone out is when we have tornadoes and that is expected.

*edit

Directv has much more to offer in the HD department if you are interested in that.
 
I've had both DirecTV and Dish. Service was exactly the same for both. Even during heavy thunderstorms, as long as there was electricity, there was Satellite TV. DirecTV offers XM, DISH offers Sirius. That's the only difference. Plus some sports package variances... Aside from that, go with whoever is cheaper and offers more. Might be Dish...
 
One simple fact for me.

NFL Ticket exclusive to Directv until 2010 = LouTam household exclusive to Directv

Lou
 
LilBastage said:
We have Dish Network and have for a few years now. I have had zero problems except for the mentioned rain fade. That has happened about 4 times over the last 6 years and only once since we moved out of town and have a clearer path to the satellites. That was during a blizzard.

I'm a little concerned with the slow addition of HD programming, but other than that I have been very happy. My in-laws have Direct TV and they've been very happy as well. I like the Dish Network DVR A LOT more than their's.


Direct TV does have the NFL ticket which tempts me every fall, but so far that hasn't been enough to get me to switch. If the addition of HD doesn't catch up here pretty soon, though, I may make the change.

Good luck. From everything I hear they both beat the pants off of cable.
Click to expand...

Same for us.

The NFL ticket is something I've wanted for years now, but just never did it.
 
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