DirecTV or Dish Network?

[Funky Dredd]

I have been with DirecTV since the mid 90's, but we are thinking about maybe switching over to Dish network. I don't purchase any of the sport packages but I do watch FSN Florida (Rays, Marlins games) and the ION channel (Rays) and I see that Dish network has those channels. But what are the drawbacks to switching to the Dish network? I have been reading a lot of reviews and they all seem to be equal with both for and against. One of the biggest draws for me to switch is that I will get 2 HD DVR's and one regular box. The dvr's would go in the living room and my son's room and the regular box would go in my bedroom. If I was to do the DirecTV HD DVR I have to pay $299 (per box) because I am an existing customer, which I think is a bunch of BS.
Does anyone have any input on the Dish network side? Another thing is my bill would be cheaper if I went with Dish network ($20 a month), but I am not sure of the quality. I would appreciate any input. Thanks!

[Steve Graham]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

FiOS

[toasty]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

Compare their HD lineups. I think DirecTV has more HD channels, by a wide margin. Haven't looked into it in a while, though, so Dish might have caught up.

[Funky Dredd]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

FiOS

It's not available in my area.

Compare their HD lineups. I think DirecTV has more HD channels, by a wide margin. Haven't looked into it in a while, though, so Dish might have caught up.

Dish has 45 channels and DIrecTV has something like 80. But out of those I may only watch 2 or 3. I am not a TV fanatic and don't watch much other than baseball. So I am not worried about it and my wife only watches a few shows and those are on the dish network in HD so no loss there. My son watches cartoon network and that's included as well. I'm starting to lean towards getting it, but I don't know anyone other than my parents that use Dish network. So it's hard to get feedback when you don't know anyone that uses it and like I said the reviews all seem to be even.

[Steve Graham]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

not in my area yet either
some of my mates have it and love it.. cant wait!

[day_for_night]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

the idea of not having reception because of the weather has turned me off ever getting a dish....

[ddr]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

my parents have Dish Network.

the only reason they stay with them is because we have a beach house and my dad set up a satellite on the house down there. we can unplug the receiver from our main house, cart it down to the beach house and watch dish tv down there if we need to. so basically, we get two houses hooked up for the price of one (per month)

i dont think any other dish/cable operators will let you do this.

[Funky Dredd]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

not in my area yet either
some of my mates have it and love it.. cant wait!

I've heard good things about it. If it was available I would get it!

the idea of not having reception because of the weather has turned me off ever getting a dish....

It's not as bad as you might think. I live in Florida and we tend to have a lot of storms, but really the only time mine goes out is if we lose power. During the hurricanes mine was still broadcasting up until I lost power. I thought I was going to lose the dish altogether but when everything cleared up it was still out there

my parents have Dish Network.

the only reason they stay with them is because we have a beach house and my dad set up a satellite on the house down there. we can unplug the receiver from our main house, cart it down to the beach house and watch dish tv down there if we need to. so basically, we get two houses hooked up for the price of one (per month)

i dont think any other dish/cable operators will let you do this.

DirecTV will charge me for a second dish, but I can take my receivers and put them wherever I want.

[BureOne]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

well because you've had Directv for a while now, it makes it hard to change anything. They always want to charge you extra for whatever.

I had Dish Network in ealy 2000, then switched to Direct TV. I love direct tv. and I do watch many HD channels. But I switched before all those were even available.

The reason why I switched back then was because Dish was not offereing FSN in HD or some local channels. Direct TV was.

Anyway, for whatever reason, I think Direct TV is better.

You may want to cancel and give a bogus reason why (moving out) and have your son or someone else open a new account with DirecTV, this way you might be able to get another contract and a better deal.

[BureOne]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

when I first ordered direct tv, they automatically gave me 2 dish's. ?

[ddr]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

DirecTV will charge me for a second dish, but I can take my receivers and put them wherever I want.

yea then, according to your needs, whatever is cheaper month to month would be my choice.

[toasty]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

If you have been with them for that long, it's probably worth giving them a call and being straight with them by just saying, "Look, here's what I'm thinking, I'd like to stay with you but Dish is offering me a better deal." Politely let him know that you're not looking for them to blow you or anything, you just want to be treated the same as a new customer/Dish customer and not "penalized" for your loyalty.

Worth a try. I've done that with Sprint, who has notoriously bad customer service, and they've stepped up to the plate to keep me as a customer.

[shosh]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

when I first ordered direct tv, they automatically gave me 2 dish's. ?

use one to eat off of.

[Dhar_2]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

or as a frisbee!!!

[Funky Dredd]

Re: DirecTV or Dish Network?

If you have been with them for that long, it's probably worth giving them a call and being straight with them by just saying, "Look, here's what I'm thinking, I'd like to stay with you but Dish is offering me a better deal." Politely let him know that you're not looking for them to blow you or anything, you just want to be treated the same as a new customer/Dish customer and not "penalized" for your loyalty.

Worth a try. I've done that with Sprint, who has notoriously bad customer service, and they've stepped up to the plate to keep me as a customer.

We called them yesterday and they basically told us they didn't give a shit. Hell the guy even gave us a termination fee (my contract expires next month). So right there that basically tells me to look elsewhere!