Dish or DirecTV

[shrader]

I'm moving next month and I'm thinking of changing up my tv a bit. I'd love to hear some experience people have with direct tv (not sure if it will even be an option in the new place, but why not ask around). Comcast seems to be getting more and more pricey, so if I can move away from that, I'd be happy. For those of you who do have it, which way did you wind up going for internet?

[ubkev]

I'm in the same boat. I'm moving to a new place at the beginning of august and I'm going with direcTV. All i really care about is getting the sabres on msg and msg+ and it better not be a problem here in Pennsylvania!

 

Going with comcast for internet still.

[BuffaloSoldier2010]

I've never been a huge fan of satellite in general, but i have several family members who have Direct TV, and when its working (ie there isn't a typhoon outside) it works wonderful.

 

Fios is gaining ground quick, and the internet speed blows my highspeed cable connection out of the water. It's like comcast or TW on steroids.

 

Direct TV seems to work most of the time, and when its up it works wonderful. That also probably depends on location and tree coverage around your house / building as well. Just my two cents.

[nfreeman]

I've had DTV since 1997 and overall am pretty happy with it. Bottom line is that it still has the most HD channels (and by far the most HD hockey). Last season, I had home and away HD feeds for almost every NHL game (except for Canadian feeds, which for some reason are still mostly SD). The cost has steadily risen over time but I think it's still the same or a bit less than cable.

 

If you care about the NFL, DTV is, I believe, still the only TV provider with the Sunday ticket.

 

My main gripe with DTV is that it takes too long to change channels. There is a 1-2 second delay every time you hit channel up or down. Cable is much quicker. Not a big deal, but annoying.

 

For internet, I have a cable modem from earthlink (which just resells TWC in my neighborhood, but whatever). I'd prefer to get fiber, but my neighborhood isn't wired for it yet.

[Weave]

I've had DirecTV for about 6 months. Switched from Dish Network because DN and MSG were squabbling and I was missing games. I've just got their basic package with MSG and MSG+. I don;t even have VErsus. Went with DirecTV over cable because the price was lower. I;ve been happy for the most part. Like nfreeman sez, there is an annoying delay when switching channels but it doesn;t really bother me. And the dish location could've been better. I get a great HD signal in the winter but when the trees leafed out my HD signal became spotty. But that isn't a DirecTV issue, it's an issue with the installer. It's a fee to get them to come out and move it, it'll leave me with holes to seal in my roof, and I don;t watch much TV in the Summer so it's not gonna get moved anytime soon.

 

I have Verizon DSL for my internets and it's all I need for the surfing I do.

[shrader]

If you care about the NFL, DTV is, I believe, still the only TV provider with the Sunday ticket.

 

It's free this year for new customers, something that has definitely caught my eye. I love the idea of actually getting all Sabre games in HD too. But obviously this will all depend on the building. It's a pretty big apartment complex and I have a balcony which hopefully faces the right direction. For all I know, since it's a large complex, there may already be a dish in place somewhere.

 

As for the delay changing stations, I go completely by the channel guides now anyway, so I never use the up/down buttons anymore.

[Bmwolf21]

I've had DTV since 1997 and overall am pretty happy with it. Bottom line is that it still has the most HD channels (and by far the most HD hockey). Last season, I had home and away HD feeds for almost every NHL game (except for Canadian feeds, which for some reason are still mostly SD). The cost has steadily risen over time but I think it's still the same or a bit less than cable.

 

If you care about the NFL, DTV is, I believe, still the only TV provider with the Sunday ticket.

 

My main gripe with DTV is that it takes too long to change channels. There is a 1-2 second delay every time you hit channel up or down. Cable is much quicker. Not a big deal, but annoying.

 

For internet, I have a cable modem from earthlink (which just resells TWC in my neighborhood, but whatever). I'd prefer to get fiber, but my neighborhood isn't wired for it yet.

Pretty much how I feel. We've had DTV since 2006 and we love it. I know we have a resident DTV/TV expert here or over on TSW who can explain about the lag in channel-changing/tuning, but I think it is more an issue with the DTV box than the service, though. Our standard-def non-DVR box in the bedroom tunes fast, no issues, but we see more and more lag (in order) with the standard-def DVR and then the hi-def DVR. I could be dead wrong about the issue being the boxes, but that's been my experience.

[BuffalOhio]

DirecTV is awesome. I've had it in VA and OH since 2001. The DVR's are great. I have TWC for Internet.

 

Make sure your balcony faces Southwest with no obstructions and you'll be fine if they let you do it.

 

Fezmid over on TBD is quite the expert on DTV.

 

Did you start reffing yet, Shrader? The clinics start up again in August!

 

:worthy:

[wjag]

I've had DTV since 1997. I lose signal anytime we get a good rain. The price of Sunday Ticket and the NHL goes up seemingly every year. They nickel and dime you. I pay 18 dollars per month in receiver fees, 10 dollars for HD and 60 bucks for their medium package without premium channels. I really wish there was an alternative to NFL Sunday ticket. I'd be gone in a NY minute. Their HD-DVR is decent, but of course they charge for that too.

 

But my most annoying aspect, that I still haven't solved is my upstairs HD receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My downstairs receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My unpstairs and downstairs receivers don't get the same stations. What works upstairs, say VersusHD doesn't come in downstairs. Downstairs I might get DiscoveryHD but not upstairs. I just get the searching for signal. Maddenining.

 

Tonight my downstairs receiver went tango uniform. So after 30 minutes on the phone with DTV convincing them that it indeed was tango uniform, they are sending me a "new" receiver (actually a refurb). They told me I'm a good customer so they are waiving the 20 fee for replacement.

 

I also hate that their receivers are not smart enough to know that I have HD channels and so I must push through the SD channel of the station I want to get to the HD channel.

 

Now I'll say one thing positive about them. No I won't.

[Eleven]

I've had DTV since 1997. I lose signal anytime we get a good rain. The price of Sunday Ticket and the NHL goes up seemingly every year. They nickel and dime you. I pay 18 dollars per month in receiver fees, 10 dollars for HD and 60 bucks for their medium package without premium channels. I really wish there was an alternative to NFL Sunday ticket. I'd be gone in a NY minute. Their HD-DVR is decent, but of course they charge for that too.

 

But my most annoying aspect, that I still haven't solved is my upstairs HD receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My downstairs receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My unpstairs and downstairs receivers don't get the same stations. What works upstairs, say VersusHD doesn't come in downstairs. Downstairs I might get DiscoveryHD but not upstairs. I just get the searching for signal. Maddenining.

 

Tonight my downstairs receiver went tango uniform. So after 30 minutes on the phone with DTV convincing them that it indeed was tango uniform, they are sending me a "new" receiver (actually a refurb). They told me I'm a good customer so they are waiving the 20 fee for replacement.

 

I also hate that their receivers are not smart enough to know that I have HD channels and so I must push through the SD channel of the station I want to get to the HD channel.

 

Now I'll say one thing positive about them. No I won't.

 

Ouch. If that's not an ad for Time Warner, I don't know what is. I know they don't carry the NFL package, and I am not a Center Ice customer, but I've been very happy with TW since they took over Adelphia's operations.

[BetweenThePipes00]

I have had DirecTV for more than 10 years in several different places ... some of what WJAG says has been true for me (nickel and diming, weird receiver issues, although none as extreme as his), but I have never had the issues of it going out because of weather that so many complain about ... maybe I have just been lucky but in five different houses/apartments I have never lost it for more than a couple minutes, and that's during the worst violent storms/tornado warnings here in Tennessee. If it starts to flicker we know a storm is coming, but by the time it actually gets to us, our signal is usually back already. Overall, the ability to see all the Bills games outweighs the little annoyances for me.

 

That said, the NFL package is so expensive I threatened to cancel it last year and they have me a big discount. With them giving it away again to new people, you can bet I will try that again.

 

Oh, shrader, your apartment people probably will not let you attach a dish, but don't quit on it cuz of that. I had that situation once and the installer told me to go down to Home Depot and buy one of their big orange paint buckets ... I had it waiting for him and he mixed concrete in it, stuck a pole in it and attached the dish to that. He used tape to mark the sides of the bucket and the floor of the patio so I could re-align it if it got bumped ... I never had a problem. he said they do it all the time. When I moved, I left it there and brought the receivers to the new house and they hooked me up with a new dish. For all I know the next person in that apartment is using it now. One of my friends once had no patio/balcony and he did the same thing but pointed it OUT A BEDROOM WINDOW and it worked fine as long as he kept the bushes in front of the window trimmed.

[shrader]

DirecTV is awesome. I've had it in VA and OH since 2001. The DVR's are great. I have TWC for Internet.

 

Make sure your balcony faces Southwest with no obstructions and you'll be fine if they let you do it.

 

Fezmid over on TBD is quite the expert on DTV.

 

Did you start reffing yet, Shrader? The clinics start up again in August!

 

:worthy:

 

That's not happening any time soon. I'm probably going to be on the mend soon (a topic for tomorrow's thread), so that's a big part of why I want to make this new apartment as entertaining as possible.

[inkman]

Shrads,

 

Switched to Directv this year with NO REGRETS other than I didn't switch sooner. No issues with weather, DVR is about 5X bigger, better picture, more channels. Do yourself a favor and switch. TWC are ###### thieves.

[Jeanbe]

I've had DTV for over 5 years and it is cheaper then Cox cable here in Phx. I get the NFL Sunday (about to be cancelled as soon as I can) and Center Ice. Some nights I'm stuck watching the Sabres in SD but overall DTV has been great.

[nfreeman]

Pretty much how I feel. We've had DTV since 2006 and we love it. I know we have a resident DTV/TV expert here or over on TSW who can explain about the lag in channel-changing/tuning, but I think it is more an issue with the DTV box than the service, though. Our standard-def non-DVR box in the bedroom tunes fast, no issues, but we see more and more lag (in order) with the standard-def DVR and then the hi-def DVR. I could be dead wrong about the issue being the boxes, but that's been my experience.

Interesting. I bet you're right.

 

Shrader -- definitely get the HD DVR. Worth every penny.

 

I've had DTV since 1997. I lose signal anytime we get a good rain. The price of Sunday Ticket and the NHL goes up seemingly every year. They nickel and dime you. I pay 18 dollars per month in receiver fees, 10 dollars for HD and 60 bucks for their medium package without premium channels. I really wish there was an alternative to NFL Sunday ticket. I'd be gone in a NY minute. Their HD-DVR is decent, but of course they charge for that too.

 

But my most annoying aspect, that I still haven't solved is my upstairs HD receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My downstairs receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My unpstairs and downstairs receivers don't get the same stations. What works upstairs, say VersusHD doesn't come in downstairs. Downstairs I might get DiscoveryHD but not upstairs. I just get the searching for signal. Maddenining.

 

Tonight my downstairs receiver went tango uniform. So after 30 minutes on the phone with DTV convincing them that it indeed was tango uniform, they are sending me a "new" receiver (actually a refurb). They told me I'm a good customer so they are waiving the 20 fee for replacement.

 

I also hate that their receivers are not smart enough to know that I have HD channels and so I must push through the SD channel of the station I want to get to the HD channel.

 

Now I'll say one thing positive about them. No I won't.

I agree 100% with the bolded part -- the nickel-and-diming on the bill and the outright gouging on the NFL package are both really annoying. And I have had some pretty annoying customer service delays and installation/equipment failures. But I'm sure the cable company doesn't exactly send out a team of Navy seals and I think the overall bill is still the same or a bit less than a comparable cable setup.

 

As for pushing through the SD channels to get to the HD -- there is an easy fix for this. You can customize the guide to get only the HD versions of the various channels (and for that matter to delete the million other crappy channels), and when you do, when you channel-surf, you will get only the HD versions.

 

I have had DirecTV for more than 10 years in several different places ... some of what WJAG says has been true for me (nickel and diming, weird receiver issues, although none as extreme as his), but I have never had the issues of it going out because of weather that so many complain about ... maybe I have just been lucky but in five different houses/apartments I have never lost it for more than a couple minutes, and that's during the worst violent storms/tornado warnings here in Tennessee. If it starts to flicker we know a storm is coming, but by the time it actually gets to us, our signal is usually back already. Overall, the ability to see all the Bills games outweighs the little annoyances for me.

I too only lose the signal in very extreme weather, and almost never for longer than a minute or 2. It's only happened once or twice in 14 years that the bulk of a program has been wiped out.

 

I used to feel the same way about getting the Bills games, but the last few years have taken away that factor...

[nucci]

If you live outside the Buffalo area and want to watch every Bills and Sabres game, DirecTV is the way to go. I'm in the Philly/Delaware area and have had it since 1998.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

I've had DTV since 1997. I lose signal anytime we get a good rain. The price of Sunday Ticket and the NHL goes up seemingly every year. They nickel and dime you. I pay 18 dollars per month in receiver fees, 10 dollars for HD and 60 bucks for their medium package without premium channels. I really wish there was an alternative to NFL Sunday ticket. I'd be gone in a NY minute. Their HD-DVR is decent, but of course they charge for that too.

 

But my most annoying aspect, that I still haven't solved is my upstairs HD receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My downstairs receiver doesn't get all the HD stations it should. My unpstairs and downstairs receivers don't get the same stations. What works upstairs, say VersusHD doesn't come in downstairs. Downstairs I might get DiscoveryHD but not upstairs. I just get the searching for signal. Maddenining.

 

Tonight my downstairs receiver went tango uniform. So after 30 minutes on the phone with DTV convincing them that it indeed was tango uniform, they are sending me a "new" receiver (actually a refurb). They told me I'm a good customer so they are waiving the 20 fee for replacement.

 

I also hate that their receivers are not smart enough to know that I have HD channels and so I must push through the SD channel of the station I want to get to the HD channel.

 

Now I'll say one thing positive about them. No I won't.

I suggest ya go over to dbstalk.com I think many of your issues are resolvable. A simple setting on your receiver will hide the SD channel so if ya want ESPN HD just 206 and your done. The not getting the right channels could be as simple as going to directv web site and doing a reset on the receivers or you may actually have improper wiring.

 

Folks complain about slow switching of channels and that is a program guide issue that is actively being worked on. people complain about nickle and diming I guess they forget how cable was before they left.

 

I have been with Directv since 1995 and am probably never leaving.

[wjag]

I suggest ya go over to dbstalk.com I think many of your issues are resolvable. A simple setting on your receiver will hide the SD channel so if ya want ESPN HD just 206 and your done. The not getting the right channels could be as simple as going to directv web site and doing a reset on the receivers or you may actually have improper wiring.

 

I understand the delete channels options. I just maintain I shouldn't have to. It's 2011. Cars park themselves (although I don't think I would ever trust one to do this). How tough could it be to have a receiver understand that it's HD and auto deprecate the SD channels?

 

Now the receiver issue I have been fighting for years. Consensus of the DirecTV techs is it probably is a wiring issue. Aiming fine. Signal strength fine. They can switch LNBs and the problem channels just switch from upstairs to downstairs. It's whacky. The techs they have sent to the abode just don't seem to understand how to fix my issue.

 

Just did a quick check out of DBSTALK. Nice tip. Thank you. Highlights how many problems people have with their DTV....

 

Maybe the new receiver will solve some of the issues.

[Taro T]

I understand the delete channels options. I just maintain I shouldn't have to. It's 2011. Cars park themselves (although I don't think I would ever trust one to do this). How tough could it be to have a receiver understand that it's HD and auto deprecate the SD channels?

 

Now the receiver issue I have been fighting for years. Consensus of the DirecTV techs is it probably is a wiring issue. Aiming fine. Signal strength fine. They can switch LNBs and the problem channels just switch from upstairs to downstairs. It's whacky. The techs they have sent to the abode just don't seem to understand how to fix my issue.

 

Just did a quick check out of DBSTALK. Nice tip. Thank you. Highlights how many problems people have with their DTV....

 

Maybe the new receiver will solve some of the issues.

There are at least 3 scenarios where a person would need the HD receiver to be able to produce the SD signal. If there is an HD TV also wired in to an older SD TV because both have PiP receivers which will not show PiP without a 2nd signal coming in to the 2nd receiver and the person wants to see PiP on the SD set. If you send an HD signal to the SD TV, I'm fairly certain that the SD TV would not be able to show it w/out a decoder box attached. (Just like it can no longer show over the air broadcasts w/out a decoder box.)

 

Another scenario would be having the HD box connected to an SD TV either due to subbing an SD TV for a broken HD TV or because you wanted to have TV out on the deck and didn't want to move the $1,500 TV outside.

 

The 3rd scenario I could think of that would necessitate having the ability to show the SD signal is if the normal HD broadcast of a particular channel is having technical issues but they aren't translating to the SD broadcast of that channel. Being able to show the SD channel would be useful in that situation and the HD receiver would not be expected to know the issue arose.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

I understand the delete channels options. I just maintain I shouldn't have to. It's 2011. Cars park themselves (although I don't think I would ever trust one to do this). How tough could it be to have a receiver understand that it's HD and auto deprecate the SD channels?

 

Now the receiver issue I have been fighting for years. Consensus of the DirecTV techs is it probably is a wiring issue. Aiming fine. Signal strength fine. They can switch LNBs and the problem channels just switch from upstairs to downstairs. It's whacky. The techs they have sent to the abode just don't seem to understand how to fix my issue.

 

Just did a quick check out of DBSTALK. Nice tip. Thank you. Highlights how many problems people have with their DTV....

 

Maybe the new receiver will solve some of the issues.

I pointed you to dbstalk to help look for resolution of issues, yes lots of folks have issues but the site has very knowledgeable folks that can help ya better than technicioans etc. since of the DTV folks they send out are contractors. To me it sounds like your issues is wiring and thats probably in the house issues. Is this a house prewired for cable if so it could be the wiring is junk and ya really need it properly wired since they have changed out LNBS and your issues move.

 

Taro is spot on on why SD channels matter.

[Rox11]

I've had Direct TV for almost 2 years. Locked in - no movie channels or anything ( the Choice Package ) - and consistently, the bill has been less than $50. I had to drop my cable (Charter) when they refused to offer the Center Ice package. I'm out in the sticks in central MA, but a clear SW view leads to excellent coverage .. except during hard rain. I also have Verizon DSL. I'll be sticking with Direct TV for quite some time.

[shrader]

A couple quick ones based off of some of these responses:

 

Wiring: How much of that do they actually do? Do the receivers actually have to have a hard line connection to the dish itself or are they "wireless" as the name seems to imply?

 

Nickle and diming: What's the typical fee for the standard equipment that most people tend to have, HD DVR and receivers?

[wjag]

A couple quick ones based off of some of these responses:

 

Wiring: How much of that do they actually do? Do the receivers actually have to have a hard line connection to the dish itself or are they "wireless" as the name seems to imply?

 

Nickle and diming: What's the typical fee for the standard equipment that most people tend to have, HD DVR and receivers?

 

It is a wired system. The only wireless in my setup is the remote.

 

Each Receivers 6/mo, HD 10/mo, Each DVR 7/mo, Total Choice package 60/mo... That's before you roll in CI ($171) or Sunday Ticket ($335)

[shrader]

It is a wired system. The only wireless in it is the remote.

 

Each Receivers 6/mo, HD 10/mo, Each DVR 7/mo, Total Choice package 60/mo... That's before you roll in CI (171) or Sunday Ticket ($335)

 

Thanks. I've paid for center ice for years now, so I'm completely used to that. I'll take the ticket as long as it's free, but after that, I'm not interested.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

A couple quick ones based off of some of these responses:

 

Wiring: How much of that do they actually do? Do the receivers actually have to have a hard line connection to the dish itself or are they "wireless" as the name seems to imply?

 

Nickle and diming: What's the typical fee for the standard equipment that most people tend to have, HD DVR and receivers?

On your questions:

Wiring: Not sure I know what ya mean. Receivers have a COAX wire coming into them with some of the new setups with MultiRoom Viewing and using a SWM ( single Wire multiplexor) you can actually use splitters. Many of the new dishes have SWM built in so splitters can be utilized however in old wirings all receivers had a wire going back to the dish itself.

 

Nickle and Diming: I have HD service but have to pay 10$ a month more for some extra HD channels like Smithosian that irritates me just put it in one package. each receiver has a charge and dvr service has a charge but I dont see that as nickel and diming just paying for services on a per box capability. You also pay extra for the MRV option. All of these are similar charges to what ya get from any provider.