directv or dish network?

**psyklone** · November 16th, 2002, 07:04 PM

we recently made a new addition to the family ... a 56" widescreen hdtv. it's got an awesome picture and it's freakin' huge. i believe my wife's first words when she walked into the living room and saw it were,"sweet mother of crap!"

but anyway, so i've decided that cable just isn't going to cut it anymore. i want to get either directv or the dish network and i'd like some input on experiences with them. i've never had satellite before so i'd like to hear about any technical difficulties, how's the customer service, etc.

right now i'm leaning towards directv because they have hdnet, a channel that's completely broadcast in high definition but i'm still undecided. help!

**Sweeper** · November 16th, 2002, 07:10 PM

I have Directv and my brother has Dish Network. We both agree that Directv is much nicer. I have a Philips 55" HDTV and I love the picture.

**surreal** · November 16th, 2002, 07:16 PM

I thought the better of the two was whether you wanted tons of movies or tons of sports?
I had Directv btw and I really liked the quality of signal.. But sheesh! All the sports and junk like that!

Someone then told me they have more movies on Dish Network..

**cracked** · November 16th, 2002, 08:02 PM

i have dish network and it sucks

drew

**jkrohn** · November 16th, 2002, 08:06 PM

Originally posted by cracked
i have dish network and it sucks

drew

Lol, short and to the point there man!

Jkrohn

**psyklone** · November 16th, 2002, 08:30 PM

cracked ... what is it specifically that makes it suck?

**Brainchild** · November 16th, 2002, 09:09 PM

I have Dish also, not any different from cable IMO, just twice as much of nothing to watch

Both have starz,hbo,showtime,cimemax, so ya get the same movies,the pakages between the two differ some.Mom has Direct TV, I can't tell a difference quality wise. We have the same size tv, also. 6 of1 1-2 dozen the other i think

**desmocat** · November 17th, 2002, 12:35 AM

Well, since I am just down the road from you south of Fort worth,
One thing that I noticed is that DirecTV is great for forecasting when it's about to come a freakin' flood...(especailly in the spring when the big boomers come into town.
The picture will start pixelating and the sound goes all garbled, then goes completely out.. then about 5 minutes later
KA-SPLASH!! here come 'de rain in buckets! It seems the rain while it's in the clouds on the way down will block the signal about 2 to 5 minutes before it hits the ground!

I have had a good experience with direcTV ,they will do a "free weekend" every so often and let you have some channels that you normally don't get from friday till monday morning, to see which movie channels and such that you might like. We have one package that has HBO, and sometimes we get the free Showtime or Starz weekends to check out.
I think our package is the total choice silver or something, and it's about 55~60 bucks a month.

Too bad you didn't have your HDTV when channel 8 fired up their digital transmitter a couple years back and shut down a whole side of the ICU unit in one of the hospitals that faced the antenna

It seems that the digital signal messed with the telemetry of the patient monitors and it looked liked all the people on the side that was facing channel 8's antenna all flatlined at the same time.

**cracked** · November 17th, 2002, 12:45 AM

well, i guess by itself, dish is ok except other than hbo, cinemax, etc., there is nothing to watch, but compared to directv which my friend has, it aint so hot. directv is just a lot nicer in my opinion. also, where i live, local channels are not available w/ dish and are available w/ directv.

drew

**pickel** · November 17th, 2002, 12:48 AM

WE had Direct TV till they tried to rip us off on the boxes ( long story) and we now have DISH Network. Basically the same set up.
Search seems alot simpler and picture quality is good. Lots of good "off channels" , plenty of variety. I mostly listen to Tech TV while I'm surfing and if something interesting comes on , I'll check it out. The best part is...my wife pays the bill...LOL

**Brainchild** · November 17th, 2002, 01:26 AM

We got Dish to have more to watch, but we still watch the sam thing

I like starz pretty wel, the western channel is cool if ya like cowboy shootem up movies

**ben-the-slacker** · November 17th, 2002, 02:44 AM

Regular cable around here is provided by Adelphia

and monthly fee is about $40 after taxes. That's only for like 60 channels. For Directv, that same amount could get us 125 channels.
I've been trying to convince the parents to get it, but they just won't listen...arg

**nunyadam** · November 17th, 2002, 02:57 AM

I thought "Dish" bought direct./!/?

http://www.nwfusion.com/auddev/pop/FOC163.html

**desmocat** · November 17th, 2002, 11:59 AM

I thought that deal got nixed by the guvmint because of a anti-trust ruling?

**nunyadam** · November 19th, 2002, 04:58 AM

ok thats right i remember that now.

**Imanage** · November 19th, 2002, 01:39 PM

I've got Dish Network with the PVR/tivo-like box. It's got soapnet for the missus and the tool-time shows for me.

**SickPup404** · November 19th, 2002, 01:52 PM

Originally posted by surreal
I thought the better of the two was whether you wanted tons of movies or tons of sports?
I had Directv btw and I really liked the quality of signal.. But sheesh! All the sports and junk like that!
Someone then told me they have more movies on Dish Network..

I heard the same. My wifes cousin had DishNetwork, but dumped it cause he's a sports junkie. We've got DishNetwork and it seems fine to us...

**necromancer** · November 19th, 2002, 04:38 PM

My experience with direct tv was that whenever a storm came in the signal went out.

**imapostalnut** · November 20th, 2002, 06:54 PM

I bought the DirectTV package at our county fair, supposed to be a good deal..... I get 100% ALL Programming for 4 months during the football season for about $45 then switch to another plan before feb. Of course they will tell ya anything to make a sale. like the 2 receivers were included.... well, only in installation, not in reception... DTV charged for the second one. The installer did run a cable and hooked up a 3rd tv for me for free, just needed a splitter anyway. What I enjoy most is the ability to have my own favorites list so I can skip the channels (sports,news,music) that I am not interested in. And my son has his own. Then the Turbo channels are nice. I love the biography, history, E!, and A&E. I thought I would love all the shopping channels but after Ebay, I am totally spoiled. Now the quality of the TV really does make a difference. For some reason my 27" tv is really fuzzy so I have to sit really close to read all the descriptions. But from a distance the pictures seem fine. Santa is bringing me a new tv for xmas so that won't be a problem anymore.

All in All, I would say I am enjoying my DTV and when I did have a problem, I called the number and they fixed me right up. All I had to do was to unplug my receiver and all my channels came right back. One day they just all disappeared. Funny!

Lori

**surreal** · November 21st, 2002, 01:57 PM

Hi Lori! Welcome to Techimo!!

woohoo another computer babe!
I tell ya if you got the deal on yer dish from the LA County fair,, you did indeed get a great deal! I got mine there too but not until pricing them at all the usual places.

And yes with either you loose signal if there is major atmospheric interference.. ie thunder storm.