OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV

We live in a rural area in SE Kansas and our local, independent cable provider just announced he will close shop at the end of July. I would be irritated but he guy is 72 years old and has provided excellent service for years. He can't find a buyer and is worn out.

We are comparing Dish vs Direct. Quite frankly Dish seems to be looking better, but:

What do you guys think?

RonB

Reply to
RonB
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I have Dish. It sucks pond scum.

Reply to
krw

I have Direct and very happy with it I can save us both $100 if you give my account number at signup

Direct has better HD programming. They also offer whole house setup, great for the DVR.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I have direcTV and I'm not that unsatisfied but I'm paying over $60 a month now that all my discount and all their price increased have kicked in. We watch a few channels a lot and a lot of channels not very often.

If I was starting fresh and could get the new customer discount, I would go with DircTV but since I can't seem to get anymore discounts, I'm thinking of going as a new customer to dish network so I can upgrade my equipment and get a good price for the first year of a two year agreement. It would be nice to have DVR since we don't have that now and dish seems to have a good deal going for new customers.

I talked with a guy down the road that just quit directv for dish and he says one might as well just change between the two every two years to upgrade the equipment and keep the price low for half the two years of the contract. I still am having trouble making the final decision to change tho. I've never had dish network before.

-C-

Reply to
Country

Oh Hell ----- Poll!!!!

I knew it was wrong as I hit the mouse button! :^}

RonB

Reply to
RonB

Dish. I don't think there's anything inherently *WRONG* with direct tv, but you will have one HELL of a time canceling them if you ever don't want them. We've had dish for 5 years now, no problems.

Reply to
Steve Barker

I had dish for over 14 years but cancelled them when the jacked extra receiver fees and DVR fees a LOT.

my extra receiver fee increased from 5 dollars a month to 17 bucks a month and theres evidence they are going up again.....

see

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for in depth discussions of satellite tv

Reply to
bob haller

When I first started working at DISH Network I was amazed that so many channels even existed! I did further research to see how they matched up against other major TV providers and I was surprised by what I found out about the price, programming differences and how all their customer services matched up. BestTvForMe.com was the best site I found with no bias and I still recommend it to this day to anyone who asks me which TV provider is the best.

-------------------------------------

Reply to
NicoleV

"NicoleV" wrote

I found much of it useless. It rates "packages" as an item from on to four stars. What really matters is what packages are of interest to you, not to him. The number of channels is meaningless if they are not the ones you want to to watch. He breaks down the cost per channel for each supplier. I don't care if one supplier has 900 channels at 2¢ or one had 200 at 40¢ if they are not the ones I want to watch. I may use 25 of the total in real life.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Not really. Two unpaid bills in a row and you are cancelled.

OTOH, there is that problem of the unpaid bill. If you finally do pay it, even a year later, they will resume service and billing. ;)

nb

Reply to
notbob

=A0The number of channels is meaningless if they are not the ones you

That's right. I have about 70% of the channels on direcTV not even show up when I'm searching for something to watch.

Reply to
Country

IMO, they're both rip-offs. It's nothing to be running a $90-100 mo bill from either of these providers. To get animal/nature chans, science/history/learning chans, home/food/DIY chans, Turner, the news feeds, the whole spectrum of cable, we were paying DTV over $90 mo. That's with NO premium movie chans or even local access and PBS! We did get TCM. For PBS and local affiliate access, we'd have been paying almost $100 mo. Still, no premium chans. I checked with Dish and to get similar programing, we'd pay a similar price. Screw that.

I now get Netflix for $30 mo. Four DVDs a week and 24/7 streaming videos. Most of the crappy TV stuff (is there any other kind?) is available, if that's your bag. I get news off the web.

nb

Reply to
notbob

Speaking of poles, there's a mistake some folks make: they mount the dish on the roof.

Much better to concrete a 2" metal post in the ground and mount the dish about seven feet up. Alternatively, bolt the sucker to a railing on your deck. And, yes, you can bury the cable.

By having the dish where you can easily reach it, several wonderful things happen.

  • It's easier to aim.
  • It's easier to service or replace.
  • It's easier to clear the snow, leaves, or other obstructions from it.
Reply to
HeyBub

How does that netflix thing work? I've got a 3GB data limit on my internet access but I wonder if netflix runs on it's own thing and wouldn't effect my regular internet stuff.

-C-

Reply to
Country

My dish is on a pole in the back yard. Only about three feet high off the ground. The guy buried the cable just under the sod and it has never been a problem for the 10+ years it's been there.

-C-

Reply to
Country

Bytes are bytes. The movies you stream will go against your 3gb. If my DVR is any indication, TV eats about a gig an hour for standard NTSC quality.

Reply to
gfretwell

I have Dish and I like the hardware. I have 2 boxes, one DVR one regular with 2 tuners each. They all output on separate channels for distribution through the house and 2 tuners use RF remotes that work just about anywhere in the house. I have all of the outputs combined into one cable distribution amp that feeds the rest of the house. That gives each TV a shot at every tuner. The corresponding RF remote will control that tuner. The native output of the DVR/tuner feeds my main TV and the other native feeds my ReplayTV. That outputs on Ch3 for the house amp.

It sounds confusing but it is really pretty easy to use.

Reply to
gfretwell

I was wondering about the ""pole", but quickly realized you meant "poll"

HB

Reply to
Higgs Boson

Ok if you want to commit to a two year contract.

Reply to
A. Baum

Mine was driven in the ground with a post driver (no concrete) by the installer, and has been there 5 yrs without any movement. AND it's back behind the detached garage completely outta sight from the street or the house. Comes in on a 170' composite (2cat 5's and 2 quadshield coax) cable underground.

Reply to
Steve Barker

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