I just happened to be on DISH Network’s site today to look up some information when I noticed a new banner.

Apparently DISH Network now has over 200 HD channels. Add that to their free HD for life deal and I would venture to say that if you love HD, you’ll love DISH Network even more now!

Ron from Connecticut writes:

I am looking to change to DirecTV HD. I currently have Dishnetwork SD. With that, I can watch 2 diffrent shows on 2 different TVs with 1 receiver. If recording 2 different shows, I can watch 2 different pre-recorded shows at the same time on 2 different TVs. Is this also possible with HD?

I have 4 TVs. Without getting any more equipment than base packages require, how many shows can I watch simultaneously on the 4 TVs with DirecTV? How many ban I record simultaneously while watching different shows?

Thanks

Ron

Hi Ron,

I have never worked for DIRECTV so I don’t know if I’m 100% accurate on this, but DIRECTV has a new service that allows you to get one HD DVR and connect up to 16 HD receivers to it. You would pay a premium for this though. The HD DVR is $99 at checkout and each HD receiver beyond that is an additional $99 at checkout. DIRECTV doesn’t have any models that control two TVs from one receiver.

Hope this helps. If you more info you might want to call a DIRECTV rep (1-888-438-9651)

Dustin

http://www.direct-vs-dish.com

Sonny from Cordele, Georga writes:

Just examined your comparison site and was very informative. We are a standard cable subscriber and its getting out of hand.

Few questions;
1. Our TV is 20 years old and is still going very strong. Do we need to replace it?
2. If so, what would you recommend? (Would like to avoid this if possible.)
thanks..

Hi Sonny,

No you don’t need to replace it. Both Satellite providers equipment work fine with older TVs.

The only thing you may want to consider is that if you want HD (High Definition) both companies are offering it free for life right now. I’m quite sure you can order HD and it will still work with your TV, then IF you decide to upgrade your TV in the future you will have HD already.

On a side note, I purchased my last two TV’s from NewEgg.com and found great deals.

Good luck!

Dustin

http://www.direct-vs-dish.com

Kat from Columbus, GA wrote:

Thank you so much for this site..it was EXACTLY what i was looking for because i could not decide between the two, and am now POSITIVE i should go with dish! thank you!!

Thanks for the feedback Kat. Now that you have made your choice, I hope you come back in a few month and tell us what you think of your experience.

Susan from Tempe Arizona writes:

I am considering switching but there is one comparison I don’t really understand. With DISH we share a DVR box. That allows me to record on both of my TV’s and watch recordings from either tv on either one. But with Direct the boxes are separate. Does that mean I can only view what was recorded on that specific TV? That seems like a disadvantage. Can you give me your opinion about which is preferable?
Thanks!

This is a nice feature, and this comes up on a number of occasions. For example, say you start watching a recorded show in the family room, then put the kids to bed and want to finish watching the show in your bedroom. Or, maybe you have a series scheduled to record. You have to watch all the shows on the TV that you scheduled to record them.

Dish Network was the first to offer this capability, but DIRECTV has also entered the game in a big way. With Dish Network’s DuoDVR VIP 722k, you can watch on two different computers. There is a 500 MB hard drive to store all your shows. One drawback is that only one of the TV’s can have High Definition, the other will be standard. This may not be a big deal. Their newest DVR – the VIP 922 SlingLoaded DVR allows you to watch TV on your computer and mobile devices. It has double the memory with a 1 terabyte hard drive. But from what I understand you still can’t watch on more than one TV.

DIRECTV offers multi-room viewing with a single DVR. You would need the DIRECTV Plus HD DVR Receiver, and a DIRECTV Plus HD Receiver for each additional TV you want to connect. This will require a home network, which DIRECTV can professionally install. There are also other fees involved – $3/month for the Whole-Home DVR service, $10/month for HD access (currently FREE for life for new customers), and $7/month for DVR service. Also, each receiver beyond your first will be $5 per month. So to put in two HD TVs and share the same DVR, with the free HD promotion, you are looking at $15/month on top of your base package price.