As you know, I recently had DIRECTV installed. The installer that came was from a 3rd party company. He had on a shirt with both the DIRECTV and DISH Network logo.

I asked him if he had a preference. His short reply was, “I have DIRECTV in my house.”

The more we talked, the more I learned why he prefers DIRECTV. Some of his answers made me laugh.

• He said DISH Network uses a lot of refurbished equipment to save costs
• DISH Network’s most popular DVR that controls two TVs often overheats and he has to replace them.
• DIRECTV’s satellites install much more securely on roofs. You know they won’t move around in the wind.
• “People with money always get DIRECTV. You will only see DIRECTV on the roofs in Park City.”

Still, having a been a DISH Network customer also, I know it has its advantages – the price point is the biggest. Take the above comments for what they’re worth.

I recently made the switch to DIRECTV. I was on Comcast. First of all, let me explain why I was on Comcast:

1. It all started when BYU and University of Utah moved to the MTN. The only way you could watch their games was to get Comcast.
2. I have Comcast high-speed internet. I get a small discount by also getting my TV service through them.
3. I built my own DVR with Windows Media Center. I still think Media Center is awesome (Comcast, not so much)

Comcast recently turned off their analog signals and started scrambling their digital signals. So my TV tuner card would only pick local channels through Comcast. Here were my new options:

1. Stop using Windows Media Center (WMC) and just use the set top box Comcast provides. There are a few problems with this. First, their set top box they gave me absolutely sucks. I have two wide screen TVs and the set top box doesn’t support white screen. I was told by their support that it was a TV setting I had to adjust. Um no. Also, using only the set top box I lose my DVR. I was not about to pay their outlandish prices for DVR service.
2. Connect my set top box to WMC. I’ve only heard this works. You can use an IR blaster to change channels. To me it seems there would be a lag and the though of doing things this way was just not appealing.
3. Buy a tuner card that supports CableCard. The problem with this is that they don’t exist. Well, they didn’t exist. The only one I could find was this Ceton model. It actually looked really cool. It has four tuners while only needing one CableCard. The problem was twofold: 1) Everything was pre-order. They were struggling to get them released. 2) They were $400! Why pay $400 for something that used to just work?
4. Switch to DISH Network or DIRECTV. This way I could vote with my wallet and drop Comcast like a bad habit. There were plenty of upsides, but the one downside I could think of was that I would lose the cool features of using my WMC media pc.

I decided to make the switch to DIRECTV. Here are the reasons why I chose it over my Comcast plan:

1. It works!
2. I get so much more for the same price. I was paying $50/mo for basic cable. Only my local channels were digital and in HD on my media center PC. On the set top box that I had on our other TV, everything was digital, but no HD – not even locals
3. On our TV where we had the digital box, it was so glitchy and annoying. This is something we used to experience years ago with DISH Network during REALLY bad snow storms. You just don’t expect such poor reception every night when you have cable running right into your home.
4. It seems I always had to play games with Comcast. I could call in and get a discount that would last for 6 months. That was nice. By why make me keep calling in begging for discounts every six months. Just make your prices more reasonable.

Being the tight-wad that I am, my inclination is was to choose DISH Network over DIRECTV, but I chose DIRECTV instead. Here’s why:

1. I really wanted to check out the whole-home DVR system. We have two TVs, one downstairs in our family room and one in our bedroom. The thought of controlling the DVR remotely and watching recorded shows from our room was appealing. DISH Network has a DVR that you can control from two different rooms, but you can only get HD on one TV while the other one will be standard def. When it comes to technology, computers & gadgets, I become a kid and price is less of an issue for me.
2. Going back to the begging of this article, I wanted the MTN so I could watch BYU football games this fall. The MTN is only available on DIRECTV.
3. My wife wanted DIRECTV – probably because her mom and sister have DIRECTV. They often get on the phone and say “check out Food Network/HGTV/TLC…” It bother her that shows played at different times on Comcast that they did on DIRECTV. Also, I think she would like to have the same channels so they can just say “turn to channel ###”

So that is why I ordered DIRECTV.

My sister-in-law just moved to a new house. I was helping out on Saturday. The DIRECTV installer was also there moving her service. He installed a new satellite dish and set up her equipment.

As he was mounting the dish on the roof her garage, he asked if I would come “watch his back”. He had just sprayed a large nest of yellow jackets that had taken up home in a light fixture right below where he was working. It soon became apparent that he had some kind of phobia of these stinging type insects. My job was to squirt hornet spray at them if one flew near home.

It turns out that this installer would also make a great salesman. Despite the fact that I maintain this comparison guide, I learned a few things that day:

1. I was interested in the new whole-home HD DVR service that basically lets you control your DVR from any room. I learned that if you order CHOICE XTRA or higher, your equipment is free for two rooms.
2. We currently have our house up for sale and plan to move when we find the right home for us. I asked about moving. He said if you move within 6 months then there is a $50 charge, otherwise it is free. (I wonder though… I tend to think if you made a stink about it you could get moved for free if you moved four months later for example
3. DIRECTV can be connected to your home network if you have one and make use of your internet access to rather than use a land line to dial out for pay-per-view for example. It can also take advantage of other features if you have a home network. This got me excited

I must say, I was very impressed with his service. He was very helpful to my sister in law. I was amazed at how well he organized the mess of cables hanging from the ceiling in the basement. He took the time to answer all my questions and even offered to drive to my home when he was finished to take a look at my current configuration and where an ideal place to mount a satellite dish would be.

To make a long story short, I ordered DIRECTV this morning.

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.

Don from Erie, PA writes:

I am trying to decide on either Direct or Dish.   My wife and I want the local channels-a must!  I want a STO sports channel (Sports Time Ohio) so I can watch my Cleveland Indians.  My wife enjoys her soap operas especially Days of Our Lives.   We have Time Warner Cable now and would like most of those channels that are on Cable to be also on Direct TV or DISH. .   We definitely need a DVR and we would like to have a receiver on 4 TV’s.   I would like to know what tier packages are available for both.  Please help me to make a logical decision.

Don,

Both DIRECTV and Dish Network have local channels. I did a zip code search with your zip code and got a list from Dish Network, but on DIRECTV’s site it said "We don’t currently offer local channels in your area." So that might be the deciding factor right there if that is really the case. Local channels with Dish are $5.00 per month. They are included in the price of DIRECTV.

Local channel links: Dish Network / DIRECTV

I can’t say for sure about STO… On their website the channels are listed for both satellite providers in "All areas of the Indians TV Territory". If you are out of that territory you may have to look at another options such as MLB Extra Innings, which is only available on DIRECTV.

Again, both offer free DVR upgrades, but that is generally for one room. Extra DVRs may cost more. Also, installing in 4 rooms is free for both, but you will again pay an extra fee for additional receivers – generally $5 per receiver per month.

You may get the information you need to fill the gaps fastest by calling both of them and getting the exact prices for what you need.

I hope this helps,
Dustin

Television entertainment has never been so in demand and so easy to get in this day and age. Today, it is not about scarcity of entertainment sources, it is about choosing the best option for optimal spending to value ratio.

The choices for quality television entertainment today are between cable and satellite TV. The question of consumers is – “Which one has the coolest channels for the price?” However, satellite TV is not as straightforward as cable. If you choose satellite TV, you need to choose between Direct TV and Dish Network.

So, which one has the better value for the money?

Let’s start with the coverage, the most important thing consumers need to know. Which of the two satellite TV providers can cover the best areas? The answer is that both have shortcomings in city coverage.

Dish Network covers cities that Direct TV does not. The same is true with Direct TV. For example, Direct TV covers Las Vegas, Memphis, Milwaukee, Columbus and Baltimore. Meanwhile, Dish Network covers Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Honolulu and Grand Rapids.

So look at the list carefully if your city is covered.

The next one to look at after you know that you are covered by the service is programming. What shows do you think you will want to watch the most to get the best bang for your hard-earned buck?

Both satellite TV providers offer cheap packages. Direct TV offers 3 packages with a starting price of $39.99. Dish Network has an offering of 5 packages, starting at $24.99.

Direct TV and Dish Network both offer the best sports channels out there today. If you are a sports buff, you won’t miss games from the NHL, MLB, NFL and a lot more. The only difference is in pricing. You can buy the sports package from both providers, but Direct TV has some exclusive sports channels that you can buy.

The Dish Network, however, has a better selection of international and foreign language programming. Take this into consideration if you are an overseas worker or immigrant because some of your country’s programs might be included here.

Now that you know a bit about the programs, make sure that you don’t miss any show by taking advantage of PVR technology. The two providers have this capability built-in out of the box.

PVR or Personal Video Recording can allow you to record shows so you won’t miss any of your favorites when you are away. The downside with Direct TV is the monthly fee to access this feature. Dish Network offers this service for free.

Lastly, both providers have 12 months of warranty and 24-hour customer service. Many say that Dish Network has superior customer service because it’s done within the company and not outsourced in any way.

If you want the best entertainment experience, you have to go digital satellite. Just remember the coverage, programming, price and customer service. This way, you will need to research and make an informed decision, before you pull money out of your wallet.

DirecTV’s decision to help fund Friday Night Lights in exchange for first dibs on the new episodes is a bold and exciting maneuver for the satellite provider. I’m not entirely certain of how I’ll view this event a year from now, but my knee-jerk reaction is this: one of my favorite shows is getting another season of life and that’s great news. DirecTV with less than 17 million subscribers is available to only about 15% of NBC viewers. As of Q4 2007, I believe Comcast was claiming more than 24 million subscribers between its basic and digital cable services, more subscribers than DirecTV, but not so many more that it should raise red flags around cannibalization. DirecTV has been sued over a similar issue in the past, and DISH has also engaged in such “HD Lite” tactics as well, namely by dropping the overall resolution of its broadcasts to save on bandwidth. In fact, DirecTV actually sued Comcast when Comcast tried to call out DirecTV’s lower-resolution HD in its advertisements.

DirecTV will soon introduce another gizmo called the AM21 that hooks up to the HR21 via USB and provides those missing digital TV receivers. It looks like this is probably how I’ll get this capability back after DirecTV (or its local contract installer) screwed up this part of my upgrade, but since the AM21 isn’t shipping yet, I can’t get DirecTV to tell me for sure whether they’ll be able to send me one.

DirecTV shares were up 42 cents, or 1.6%, to $26.42 in 4pm Nasdaq composite trading. Shares in Liberty Entertainment, the tracking stock through which Liberty holds its DirecTV stake, were up $1.17, or 5.1%, to $24.29 in 4pm Nasdaq composite trading. DirecTV 11 will co-locate with the Spaceway-2 satellite in the vicinity of 99.2 W. During a search for potential launch dates, a check of the Wikipedia Portal: Spaceflight page indicated March 19th, between 22:49 and 23:47 GMT, is a possible window for the Sea Launch Zenit-3SL launch vehicle’s next liftoff attempt. DirecTV-11 will be placed into such an orbit.

I read the following on Multichannel News this morning:

Like its satellite rival Dish Network, DirecTV is raisings prices on some of its program offerings this year.

I’m sure no consumer likes to hear this.

According to www.satelliteguys.us and Scott Greczkowski, who writes a blog for Multichannel News, the nation’s largest direct-broadcastsatellite provider will raise the rates for a variety of its packages, such as Choice and Plus HD DVR, by $3 a month effective Feb. 27.

Three dollars a month isn’t bad, really. $36 per year…

DirecTV Thursday confirmed the rate increase, saying it will average about 4%.

Earlier this month, Dish Network announced it was freezing the price for its DishDVR Advantage offer until February 2009, but raising the rates on other popular packages, such as America’s Top 100 and America’s Top 200.

These are obviously their most popular and competitive packages, so I’m sure the cost increase was unavoidable.

Overall, the Dish Network price increase average out to about 8%, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. Dish Network said customers who subscriber to non-DVR, a la carte packages would see an increase of about 3%.

Who doesn’t get DVR anymore? Seriously, they’re missing out!

“We’ve frozen prices on some of our most popular packages,” Dish Network spokesman Kathie Gonzalez said. “Unfortunately, we cannot offset the unavoidable costs of increased television programming fees, which were more than 5% in 2007.”

Richard From West Michigan writes:

I had dish for 2 years about 6 years ago. It was ok average pic quality, no DVR. Then Dish sent a promo for a free DVR and I switched to them for several years. Had a few probs – bad DVR box, bad switch in the dish (they fixed both free), but service was largely ok for those several years. Then Directv did a promo asking old customers to come back to them. The price was right, so I arranged installation. That was 48 hrs ago. What a difference two days makes. So far: Incomplete installation – no box or RF remote for the bedroom – Directv phone “tech” said I had to have a HDTV for an RF remote to work – unbelievable – that took 60 minutes on the phone. I told him I didn’t think that was true but he insisted repeatedly. I said ok, install the box like I arranged for in the first place, then he said that I’d have to pay an additional $19.99 to have a second box installed in the BR (which they had agreed to do as part of the original install order). I said I don’t think $19.99 was fair because the installer said that an RF Remote (like my old Dish system) eliminated the need for the second box in the bedroom. This goes on and on for awhile and after he left me hanging on the phone for another epoch of time I just hung up out of fatigue.

Did Directv or the installer call me the next day? Nope. Basically I was a cipher they didn’t want to deal with and they lack the common courtesy and responsibility to finish the job they started…

Some differences are apparent between Dish and Directv:

1) Directv wait times on hold seem to be about 20 minutes plus. Dish times were never more that a few minutes.

2) Directv picture with the latest dish/box combo are very good – better that the 3+ year old Dish equipment. Technology has improved TV pictures in three years.

3) The Dish remote and speed of operation of my old Dish DVR box are clearly, absolutely, massively superior to the new Directv remote and system performance. In fact I’d go so far as to say that until you’ve used a Dish DVR remote (assuming you’re now using a Directv system and remote) you have no idea what you’re missing. You use the remore ALL THE TIME to view, schedule, etc. My Directv remote is primitive, complicated and SLOW, SLOW, SLOW. If you’re used to clicking with a PC mouse as I am on a pentium-class PC, the Directv software and hardware will take you back to the days of the original IBM PC. Its that slow.

Dish equipment has obviously been engineered by people with a sensitivity to speed, simplicity, and performance. And it’s so much easier to navigate the Dish on-screen menus with their logic and intuition. You don’t even need the manual. But I’ve had the Directv manual out since I got the system… for instance, if the program guide is missing the channel descriptions on the Dish box, you push a few buttons and download the new program data. On Directv? no such function is available.

Want to delete a scheduled program on the Dish? A few SWIFT keystrokes and you’re done. On Directv? Plan on 30-60 seconds of remote button pushing with several second delays between every button push – slow, slow, slow.

Notwithstanding the installation issues which I presume will be solved eventually, I regret going with Directv mostly because of the comparatively primitive remote performance of the Directv system.

I truly wish I had my Dish back mostly because of its speed of operation. I’ll grant you that the new Directv picture is better than the old Dish, but so far it’s not worth it – the Directv man/machine interface is really that bad I My Humble Opinion.

Last year DIRECTV added many more channels and touted they would have 100 by the end of the year (2007). I don’t know what happened with that goal, but as of now, I believe they still have 85 channels.

Dish Network is now making the push for more HD channels. DISH Network this week said it will increase its national HDTV channel count from 76 to 100 in 2008.

DISH also said it plans to add local HD channels in 65 new markets this year, bringing its HD local market total to 100.

The company’s decision to offer more high-def programming is an obvious effort to keep up with satellite rival DIRECTV.

DIRECTV has said it will expand to nearly 150 HD channels in 2008.