Dish and DirecTV
I ran across the following comment on another site:
Second, Dish Network may be cheaper on some packages, but honestly after I did the research on what I wanted to get, Dish and DirecTV were not even.
While the comment doesn’t seem to make sense at first (you’re expecting a bit more after the word “even”), I think I know what this person is talking about.
If you are trying to decide between Dish and Directv, the first place I would start is on paper. Write the channels you *must* have. For example, for me it would include TBS to watch Braves games, ESPN, and local channels. My wife on the other had would require that we get Food Network, HGTV, TLC & Fox News.
The second step would be to determine what features you want to have. For us, DVR is now essential. Since we have 3 small children, we don’t really watch much live TV. If we do, then it is common to be interrupted often. DVR allows us to pause and rewind live TV, and record shows to watch at our convenience. We’re still sporting our 25″ TV we bought when we were married over 7 years ago so HD is not yet a feature we *need*. 
The next step would be to see what packages include you required channels and features. You might also have a list of channels that would be nice to have, but are not require if you want to keep the price down. This could help you decide to choose one package over another.
As far as cost, remember that DIRECTV include “free” local channels while Dish Network is an additional $5.99 per month.
