Posted on 03/02/2010 7:49:55 PM PST by taxcutisapayraise
I'm in the process of selecting a satellite TV provider since I'll be moving soon when I buy a house. I found an old FR thread from 2003 on the topic of Direct TV vs. Dish TV. The market has changed since then.
I only have two TV locations. I don't need the premium channels, just the basics, especially Fox News.
Any suggestions and information will be appreciated.
Neither. I stopped watching television about eight years ago. It’s not much more than a social, political and economic propaganda receiver.
Thanks for that excellent tip about ATT UVerse. I checked it out but unfortunately I do not live in a state (AZ)where their service is available.
I’ve only had a TV about 2 years since I left my parents’ home.
I really, really hate TV.
Of the two, BTW, Dish is far more anti-conservative with its policies.
You can get news on the internet. It’s a lot faster to read yourself than to watch other people read out loud. And there’s ads and other junk.
The weather issues with satellite services may vary depending on where you live.
Us Texans remind each other that if you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it’ll change. With spring storms here in tornado alley, a dish oriented to the southern sky too often has communication obliterated. I simply got fed up with losing service in the middle of favorite programs.
If you live where heavy weather is rarely an major issue, you may have better luck.
Verizon FIOS? It’s comparable and excellent.
Direct TV hands down. Have had them at least 15 years in 4 different houses across 3 states. Cost is about 20% of cable in our area. Only one service problem-neighbor cut cable when he was running weedeater along the fence- and repairman left me his personal cell number if I ever needed him again. We watch Discovery, Dirty Jobs, History, HGTV, golf, FOX and NCIS. Not really good reception during the hurricane though!
BINGO.
Dish Network customer here - no complaints except for that.
Forgive me for being blunt, but actually NEITHER. I subscribed to Dish for a year & went back to cable ‘cuz I couldn’t get my “Local On The 8s” on satellite.
Yes, they did have “Local...”, but instead of honing in on the weather, radar view, & forecast of the area where I live like my cable company does, they broke the lower 48 states into 4 quadrants & mentioned only various cities across the country during that 2-minute period. Living in AR as I do, I need it to be a lil mpore precise, especially w/ the Spring tornado season just around the corner.
Use antennaweb.org and get either an indoor antenna or an outdoor antenna to pick up your local OTA HD stations.
Then get Netflix.
I’ve had DirecTv for 8 yrs. Switched from DISH. DISH customer service was the reason and I don’t think it has improved.
My parents have DISH and a bunch of the channels that they used to get have recently been turned off. The message they get is that they now have to pay extra for them, they are no longer part of their package.
The first one that lets you choose ala carte programming will get me as a customer for life.”
BINGO.
YOU BET!!!!! Out of all of the hundreds of channels throughout the US, I would like to pick from the ENTIRE LIST & pay accd. to the # of channels I choose.
Will a la carte ever become a reality??? I don’t bother to watch 95% of the channels that I get! Why should I be forced to pay for channels I have no interest in watching?
A whole 10 minutes, huh? I was told when I arrived in North Dakota that if I didn't like the weather, just wait a minute because it'll change - LOL. I'm living in Nor Cal. We don't have tornados much, but we do experience high winds, hail, heavy rains, and, occasionally snow. During the previous two years storms blew over parts of our back fence, and trees were blown down all over town.
The adverts I get from direct tv and there are many of them, have in very small print, that the rate is for 6 months and only if you give them access to your checking account so they can deduct the payment every month. Screw them.
I have No complaints with Direct TV
Our trees generally get whipped and broken during spring and summer thunderstorms, not to mention the hail. Ironically, right now my street looks like a war zone with split trees and huge branches down from a 12” snowfall. We get it all here.
Tomorrow it will be dust.
I really, really like fiberoptic TV and recommend it to any who have it available in their area.
If you're having a problem with basic rain, then you have other problems. Primarily poor dish alignment.
I had Direct early on, but I like the latest Dish receivers. The ViP722 is a good HD DVR. Hook up an OTA antenna to it, and you can record up to three programs in HD at once (two sat, and one local OTA). You can also hook it up the the net and send recording programming info to it from a PC or smartphone, and you can add a 1+TB USB external HDD for extra storage.
The only time I've ever lost a signal with Dish or DirecTV is when the dish filled with snow. Of course, my dish is only about 10 feet off the ground, so I can reach it with a broom. This has occurred all of maybe 5 times in the last 8 years I've had satellite service.
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