considering switching from Direct to Dish

[az99]

The Hopper is great in theory but is extremely buggy and not user friendly compared to DTV dvrs. Also lost a few of the channels I do watch. CS is just as bad or worse than DTV.
If I could turn back time I would stay with DTV.

 

[lparsons21]

I've got an HR44 from D* and a Hopper w/sling + a Super Joey and couldn't disagree more with your statement about the bugginess or user friendly nature of the Hopper. From the standpoint of the UI and user interaction the Hopper is a dream. The HR44 OTOH is literally the same look and feel D*'s HRs have had since day one, well other than making the HD UI look nearly identical to the text one other than some coloring and crispness.

I wouldn't argue with your other points as channel selections are different, which may or may not be a big deal to you. CS with both has been about the same for me too. Sometimes it is great, sometimes it sucks, and most often it is good enough with both.

 

[ChadT41]

But then again, dish does have DIRt. If memory serves me best dtv has nothing of the nature.

 

[Mo Fly]

Well I decided to make the switch. Dish will be installing Tuesday morning. I'll let y'all know how it went.

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[crixus44]

If you need a code use the one in my sig

 

[harshness]

Directvs equivalent reciever, the genie, has a $25 advanced whole home DVr service fee. Dish truly is cheaper in that regard.

That's no longer the case. New subcribers pay $21 ($15 for Advanced Receiver Service and $6 TV fee) for the first HD DVR and $6 for each box thereafter.

 

[ChadT41]

Is that after the first twelve months or 24 months also?

 

[harshness]

But DirecTV is no different, especially the $6 fee on first receiver for new customers, but they'll remove HD fee in return.

The current offer doesn't appear to offer any monthly hardware discounts at all. Hardware discounts only come with a Genie up front (the HR2x series has no discounts monthly or up front).

 

[ChadT41]

I just called directv and that is a promotional rate. I asked after the 24 months with no promotions how much one genie and 3 mini genies would cost, it's $25/$9 for the genie/$6x3 for 3 mini genies. That's the current everyday price no promitions.

 

[harshness]

I just called directv and that is a promotional rate. I asked after the 24 months with no promotions how much one genie and 3 mini genies would cost, it's $25/$9 for the genie/$6x3 for 3 mini genies. That's the current everyday price no promitions.

$9+$6+$6+$6 is $27, not $25.

The sign-up page doesn't agree with the $9 Genie TV fee. It indicates the Genie fee is $6. Even if it were a promotional rate, they would still have to show the $9 fee and $3 credit because taxes are based on standard rates.

The website, the CSR, or both are wrong.

 

[ChadT41]

He $25 was the advanced home DVr reciever fee the other fees were the specific equipment fees. So those were in addition to the $25. Per the csr who was trying to sell me directv.

 

[harshness]

He $25 was the advanced home DVr reciever fee the other fees were the specific equipment fees. So those were in addition to the $25. Per the csr who was trying to sell me directv.

According to the sample bill the Advanced Receiver fee is now $15. This decrease came along with removing the credit on the first box. Again, it would have to be charged in full and credited to be a promotional deal.

A Genie and 3 GenieMinis should come to a grand total of $39/month ($15+$6+$6+$6+$6). This is what the sign-up page indicates.

 

[ChadT41]

Although I know they are wrong 90% of the time, my info came directly from the phone support at dtv. Asked as clearly and precisely as possible. And decertified multiple times.

 

[mdavej]

That's no longer the case. New subcribers pay $21 ($15 for Advanced Receiver Service and $6 TV fee) for the first HD DVR and $6 for each box thereafter.

Do they still charge a $10 HD fee or the $3 whole-home fee in addition to all of this?

Man, I'm glad I dumped satellite tv altogether. All I pay now is a single $2 cable card fee. That covers my 6 tuner whole home DVR plus 5 TVs.

 

[RobertMac]

I was in a similar situation in November 2013. I went a year without any type of television provider, but had been a DirecTV customer for 8 years prior. I went with Dish this time around because it had a better price for what I wanted to watch. I found that I could get the channels I needed without the constant increase in prices from DTV. My Dish bill will be about the same for the two years I am under contract. I like that consistency.

 

[harshness]

Do they still charge a $10 HD fee or the $3 whole-home fee in addition to all of this?

The Advanced Receiver Service fee was instituted a couple of years ago and includes WHDS, DVR and HD features and was $25/month. The ARS fee is now $15. I would guess that monthly fee for the first box is intended to offset some of the price decrease. Note that this information is for recent subscribers only and probably doesn't apply to longtime subscribers.

DISH's pricing model hasn't changed all that much although my bill for next month reflects the $1 increase in the Protection Plan (I have an owned ViP622 that failed).

 

[bigjohnok]

A bit OT, but I think that DirecTV and Dish are the best MVPD's by far, at least overall. However, the Dish has this but not DirecTV or the DirecTV has but not Dish has always been the case. My cousing would like to switch to DirecTV because they have the Lakers, but then he would lose PAC 12 and now SEC and he is excited about the forthcoming new ESPN's, but he might lose all that if he switched, and as of now no one but TWC has the Dodgers. Further, his kids greatly prefer Dish for its channels, and did not like the few years they had DirecTV. It is clear: both Dish and DirecTV has their bugs and issues that can drive their customers crazy, and I think both services have the best whole home DVR's today. While we and many who I know prefer Dish, I often recommend DirecTV if they really value of if it works to be being just a bit cheaper depending upon the channels they want which dictates the package, but I've never felt either Dish or DirecTV has the other "beat," never even close to that. They are both well-run companies who do strive to innovate and really care about the achieving the best quality PQ and audio and best experience they can within their limitations. Each has a strength that appeals to different households, but neither is has the other "beat." Now, they do have cable beat, IMHO. I say Dish or DirecTV, whichever fits your needs you are going to get an overall superior experience than cable today. I just hope AT&T doesn't ruin DirecTV by cheap-skating like they did with their FTN and Uverse service.

ATT has made their intentions with DirectTV very clear in their paper work they filed with the federal regulators. If Directtv cannot get another exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket contract done they are canceling the sale. So ATT wants Sunday Ticket nothing more and nothing less.

 

[Mo Fly]

Got the installation done this morning. Looks like everything is up and running. It took quite a while. He showed up about 9:15 and left the house at 1:00. He had to mount a dish on the roof and run a cable through the attic - that took up most of the time. I'll say this - if i didn't have TV to watch, my house would be cleaner . The installer had just finished training a couple weeks ago which is probably why it took him so long. I could tell he was being deliberate, not wanting to screw up. And about 11:30 or so a field service manager showed up to check on things. They had an issue with the remote for the hopper so he brought in another one and that took care of it. I haven't had a chance to play around with it much because i had to go to work. Anyhoo, i'm in!

 

[KAB]

Got the installation done this morning. Looks like everything is up and running. It took quite a while. He showed up about 9:15 and left the house at 1:00. He had to mount a dish on the roof and run a cable through the attic - that took up most of the time. I'll say this - if i didn't have TV to watch, my house would be cleaner . The installer had just finished training a couple weeks ago which is probably why it took him so long. I could tell he was being deliberate, not wanting to screw up. And about 11:30 or so a field service manager showed up to check on things. They had an issue with the remote for the hopper so he brought in another one and that took care of it. I haven't had a chance to play around with it much because i had to go to work. Anyhoo, i'm in!

Make sure you keep in mind that the Hopper requires a couple of days to settle in, so don't panic if something doesn't appear to be working correctly.

 

[Mo Fly]

A couple questions. 1. Can the color scheme of the guide be changed? 2. Can you skip forward in time 12 hours at a time like you can with Direct? I liked that feature. Is there maybe a link or thread with helpful tips and tricks?

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