DirectTV or Dish Network for HD

[ifish66]

I currently have dish network and want to get an HD package. Unfortunaley, they require a second dish to pull in HD channel, which my condo assoc. does not allow, along with my wife.

Is Direct TV HD worth the hassle of switching and do they use only one dish for all of the HD, local and regular channels for the northern NJ area?

I have heard some not so great comments about the Direct HD package.

Thanks,
Ian

 

[boston area dtv]

Ian,

Im a D* sub. I will give you a straight answer. It wont be loaded with hyperbole but it will be the truth.

At this time E* has a wider selection of HD programming. E* pundits will tell you the HD quality is better. I havent seen E* and D* side by side so I cant give you an opinion on that.

D* has tons of sports content. If thats important to you then you may want to look in that direction.

D* HD requires one Sat Dish for locals and all programming. (Check to make sure your locals are carried by D* in HD)

This is just the beginning of the HD era ( I wonder if our parents went through this same kinda stuff when programs were shown in "technicolor"?) and both providers dont have their ducks lined up yet.

D* has a plan and I believe it is detailed in the D* HD section here. I do not know what E* is doing so perhaps E* subs can tell you what the future holds for them.

As for DVRs it seems that both E* and D* are have issues with "buggy" equipment.

For me D* makes sense. I love my sports. So having my RSN in HD and NFL ST and the option for MLB EI made sense for ME.

I think you will get a lot of varying opinions. Kinda like Chevy and Ford guys fighting or Coke vs Pepsi people. Heck we even fight over HD DVD's and Bluray discs here!

The bottom line is you have to clear away the BS and find what works for you. For every satisified D* guy there is a satisfied E* guy. For every thread about a crappy E* csr you will find a horror story about a D* csr.

The bottom line is the companies are just starting to stick their toe in the HD arena and its a gamble to pick which horse you want to back.

IMO if sports isnt your thing and you are happy with E* maybe you should think of upgrading your E* stuff.

My only concern for E* subs is, Does E* currently have the bandwidth to add more HD content and if they dont can they obtain that bandwidth?

 

[BruceS]

DirecTV does allow you to receive both SD and HD with one dish.

However, it is an oval dish that is larger and heavier than their round ones.

Your condo association still may object to the larger dish.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

The larger DTV dish still fits under the 1 meter rule as allowed under the Satellite Home Viewers Improvement Act .
The 5-LNB DIRECTV dish does require a more stable mounting method than your Dish 500, but that is not a reason to not get the dish. If your dish is on your patio or balcony and space is limited, then that might and issue.

 

[RandallA]

Depending on your location, a single dish might be all you need for E*. Like everyone else said E* is the HD leader right now but that may change this year with D* promising more HD channels at the end of the year.

 

[GadgetGirl]

I had E* and had to have 2 dishes to get HD. I had E* for 8 years and was genuinely happy with them. When I found out my bill was going to be increased $14 per month and there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to get MLB EI, I decided to make a switch. It was a tough decision to make. I will say though, that I have not regretted it. I switched almost 2 months ago.

The quality is similar. E* has more HD, but much of it is very repititous. D* has plans to add a lot of HD this year. I imagine E* has similar plans, but they have not announced anything. I found E*'s equipment to be better.

I like only having 1 dish now, and I much prefer the 1 bigger dish over the 2 smaller ones. The bigger dish is not that much bigger than the smaller dish so it isn't really an issue for me.

My experience with D*'s customer support has been better than E*'s, but I have heard stories going both ways on this. I do like that I have not talked to anyone in an Indian call center with D*.

For the programming package that I have, D* is cheaper even when I remove the discounts I am getting. For the next 10 months, I will save quite a bit, but will still save some money when the discounts run out. D* does not have all the fees that E* has.

I don't like being locked into a 2 year commitment with D*, but they do give you a 30 day window to back out if you are unhappy with them.

Overall, I like the programming on D* a little bit better. I miss the Superstations and I prefered getting Sirius on satellite as I already have an XM radio, but I like some of the stations that E* does not offer. I have really been enjoying Chiller.

I think you are going to have to decide what is going to work best for you. Look at the pricing and the programming. Don't be afraid to make a switch if D* looks better to you.

 

[GeorgeLV]

Depending on your location, a single dish might be all you need for E*. Like everyone else said E* is the HD leader right now but that may change this year with D* promising more HD channels at the end of the year.

The original poster explicitly mentioned he was in the Northern NJ area, so he most definitely needs a two dish setup to get all of his HD channels. (Even if he had line of site for a D1000, he needs a dish at 61.5 for NY HD locals.)

 

[jse75]

Similar question

I am new to satellite. In fact I have not 100% decided to go with it, or which provider.

I live in Northern California (San Jose area), and I have been using Comcast for HD and DVR. It works fine. I am moving to a new house where I have the option of satellite or Comcast. Comcast is way more expensive (right now I am paying $93/month for Digital Silver plus HD plus two rooms of DVR). I think with DishHD/Top 200 I can get it for like $69/month and there is a discount available through AT&T.

So it's tempting to go with satellite.

With Dish, in my area of Northern California, would I need to have two satellite dishes mounted on the roof in order to get HD? It's unclear from their website and it seems like people here know.

Do people feel that one or the other brand has the better DVR box? We used to use TiVO but then when we upgraded to Comcast digital/HD we got the Comcast Motorola box to use the HD DVR. It pretty much sucks, very slow to respond to the remote, etc.

Thanks!
Jason

 

[RandallA]

I am new to satellite. In fact I have not 100% decided to go with it, or which provider.

I live in Northern California (San Jose area), and I have been using Comcast for HD and DVR. It works fine. I am moving to a new house where I have the option of satellite or Comcast. Comcast is way more expensive (right now I am paying $93/month for Digital Silver plus HD plus two rooms of DVR). I think with DishHD/Top 200 I can get it for like $69/month and there is a discount available through AT&T.

So it's tempting to go with satellite.

With Dish, in my area of Northern California, would I need to have two satellite dishes mounted on the roof in order to get HD? It's unclear from their website and it seems like people here know.

Do people feel that one or the other brand has the better DVR box? We used to use TiVO but then when we upgraded to Comcast digital/HD we got the Comcast Motorola box to use the HD DVR. It pretty much sucks, very slow to respond to the remote, etc.

Thanks!
Jason

Jason,

I'm in South San Francisco, just a few miles away from you. You could get the HD channels off 129 and the SD channels off 119 and 110. The D1000 can pull the three locations so all you'll need is one dish. However, 129 has weak signals on some transponders and you may experience signal loss during rain. The best solution is to have a single dish dedicated to 129 or 61.5. 61.5 has the same HD channels that 129 has (mirrored).

I have a D1000.2 which is the new version of the D1000. It's bigger and I can get readings off 129 similar to what I had when I had a dedicated dish for 129.

Hope that helps.

 

[GadgetGirl]

Do people feel that one or the other brand has the better DVR box? We used to use TiVO but then when we upgraded to Comcast digital/HD we got the Comcast Motorola box to use the HD DVR. It pretty much sucks, very slow to respond to the remote, etc.

I found Dish to have a better HD DVR. Direct's has been improving, but I prefer Dish's.

 

[quizzer]

Jason,

I'm in South San Francisco, just a few miles away from you. You could get the HD channels off 129 and the SD channels off 119 and 110. The D1000 can pull the three locations so all you'll need is one dish. However, 129 has weak signals on some transponders and you may experience signal loss during rain. The best solution is to have a single dish dedicated to 129 or 61.5. 61.5 has the same HD channels that 129 has (mirrored).

I have a D1000.2 which is the new version of the D1000. It's bigger and I can get readings off 129 similar to what I had when I had a dedicated dish for 129.

Hope that helps.

I live near los angeles. Can i get HD from 61.5?

 

[mdonnelly]

I live near los angeles. Can i get HD from 61.5?

IMHO, you'd be better off using that 2nd dish for 129. People seem to have fewer 129 problems when using a separate dish just for that.

 

[quizzer]

IMHO, you'd be better off using that 2nd dish for 129. People seem to have fewer 129 problems when using a separate dish just for that.

the problem is i already have 61.5 (internationals) and i cant add one more dish (apartment rules).

so can i get HD from 61.5?

 

[RandallA]

the problem is i already have 61.5 (internationals) and i cant add one more dish (apartment rules).

so can i get HD from 61.5?

Yes, you can. The HD content on 61.5 is mirrored to 129. The only thing missing might be HD Locals, most of them are on 129.

HD Locals for LA are on 129:

http://ekb.dbstalk.com/129list.htm

You could use an antenna and use the OTA tuner in the Dish Network receiver. I use a Silver Sensor and pick up most of the HD locals with the OTA tuner here in SF.

 

[orbitallocation]

See if you can get the dish 1000 or the dish 1000+