go to dishnetwork from direct tv for hd?

[soldsoul4foos]

ok,

i've had direct tv for about 4 years now. am about to upgrade to get local hd channels, but thought i'd see what dishnetwork had to offer first. it looks like they have 35+ HD channels? WOW. direct tv only has like 12. is this for real? i love hd programming, and just want to know if there are really that many HD channels. any advice would be great. is the picture quality the same, etc etc? i hate to make this my first post, but i need to make my decision real soon.

thanks,
bill w. -- maine.

 

[mdonnelly]

Yes, there are that many HD channels (if you count the RSN's that are uplinked but not available yet), and I can find something I like on most of them at any given time.

But, if you want your NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV is the only game in town.

If you can get a good digital signal from your local stations, that's your best HD.

And

 

[soldsoul4foos]

well thank you. it's good to be here i don't watch much on network tv. i get nbc and abc over the air in hd. i was just really shocked with how much additional hd programming was available with dish network. i can early terminate for 150 from direct tv. dnetwork is offering 4 rooms, dish, hd platinum, etc for free install, and $99 a month. am i missing anything? i'm ready to switch. i would however like a little reassurance that the signal is as good as direct tv. because i have found their feeds to be very crisp in my opinion. thanks for the advice fellas.

bill w

 

[mdonnelly]

Don't know if this is an issue for you, but to get all the E* HD available in New England (you're in Maine, I assume?), you'll need two dishes. One for 119/110, and another for 61.5. With four rooms, you'll also get a switch (probably a DPP-44) to feed four receivers.

If you want an HD DVR, that'll be an additional $199 up front. If you want a non-DVR HD receiver, it's an additional $49 up front.

The consensus seems to be that E* HD is sharper than D* HD. YMMV.

 

[TheTony]

It's worth noting that new customers are eligible for up to $200 in rebates (paid in the form of programming credits), so that offsets the initial equipment fees.

 

[Digital Dude]

We switched from 6 yrs of Direc to Dish a month ago for HD and haven't regretted it for a minute.

 

[soldsoul4foos]

ok...stupid question. What is E* and D*.

 

[osu1991]

E*= echostar dishnetwork D*= directv

 

[JimK2]

E* = EchoStar (Dish)
D* = DirecTV

 

[MikeD-C05]

Thats why I never abrieviate for either company as it leads to confusion for anyone that is new to satellite.

 

[Super Dave]

I left DTV after 6 years for the HD of Dish and couldn't be happier. The 622 has worked flawlessly and the picture is better, even on SD. There isn't much SD we watch, FX and SciFI, but they are clearer and brighter on Dish. And I can't get enough HD, but Dish has the most at the moment.

 

[Mike_H]

Personally I feel the Dish receivers are better as well. Especially the dual tuner DVR's that get you two dvr independent televisions with one receiver. I haven't seen anything like this from DirecTV yet.

 

[daboogas94e]

DirecTv is still living in the dark ages. Dish is by far the best......I work for them as well so im a little partial to Dish....lol

 

[bunkerbob]

This may sound like a trivial reason to switch to Dish, but IMHO they have the best remote control on the market. I've played around with remotes for DirecTV and they just aren't as well thought out. Same goes for the remotes supplied with all the Motorola and Scientific Atlanta digital cable boxes too. They just don't stack up to DISH... if you get a chance, hold one of the new 6.3 UHF/IR models in your hand and marvel over the overall balance, the shape, the use of color, texture, button shape and elevation. Whoever designed it deserves some kind of medal.

 

[Mike_H]

Note it is specifically these benefits of DISH that make it so darn frustrating that they keep doing stupid stuff like promising features but not delivering, or delivering buggy code or hardware, or both. They are just soo close that they can taste it, yet they seem to keep finding ways to kick stick their foot in thier mouth.

 

[Friend]

This may sound like a trivial reason to switch to Dish, but IMHO they have the best remote control on the market. I've played around with remotes for DirecTV and they just aren't as well thought out. Same goes for the remotes supplied with all the Motorola and Scientific Atlanta digital cable boxes too. They just don't stack up to DISH... if you get a chance, hold one of the new 6.3 UHF/IR models in your hand and marvel over the overall balance, the shape, the use of color, texture, button shape and elevation. Whoever designed it deserves some kind of medal.

I agree with you on that. There are really few remotes which you don't need to use your eyes to use them. Nice shape, well placed keys.

After few days of use I remembered all button where they are and I can feel them. I don't need to see them to use them.

 

[Kikkenit2]

The Dish remote has a dedicated 30 second skip. The Directivo (HR10-250) has a jump to end of show button (why?) that can be programmed to 30 second skip. The new Directv DVR's (R15-500 SD & HR20-700 HD) both have a 30 second slip (approx. 6x fast forward) instead to force you to view the commercials. I have both subscriptions and I prefer to operate the Dish VIP622 in every way including menu structures etc.