I have been a DirecTV subscriber for eight years. I am very turned off lately by their lack of HD content. I want to enjoy TiVo and HD. I am very close to going to Dish Network. I have Vonage phone service and the DirecTV HD TiVo. Does the Dish TiVo support OTA antennas and Vonage? What if any are the drawbacks and advantages. I don't care about the NFL ST. This is a great sight and very informative. I would respect any opinions that you folks may have. Thanks in advance.
Honest opinions of DirecTV vs Dish......
- Thread starter taclearo@earthlink.net
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I have Dish. An ex-neighbor had D*. I find that E* (Dish) has more HD, and at higher PQ. Dish has more local stations in SD, not a biggie with me- I use OTA. I have little experience with Tivo, but found it slow. I did not like Tivo placing stuff on the HD or reporting viewing habits.
However, most of all, I love the 30 second skip ahead button on my Dish DVRs.
And I love my ViP622.
However, most of all, I love the 30 second skip ahead button on my Dish DVRs.
And I love my ViP622.
I have enjoyed E* for 9 years. I have had virtually no problems with service. The HD content is ahead of D* right now and probably will be for the next year. The E8 DVR's (don't use the term TIVO with them) are able to record OTA and should Vonage (many prople here do). A big advantage I have found over D* is the ability to record 3 programs simultaneously and watch something prerecorderd at the same time.
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I have both... on my sets the HD PQ from E* is much sharper, and when I am stuck watching D* HD I feel trapped because of the lack of channels (the V* pack plus StarzHD and my HD locals which are not available yet from D*) but that is just my opinion...The SD channels are pretty much even though D* distant nets are not that bad compared to my E* SD overcompressed locals...
I have both. I had E* first, so I might be seen as leaning towards them, but I like their GUIDES a lot more than D*.
I have an H20 for D* and a 622 for E*. The guide is SO MUCH EASIER to use with the Dish unit. I can have multiple favorites with the E*, while the H20 is a mess. My wife HATES using the H20, but that could be because we had a 5000, then a 721, 921, and now the 622, so she's use to the E* format.
If it were not for the superior sports, I would not even have D*. although D* has my locals and E* does not.
I sure wish the cable and NAB folks did not get to block "the merger". That would have been sweet.
I have an H20 for D* and a 622 for E*. The guide is SO MUCH EASIER to use with the Dish unit. I can have multiple favorites with the E*, while the H20 is a mess. My wife HATES using the H20, but that could be because we had a 5000, then a 721, 921, and now the 622, so she's use to the E* format.
If it were not for the superior sports, I would not even have D*. although D* has my locals and E* does not.
I sure wish the cable and NAB folks did not get to block "the merger". That would have been sweet.
That is a plus, I have the H10 and a Samsung sir T360 with D* and a 622, 921 and a 811(811 died thursday new one on way) even the 2 day guide on the 811 beats both of the D* receivers although the Sammy isn't near as bad as the H10...
I have both but I get all my HD from DISH (and the local cable company with thier basic tier which also includes the local digital, including HD, feeds).
At the beginning of this year I was considering waiting for DirecTV's MPEG-4 HD DVR but, after talking to a few people, found out that it was going to be delayed AGAIN (it still isn't out). So, instead of waiting for DirecTV, I got a DISH ViP622 when they came out in February. Having had new DISH receivers before I knew that it would likely be a little buggy (and it was) but DISH has done a good job over the past six months of fixing all the problems I was seeing (others are still reporting some problems). Overall, I am very happy with DISH but I would switch in a minute of something better (FiOS, cable, ?) comes along.
When it comes to TV programming, loyality means NOTHING to me. Each vendor has to EARN my business.
At the beginning of this year I was considering waiting for DirecTV's MPEG-4 HD DVR but, after talking to a few people, found out that it was going to be delayed AGAIN (it still isn't out). So, instead of waiting for DirecTV, I got a DISH ViP622 when they came out in February. Having had new DISH receivers before I knew that it would likely be a little buggy (and it was) but DISH has done a good job over the past six months of fixing all the problems I was seeing (others are still reporting some problems). Overall, I am very happy with DISH but I would switch in a minute of something better (FiOS, cable, ?) comes along.
When it comes to TV programming, loyality means NOTHING to me. Each vendor has to EARN my business.
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I had an HD Tivo through D* and loved it...Till I went with Dish and got the 622. Picture quality in SD and HD is much better IMHO. OTA tuner is amazing, I was able to switch to an indoor antenna with it. Not sure on Vonage, but I know others have used it. The only drawback is that as far as I am concerned is that the Tivo search and Season Pass are the best of any DVR I have ever seen but the 622 is a very close 2nd.
Mike
Mike
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I think that service-wise they all pan out about the same. If you want NFL then Direct-TV has all the games. But if you want HD then DISH has the most channels and beats other services by at least 10+ channels or more. Hope the two services do not merge.
BTW I was with DTV for 3 years, Voom for their duration and then went to DISH. Also had TWC along the way not in lieu of satellite but in addition to sat.
BTW I was with DTV for 3 years, Voom for their duration and then went to DISH. Also had TWC along the way not in lieu of satellite but in addition to sat.
VOIP is no problem. I have a 622 and two 211. Phone lines are connected to my sunrocket voip system.
I was a DirecTV sub from '94 to the beginning of Voom DBS and now followed Voom to Dish. The entire time DirecTV has made empty promises about HD content.
If watching every American major league game is important to you and you live in Outback, USA and need more than your antenna to get you local station then DirecTV is what you need. But hands down, if you want a HD content Dish has shown it is the most committed to providing it to its subs.
If watching every American major league game is important to you and you live in Outback, USA and need more than your antenna to get you local station then DirecTV is what you need. But hands down, if you want a HD content Dish has shown it is the most committed to providing it to its subs.
Thanks guys. I woke up this morning and found a lot of good comments. It seems to confirm my feeling that Dish is the way to go. If you can add anything to this, please feel free. Thanks very much!
I have been a DTV customer since 2000, and have a Dish install scheduled later in the day so you will get some comments from me on how things went and the PQ comparison. I have been debating this switch for 6 months and finally had enough of DTV's empty promises.
I just made the switch a few months ago and am very happy with the 622 and the extra HD content. One downside is the 622 only has one OTA tuner vs the HDTivos two.
It will take some time to get used to the Dish DVR vs Tivo (I did). Most if not all the features are there, you just have to get used to "timers" and "Dish Passes" vs "season Passes" and "Wishlists". Like an earlier poster said Tivo probably gets the edge here.
With that said the 622 has a lot of little features like PIP, 2nd tv out, 2nd remote (UHF). External hard drive storage over USB is due in the fall.
The 622 is blazing fast compared to the HDTivo especially since DirecTV won't upgrade the SW on the HDTivo. This really pissed me off since they have had the SW for over a year and sat on it. I also didn't have much faith in the non-tivo Directv DVRs based on the R15 reviews.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the 622 after reading about previous Dish DVRs but the 622 is the real deal. I've had no problems at all and am very happy I made the move.
It will take some time to get used to the Dish DVR vs Tivo (I did). Most if not all the features are there, you just have to get used to "timers" and "Dish Passes" vs "season Passes" and "Wishlists". Like an earlier poster said Tivo probably gets the edge here.
With that said the 622 has a lot of little features like PIP, 2nd tv out, 2nd remote (UHF). External hard drive storage over USB is due in the fall.
The 622 is blazing fast compared to the HDTivo especially since DirecTV won't upgrade the SW on the HDTivo. This really pissed me off since they have had the SW for over a year and sat on it. I also didn't have much faith in the non-tivo Directv DVRs based on the R15 reviews.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the 622 after reading about previous Dish DVRs but the 622 is the real deal. I've had no problems at all and am very happy I made the move.
I find it hard to understand in the " D* Forms" the support that many give to DirecTV and that all should be patient and wait till next year for more HD! (or a MPEG4 DVR) I have both and use both for HD viewing with their DVRs.
If you have any investment in HD or Home Theater why would you want to wait a year or so to enjoy it?
They state that DirecTV has broken no promises and when their two new satellites go up they will have all the HD everyone wants now.
They state how bad VOOM programing is, but don't have it to know how much good new programing is added each month. I was a VOOMER, too.
Sorry, you may not be here a year from now, your family could be enjoying 29 HD channels and usually better OTA picture HD reception now. In most ways a better DVR too.
I have both because of past investment with Tivo and DirecTV, but DISH is surreal. Why not try DISH for a month and see. Sure you may not want to keep both or afford both but to go another year without what is available now in HD is really hard to understand. Invest a little now to see what is available. You invested in a HD TV, use it now and enjoy!
If you have any investment in HD or Home Theater why would you want to wait a year or so to enjoy it?
They state that DirecTV has broken no promises and when their two new satellites go up they will have all the HD everyone wants now.
They state how bad VOOM programing is, but don't have it to know how much good new programing is added each month. I was a VOOMER, too.
Sorry, you may not be here a year from now, your family could be enjoying 29 HD channels and usually better OTA picture HD reception now. In most ways a better DVR too.
I have both because of past investment with Tivo and DirecTV, but DISH is surreal. Why not try DISH for a month and see. Sure you may not want to keep both or afford both but to go another year without what is available now in HD is really hard to understand. Invest a little now to see what is available. You invested in a HD TV, use it now and enjoy!
rickaren said:
Because if they had to admit that Dish had more hd and a better hd service now , they would have to admit that they made a mistake by choosing their sat provider. So they make excuses and say" be patient , good things will come if you wait."
I can compare it to the Weapons of mass destruction that was supposed to be over in Iraq. Over 50% of Americans still believe that there were WMDs over in Iraq so they can justify the war over there and their faith in the president. Even though all reports have said there were no WMDS over in Iraq at the begining of the new Iraq war. We have been there over 3 years and we still haven't found them. " Be patient, We will find them if you wait ....." Same rationale.
Voom programming is great. If there was any more of it, I'd have to quit my job so I could have enough time to watch it all.
Gotta go buy the right lottery ticket to give me that option....
Gotta go buy the right lottery ticket to give me that option....
