They did you a favor because Direct will install a HD system for you free of charge. If you would have upgraded to HD at Dish they would have charged you a few hundred bucks. That's another Dish policy for driving customers away.
THIS is not unique to E*...D* does the SAME thing. New customers ALWAYS get the better deal with both services. BTW, it's hard to compare the two when comparing hardware as there is no comparison, but your point is correct.