"Do loyal DirecTV and cable customers have problems like this? Please Dish Network pick a spot in the sky and stay put."
Well, I wouldn't say I'm loyal, more like a double agent. I have both Dish and DirecTV. Limited cable too.
Problems with DirecTV too only different.
1. They fried my DTC-100 to death with an aborted firmware upgrade. I had to threat suit to get them to pay for it and finally won and received an 18 month credit for service in a pre court decision.
2. They totally butchered the DD5.1 audio on HDNet for 18 months and refused to allow Dolby to help them fix it.
3. They lied about adding Showtime HD stating they were in negotiations for over two and a half years before finally offering it. Showtime said they weren't negotiating at all. Dish had it from Day one! Same deal with Discovery HD Theater.
Point is grass is only greener on the other side of the hill because they add more fertilizer!
Cable???? What can I say that isn't already well known. It is inconsistent and every location has it's own issues. I mean every house and subscriber location. Beyond that it is expensive per channel. I have cable too. I'm a cable TV program producer. I see more good and bad of the side of cable most don't as just subscribers.
There isn't one better solution but I believe, for HDTV, Dish is and has been my best choice for the past 3 years. For PPV SD it has been DirecTV. and for SD TV programming DirecTV seems to have better PQ while Dish has better consistent PQ on HDTV channels.
Then there is VOOM, new kid on the block. Based on their prospectus of offerings, I won't seriously consider it until about a year from now. Let's see how they do with the early adopters and the promises they made.