Switching to D. Am I making a mistake.

[darrencp22]

I have an appointment tomorrow to switch to D.

Over the past 3 days since I made that apointment 2 things have happened. SciFi and USA are now live on E. Also, Buffalo locals have now been announced for E for May.

These are two of my reasons for switching.

Other reasons are:

MSG HD
Yes Network
FX HD
Better PQ ??
What provider can offer best expansion of HD

What i'll be losing... a better DVR. OTA tuner. External HD support.

I'm beginning to question whether or not I should cancel my install. What i'm looking for is people who made the switch to give me other reasons why they are happy they did so.. or even regret. Thanks!

 

[charper1]

I have an appointment tomorrow to switch to D.

Over the past 3 days since I made that apointment 2 things have happened. SciFi and USA are now live on E. Also, Buffalo locals have now been announced for E for May.

These are two of my reasons for switching.

Other reasons are:

MSG HD
Yes Network
FX HD
Better PQ ??
What provider can offer best expansion of HD

What i'll be losing... a better DVR. OTA tuner. External HD support.

I'm beginning to question whether or not I should cancel my install. What i'm looking for is people who made the switch to give me other reasons why they are happy they did so.. or even regret. Thanks!

Well truly ONLY you can tell; but it SOUNDS like you don't want to switch anyway and will find the reasons to justify that.

BUT..

Other than the chnls; everything else is very subjective; I defer on the external HDD as I am not up to date on that hardware.

Expansion of programming: DirecTV

DVR: flip a coin; really, there is NOT that much difference; its all simply a mental learning curve thing.

OTA: you can get OTA either by HR20 , the HR21 add-on or via the ATSC tuner built-into you TV.

 

[darrencp22]

Well I would prefer to go full-steam ahead as the plans have been made. I know about the add on for OTA so I can wait for that.

 

[tigerfan33]

As you know I added Direct. I fully expect Dish to add those hd channels that were on Charlie Chat within the next month or so. If you are looking to switch for a few hd channels that Dish does not have at this time is not a smart move. If you are looking to add because you see Direct as a unique provider, now that is another story. Subs for both providers are in for a wild ride in the next few years not only hd wise but technology wise.

Scott has said that it will be a long long time before Dish adds YES.

PQ is good on both except for the MPEG2 hd channels that BOTH have. My locals look a lot better on Dish than Direct for some reason.

 

[Left Field Fan]

My eSATA( 1 TB) drive works great with my HR21. I know that some people will not like this and Dish says that it will not impact HD, but having a satellite not go up has to affect Dish somehow in the future. Also I was sick of the word soon. Do what is best for you.

 

[darrencp22]

The biggest thign i'm looking for is the future. My perception is the D* will be better equipt to add channels in the future. YES network is a big deal. Can anyone talk abou tthe on-demand features?

 

[charper1]

What do you want to know on VoD?

 

[darrencp22]

Anything really. Dish doesnt have a good VOD service. How does it work? What kinda of content? How much of it is free. A quick review of it. Pehraps there is already a resource on Sat Guys?

 

[charper1]

Wow, thats what makes it really tough as there is a lot. It works via your ISP/rear mounted ethernet connection. There are many different content types with plenty of free and paid content. A recent guide would be cool and if anyone has it; I would love to see it too.

 

[tigerfan33]

VOD.

Dish=1

Direct=9

Only gave them a 9 because I want a lot more hd.

Dish was lucky to get a 1 because they have the nerve to charge for it.

 

[charper1]

The media server sharing of your personal photos, music, etc is also a nice feature.

 

[tigerfan33]

So is the online schedular that Direct has.

A biggie with me!!

 

[darrencp22]

Does the media share work as good as the xbox 360?

 

[charper1]

So is the online schedular that Direct has.

A biggie with me!!

Ahh yes; the feature they got from ReplayTV - and YES it is cool!

Does the media share work as good as the xbox 360?

Not sure on the compare with Xbox - I don't have one.

 

[Sori4mvp]

As a transplanted New Yorker who now lives in NC and is a HUGE Yankee fan, YES Network is enough to make that switch in my mind! Go for it!

 

[DodgerKing]

Anything really. Dish doesnt have a good VOD service. How does it work? What kinda of content? How much of it is free. A quick review of it. Pehraps there is already a resource on Sat Guys?

One nice thing about the VOD is the easy channel access. Any channel that has a VOD option for their programs (there are quite a few), the VOD channel number is the same as the network channel number with a "1" in front. For example the Discovery channel is 278 and the Discovery Channel VOD is 1278, TLC is 280, and TLC VOD is 1280, ex.

Most of the programs are free, such as those on Discovery VOD, the ones you have to pay for are the same programs you would find on PPV.

 

[darrencp22]

That sounds cool. I wish I could see a program guide or something. I'm going to stick with my order because I need the yankees and who knows if MSG HD will ever be added. Not to mention Rescue Me starts in june. Would love to see fox news in HD.

 

[bhamster]

I made the switch two weeks ago and I'm not looking back..I was a Dish guy from the very early days but I slowly watched Dish go down the drain and now they add just enough to keep people from bitching to much..I think direct has much better PQ and I'm fast learning the new remote and dvr....Just do it

 

[jokeworm]

Darren - if it helps . since i made the switch a month ago - i've seen approx 15/20 people post here after they made the switch - all but one have been more than happy with the service and receivers .. the majority have found things that they prefer.

I had a whole bunch of reasons for making the jump ... sure dish had added a couple of channels in the past week - and they promise to add more .... but directv just got a satellite up there and my guess would be that they will stay at least one step ahead .. at least for the next 12-18 months ... at which time they are due to have another satellite go up ...

so for channels .. i suspect Directv will stay ahead ..

DVR - GUI/useability i honestly prefer the HR21 .. OTA - will hopefully be fixed with the add-on by the time dish launches your locals ... for the hardware features .. the dish vip receivers are better - TV2 ... ability to record three shows ... but overall i'm more than happy with the HR21

PQ - i would say is pretty much the same where both providers have the same HD channel ... but the abundance of HD channels means that i tend to watch more on channels that i did not bother watching with dish because of the real bad PQ.

there is a post here about the VOD

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/129253-d-vod.html

it really is an excellent feature .. and with my cable connection it really is "instant" i can start watching a movie or show right after i start the download ...

The media player i would say is not quite as good as the xbox .. i have a few files that it wont play - and the fast forward/pause is pretty much non-existent (i went back to using my dlink media player) .. but who is to say what features we will get with future software updates ...

The hardware seems more stable for me - weather wise .. my directv dish held up in storms MUCH better than dish ever did ...

The only one downside for me is that i really miss is the ability to record three shows at a time ... however i am one of those naughty "downloaders" that you read so much about - so i tend to download any of the shows that i do not catch and watch them that way .. if i did not download i would have to have a second DVR ...

The price is also spot on when you factor in all of the discounts .. it'll probably work out cheaper than dish for at least the first year and probably the second too ?

Only you can make the final decision .. but if you need any other info just ask and i'll try and answer you ..

 

[mdonnelly]

If YES is a big deal for you, it's a no-brainer. Direct has it, Dish doesn't, and probably never will.