thinking of switching from Dish to Direct, but have some questions

[rad]

The HS-17 ATM even with 7 tuners they won't let you use more than 5 tuners. Directv should have released something with more tuners.

The HS17 does have 15 tuners so the hardware is there, but DIRECTV has said they're reserving some for 4K and future usage, whatever that might be.

 

[mdram]

The HS17 does have 15 tuners so the hardware is there, but DIRECTV has said they're reserving some for 4K and future usage, whatever that might be.

i have seen this posted various places, but have never seen a source. anyone know of an official source for this?

 

[rad]

i have seen this posted various places, but have never seen a source. anyone know of an official source for this?

Can't post any pics but when I run the system info it shows 15 tuners.

 

[mdram]

Can't post any pics but when I run the system info it shows 15 tuners.

15 tuners would almost make it a viable system
but the 100 timer limit is, well, too limiting

 

[ncted]

I literally just made this switch. After being with Dish for about 10 years, I got DirecTV installed today. Been playing around with it for a couple of hours. The picture quality is definitely better. I'm watching football right now after watching a bunch yesterday, and the difference is significant. On Dish, there were always compression artifacts around the players when they moved, and I'm not seeing that at all on DirecTV. Couple that with the significant savings I got, plus Sunday Ticket, and I'm happy.

HOWEVER. The Genie lags far behind the Hopper 3 in many, many ways. First off, only 5 tuners (I have an HR-54) vs. 16 in the Hopper. No OTA support. No folders, which honestly amazes me. The hard drive is half the size of the Hopper's. The user interface seems less polished, and it's not quite as quick and responsive as the Hopper, either. None of these are deal-breakers for me, but you definitely want to go in with your eyes open if you make the switch.

Interestingly, I just switched the other way. I was expecting to notice the reduced PQ, but I haven't. According to a thread over on the Dish side Dish has been upgrading their encoders. I tried watching some sports last weekend, which is not something I normally do to try to see if I could find the compression artifacts I used to see on my old Hopper 2k. I checked soccer, football, and tennis, and it was minimal. Hardly any compared to what I remembered. DirecTV might still have the PQ advantage, but Dish seems to have upped their game, at least on the Eastern Arc.

 

[bnewt]

I have never noticed the picture difference either. A family member has direct & I have watched it some, but I haven't been able to send that much time with it, but I did not see a noticeable difference at all.

 

[IcEWoLF]

The HS17 does have 15 tuners so the hardware is there, but DIRECTV has said they're reserving some for 4K and future usage, whatever that might be.

DirecTV is so darn confusing, one of the reasons I just wanna move on, also their customer services is crap, half the people I talk to are from the Philippines. Just many times they just don't get or understand things.
To me it sounds like they really aren't sure what they going to do with the HS17, and they are probably just experimenting things.

I have HR44 and its been alright but the guide as of late feels slow and the mini wireless client is even slower, even after resets.

 

[raoul5788]

DirecTV is so darn confusing, one of the reasons I just wanna move on, also their customer services is crap, half the people I talk to are from the Philippines. Just many times they just don't get or understand things.
To me it sounds like they really aren't sure what they going to do with the HS17, and they are probably just experimenting things.

I have HR44 and its been alright but the guide as of late feels slow and the mini wireless client is even slower, even after resets.

You think directv is confusing? Have you looked at some of the dish setups?

 

[IcEWoLF]

You think directv is confusing? Have you looked at some of the dish setups?

At least hardware wise Dish is way ahead of the game, and the speeds are a no match, let alone 16 tuners vs 5.

But yeah, customer service has been going down hill big time for all providers.

 

[ncted]

DirecTV is so darn confusing, one of the reasons I just wanna move on, also their customer services is crap, half the people I talk to are from the Philippines. Just many times they just don't get or understand things.
To me it sounds like they really aren't sure what they going to do with the HS17, and they are probably just experimenting things.

I have HR44 and its been alright but the guide as of late feels slow and the mini wireless client is even slower, even after resets.

I am pretty sure they know what they are going to do with the HS17. Just because they aren't sharing it with us doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing. Whatever it is, you can be assured it wasn't entirely ready when it shipped, but it will probably get there some day.

 

[CEV]

Interestingly, I just switched the other way. I was expecting to notice the reduced PQ, but I haven't. According to a thread over on the Dish side Dish has been upgrading their encoders. I tried watching some sports last weekend, which is not something I normally do to try to see if I could find the compression artifacts I used to see on my old Hopper 2k. I checked soccer, football, and tennis, and it was minimal. Hardly any compared to what I remembered. DirecTV might still have the PQ advantage, but Dish seems to have upped their game, at least on the Eastern Arc.

I'm seriously considering switching to Dish as well. Been with DirecTV for years, but really tired of the $140+ monthly charge. I have the Genie 1 and been trying to find out what I'll miss if I move on to Dish.

 

[raoul5788]

I'm seriously considering switching to Dish as well. Been with DirecTV for years, but really tired of the $140+ monthly charge. I have the Genie 1 and been trying to find out what I'll miss if I move on to Dish.

Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. Are you a NY sports fan? You sure don't want to have Dish if you are.

 

[ncted]

I'm seriously considering switching to Dish as well. Been with DirecTV for years, but really tired of the $140+ monthly charge. I have the Genie 1 and been trying to find out what I'll miss if I move on to Dish.

The big thing I miss is the Select package. I have the AT120 with Dish, and it is missing BBC America, but I do not watch enough on that 1 channel to justify the extra money for the AT200. I do not miss the DirecTV hardware and software.

 

[DialgaChampion]

honestly i really like directv
but if i was making a choice right now based on equipment, dish would win.

the genie was more attractive than the hopper/hopper2, but it cannot compete with the hopper 3

This. A lot of people still have the older Hopper 1 and Hopper 2, because they don't have good enough credit, or they don't want to spend the extra money upgrading to a Hopper 3.

When comparing the Hopper 1 and Hopper 2 models against the Genie, the Genie clearly wins hands-down.

However, when comparing the Hopper 3 against the Genie, the Hopper 3 wins because of the hardware and Primetime Anytime. Then it just comes down to whether you prefer the channels and picture quality of DirecTV over Dish. Personally, I'm not a sports fan, so I could care less about that. And then when it comes to PQ, I used to have Direct a few years ago. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between them and Dish. What I did notice was how bad The Hub looked at the time, because it wasn't available in HD.