Just in case anyone else reading this is considering switching...
I'm a LONG time E* sub making the switch to D*. It was never really attractive in the past because of the large equipment costs starting up and frankly, D* cost more then.
That's no longer the case.
I'm going from E*'s top 250 to D*'s Choice Ultimate package, whole home DVR (this was a big selling point for my wife... she doesn't normally like changing things ), a pair of HR24 HD DVRs (one for the bedroom and one for the living room - replacing a VIP622 and 612).
Taking EVERYTHING into account... a termination fee I'll owe E* (about $100), an equipment upgrade with D* (from a plain HD receiver to that second HD DVR), a referral credit switching to D* using another D* subscriber's account for referral, autopay discount.... everything... I will save about $400 the first 12 months with D* and when all promos and discounts are gone my monthly bill will be about $3 less than what I'm paying E* right now.
Disadvantages? Yup... there were a couple things to sort out. D*'s receivers won't allow me to record 3 things at once like I can with E*'s receivers. We make heavy use of the DVRs. So I had to actually make a spreadsheet of everything we're recording, what time slot it's in, etc and plot out how to set these up on the D* DVRs when they get here. My OTA will now go direct to my TV and be used as backup viewing if we have a case where both sat tuners in the D* DVRs are busy in that room. Right now I have all recording plotted out so there's always a spare tuner on each DVR. It wasn't that hard to do, but it did take a little planning.
Yes we can get AM21 for OTA, but if I can't record it while both sat tuners are busy then it's kinda pointless, at least for now. I can add 'em later if it becomes an issue.
Frankly I think both D* and E* have comparable programming. Each may have a couple things you like better so you choose based on what they're offerring.
I had to convince my wife to make this change. I explained about the channel drops and that this *could* affect D* at some point as well. Neither provider is immune to these things. We made our decision to switch based on the current situation.
I have to say that saving $400 and getting whole home DVR were 2 big factors.
Just my 2 cents, my experience. Yours obviously may be different. I hope I'm still this satisfied with my decision after it's all installed.