What Do You Miss, Coming From --------?

[Bronxiniowa]

Hello, and glad to be back at SatGuys! What brought me back was the site's leaning to DISH, and I have a question, as I am considering a return to DISH. I've been a DirecTV sub for the past 8 or so years.

My question is based on the line from the Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi" -- "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." So I'd like to ask those of you who came over to DISH from other services, including cable and DirecTV: What do you miss about not having your previous service? Is it programming, customer services, picture quality, sports, reliability, technology, or something else? I know posters to these forums are forthcoming with their observations!

Your comments will help me and my family going forward. Thanks in advance!

 

[KAB]

Very simply, you need to decide based on the programming you want, ie sports. Examine Dish's packages and decide if they have what you want. Everything else is secondary.

 

[dfergie]

DIRECTV has the PQ and Sports, Dish has more premiums, both have most of the locals (no DIRECTV available where I live, I'm at the edge of the spotbeam). Equipment: both have MRV, I like DIRECTV's better as it works with older receivers. DIRECTV's EHDD archiving is by receiver only and if the receiver dies, you lose all, Dish EHDD is by account so your receiver dies, you still can watch on the replacement.

 

[NYDutch]

When we dropped Time Warner Cable in favor of Dish only TV service for both our cottage and RV, the only channel we've missed somewhat was TWC's 24 hr local news channel. Between the Internet and the other local newscasts though, it hasn't been missed a lot.

 

[Skytrooper]

Direct TV's Cast and Crew. It was nice when watching something you could view the actors,their bios and all the movies they were in.

I miss that feature and would of never left but for one reason. They would call and offer free NFL Weekend. I said OK. Then I find out they would charge me around 50$ and hold it for a few weeks and then pay me back. This happened a few times til I looked at my checking account and found out what they were doing.

Free is supposed to be free. What if my checking account was low? I posted this on their forum and it was erased after a few days.

After my changeover, I missed Direct TV. Then after a few years, along came the Hopper. I am now really happy with Dish other than missing my Cast and Crew. The MOCA freed up 4 Ethernet Connections in my wired home. MOCA also allows me to get a Ethernet connection from the rear jack of my 2 Hoppers if I need to. Never fooled with my two Joeys to see if that works.

 

[lparsons21]

DIRECTV has the PQ and Sports, Dish has more premiums, both have most of the locals (no DIRECTV available where I live, I'm at the edge of the spotbeam). Equipment: both have MRV, I like DIRECTV's better as it works with older receivers. DIRECTV's EHDD archiving is by receiver only and if the receiver dies, you lose all, Dish EHDD is by account so your receiver dies, you still can watch on the replacement.

A minor correction I think. D* has more premiums in HD now it seems.

I've got both systems installed and running these days and will most likely end up Dish only at the end of the year. Channel selection between the 2 is not enough different these days to make that the deciding factor for me. But if I were a big sports fan, D* would most likely fit better. NFLST is very nice on D*, but now that so many games are coming on other channels it has reduced value by quite a bit from my perspective.

To me the gear and how it works is very important because of the lack of a significant enough channel differentiation in HD, and it doesn't hurt that E*'s SD is watcheable while D*'s is not imo. PTAT is great because it works so well and you don't know how much you might miss auto-hop until you don't have it! And the EHD being an external archive device tied to the account and not receiver is another big plus. And the overall much more modern UI of the Hopper/Joey system is just light years ahead of anyone else these days imo.

But if I had a big installation I would have to consider D* because you can mix older Hxx and HRxx receivers with the Genie and MRV.

 

[harshness]

DIRECTV has the PQ and Sports, Dish has more premiums, both have most of the locals (no DIRECTV available where I live, I'm at the edge of the spotbeam).

Like Lloyd, I'm going to take you to task on this statement. DISH may currently have more college sports than DIRECTV does (at the moment anyway).

 

[harshness]

A minor correction I think. D* has more premiums in HD now it seems.

Maybe not if you count the Epix channels.

 

[Scherrman]

I always hate this debate. Just find which one has the equipment, and channels the fit your needs and for the right price.

 

[lparsons21]

Like Lloyd, I'm going to take you to task on this statement. DISH may currently have more college sports than DIRECTV does (at the moment anyway).

I hadn't actually thought about college sports, you may very well be correct.

 

[dfergie]

Maybe not if you count the Epix channels.

This, DIRECTV has Showtime & Max channels Dish does not, being in the same "family" they show the same shows... Epix, Retro & Indie have programming not seen on those.

 

[KAB]

Ask a loaded question.....

 

[jerryez]

Dish and Direct have different channels in each package. Look thru the packages for Dish and Direct and see which lower priced package has the channels that you want. Sometimes, it may save you money.

 

[oldengineer]

D* had better RSNs and BTN was included in some packages. I have to pay for the Sports Pack to get BTN in the Philly RSN because Dish says that it's included in BTN states but conveniently leaves out the fact that they exclude the Philly RSN. I wonder what they'll do to MD and NJ subs with Rutgers and The Terps joining?

 

[mitchflorida]

I miss Smithsonian Channel, it is the only one that everyone else has except for dish.

 

[ncted]

While I really like my Hopper and Joey setup, I actually preferred the way that my 2 HR24s worked for MRV. I would have the same timer list on both, but in reverse order, so many things recorded on both DVRs, in case there was an issue that prevented something from recording on one or the other (software bug, reboot, hardware failure, etc.). DirecTV grouped these recordings into folders, unlike TWC Navigator when attempting to do the same thing. Now with just the one Hopper I have now (or the Genie I imagine), it really doesn't matter, but I no longer have the redundancy and reliability my old HR24s offered me. If the Hopper screws up, I just have to live with the consequences as there is no other DVR possibly recording the same thing, just in case. Luckily this has been a very rare issue.

-Ted

 

[JSheridan]

2 Hoppers.

 

[Bronxiniowa]

Thanks to all. The answers have been very helpful!

 

[Scherrman]

D* had better RSNs and BTN was included in some packages. I have to pay for the Sports Pack to get BTN in the Philly RSN because Dish says that it's included in BTN states but conveniently leaves out the fact that they exclude the Philly RSN. I wonder what they'll do to MD and NJ subs with Rutgers and The Terps joining?

BTN should become available to MD and NJ soon, at least they should according to the viewing rules they have. They didn't have any issues with Nebraska when they joined.