DirectTV vs. Dish Network

[shana]

Does anyone have any personal experience to help me figure out which satellite company is better for HDTV??

[Masa]

There seems to be little difference between the two other than price. Here check yourself. I'd take dish network since it's a bit cheaper.

[Darzog]

I haven't used HD with either but I prefer Dish (I used to have DirectTV).

Menus: Looking at their menus, Dish wins out... they are quicker in response time. The only thing I like better about DirectTV was it had a button to press so you could easily change dates to look for shows days in the future, haven't found that in Dish.

DVR controls: I like DirectTV's DVR controls better; they make it easier to add shows. With Dish the only way to get all the customization I want I have to find an instance of the show I want to record (and it can't be playing at the time which is why I miss the searching days in advance feature). On DirectTV the show search works just fine so it's easier to look something up and add it.

Multi-Room DVR: Dish uses one box for every two signals (whichever TV is away from the box uses a different type of remote that works rooms away). This has its upsides and downsides. The benefit is that you have less boxes. Another benefit is that if you get a DVR, one signal can go to your living room and the second can go somewhere else (like your bedroom). If you do it this way you can watch DVR recorded shows either in the living room or the bedroom which is a bonus. If you do it this way though and something is recording on signal 2 that's all you can watch in the bedroom (unless you watch something previously recorded). Also if you do it this way and two things are recording and what you want to watch is on signal 2 you can't watch it in the living room (or vice cersa can't watch signal 1 in the bedroom).

Single-Room DVR: A second setup you can use with the DVR (which is what I chose) is to tie both DVR signals to your TV in the living room. This makes it so I can't watch DVR events in the bedroom but I do have control of both signals from the living room TV. This let's me watch either signal (in case I want to watch what is being recorded on signal 2 or don't want to watch what is on signal 1). DirectTV on the other hand has 2 dedicated lines come into the DVR and both output through a single signal to the TV so you can switch back and forth easily and control both from the same remote.

Reception: I haven't noticed much difference between the two providers. When I got Dish installed they had to move my satellite but othewise they both seem to work fine. DirectTV had slightly better reception during storms but that may be due to all the tall trees around us and the angle Dish needs from our house.

Overall I prefer Dish but I don't think either is significantly better than the other. As for HD, it might just come down to which offers more channels and a good price.

[shana]

Thanks for your replies!! We have Dish now and love it, but DirectTV offers locals in HD, and Dish doesn't. I've got to be able to see Lost in HD!!! I'll figure it out, eventually! Thanks, again!

[Darzog]

Does DirectTV actually show them in HD through their satellite? If we wanted it here we would have had to use an antenna (they are broadcast locally in HD so rabbit ears would pick them up). Maybe it's different by area or they've changed their offer but before they didn't offer and just to get locals at all was an extra $5/month or something.

[shana]

I think DTV broadcasts HD locals over the satellite. If we keep Dish, we will have to use an antenna to get them. I do think it all depends on where you live as to what channels you can receive. We pay $5 extra a month for locals now, but they are not HD.