Does anyone know which one is better? DISH Network or DirecTV? Does anyone have one of these? I'm looking for the best picture quality. According to Consumer Reports, Dish Network has "better" picture quality than DirecTV. Any input?
Thanks.

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'98 Bright Red XLT F-150, Regular Cab, Flareside, STX, 4.2L V6, Auto, 3.55, SuperChip, K&N High-Flow Air Filter, Mobil 1 motor oil, Muth signal mirrors, Westin chrome step bars, Magnum bug shield, tinted windows, Extang BlackMax.

 

Big Mac,

I have had Dish Network for 3 years and am very happy. I do not know enough about Direct TV to offer any comparisons

I am very picky about picture quality also. As much as I like a big screen I could not get past the grainy image they produce. So I have a "little" 36" TV, the largest Picture tube I could find at the time.

Redwing

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1979 f-150, 1989 Bronco2, 1990 full size Bronco,
1995 Explorer(wifes car), 2000 f-150
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[This message has been edited by redwing (edited 11-21-2000).]

 

I've had Dish Network for two years; started with them because of their 'free' dish at that time (with a years agreement of programming). I've got a couple friends who have Direct TV and I have not been impressed with theirs yet. A lot of times their picture is all scrambly from channel to channel. The only problems I ever have is in storms, but it generally comes back within a few minutes. Needless to say, my bill comes at the wrong time of the month and I almost always mail it a couple days late, but they have never charged me a late fee or anything. I think it's a pretty good company.

 

I have DirecTV and love it! I live in Central Florida where we get some pretty bad thunderstorms and I lose the signal for a litlle while during a storm. The picture is great...never had a problem.

Right now they have free installation if you buy before Jan. 14, 2001.

I got mine through www.roxy.com about a year and a half ago. I got the top of the line Sony dual line dish and two Sony recievers for $185. I liked the Sony recievers the best because the on-screen menus are transparent enough so that you can see the program while keeping the menu up. http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer.../sat-b55.shtml That price included two free installation kits with all of the coax cable that I needed.

I then bought a Terk TV 41/42 antenna to get the local stations.

http://www.terk.com/tv/product/tv4142.html

Now you can pay an additional $5 per month to get your local stations but at the time when I got my dish they were not available. The antenna was $80 and it works great as long as you are fairly close to your local broacasting antennas or repeaters.

The packages that the DishNetwork and DirecTV offer are almost identical and I have not really heard anything bad about either.

[This message has been edited by BlueFlareside (edited 11-22-2000).]

 

I have had Direct TV for about 3 years, and am vary happy with it. I have had no experience with Dish network so I cannot say I like one better than the other. To my untrained eye, the picture quality is excellent, and the only time I have problems is in heavy rain the signal is lost. Do as much research as you can, and check into programming packages to see which one offers more of what you are looking for, or if there is any difference. Also important is find out if your local channels are availabe on the sat, or how well you can get them with an antenna.
Jeff

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1999 F-150 Lariat 4X2
Reg cab Short box Styleside
5.4L 3.55ls
Deep Wedgwood Blue/Silver
Lund Interceptor hood shield
VentVisors
Class III hitch
Ford molded mud guards
Soft tonneau cover
Factory CD with changer (thanks Dusty)
Tinted windows
Factory fog light kit

http://www.fortunecity.com/silversto...ton54home.html

 

Direct TV STINKS!!!..Their Customer Service is S--T and their Technical Support is the same thing. My receiver blew out from a very close lightning strike even with a surge suppressor hooked up to it. I called everyone I could at Direct TV to get my receiver repaired and each and every person gave me the runaround . All they seem to be interested in is billling you every month. But, have absolutely no knowledge of their own system or where to bring it in for repair..STAY AWAY!!!! Customer Service is everything and when you have a problem, thats when you need them. And Direct TV cannot give you that support! I finally found a store to bring it in on my own, but, this ripoff place wanted more to fix than a brand new system.

After the experience with Direct TV and the repair ripoff guy, I switched to the Dish Network and give it two thumbs up! Far Superior and much more programming. Very pleased! Great with Customer Service.

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99 F150 SC,5.4L,4x4 ORP,TTP,Gibson Single Side Cat-Back Exhaust System,Airaid,Duraliner Bedliner,Lund Bug Deflector Shield, SmittyBilt Outland Sport Bumper Guard in SS,A.R.E. Cab High Bed Cap,Valentine Radar Detector,ICOM 2M/70CM Ham Radio,R.F.Concepts Linear Amplifier,2watts in,170 watts out,Diamond SG Series Dual Band Antenna.



[This message has been edited by I95 (edited 11-22-2000).]

 

I've Had Both. I95's problem with Lightning has really nothing to do with Direct TV. A Surge Supressor Wont Usually Stop Lightning Anyway. Read the Intructions on the Back, They'll stop up to 8000 Volts, A Lightning Strike is Like 1,000,000 volts. With either system the Box would have been toast.

I Loved My Direct TV, I Like My Dish Network. Both have good Pictures, But Direct TV With a S-Video Connection Can't be beat by anything other Than HDTV. I got More Channels With Direct Tv than I can get With Dish Network. Both Are Easy to hook up.
Now For the Good But Illegal stuff:
You can buy Programmed "See ALL" cards for the Direct TV off the internet for a Couple Hundred bucks. They Give you EVERY channel. You Can't get these for Dish Network. They Use A Different Technology.

Now you're going to ask why I switched. My old roomate had the Direct TV, He Moved. My IN-Laws have Dish Network, I Live Behind them in a Apartment, And They PAy the BILL.

I worked at Circiut City and we had all our TV's on Direct TV and The Picture was AWSOME.
If I were gonna pick one, It would Definatly Pick the Direct TV.

Also there are a Couple of Companies who make the Direct TV, I Liked the Sonys and The Hitachi.

 

ccla,

I did not have a direct hit from Lightning..I only had a spike surge, and the suppressor should have prevented any problems, which it did not. Direct TV could not have prevented the surge. What I stated was THEY HAVE NO SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR WHEN YOU REALLY HAVE A REPAIR PROBLEM, YOUR ON YOUR OWN for finding and repairing your system.! Customer Service, was of no help, technical support could not answer a simple question. Neither department could direct you to any place to have a problem fixed.

And yes I stand by my Statement about Direct TV they STINK..IN ALL AREAS...the picture was not the problem it was fine until this happened. The problem is there LACK OF SUPPORT NOT ONLY IN CUSTOMER SERVICE, BUT ALSO, IN THEIR TECH DEPT.

STAY WITH DISH NETWORK at least they have trained people to deal with when you need them for any problem you might encounter.

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99 F150 SC,5.4L,4x4 ORP,TTP,Gibson Single Side Cat-Back Exhaust System,Airaid,Duraliner Bedliner,Lund Bug Deflector Shield,SmittyBilt Outland Sport Bumper Guard in SS,Two KC DayLighters Off Road Lights,Two Eagle Eye Off Road Lights,A.R.E. Cab High Bed Cap,Valentine Radar Detector,ICOM 2M/70CM Ham Radio,R.F.Concepts Linear Amplifier,2watts in,170 watts out,Diamond SG Series Dual Band Antenna.

 

All of you ... Thanks...
I guess it'll be DISH Network for me...

 

Customer service was a big problem with DirecTV but they have hired a whole slew of customer service reps in the past year. They bougt a couple of companies and were just overloaded for a time. I have not had a problem with them....of course I think I have only called one in the past 6 months. All of the orering of movies, etc. is done through my remote!

I do not think you can go wrong with either system....I would go with the cheaper one for your needs.

 

I95, can you clearify something. I do not mean to attack you, but did Direct TV supply your receiver? If they did, I agree with your complaint. In most cases you buy your dish and reciever from whomever you want, Direct TV only supplies the signal. In my case my reciever is RCA, therefore I would have to contact RCA for reciever problems, and Direct TV for signal related problems.

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1999 F-150 Lariat 4X2
Reg cab Short box Styleside
5.4L 3.55ls
Deep Wedgwood Blue/Silver
Lund Interceptor hood shield
VentVisors
Class III hitch
Ford molded mud guards
Soft tonneau cover
Factory CD with changer (thanks Dusty)
Tinted windows
Factory fog light kit

http://www.fortunecity.com/silversto...ton54home.html

 

JA_Stang86,

Yes I bought the total package directly from Direct TV, it was a promo. And I know that they supply only the signal. Direct TV could not even direct me to the appropriate people to get an answer for my problem on my receiver, which they sold me. My receiver was an RCA, which, when I called RCA they were useless as well. So, between the two (Direct TV and RCA) I had far to many problems and to much time on the phone waiting and waiting and waiting, with no resolution, from either palce, so I chucked the receiver and the dish and went over to Dish Network.
Far Superior in every way! Two Thumbs Up!
I get every station including my hometown NY,which at that time I could not get from Direct Tv. I feel like I'm back home.


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99 F150 SC,5.4L,4x4 ORP,TTP,Gibson Single Side Cat-Back Exhaust System,Airaid,Duraliner Bedliner,Lund Bug Deflector Shield,SmittyBilt Outland Sport Bumper Guard in SS,Two KC DayLighters Off Road Lights,Two Eagle Eye Off Road Lights,A.R.E. Cab High Bed Cap,Valentine Radar Detector,ICOM 2M/70CM Ham Radio,R.F.Concepts Linear Amplifier,2watts in,170 watts out,Diamond SG Series Dual Band Antenna.

 

We've had DirecTV for 4 1/2 years. I've seen the picture quality go down significantly over the past year or so. From what I read at www.dbsforums.com , it looks like the never-ending battle to get the "most" channels is causing DISH to experience the same reduction of quality. If my local cable had VH1, Comedy Central, and E!, I'd have already switched back. The DBS industry has forsaken quality for quantity.

 

I forgot about what ccla was talking about. I know a guy who knows this other guy who knows somebody else that was his brother's step-uncles something or other that has some program for his home computer to rewrite the card in the DirectTV system so that he gets all the channels free. WHEWWW!! Can't do that with Dish Network. Just be wary of the fine print on either of them, their contracts/plans etc. seem to change all the time. If something goes wrong with my system I'm screwed. But I figure that since it was free (and easy to install) I can just get another system somehow. Good Luck.

 

I've had Dish Network for about a year-and-a-half, and have never had any problems and their service seems just fine.

I installed my system myself and unless you're totally helpless, don't pay for anyone to have it installed. I would advise you to get an upscale installation kit (got mine from Monster), as they will have better coax cable, etc.

I bought a two-box system: one for the bedroom and one for the home theater. The home theater box will pass a Dolby Digital signal for listening to DD movies in their full 5.1 channel glory.

My only regret is that I bought it from a dealer...and the prices are too high. My basic theory is that they should give away the hardware, as they make it up on the programming. I would have gone to www.thesatelliteguy.com. His prices are the cheapest I've seen. Not sure about his rep., but he has been in business for a long time.

Get the Dish 500 dish and a separate box for the old lady to watch the Home and Garden Channel.

[This message has been edited by jaymz (edited 11-25-2000).]