<p>hi again everyone,
Since you solved my what to get high school counselor for a gift, as well as washing machine advice, I have Yet Another Needing Advice Question! :)</p>
<p>Today our cable TV station cut FOUR more channels, saying we need to get a “digital converter.” I am TIRED of more and more channels being removed, and monthly fee going up. We are going to cancel cable TV and get either Direct TV or Dish Network.</p>
<p>Which do you think is a better choice and why…Direct TV or Dish Network? Or something else altogether?</p>
<p>We have Comcast at home and Direct TV at our vacation house. I don’t like Direct TV as much. Their billing is awful; they call you if you are one day late and shut off your service at about two days late. You get the bill and it is due in about two weeks, so if you aren’t right on top of it, you get the service shut off. I have actually sometimes just paid ahead a month to avoid this.</p>
<p>We have premium Comcast service with lots of movie choices; we don’t have that with Direct TV. Also not as many educational channels. Comcast service is more expensive though.</p>
<p>We have Dish and like it. However, my brother is a VP for DirecTV and the rest of my family all has that…for loyalty reasons…and the free equipment…LOL. I have no problems with Dish. </p>
<p>We chose Dish because the channel lineup we wanted was priced better. So, it can really be a personal thing. Look up what package serves you best for both services and choose the best price.</p>
<p>Since there has been so many complaints about DirecTV’s decieptive practices, our Attorney General was planning to file a awsuit against the company:</p>
<p>Another one to consider if it’s offered in your area is AT&T U-Verse. I don’t have it but know people who do and they seem happy enough with it for their TV as well as broadband internet access.</p>
<p>What’s the issue with your cable company? Do you not have a converter box such that the cable’s going directly to the TV and those channels are being cut? If so then why not just get the converter box they’re talking about? You’re going to end up with some kind of box with any of the other offereings anyway. Some new TVs can also accept a ‘cable card’ which is a circuit board that mounts inside your TV, essentially an internal ‘cable box’ so you don’t have to have the external box, but this is only for certain TVs and not all cable companies offer it.</p>
<p>yikes thanks for the heads up about DirectTV, hadn’t heard that. I checked & Comcast isn’t in our area alas. I am looking more closely at Dish now and it seems to offer the best deal. Thanks for the advice, yes I will be VERY careful to read the dreaded “fine print” before signing up for anything.</p>
<p>As for our cable company, the issue isn’t a converter box. All of the channels are still able to come through on our TV. When I called earlier when channels were cut saying a “digital receiver” was needed to get thus and so channel, what was REALLY happening was they were changing the channel line-up for the existing packages. In other words, they are basically removing channels one by one and “re-packaging” them in higher priced “packages.” And about three months ago they also RAISED the monthly fee. I think the strategy is to keep cutting the channels to the point where they think you are “forced” to buy a higher priced package for what you had previously been paying. I’m sorry but I’m not going to be pressured into doing that. I would rather pay the same price for a different company than put up with shenanigans like that. ):</p>
<p>thriftymom, H and I went through the same thing when Comcast decided to mess up our channel lineup. We looked at FiOS, dishes and whatnot, and in the end… stuck with Comcast. Sigh.</p>
<p>We have DISH in our vacation home; didn’t know DirecTV was even a choice, but I guess it is.</p>
<p>We have cable in winter home. </p>
<p>I like DISH just fine.</p>
<p>Let’s face it, they all cost too much. But DISH has been quite good, both in reliability of reception and customer service when (couple times) there was a problem with our receiver. </p>
<p>So, I can’t really compare the two, but can vouch that DISH has been good for us.</p>
<p>I’ve had Directv for a long time…back in the 90’s and they helped me “move” to another city and state at no cost. It’s pricey but my neighbor says they pay the same for cable. I’ve never had a problem. Billing is “online” and I just log on and pay it…no problems at all. I do think, though, since they have ads, that their prices could be cheaper.</p>
<p>We have had DirecTV for 12 years. My H would part with major body organs before doing without it. The tv service is superb–it goes out for a very short time just a couple times a year–when cloud cover is very heavy. When we had cable, there was never a month where we had all the channels we were supposed to have, all working, all the time.</p>
<p>Their billing doesn’t bother me. It is easy to pay on-line and is credited instantly. The one time I slipped up on payment, I rec’d an email reminder and service was not cut.</p>
<p>Their bottom rate package has very few choices, and it’s a big payment jump to the next package. Over the years, they have cut channels out and “re-aligned” package choices. The other slimy thing which really grates on me (and is not individual to DirecTV) is that they offer MUCH better pricing to new customers. Cheaper to retain customers than get new ones? HA. Loyalty? HA.</p>
<p>My D is a mile away and has DISH. His experience is similar to mine–so I’d suggest you see if both are offered in your area and go with the one with the package/price you want.</p>
<p>DirecTV fanboi here. The price is decent and the variety of the channels they offer is unparalleled (if you’re at all interested in sports programming, you basically need to have DirecTV for the exclusive packages with the major leagues). The customer service is, in my opinion, amazing. Obviously I’m biased, but I deal with a lot of utilities (Vonage, our local cable company for broadband and they suck a lot, the water company, and PPL) and DirecTV is always helpful. They reward loyalty. When you move, they offer generous compensation if you stay with them. I called to get DVRs about a year ago and was offered the three I need for free. Obviously you’re going to have the occasional weather outage, but you’ll get that with DISH too.</p>
<p>Another Directv fan here. Great signal quality, goes out maybe 15 minutes every 6 months.
Jumped from Cablevision when they couldn’t show me my Yankee games, quite a few years ago now. That YES network fiasco. Stayed ever since.</p>
<p>We sign on for two years at a time and ALWAYS get some ‘retention’ bonus.
Just call the main number and ASK for retention.
It doesn’t hurt that I (truthfully) mention that we are in a FIOS location and Verizon is hassling us every day with TV and internet offers.
Last year, they sent us free a HD DVR for one room and an HD receiver for the other (only 2 sets in the house, weird I know). Also, waived $10/month HD fee with one year and gave us free HBO and Showtime for 6 months. Greatchannels, great reception.</p>
<p>RETENTION line is your friend. Can’t wait to see what I can get this June!</p>
<p>And the thing is, I really will switch for a better deal, so I love to hear the offers.</p>
<p>We have had DirecTV for 12 years. My H would part with major body organs before doing without it.</p>
<p>My H would part with major body parts before doing away with the DVR…he doesn’t care which service we have…Dish, DirecTV, cable, whatever…as long as he can get “his” channels and he has a DVR to pause, go back, record, etc. :)</p>
<p>^^Same here. “We” cannot live without CNN and CNBC. Pffft! I hate eating breakfast while listening to the CNBC talking heads yakking about some stocks we’ll never own. When “we” is out of town, I turn the TV only to watch AGT, DWTS, or WNTW It stays off in the mornings.</p>
<p>All-CNBC-talking-heads-all-the-time… That is my DH as well, BB. </p>
<p>Did all that … ahem… research… mean he liquidated our stocks in time to avoid the big meltdown? It did not.</p>
<p>Pffft from here as well.</p>
<p>Could not live without my DVR. I don’t care which service provider I have, but that is an addiction. I now get frustrated when driving along and cannot “rewind” to hear some tidbit I missed on the radio. I have even found myself wanting to “rewind” IRL conversations!</p>
<p>I live rurally enough that cable is not an option. Most people in my area with satellite get Dish Network, specifically because it carries the local network channels. DirecTV does not. (I like to know the local weather/sports, not what’s going on in NYC.)</p>
<p>Dish tends to cost less. Their mid-tier package costs less than Direct’s base package. It’s also cheaper to connect lots of rooms with Dish than with Directv. Both are very similar in terms of signal reliability and service. I would base my decision first on the availability of local channels, then on price.</p>
<p>^ Thinking about switching from cable (Comcast) to Dish for just that reason. With a live-in MIL we’ve now got TVs in four rooms. The only High Def service we get right now is from our local broadcast stations. Just got a notice Comcast is jacking up rates again. Upgrading to High Def on Comcast would cost a small fortune, and of the three services they offer the least High Def. DirecTV is a little cheaper and has more High Def but it’s still quite costly for four sets. The way I read the service offers, we could upgrade to a Dish mid-tier package including High Def and get about twice the number of channels and a very large selection of High Def channels for almost exactly what we’d be paying on Comcast for “standard” service once the rate hike goes through.</p>
It stays off in the mornings.</p>