Satellite TV

[maryannette]

We are looking at satellite TV packages, so I'm gathering information ...

... opinions?

 

[Dexman1349]

I have the HD package through DirecTv. I really like it. The DVR is very user friendly, and I've only had connectivity issues twice in the 3 years I've had it (snow and high winds).

 

[rudy]

Sorry no satellite opinion from my part... we use cable.

 

[Ble_PE]

We have directv and I don't have any complaints. They both typically have pretty good deals for new customers. If you decide on one, see if you have a friend that has service have then refer you and you both will be able to get a discount (Directv offers $100 via a $10 rebate off your bill for 10 months).

 

[dagget]

I went with Dish primarily because Sirius sat radio is included. We aren't real big TV watchers so I can't talk about channels or HD or any of that (I don't own an HD TV yet). Near as I can tell the Dish service is comparable to Direct, it just works most all of the time, the DVR is real nice when you want that and customer service has been ok when I needed it.

 

[roadwreck]

I have dish network. It was the cheapest of the two satellite providers when I was looking. I have a pretty basic programming package, but I did get an HD DVR in the deal. The local channels (which you have to pay an extra $5 a month for) are all HD too, which is nice. I also got Skinemax Cinemax for 12 months for a penny.

My DVR allows me to hook up an over the air antenna too, which means I can pick up all the local channels off the air in HD. Now, you may be asking, why would I pay $5 a month for the local channels from dish if I can get them from an antenna for free. I asked the same question of a friend that works for dish. His response was that the only way to get the programming information (tv guide-esque channel lineup) for the local channels is to pay the $5 a month for the channels from Dish. Without that info, programming the DVR to record shows on the local channels/broadcast networks would have been a pain. I hooked up the antenna anyway b/c it gives my DVR 3 tuners. Meaning I can now record two shows over my satellite signal and one show on the local channels over the antenna simultaneously. Believe it or not, that can be handy.

I think another big factor between Dish and DirecTV is how many televisions you intend to hook up. Dish Network prefers to give you one box/DVR that will work for your whole house. The nice part about this is that if I record something on my DVR I can watch it on another TV, the downside is that in my house, with my current set up I can only have two tv's hooked up. That's not a problem for me, me and my wife pretty much just use one TV anyway. For a family with kids that might not be so great. I think DirectTV gives you multiple satellite boxes/DVRs, one for each room. I believe they charge a fee per additional box though.

 

[maryannette]

Thanks for the info. We're planning on getting satellite when we move. Is there any wiring in the house that would be easier while building? Is it pretty much like wiring for cable tv?

 

[EM_PS]

^ unfortunately no. Every tv needs it own receiver, and each receiver needs its own separate feed from the antenna dish LNB to be independently controllable. So if you have more than 3 tvs where you want each to be separately controllable, youre talking routing alot of single run wiring & a pretty big anntenna dish. For just two tvs, not too bad however.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Thanks for the info. We're planning on getting satellite when we move. Is there any wiring in the house that would be easier while building? Is it pretty much like wiring for cable tv?

You should get a CATV (coax) jack installed in each room where it would be logical to place a TV, and run the cable from each of those to the same location outside of the house. This is usually done near the gas, electrical, and HVAC service entrance equipment. Then, when the dish(es) are installed, they will install a splitter to take all of the coax cables and run them to 1 or 2 cables on the dish(es).

 

[jeb6294]

Neither...get cable. When I got my house I went with DirecTV because it seemed like a better deal at the time. It started out alright, but over time the signal got worse and worse until it got to the point that I would lose my signal in a stiff breeze. I tried calling customer service about it but you can't talk to a person. Seems like they want to do evrything online. Either way, I never did get anyone who would help. I only got an actual person on the phone when I called to cancel my service. They put one of their special customer service weanies on to try and get me to keep it and told me all the stuff they could try to get my service to work again. I told them they should have done that months before when I first tried to contact them and to just cancel my service because the cable guys were already hooking everything up and my dish was already in the trash.

 

[jemsgirl33]

I didn't read any of the other posts. I, personally, had a very bad experience with DirecTV. We had them for 4 years. We decided to go with DirecTV after realizing the cable was very bad quality (when we first moved in - I believe it was Alltell of something like that). We did the HD/DVR, which worked fine as long as there wasn't a storm passing through which has been quite frequent lately here in Georgia. Then you lose your signal with the Satellite. Once, the receiver gains the signal again, it takes about 20 minutes for you to actually get your cable back and most of the time we would lose our HD completely. So, I would have to call Customer NO SERVICE and try to figure out how to get the HD back working. Half the time it would work and the other half, I would give up after being on the phone for 2 hours trying to speak to Admahadamina in India. Usually, after about a week or so of losing the HD, it would suddenly start working again (go figure that one). I was totally fed up with DirecTV and ready for a change. I'm now with Comcast Bundle and it's going great!!! The HD quality is not as good as satellite TV, but considering the fact that Comcast Customer Service is 1000% better than DirecTV and I'm paying 50% less than what I was paying, I'll take a less than perfect quality picture. I had a more detailed version of my DirecTV Customer NO SERVICE story, but this is the short version. Don't want to bore you.

I hope this helped. Everyones experiences are different, so, you decifer based on that I guess. Good Luck to You, and thanks for getting my mind of the results!!!

 

[roadwreck]

Wow! There are people here that would claim that Comcast has better customer service than anyone??!?!?! I had Comcast for years and hated them specifically due to their customer service (or lack thereof). Comcast is the only company I've ever dealt with that hung up on me while on a call. We didn't get disconnected, the person on the other end of the line just hung up on me. I will never go back to comcast.

I've been pretty impressed with Dish Network customer service. The fan inside my first DVR quit working, I called Dish, got through to a live person quickly and they sent out a service tech with a new DVR the same day. I was pretty impressed. I do lose signal from time to time, but I wouldn't say I lose signal any more frequently then I did with Comcast.

 

[jeb6294]

The HD quality is not as good as satellite TV

Isn't 1080 resolution the same whether it comes in through cable or a dish?

Unless you're talking about the number of channels. When we first got our HD DVR some of the HD channels were free but there were only like 6 of them. You could add another 10 for $4 a month but even those weren't that great except ESPN so we didn't bother. Now you get a ton of HD channels on Time Warner...seems like pretty much every local channel and almost every basic channel, i.e. USA , TNT, ESPN, have HD channels. Of course we don't have our HDTV anymore so it doesn't really help us now.

 

[jonstone]

Direct here, mainly for the NFL Sunday Ticket.

 

[nashbmattPE]

direct tv since 2000 have not had any problems with it and my internet is with hughes net. all of this because i live out in the country and cable will not be there in my lifetime.

 

[jemsgirl33]

Comcast had a really bad rep. not that long ago, but my understanding is that they are trying really hard to fix that. I have had a GREAT experience with them from the Sales Rep. to Technical Support (since my wireless router was not working with their Modem). You would think 1080i resolution would be the same either through cable or satellite, but it's not. The Sales Guy informed me that Comcast was working hard on that to be as good a quality as Satellite.

And another thing that really irritated me with DirecTV was that when they sent me the Box to send the HD/DVR receiver back, they informed me that I had 7 days to have the box back to them or they would charge me $470. Go Figure. I've heard Clark Howard talk about their deceiving ways of getting in your pocket. Had I not had such a bad experience with them concerning their Customer Service, I would still be a loyal customer. Such is Life!!!

 

[EM_PS]

The HD quality is not as good as satellite TV

Isn't 1080 resolution the same whether it comes in through cable or a dish?

yeah but with satellite, your dish is ony a couple hundred feet away (if that) with better quality cables, vs. miles away w/ who knows what kind of cables. The difference is actually pretty noticeable.

I've had experience w/ DirectTV. In general, they were pretty good...even the customer service didnt seem too bad. I could deal w/ the storm fade w/ a satellite dish, but what really killed me was having to go out in snow storms & try to sweep the dish off, while avoiding jarring it out of alignment - or falling off the ladder. Also, the whole carrying or not carrying local channels in HD was annoying.

Comcast we had after the dish, and I liked it - never really had any issues with it. I loved the interface it had with the remote and search capability. Presently, we have AT&T U-verse. Its pretty comparable to comcast, but not as full-featured / convenient an interface unfortunately.

If you have to go with a dish, i think either carrier would be an ok choice.

 

[jeb6294]

If you have to get satellite, I just say screw the both of them. Get one of those big honkin' 8-ft jobbers and stick it in the middle of the yard.

 

[Chucktown PE]

^ If you're going to do that you need a couple of old cars on cinder blocks as well.