DirectTV vs. Cable

[TwinCities]

So I have cable currently and am thinking of jumping to DirectTV. Is this a bad move? Any pros or con of DirectTV? Is it reliable or unreliable? Does the disk get knocked out of sync easily?

[Nikki_Licks]

WE have been wanting to switch too. I have asked before on another board and directv seems to have the majority of the vote.

[candyflip]

I was going to switch and have been wanting too, but my cable company keeps adding HD channels...so I keep putting it off.

I need to do a check and see who's got the most HD content at the moment.

[DBS.US]

I have DirectTV never had a problem
My girlfriends affiliate link DishTVguys.com

[Inde]

You'll have much better picture quality with DirecTV...

[TwinCities]

Well I have HD cable. Is HD DirectTV that much better than HD Cable?

[Rique]

I've had DirecTV for the last 9 years. Honestly I can't see myself switching to Dish nor Cable. Those of you that are wondering, currently DirecTV offers the most HD channels. Something like 95 vs 81 or something for Dish. The new 5-line dishes (required to get HD reception--free @ sign-up) are heavy and sturdy, such that even with the Santa Ana winds which are prevalent here in So Cal, I've never had any downtime in service. Because I am a sports junky, I have a few sports package subscriptions (ESPN Full Court, NBA League Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket and ESPN Game Plan-- of which NFL Sunday Ticket is exclusive to DirecTV). I think it all boils down to what type of programming you're looking for. If it's just movie channels and channels like MTVHD, History Channel HD you're looking for, then probably both DirecTV and Dish are about equal. Where DirecTV blows both cable and Dish out the water is with their sports package offerings.

Damn, didn't realize I had typed so much jibberish LOL.......Hope this was of help.

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by Rique

I've had DirecTV for the last 9 years. Honestly I can't see myself switching to Dish nor Cable. Those of you that are wondering, currently DirecTV offers the most HD channels. Something like 95 vs 81 or something for Dish. The new 5-line dishes (required to get HD reception--free @ sign-up) are heavy and sturdy, such that even with the Santa Ana winds which are prevalent here in So Cal, I've never had any downtime in service. Because I am a sports junky, I have a few sports package subscriptions (ESPN Full Court, NBA League Pass, NFL Sunday Ticket and ESPN Game Plan-- of which NFL Sunday Ticket is exclusive to DirecTV). I think it all boils down to what type of programming you're looking for. If it's just movie channels and channels like MTVHD, History Channel HD you're looking for, then probably both DirecTV and Dish are about equal. Where DirecTV blows both cable and Dish out the water is with their sports package offerings.

Damn, didn't realize I had typed so much jibberish LOL.......Hope this was of help.

it was helpful

[baddog]

Originally Posted by DBS.US

I have DirectTV never had a problem
My girlfriends affiliate link DishTVguys.com

Because you live where you do. Live in a place with storms, snow, lots of rain, sun spots . . . forget about it.

My daughter just moved and got angry with her cable company so went with Dish. She absolutely hates it as far as the Internet connection is concerned.

[teg0]

DirecTV quality is good, if you have a good line of sight for your dish. If its storming, and heavy clouds are passing by, your signal is really shitty and you wont really get any reception. Since its digital it wont be snowy or anything... the 1s and 0s wont reach your dish so you just wont have any picture at all or little squares will be missing and the audio with squeak. All in all its worth it IMO.

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s the DirecTV hacking scene was on fire, was so easy to unlock your receiver's card and get every single channel for free, including all PPV channels. They cracked down heavy on that and its less of a problem for them now.

[GetSCORECash]

Consider Dish Networks instead of Direct TV, they will offer you more for your money. Plus they have more adult channels.

[geedub]

Originally Posted by baddog

She absolutely hates it as far as the Internet connection is concerned.

their internet has nothing to do with tv quality. my parents live in rural wisconsin and have had dish internet for years, its an incredible pile of shit. the main reason it sucks so bad is their is a hardcore fair usage policy. directv for television on the other hand, works pretty damn good even in snow storms. its just HARDCORE thunderstorms and ice on the arm that comes off dish in winter that will own you.. but your average tstorm or rain showers shouldnt fuck it up.

[mynameisyep]

DirectTV for me but just planning to have it.

[Phil21]

You don't use sattelite for internet unless it's the only option you have, period. It's not made for that, and is not "broadband" in any real sense of the word as people know it today.

However, for TV DirecTV has no competition in my book, especially if you enjoy A/V stuff as a hobby. For me, watching movies/TV is the really only way I relax these days, and DirecTV HD is wonderful for that.

If you properly set your dish up, and give it a proper location (e.g. not behind trees, etc.) you should very rarely see rainfade. Only the largest storms (e.g. precipitation, not wind!) should knock it out, and usually only for a short period of time. Poorly mounted and aimed dishes make it a wildcard though - just be sure to do it right, and you'll have less outages than cable does.

Their HD DVR's blow comcast's out the water. They definitely are no Tivo (oh how I miss my HD Directivo...), but honestly are not terrible. They seem committed to working on them and making them better, so hopefully it improves over time.

TwinCities - judging by your name, are you in the Minneapolis area? If so, I am too. The only time I've gotten rain fade this year so far is during the large hail storm about a month back. There, it was out for about 5-10 minutes and came back. Conversley, my cable (internet) was out for about 8-10 hours.

For pricing, I can't really tell you. From what I hear, DirecTV is slightly cheaper than the equivilent HD cable package, but comes with some more channels. You'd have to do your own research there.

Customer service? DTV hands down. Comcast are complete fucking idiots, and do not give two shits about your business. DirecTV while it has gone downhill some in the past couple years, is so far ahead in this arena that it will make your head spin. They seem to actually value your business on some level and it shows. Basically, their reps can actually get shit done (and will!) unlike the cable companies who seem only interested in making you go away.

I don't "hold out" for many companies, but DirecTV has treated me well for 8 years now. They certainly are not perfect, but when compared to the cable competition they may as well be.

Hope the info helps!

-Phil

[baddog]

Originally Posted by geedub

their internet has nothing to do with tv quality. my parents live in rural wisconsin and have had dish internet for years, its an incredible pile of shit. the main reason it sucks so bad is their is a hardcore fair usage policy. directv for television on the other hand, works pretty damn good even in snow storms. its just HARDCORE thunderstorms and ice on the arm that comes off dish in winter that will own you.. but your average tstorm or rain showers shouldnt fuck it up.

I only brought up the Internet factor because we don't have storms here.

As far as reception is concerned, trees and sunspots will trash your reception. I know, I used to have to suffer through it.

[Phil21]

sunspots? riiiight.... someone was selling you something

Trees, absolutely. If you can't get clear LoS, don't bother. Trees will also make rainfade much worse, since when it rains the leaves get wet and further block the signal.

However, a properly mounted/aimed dish simply will not "fade" these days, except during extreme weather. Chances are, cable will be out as well in those situations (at least if you live around here, or chicago)

[mikeet]

Just go with both! Thats what i do.

[NETbilling]

I love DirecTV. I switched from cable to Dish network years ago and then to DirecTV.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Phil21

sunspots? riiiight.... someone was selling you something

Trees, absolutely. If you can't get clear LoS, don't bother. Trees will also make rainfade much worse, since when it rains the leaves get wet and further block the signal.

However, a properly mounted/aimed dish simply will not "fade" these days, except during extreme weather. Chances are, cable will be out as well in those situations (at least if you live around here, or chicago)

My dealings with it were when goodgirl lived in Wheatfield, IN (the name should give you an idea of what she was dealing with there).

The sunspots issue blew my mind, but her satellite company had it posted on their website when they were due. They happened at certain times of the year.

The trees that blocked her reception were a stand that were a few miles away from her, with the tower on the other side.

Many times we would be working and she would have to go move the snow or water out of the dish. I was so happy when she moved somewhere with cable.

[MissMina]

I have DirecTV and I love it!

[Ron Bennett]

Originally Posted by baddog

...The sunspots issue blew my mind, but her satellite company had it posted on their website when they were due. They happened at certain times of the year...

It's not sunspots, but rather the angle of sunlight around the beginning of Spring and beginning of Fall is such that it will satuate some dishes (not sure if customer dishes experience this problem, but large dish feeds / ground stations often do) for a short, varying period of time, twice a day from what I recall, over the course of about a week or so.

Ron

[KillerK]

I have cable, works for me. The HD-Dvr is good, nothing really wrong with it.

[Ron Bennett]

Compared to cable DirecTV is typically cheaper, often has better HD picture, and service tends to be somewhat better.

However, DirecTV / Dish has a huge weakness compared to cable - the lack of Video on Demand (VoD) service.

Ron

[Marky333]

go for DirectTV ... it's my choice

[bu((aneer]

Originally Posted by TwinCities

So I have cable currently and am thinking of jumping to DirectTV. Is this a bad move? Any pros or con of DirectTV? Is it reliable or unreliable? Does the disk get knocked out of sync easily?

DirectTV fucking sucks..

During a storm service dies.

Certain stations randomly blackout for a few seconds, then return. Annoying as fuck!

I am working on my 3rd box. They try to charge me each time for a service call.

Not happy at all with DirectTV!

[jollyperv]

Bookmarking this thread, buying a house in 60 days....this is the kind of stuff that I know nothing about.

[NOTR]

I live in Canada, back in the hacking days I used to have DirectTv and loved it. Now stuck with Bell which leases from Dish. Horrible and I don't get the good american channels.

Can someone get me a directtv service with dish and a pvr and I will pay the monthly bills plus a small % on top of it? I will pay upfront for all start up costs, but I am not sure if the technicians are allowed to just give u the box or if they install it. I just need it shipped to me in Canada and service activated and I can install it myself.

[TwinCities]

Wow thanks guy. Turned into a great informative thread. Seems like DirectTV is the clear winner here. I am just so tired of the inept cable people here that I just cannot stand it anymore. Seems like DirectTV is not only a better value but also a much better service.

[Bojangles]

I'm thinking of going with DirecTV. I currently have cable right now, and I spent some major coin on my TV... Therefore, I want more HD channels than my cable company offers. I have their best package, and only get like 20 Hd channels. Fuck that.

[fatfoo]

yeah, DirectTV is good

[Sosa]

I've been a DirecTV customer for 6 years now after switching from dish and cable. DirecTV hd fucking rocks, and the picture quality is better then cable companies because the cable companies jam pack so much hd bandwidth through their system they can't use the best quality for the channels.

I'm in Nebraska, we get rain, snow, dust storms, 80 mph winds and the only time my dish goes out is in a very heavy blizzard or contants rain downpour. It takes a lot to get it to go out. Have the installer do a goodjob, and you shoudln't lose signal that often at all.

Now I would never go with a sat internet company like baddog had talked about. Most people know how bad those are.

[Sosa]

Originally Posted by bu((aneer

DirectTV fucking sucks..

During a storm service dies.

Certain stations randomly blackout for a few seconds, then return. Annoying as fuck!

I am working on my 3rd box. They try to charge me each time for a service call.

Not happy at all with DirectTV!

The protection play sucks but is well worth it. I've only had to send one box back which was a hd/dvr because the hard drive started making noises.