Dish vs Direct TV ????

[Beaver 08]

Trying to determine which compay is best of me to have installed with Rv and in Murphy NC home. Your comments would be appreciated.

[Beaver 08]

Trying to determine which compay is best of me to have installed with Rv and in Murphy NC home. Your comments would be appreciated.

[jfb]

Depending on your attitude, either would probably do the job. We were long time users of DISH but their service centers in India and t he Philippines "did us dirt" and we switched to Directv. Should have done it years earlier due to better cost and service. There are other issues that others will discuss such as using your receiver in the MH, traveling "out side your area", etc, etc... Good luck!!!

[Cruzer]

We went with DirecTV initially because our home is surrounded by trees. Dish Network's satellite is lower in the sky and we couldn't get out of our clearing. DirecTV's bird is higher and we can get a signal. Since then we've had great success with DirecTV, both at home and on the road, and the extra altitude of the satellite has made a difference in some campgrounds as well.

[DFR]

We used to have Dish network but switched to Direct TV due to the fact that we were unable to receive the Dish signal where we vacation in Ontario. I was told that the cause was Dish had bought out the Canadian Satellite system and to protect the coverage area of that system lowered the power/coverage area of the Dish signal. Since switching to Direct TV, no problems.

[two2go]

We have had Dish for 14 years and are pretty satisfied with them. Dish appears to be lower priced for similar programming in my opinion. I got an unsatisfactory answer from Dish customer service to a question while traveling that I only resolved later through these forums.
We use our home receiver and a Dish 500 dual LNB on a tripod that I set up and aim in a few minutes once we park the RV. It would be nice to have a separate receiver and automatic dish, but that doesn't fit our budget, given the ever-increasing price of programming. After the high-def/digital conversion gets sorted out in '09, I will re-evaluate our TV options.

[Cruzer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by two2go:
....... After the high-def/digital conversion gets sorted out in '09, I will re-evaluate our TV options. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's very good point. The switchover to HDTV is taking some time and there's no real clue as to which direction everything is going. Couple that with the present lack of HDTV reception for the new KA band channels on the in-motion RV satellite domes and it's pretty hard to come up with a clear answer.

I'm one of those that is waiting to see how things transpire before making any serious commitment to HDTV programming at this time. 2009 is a good time frame to see who offers what.

[BigRedLancer]

I have Direct TV and I am glad I don't have Dish as they had channels pulled from service in the past due to disputes with the channel supplier. The customer loses in the long run. My only complaint with Direct TV is their DVR is a piece of junk. The regular receivers (non recording) have worked without a hitch for many years.

Cheers!

[Steady Eddie]

This is a topic that I am learning about.
We are huge NASCAR Fans and as such have
Dish equipment. Because we often camp where
there are trees and other cover, we use a tripod
mount that I can move, to be able to "see" the
"birds"..I learned the hard way that the Dish
mounting pole MUST be plumb for the "skew" setting to work right. The skew is what allows the Dish to see two sats at once. 110 and 119.
I often had called the sat dish set-up "the Fun Killer" because I would aim the Dish for HOURS!!
Once I learned to plumb the pole up-right, using
my bubble level and to nail the tripod solidly
in place by hanging weights off it, and I learned to preset Elevation and Skew before-hand, then aiming became a simple matter of
setting the Dish to a compass heading. 10 or
15 minutes later, I am having an adult beverage
along with everyone else, while the "box" goes
thru its' set-up...nothing in the RV Lifestyle
will send you from Hero-to-Zero FASTER than not
being able to set up the Sat Dish quickly...

Have Directv and intend to stay with it. Most of the problems I've had were caused by our wonderful government officials. Had to go thru the release paperwork to get east/west feeds since we are full-timers.
Still can't get PBS or CW network due to government idiots saying PBS is restricted to "fixed" locations. What a bunch of BS!

[DSouthw524]

I think that there is no clear choice. We have had Dish for many years and still have them. Some problems any user has with getting support are generally related to the particular person one reaches when calling.

The "channels pulled" comment refers to the fact that RV waivers are required for "distant Networks" (east and West coast feeds) that are provided by a supplier other than Dish using the Dish system. There is no difference in cost for the current system as opposed to being supplied directly from Dish.

I agree that the HDTV is something to watch as it progresses. In the meantime, remember that using a satellite provider gives you a automatic conversion to digital reception.

[howdja]

We have had Directv for many years, and have been totally satisfied. On the rare ocassions that I have had to contact them, the techs have been very knowledgeable and very willing to spend all the time necessary to discuss the problem and the solution with me. Reception has been excellent throughout the west and the southwest. I highly recommend them.

[Tom N]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by babybear:
Have Directv and intend to stay with it. Most of the problems I've had were caused by our wonderful government officials. Had to go thru the release paperwork to get east/west feeds since we are full-timers.
Still can't get PBS or CW network due to government idiots saying PBS is restricted to "fixed" locations. What a bunch of BS! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The US government "idiots" are enforcing the legal right for the local stations to have exclusive rights to broadcast network TV locally. Your local network station pays CBS, NBC, ABC & FOX dearly for these rights and recoup these fees through advertisers. Without these enforcements there would be no over the air free TV services.

-Tom

[Route 66]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Still can't get PBS or CW network due to government idiots saying PBS is restricted to "fixed" locations. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It took several phone calls to DirecTV to get my PBS turned on.