Direct TV Vs. The Dish (Pittsburgh, Clark: house, price, bill)

[josh5629]

I apologize if there is already a thread about this, but I honestly don't have time to go through all of the threads.

I am considering going with satellite tv and I'm looking for your opinions on which is better. Direct TV or The Dish.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Get broadband, build a HTPC, use Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime streaming, XBMC plugins, and a slew of video sites, disregard $100+ bill for cable every month.

[Bong477]

I'd go with FIOS instead if its available.

If you are set on satellite, to oversimplfy, Direct TV is better and DISH is cheaper. The big thing many people complain about directv is a very inflexible 2 year commitment and steep early termination fee. Its impossible or nearly impossible to talk or complain your way out of. So when you sign up, you are stuck with it. The initial deal on direct tv is usually pretty good, but it usually expires before your contract and then you are stuck with pretty expensive programming. If you call and complain periodically and make empty threats to cancel (this works with comcast and fios too) you can usually get some sort of promo applied to your account that makes it a little cheaper.

NFL Sunday Ticket is awesome if you care about that sort of thing. I loved it when I was out of the Pittsburgh market... now that I'm back in the area it wasn't worth the price.

[Tinare]

I had Dish Network and really liked it. I had FIOS installed for the internet before the TV service was available, so I recently switched to it because the bundle made it all cheaper. The worst part to me is that they don't take the frickin' dish off of your house when you cancel. That's the only thing I didn't like about satellite tv. The dish needs to point to the south and unfortunately my house is south-facing. So the it was right out front and looked ugly. But, I liked the service I got from Dish Network, and felt that their customer service was quite good whenever I called them.

[XRiteMA98]

Direct TV has the satellites way higher than Dish (a worker @ Dish told me). i had direct Tv than i wanted to switch, you know, to get the promotion deal and everything, only that the dish guy couldn;t get signal because of the trees in the back of the house. I asked how is it possible since i had Direct Tv and this is what he told me.

[IXCell]

Currently, I have Dish, and I have had no problems with it whatsoever. The customer service has been great. I cant speak for Direct TV, because I have never had them. I got Dish because I was able to bundle that with my Internet and phone.

[South Range Family]

Originally Posted by XRiteMA98

Direct TV has the satellites way higher than Dish (a worker @ Dish told me). i had direct Tv than i wanted to switch, you know, to get the promotion deal and everything, only that the dish guy couldn;t get signal because of the trees in the back of the house. I asked how is it possible since i had Direct Tv and this is what he told me.

No.


All communication satellites are located in the Clarke Belt 23,600 miles away from us. They are positioned in a geostationary arc 9 degrees apart from each other.

Directv, and Dish network satellites are intermingled between 101W degrees, and roughly 127W degrees. That entire area is pretty close to the top of the arc.