CABL Forum - Re: Dish or Direct from the cx point of view?

Dish has a 30 day money back guarantee so you can try before you buy. Just make sure no other third party agreements are in place with a retailer if you go that route. If in the thirty days they decide they don't like it, then switch to Directv.

I'm not certain, but it looks like Directv uses higher compression ratios because I see more artifacting with their systems than with DISH. DirecTV has only 45 transponders across their 3 primary satellites 101, 119, 110. DISH has 50. Now if you add the 129 bird to the consideration, then Dish has much more than 50 transponders.

DirecTV is currently in a lawsuit, Cohen v. DirecTV, in which the plaintiff is alleging that DirecTV overly compresses their HD signals, resulting in a poorer picture than what can truly be considered HD. The plaintiffs refer to the service as HD LITE in the lawsuit.

Dish's DVR is a two-room box by default. This means that your parents can essentially "TIVO" in two rooms instead of just one. With DirecTV, they would have to purchase a second DVR, which probably isn't included in their promotions.

DirecTV tends to carry ALL locals in the markets that they serve locals to. This includes the lesser known stations. Dish, on the other hand, carries the major four networks and some of the other ones, but will often omit a lesser known station. In Las Vegas, we didn't get ch. 25 whereas DirecTV carried it. So if your folks have a favorite show that comes on one of the more obscure locals, you may want to make sure it is carried on the system you choose.

Dish also tends to fight against programmer rate hikes more fervently, though it usually ends up with them caving in anyway. In the past, LMN was pulled, CourTV was pulled, some local stations were pulled, etc. So, while Dish fights these programmers to try and keep prices low, you might see a channel you like getting pulled for a few weeks while they hash it out. If they are the type of folks that appreciate companies going to bat to keep prices down then they could probably tolerate such interruptions. However, if they don't want to lose channels in the time-being because of a price fight like that, then they will need to consider the choice.

As far as installation issues go, both systems have problems for different reasons. DirecTV is so easy an install, you could give a chimp a wrench and say "have at it." Unfortunately, this means your installer will probably be real green so if you can do drop work, I suggest you run the cabling in home runs to a grounded demarc. Dish's install issue is the complexity of their system. A greenie won't even be able to pass a switch test. So, your installer should be more experienced, but watch out for installers who don't know the additional complexities well. He could be the type of guy who could put your DirecTV in great, but leave you with problems on a Dish system.

If you want to make sure your installer is worth a damn, check out his tool setup. See that he has an inclinometer (Google "Suunto") as opposed to just dead-reckoning. Although if your parents are flatlanders with no trees around, he probably won't be using one. Still he should have one, so ask him what brand he uses and if you could take a look at it. If he doesn't have any kind of inclinometer, send him away. It is a necessary tool for checking Line-Of-Sight so if he doesn't have it, then he's probably turning down sites because he can't be sure of LOS simply by dead-reckoning. Ask him what brand of meter he is using also. He should be using a good quality one like Birdog, Accutrac, SatBuddy, etc. If he doesn't have a meter, send him packing with a vengeance. If he bolts the mast down, make sure he uses lag bolts and not some rinky-dink screws. See to it that the lags are at least 2.5 inches long and the shaft is 5/16ths inch thick. Also make sure he uses a sealant of some kind. If he pole mounts it, make sure he uses concrete.

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Re: Dish or Direct from the cx point of view?