Satellite TV

[LakeJay]

Wanted to get some opinions from people who have satellite TV. Do you like it? Is it bearable? DirectTV? DishNetwork? Other? Anything?

[wordsmith]

My parents have DirecTV. I'd never buy it. They need it if they want anything but network, because they're rurally located.

I'm unimpressed...It's fairly expensive, they change what your package offers constantly with no notification (one day you've got A&E, for instance, maybe a week later, it's no longer part of your package), and where my parents are, you have to pay additionally to get network. The premium movie channels are also very repetitive, but that's the case with cable, too. "X movies a month" should mean "X DIFFERENT movies," not the same four on continual rotation.

So, in closing...I will mooch off my parents' DirecTV when I feel like it, but no way in hell would I purchase it myself.

[WorkInProgress]

I've got DirecTV. It generally works really well with no issues. In bad weather, though, the picture sometimes goes.

If you intend to get DVR, get it when you originally get your dish, or it'll cost you more.

EDIT: I have no preference between dish or cable.

[wordsmith]

Yeah, forgot about that. My parents' signal always goes in storms.

[WorkInProgress]

I don't think it costs any more for network, for us. (It's one of those things that I'd expect to hear bitched about, and since I'm not hearing about it, I figure it's not an issue.)

[CityGal]

Direct TV- Hated every interaction I had with them. We made like four appointments with the company so they could come out and install the damn dish. You would think that with that damn 4 hour window gap the technician would get to your place. NOPE! My roommate ordered it through Verizon and it was always a miscommunication with Verizon and Direct TV. We would set up an appt with Verizon and the Direct TV people had it in their system as another day. This was extremely annoying esp. because I had to miss work for them to do this crap. I wasted SO many hours waiting for them to come out and install it. TOTAL crap. The wait on the phone to talk to someone was also a pain in the behind. They would constantly disconnect the call or something else would mysterious happen. I finally go the direct number of the technician and their name (a separate company installs it). Using trusty google I looked up the technicians and found a few complaints about them and people experiencing the same thing with them.


Dish Network- It is relatively cheaper than Direct TV. I only set up one appt and the technician came when he was supposed to. They did hold wierd hours but hey if you can get a hold of them at 11 at night it is all good. It was a bit strange bc the technician was some greek guy who spoke a heavy accented English. Overall, he did his thing and the TV seems to work fine.


With satellite TV you do have to keep in mind that weather can be an issue. The other day it was raining and a local channel was not showing properly, but this only happend for a few mins.


My apologies for writing so much. Ha. Hope it helps.

[wordsmith]

I don't think it costs any more for network, for us. (It's one of those things that I'd expect to hear bitched about, and since I'm not hearing about it, I figure it's not an issue.)

They were told it varies area to area. They were also told they'd have to purchase an additional dish for network due to where they live, rurally. I call BS, but that's what they were told.

[dengeist]

I have Dish, it cost about $67 a month. It came with the DVR so I can record shows if I'm going to be out. It's cheaper than digital cable in my area, which is about $80+ for the same package. The only downside is if it rains really hard, you might as well grab a book (which isn't a problem for me).

The only thing I really miss about digital cable is HBO on Demand.

[SpaceMonkey]

I had DirecTV my senior year in college (2004-2005). We didn't get any network channels. There were only a few times when the weather was bad enough that it ruined our reception. I didn't really have any strong feelings either way about the overall experience. It seemed pretty equivilent to dealing with a cable company.

We split the cost among the 10 people living in the house, so I can't really comment on its cost-effectiveness versus cable.

The only thing that turned out to be a huge pain was getting permission to actually put the dish up--our landlord was fine with it, but our house was in a "historic neighborhood" so we had to get permission from the city.

[wordsmith]

My dad actually was a holdout forever because of the aesthetics. My parents live in a farmhouse that's over 100 years old, with fancy gingerbread and trim, very old fashioned, and he didn't want an ugly dish mounted on it looking stupid.

[and1grad]

I just ordered DirecTV after MUCH deliberation. They just seemed to have it more together in terms of knowledgeable staff. My parents have DirecTV and have had no problems with it whatsoever. I decided to forgo the DVR in favor of the HD box. The only other option was to get the HD/DVR box and I didnt wanna cough up that kinda dough. If DVR is a major concern, DISH has the better DVR box.

[wordsmith]

Direct TV- Hated every interaction I had with them. We made like four appointments with the company so they could come out and install the damn dish. You would think that with that damn 4 hour window gap the technician would get to your place. NOPE! My roommate ordered it through Verizon and it was always a miscommunication with Verizon and Direct TV. We would set up an appt with Verizon and the Direct TV people had it in their system as another day. This was extremely annoying esp. because I had to miss work for them to do this crap. I wasted SO many hours waiting for them to come out and install it. TOTAL crap. The wait on the phone to talk to someone was also a pain in the behind. They would constantly disconnect the call or something else would mysterious happen. I finally go the direct number of the technician and their name (a separate company installs it). Using trusty google I looked up the technicians and found a few complaints about them and people experiencing the same thing with them.

Pretty much the same experience on our end...in our case, the technicians are really poorly assigned to more remote areas...somebody had to come all the way from Chicago to do the installation, they had nobody closer. Which is a couple of hours away.

[AG_47]

I have Directv and LOVE it!! I live about 10 miles from the nearest town so it was either Directv or DISH. Dish didn't offer local channels where I live so I decided to go with Directv. I have almost all the channels and only pay $70/month (that includes the TV in my living room, bedroom, and office and Tivo for the living room and local channels). I don't get sports channels or movie channels but they have a free preview weekend once a month which is when you can get some of the movie channels for free. It would only cost me $5 more per month to get HBO, Showtime, or Stars, but I don't watch too many movies. Customer service is great too. In August, I had a problem with getting channels in my bedroom, so I sent them an e-mail. The problem was fixed by the end of the day. When they had charged me for sports channels that I never ordered, I sent them an e-mail and they paid my bill last month. If you call and complain about their service they will give you free channels. At least thats what they did when my Uncle called them to cancel. He told them that he only watches movies and he doesn't want to pay extra for those channels so they gave him movie channels for 6 month for free. There is one problem with satellite. If the clouds get too high, like when it's storming, the signal won't be able to make it through the clouds and the screen freezes. It doesn't happen too often but it usually happens at the most inconvienent times. I bought a weather radio so I don't need to watch weather reports on TV. Anyways, I can't compare it to cable since I've never had cable but if I moved into the city, I think I would stick with satellite anyways.

[LakeJay]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I went with DishNetwork. They had the better deal going. I have the America's Top 60 package, local channels, 2-room DVR set up and free HBO for 3 months for 35.97 a month. This will go month to month. I didn't want to sign a contract so I figured this was the best. I am still concerned about how the bad weather will affect reception but I guess I'll have to wait and see.

[Illuminous]

I have dish and i like it. It's never gone out in storms ( but CA doesn't really have storms like I'm used to) and when i had problems with the DVR, they have me credit for the time i couldn't get Dish, and then sent me stuff for free. I got in on the same deal, It's Americas' top....120? plus DVR, plus local channels plus HBO for 3 mos for roughly $40 a month. I snet in a thing for a free DVD palyer, but we'll see if that ever comes.