RE: Dish Network TV

[firefighterjake]

Anyone have Dish TV or had it in the past? Looking for good or bad experiences?

Long story, short: I'm ditching DirecTV after being with them for over 9 years.

 

[blujacket]

I had Dish for 6 years before switching to Uverse last year. I had great service from Dish. I am either going back to them later this year or going with Directv. I like satellite service and their dvr's blow Uverse away.

 

[Jags]

I went from Dish to Direct and haven't looked back.

By the way - they own the receiver - unless it croaks, then you buy a new one. And if you switch, you will get charged for the receiver, unless you send it back. Yes - the receiver you bought (because it died) will need to be sent back to Dish. First hand experience. When this became apparent, I dropped them. No more reception problems. No more "trouble shooting". I hope you have a better experience with them than I did.

 

[heat seeker]

Their equipment is poor quality, I got tired of exchanging it. The program guide takes forever to load, customer service is mediocre. We're dumping them soon. Way too expensive, and you have to buy expensive packages to get one desired station. I don't recommend Dish.

 

[BrotherBart]

Had Directv for 13 years now and would dearly like to dump it but the alternatives don't look all that great.

 

[blujacket]

Their equipment is poor quality, I got tired of exchanging it. The program guide takes forever to load, customer service is mediocre. We're dumping them soon. Way too expensive, and you have to buy expensive packages to get one desired station. I don't recommend Dish.

Wow, totally opposite of my time with them. DVR/equipment was awesome, always got great customer service (even talked to an American when I had to call) and the packages were as economical as DirecTv. I only had to exchange one dvr (had 3 in house) for a noisy hard drive after 5 years.

 

[blujacket]

(broken link removed to http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum.php)

Best forum on the net for any questions you may have.

 

[BrotherBart]

(even talked to an American when I had to call)

Had to chuckle reading that. Niece's husband worked taking help calls for Directv. He worked at home on the bed in his underwear with a headset on.

 

[bioman]

They both suck !

 

[jebatty]

Had Direct, got a better offer from Dish, Direct would not meet the offer, so went with a 2-yr contract with Dish. Dish contract expired in Jan, got a Roku, cancelled Dish, and now all TV either via antenna or streaming via the Roku. Could not be happier, and saved a lot of money. No regrets.

 

[SlyFerret]

I've had DISH for almost 4 years now and I have been very happy with them.

I don't have any DVR receiver. I have two of their single Tuner HD receivers (VIP211K). The receivers have been completely problem free for me.

Any time I have talked to their customer service team, they have taken care of me very well. I particularly liked being able to work with their internet response team via Twitter at one point to add HBO to my account without ever picking up the telephone!

-SF

 

[arngnick]

Had Direct for a while and liked it...Then decided to try dish when I moved but had nothing but trouble signal dropping out all the time had one remote go bad. (I think the dish instalation was pretty poor) I switched back to direct and things have been good. Direct is a little more pricey though.

 

[firefighterjake]

OK . . . for those folks using the Internet, Netflix, Amazon, etc. . . . tell me a bit more about this.

How much are you paying roughly each month?

Can you get everything you were getting on satellite -- i.e. I tend to like shows like The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Vikings . . . while my wife likes a whole bunch of shows on DIY, HGTV, OWN and Investigation Discovery.

Are these TV shows current and/or they repeated?

Can you record these shows?

I would love to hear more about this . . . as I am not exactly up to date on the various technologies and advantages/disadvantages. Not sure if it helps, but currently I have broadband, wi-fi and a Wii in the set up.

 

[Badfish740]

OK . . . for those folks using the Internet, Netflix, Amazon, etc. . . . tell me a bit more about this.

How much are you paying roughly each month?

Can you get everything you were getting on satellite -- i.e. I tend to like shows like The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Vikings . . . while my wife likes a whole bunch of shows on DIY, HGTV, OWN and Investigation Discovery.

Can't get 'em on the internet-no way no how. That and sports is what kept me from going internet only. The other issue is that a properly set up home theater PC to manage it all is never that easy to deal with. I have Dish-they bundle with my local phone/DSL provider. What I did was I had the phone company give me a DSL only line, so I'm paying $29.95 a month for internet access and then another $89 for the Dish "America's Top 250 Package" (that will give you everything you mentioned above plus a whole lot more) with HD service. Basically it's $118 a month for internet and all the TV we'd ever want to watch. Phone service is now handled by an Ooma box (we were paying $45 a month for local/long distance calling)-AFAIK that's about as cheap as it gets while still retaining a decent amount of channels. Since I know plenty of folks who are paying $200 or more for cable/satellite, internet, and phone, I feel like we're getting a good deal. Also, the Hopper system from Dish is awesome. That allows you to record/watch on any TV in the house.

 

[mywaynow]

I thought Dish and Direct were owned by the same company? I had Directv for years and only left for the advantages (cost) of going bundle with cable. First day the cable was hooked up, I thought the TV was messed up. Definition was no where near the clarity. After numerous power outages, long term, I would really like to go back. DTV and a generator and life is somewhat normal. Comments from users and advertisements by competitors (cable) about digitized screens during storms was never an issue for me. Not that it didn't happen, becuase is did, but I always appreciated knowing that the pile was headed at the fan before it actually hit. Gave time to get the windows closed and collect the stuff off the patio.

 

[firefighterjake]

So now I'm also looking at Time Warner Cable as an option . . . mainly since there is no contract.

Anyone have opinions on Time Warner Cable?

 

[Retired Guy]

Have had TW for about 20 years. Have Digital "Standard" service with DVR, home security, and internet. All have worked fine. When there was a long term power outage in the county they set up a generator at their distribution box a half a block away and provided service for the neighborhood. Their support has been fine. Although you do pay for it. Renting 3-4 movies a month brings our bill to about $175 a month.

 

[Badfish740]

I thought Dish and Direct were owned by the same company? I had Directv for years and only left for the advantages (cost) of going bundle with cable. First day the cable was hooked up, I thought the TV was messed up. Definition was no where near the clarity. After numerous power outages, long term, I would really like to go back. DTV and a generator and life is somewhat normal. Comments from users and advertisements by competitors (cable) about digitized screens during storms was never an issue for me. Not that it didn't happen, becuase is did, but I always appreciated knowing that the pile was headed at the fan before it actually hit. Gave time to get the windows closed and collect the stuff off the patio.

They're different companies and big competitors. Dish was spun off of Echostar in the late '80s and DirecTV is a product of the Howard Hughes Company. I can't speak to DirecTV's service as I've never used it, but from what I've heard the Dish Hopper whole home DVR is superior in many ways to DirecTV's Genie system. I'm very happy with Dish overall in terms of picture quality and lack of service interruption.

 

[mikefrommaine]

I've had dish for 18 months been fine with no problems. But I'll say their dvr is nowhere near as refined as the Tivo I had before. Though I can live tv and recorded shows on my ipad anywhere I am connected to the net thanks to the free slingbox they gave me.

Tried the hulu, netflix, antenna thing for a while but got tired of missing some live sports. If you don't care about watching live sports netflix and hulu saves a ton of money.

 

[mepellet]

So now I'm also looking at Time Warner Cable as an option . . . mainly since there is no contract.

Anyone have opinions on Time Warner Cable?

Youtube "first honest cable company" the video just about sums it up for Time Warner...

 

[mepellet]

Have had TW for about 20 years. Have Digital "Standard" service with DVR, home security, and internet. All have worked fine. When there was a long term power outage in the county they set up a generator at their distribution box a half a block away and provided service for the neighborhood. Their support has been fine. Although you do pay for it. Renting 3-4 movies a month brings our bill to about $175 a month.

Twc's price was why we switched to dish about a year ago. We have the hopper. Real nice to be able to start a show on one room and continue right Where you left off in another room. Saving a BOATLOAD over twc. And lots more features. No brainer for me.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Since giving up network TV years ago, when i seeit lately i just cant suffer through all the commercials. I swear therse 8-12 different commercials every 10 minutes.THey should pay YOU to watch it.

 

[save$]

I jump around to the best deals. Yes it is a pain, but I save a lot in the long run. I currently have direct tv. Overall, I like them the best. Excellent service. Always talk to someone who speaks English and is very courteous. My cost went up a bit with the second year, but the programs and reception is good. Really like the dvr that you can access any room. I have Netflix and Hulu. I don't have hbo or the other premium channels. I can always find something I like with the other two services. I have friends who have amazon and like that. They say the services pay for itself in saved amazon shipping fees.

 

[Brokenwing]

We have had direct TV for almost 10 years now! Great customer service, only time they had to come out was 2 receivers that worn out. I love them and would not change! My friends both tried dish, and Comcast and hated them, and they now have direct TV and would not look back.

 

[mikefrommaine]

FFjake or anyone else; I have two "refer a friend" $50 coupon codes for dish network. Basically any new customers can use the code when you sign up and we both get $50 off our bills. Savings should be over and above any other deals you sign up for. Just have to use the code at initial sign up. Pm me if you want one.