# Dish or Direct TV?



## havasu (Apr 28, 2015)

We have Verizon Fios currently, but we are moving next week to a location where I have to select one of the two satellite companies. I was told Direct is much better than Dish TV. Any thoughts or comments for me?


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## Chris (Apr 28, 2015)

I have Direct, it is pretty good. We have no issues at all with it. I don't have any experience with the other so who knows.


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## havasu (Apr 28, 2015)

We listened to the sales pitch for Direct at both Sam's Club and Costco. Both give you a savings, but Costco also gives a $200 gift card for signing up through them. I'm also getting another satellite dish and a receiver to hook up at my Lake Havasu house, if I can remember how to get there!


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## oldognewtrick (Apr 28, 2015)

We got the Direct pitch from costco also, had it for less than a year and went back to comcast.. Every time it rained we lost receiption. Besides that it was all right.


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## havasu (Apr 28, 2015)

Rain is a concern, but since there is no other option, I guess satellite will have to do. I have read articles about just installing a HD antenna and getting some free TV, as it was back in the day, but I don't know how many channels I will get.


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## oldognewtrick (Apr 28, 2015)

Check out what's available over the Internet. Netflix, Hulu, bunch of options.


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## havasu (Apr 28, 2015)

Many folks I know have moved to this option. We already have Netflix, so this might work. Problem is I am a big news junkie, so I don't know how well this will work for me.


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## frodo (Apr 28, 2015)

had direct,   and the price per mth kept creeping up.

5 bucks here,,,6 bucks there...


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## Chris (Apr 28, 2015)

havasu said:


> Rain is a concern, but since there is no other option, I guess satellite will have to do. I have read articles about just installing a HD antenna and getting some free TV, as it was back in the day, but I don't know how many channels I will get.



What is this rain stuff you speak of? I have not had any issue with rain but it also doesn't rain here so why would I?

Get the free TV and let me know if I can watch the news.



oldognewtrick said:


> Check out what's available over the Internet. Netflix, Hulu, bunch of options.



I have a buddy that does that and likes it. Plus it keeps the kids from vegging on the TV.



havasu said:


> Many folks I know have moved to this option. We already have Netflix, so this might work. Problem is I am a big news junkie, so I don't know how well this will work for me.



I'm the Same, that and the outdoor channel are all I really watch.



frodo said:


> had direct,   and the price per mth kept creeping up.
> 
> 5 bucks here,,,6 bucks there...



Same with every other service out there. I had Cable and liked it for years and years but I had to call them every year and argue my price back down. It got annoying. I would have cable now but satellite is all I can get here.


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## beachguy005 (Apr 29, 2015)

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/01/14/americas-most-hated-companies/2/

Dish Network is #3 on this most hated.  I'd go with Direct, which I had before I cut the cord.  Just go with a 1 year contract and renegotiate it every year.


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## havasu (Apr 29, 2015)

That is good to know beachguy. I also agree with hating GM and Sony.


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## bud16415 (Apr 29, 2015)

With the move to the new old house we broke ourselves of the need for 100&#8217;s of channels. During the year we were rebuilding the place we had a 19&#8221; tv with some rabbit ears and we got 1 channel enough for a little news and weather, and really with smart phones we wouldn&#8217;t have needed that tv. I had a withdrawal from some of the news shows and a few of my favorite cable channels I thought I couldn&#8217;t live without. We also didn&#8217;t have internet during that year except over the phones. We didn&#8217;t want to go off the grid or anything that extreme but it showed us what a waste of time so much of what we were paying a lot for really was. 

We now have two TV&#8217;s set up, in the kitchen a 32&#8221; I built into the wall we watch from the island and in the theater a 110&#8221; front projection setup. Both picking up over the air HD signal from 30 some miles away and I&#8217;m using this mounted about 12&#8217; off the ground attached to the front porch post just under the overhang. 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-ANT702F-Indoor-Outdoor-Amplified-Antenna/34312397

We now get  9 or10 channels because some of the network signals carry 3 channels each. So we get NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW and 3 PBS , couple more I can&#8217;t remember. The quality of the signal is perfect HD and the nice part is the cost is Zero. Really it&#8217;s more than enough for us now. 
Our cell provider gives us 15 gig of data that kind of rolls over with our plan and we have a mobile hot spot and that 15 gig is way more than we use. It wouldn&#8217;t go far with streaming movies and such but we don&#8217;t do that. We do buy a couple DVD&#8217;s now and then and add them to the collection. Much cheaper to buy the movie and watch it in our own theater than go to the overpriced theater and be bothered with jerks texting and talking. 

Having grown up in the age of B&W TV with a couple channels and then becoming addicted to cable and finding out how expensive it is and how much time I wasted watching it. I&#8217;m now firmly in the less is more camp.


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## slownsteady (Apr 29, 2015)

havasu said:


> .... but I don't know how many channels I will get.



Start by checking out the local channels at the lower end of the dial (Yeah, I know,..."what's a dial?") Then figure out how far away from the city you are and if there are any geographic obstacles in the way.
Then go to Walmart, buy an antenna, hook it up and return it if it sucks.:trophy:


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## nealtw (Apr 29, 2015)

when in doubt, find a forum.:banana:
https://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=8658


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## Chris (Apr 30, 2015)

So I have been flipping through my 500 channels of Direct TV and couldn't find a thing to watch. I have noticed that there are more porn channels then I have ever seen before and they even put adds for the playboy channel right in the middle of my kids cartoon channels.


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## havasu (Apr 30, 2015)

DVR's are great. I record about 30 shows and watch them without commercials.


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## Chris (Apr 30, 2015)

I don't watch much TV at all, it's rare when I have time. I can't watch any series because I miss one or two and then I'm lost and to lazy to check the DVR. Now I just watch the news and Disney Junior and the occasional show, Right now it's American Pickers. 

Searching Craigslist for some R-22 so I can charge my house AC that is low without forking out 300 for a new can.


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## havasu (Apr 30, 2015)

I keep a huge can of R-22 on the roof of my old place. Help yourself to it, but you have to take care of my ex-wife as well.

I'm still up in the air over getting satellite or just installing an antenna.


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## slownsteady (Apr 30, 2015)

If you're into sports, a lot of your answer depends on how the local teams are covered. If local broadcast TV covers them, you will be able to see games, if they have a cable deal, like most NY teams do, then you will be blacked out.


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## bud16415 (Apr 30, 2015)

havasu said:


> I'm still up in the air over getting satellite or just installing an antenna.


 

At my old house I had both. The cable was our main feed but over the air was the backup. I would flip to OTA a lot as the HD signal was much better than thru cable. For the 30 bucks I just paid for the mini outdoor antenna it was well worth it plus some of the stations here I can get OTA are not on the cable.


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## buffalo (Apr 30, 2015)

I have had both and I without a doubt like direct TV better. I find it easier to use , navigate. I can tell you dish network will try to rape you if you attempt to cancel before the contract is up , but that no doubt is par for any of them . We pay 100$ a month for tv , it's a pretty basic plan. I'd be fine to cancel it all . Maybe my kids would go outside more. O wait I'd have to get rid of I pods and smart phones and tablets too.

 I don't watch sitcoms . I watch the news once a night. I do like the history/discovery/nat geographic channels and DVR is great. But really for the most part tv sucks!!


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