DISH Network

[castlebravo1]

Has anyone made the switch from DirecTV to DISH given the impending carriage of the LHN?  I've been a DirecTV customer for probably 15 years, but the whole LHN thing has started me thinking.  I think the last straw for me was DirecTV dropping the Weather Channel.  I thought the other weather network they were replacing it with would work, but the network was on a 2 hour old "rerun" during last night's severe weather event (I live in Nashville).  What good is a rerun for weather information?!?!

Anyway, questions I have about Dish (vs DirecTV)

1.  Cost

2.  Reliability

3.  Picture quality

4.  Ease of navigation

5.  DVR capabilities

6.  Channels

Is there anything else I need to be aware of before I switch?

Thanks in advance!

 

[killrjoe]

Thanks for the post. I'm getting ready to make the switch also. I'll be interested in the answers you get.

 

[HornSolo]

I understand from some in my family that the picture quality is somewhat lacking.

 

[Topstarr]

I had Dish Network at the office and also when I tailgated and the picture was just as good as TW and AT&T here in Austin, Texas

 

[BevosEgo]

I've been thinking of switching to DirecTv too. I was hoping DirecTv would take on LHN soon since Dish had, but who knows if that will ever happen. My parents have had dish for about 12-13 years, so I'm going to quiz them about it and  I'll let you know what they say, if that helps any. As far as quality though, I can't tell a difference based on experience. 

 

[BigPhil76]

Picture quality should not be an issue if your dish is tuned properly. I am also curious about these questions. I have had directv for about 8 years.. I am ready to switch for LHN.

 

[Hooverhog]

I had Dish for a few years and then I switched to Direct because of the new customer deal.  I went back to Dish after two years and haven't looked back.  In my opinion, the picture quality is identical on both.  I do like Dish better because of the four favorites you can save for your channels.  With kids in the house, I want my own channels and not have to sift through theirs.  Direct only had two favorites that you could save.  Also, Dish hides all of the X rated channels in your settings and Direct wouldn't.  Of course, they might have changed both of these options since I went back to Dish.  Needless to say, since Dish picked up the LHN, I'm very happy with Dish. 

 

[BevosEgo]

Has anyone made the switch from DirecTV to DISH given the impending carriage of the LHN?  I've been a DirecTV customer for probably 15 years, but the whole LHN thing has started me thinking.  I think the last straw for me was DirecTV dropping the Weather Channel.  I thought the other weather network they were replacing it with would work, but the network was on a 2 hour old "rerun" during last night's severe weather event (I live in Nashville).  What good is a rerun for weather information?!?!

Anyway, questions I have about Dish (vs DirecTV)

1.  Cost

2.  Reliability

3.  Picture quality

4.  Ease of navigation

5.  DVR capabilities

6.  Channels

Is there anything else I need to be aware of before I switch?

Thanks in advance!

So, I talked to my parents about their experiences with Dish. 

1. Price - pretty much the same. I'm sure they will offer some sort of promotional offer for the first year, or so though. 

2. Reliability - the same as DirecTv. The typical issues with unavailability during bad storms.

3. Picture quality - The HD channels don't differ much, but they believe DirecTv offers more channels through their HD package. 

4. Ease of navigation - My dad says he really like the user friendliness of Dish, but like I said they've had it for 13 years, so they don't really have much to compare it to. 

5. DVR capabilities - I've heard on a commercial that Dish only lets you record certain things, but they said that wasn't the case and they've never had any issues with it. I do know they have that new DVR called the Hopper where you can record from any room and watch at home or on the go. 

6. Channels - here's a non biased website you can compare. http://www.dishcomparison.com/compare-direct-tv-dish-network.php

Hope that helps!

 

[castlebravo1]

Thanks, BevosEgo!  That helps a lot!

 

[Lukus Alderman]

I switched from DTV to Uverse a couple of months ago and got a ton of promotions, etc PLUS LHN.

The only thing difficult about switching is that you have no clue where the channels are.

The positives are that you're locked into a price for two years but you're only on a one year contract AND there is relatively ZERO lag time from when you switch a channel. When I had DTV, any time I changed the channel I would have a 5-10 second period where the screen was black as it processed changing the channel.

Also, the secondary receiver is wireless so I could pick up my tv and take it to my back porch and watch it there without having to hook everything up to cables.

 

[castlebravo1]

DISH to start carrying LHN on MAY 28!

http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/04/longhorn-network-available-to-dish-customers-on-may-28-2014/

I did indeed switch to DISH.  No regrets.  About the same type of service as DIRECTV and about $40/month cheaper.  The whole thing with the Hopper owning all of the tuners (the remote "Joeys" borrow tuners from the Hopper) is a difference I'm getting used to, but it's not a problem.

 

[Bear19]

The 120 channel tier is one of their cheaper tiers. It's great people are not going to have to pay extra if they have that level or higher. I'll guarantee you almost everyone has at least that level.

 

[castlebravo1]

The 120 channel tier is one of their cheaper tiers. It's great people are not going to have to pay extra if they have that level or higher. I'll guarantee you almost everyone has at least that level.

I thought that was the most interesting part of the press release.  I was told when I bought DISH that the LHN would be in their standard tiers for people in Texas and you would have to buy the "sports package" to get it out of the state.  This is how they do all regional sports networks (Fox Sports Southwest, etc).  I live in Tennessee so I would get the SEC network for free but would have to pay $10 a month for the sports package to get the LHN since it is out of region.  I may still get the sports package since all of the other conference regional networks will be in it.  DISH is becoming THE service for college sports lovers.