I know this type of thread has been done before but I'm seriously thinking about switching from digital cable. I like the looks of DISH programming(Galavision,Univision,Telefutura,FSW and the ability to get GolTV) but DirecTV has espndeportes which has tons of UEFA CL games. I've never had satellite so I don't really know how good they are with dealing with problems. Let me here everybody's thoughts on all issues concerning the two satellite companies.
I have DirecTV. Chose them over DISH because of NFL Sunday Ticket. Anytime I have had to deal with their Customer Service its been great. The picture quality etc. is excellent. The only signal interruptions occur occasionally during a Thunderstorm. I have gone through Blizzards & Hurricanes with the signal coming through clearly. Its generally cheaper than Cable too.
I've had DirecTV in the past and I've got DISH right now and they're roughly the same when it comes to customer service. And they're roughly the same in terms of the cost and content of their basic programming packages. And since I'm assuming that you live in Birmingham, you can get your local channels through both. The real difference between the two lies in the "special stuff" that you want, the stuff that goes beyond just wanting to watch ESPN or CNN or whatever. You listed some of that special stuff up there. Basically, of the stuff you listed, Univision, Galavision, and FSW are on both providers. Telefutura and GolTV are only on DISH. ESPN Deportes is only on DirecTV. So what it comes down to is this question: If you had to make a choice, between the stuff on Telefutura and GolTV (which is pretty much Mexican league, Central and South American league, Serie A, and Real Madrid) and the stuff on ESPN Deportes (Champions League), which would you pick? Also, you might want to think about PVRs. With DirecTV, you can get a receiver with built-in TiVo. I've got a standalone TiVo box working with my DISH system, I love it, and from what I understand, the DirecTiVo box for a variety of reasons. DISH sells a PVR, but it's not nearly as good. I've got DISH, but I wouldn't buy their PVR. If you can afford to spend the extra $150-200 up front and you decide to get DirecTV, I can't recommend getting a DirecTiVo box highly enough. As for weather-related outages, both providers have upgraded their satellites in the last few years, so if you've got your satellite installed correctly and your dish pointed correctly, you really need a real gully-washer to knock out your satellite service. I think I've lost it for a grand total of 60-90 minutes over the last year.
Don't forget that FSW on Directv is a "premium" channel - You must subscribe to the Sports Pack for $12/mo ....plus you have the $6/mo for local channels, and another $5/mo for additional receivers so you can end up paying about the same as digi cable. I ended up going back to cable, but only because they offered me a nice deal, but IMHO the satellite picture quality and set-top box features are superior to cable: and If you're a sports junkie Directv's the way to go! I loved getting all the regional sports nets(even if they duplicate themselves a lot) and also the "alternate" baseball & hockey games on espn.
If you're getting the dish to watch the MLS Shootout package, there can be a fairly big difference between the providers. I have DirecTV. When I first got it, it was the only provider that carried the package (that wasn't the reason I got DirecTV as opposed to DISH; it just worked out that way). The following year, DISH also added the package, and DirecTV stopped carrying the wild feed games on its package, making DISH a better package. Recently, DISH has been airing all the games on weekends, including the wild feeds, but nothing at all on the weeknights. DirecTV, on the other hand, usually only promises to air the non-wild feed games for certain (regardless of the day), but in fact has been delivering just about all the games, wild feeds included. The problem is, the deals seem to get renegotiated every year. That may be less of an issue now because of SUM, which hopefully will do something to make sure all the games are included on both systems every year. But who knows? If you're getting a satellite dish to see the MLS Shootout, and you can't get assurances from SUM or MLS that both systems will have every game, it may be beneficial to wait until just prior to the start of next season, when both systems announce what kind of packages they'll be running. For $49 a season, either one is a good deal, but why not get the better package?
GolTV is a fantastic channel. I was excited when it first appeared on my Dish Network package a few months ago. But I was a little bored with most of the leagues they chose to show. But now that they have picked up La Liga and Serie A, they are right up there with FSW. I hear they're showing Real Madrid and Valencia live tomorrow. Incredible. I am a huge fan of college football, but La Liga will be interrupting my NCAA viewing tomorrow.
I've had both in the past couple of months.If you want the Sunday ticket get Direct TV.But Gol TV is only on Dish and with 3 live La Liga and 3 live Serie A matches each weekend.I recommend Dish.I just hope they get ESPN Deportes eventually.
Definitely a Dish man here. I happened to randomly catch the Real-Valencia match on GolTV. Hadn't seen a partido de la liga since ESPN2 dropped it a couple years ago. Wierd thing was the spanish guy doing the commentary en Ingles. I don't know about DirectTV but Dish also has FoxSportsWorld Espanol which shows games from Argentina (as well as El Salvador, Chile, Columbia if you're really into it). I think that either way, Dish or DirectTV you'll do better than cable.
Yeah either way is usually better than cable in terms of cost. The swing factor will probably be GOLTV. The key thing with the ESPN Deportes Champions League coverage is that it's speculation up to this point. Yes they have it on their Latin American counterpart, but that's isn't the same thing in terms of rights.
That's correct. It was only last year that Dish didn't show the weeknight games of the Shootout. As for the Dish PVR systems, I have one and they are perfectly okay. Great, in fact. Never had a problem with mine. But if you INSIST on buying a Tivo, you supposedly can run a stand-alone system with Dish just fine. As somebody said already, you should decide strictly based on programming choices. Of course, they always change!!! Seemed like it took years for Dish to get FSW. And to get the Shootout. Originally, we got Dish simply and solely because I had to get RAI for its Serie A coverage. Now that we've got FSW, Uni/Gala/Telefutura, GolTV and the shootout as well, it's a bonus. FYI, Telemundo might be a consideration since reports are they the only channel carrying men's soccer at the Olympics next year. Dish has Telemundo in their rather-pricey Spanish package. I'm anticipating signing up for the package just for those two weeks. Not sure what the options are for Telemundo on DirecTV.
Actually, the opening games will be covered by (they haven't said in what way) MSNBC along with Telemundo. Just a clarification. http://www.olympic-usa.org/cfdocs/borg/newsTemplate.cfm?spID=75&newsID=1536
I get both the local and national Telemundo and Univision feeds on DirecTV. I also have Galavision and the local Telefutura affiliate. I don't have Para Todos either. Just the $39 package + the Sports Pack, HBO, and Showtime. All of that is MUCH MUCH cheaper than a comparable digital cable package in my area. In fact, I was paying more for basic digital cable without even HBO than I do with the extras I added to my DirecTV package. It'll take a lot for me to go back to cable now. I might switch to Dish at some point, but that may be it.
Rather pricey Spanish package on DISH? I pay $20/month for everything they have in Espanol. I know that may be pricey for some, but I consider it a pretty darn good deal - Gol TV, FSWe, Gala, Telemundo, Telefutura. Too bad TVE no longer has La Liga highlights show. The one bummer. Don't you need a 2nd dish to get RAI on DISH? I get it with a big dish, but may need it on DISH someday.
Okay, okay, you got me on the "rather pricey" comment. I mean, I spend $10 a month for just ONE channel (RAI). It's all what you're interested in. Actually, now that I just looked at the channels you listed, I see you included Galavision, Univision Telefutura and GolTV - which are all included in Dish's standard programming packages. The only channels in the Dish Latino package which interest me in any way are Telemundo and FSWe and $20 is way too much (for me) to pay for just those two. And to answer to your question about needing a second dish for RAI is "no". It's one of Oliver Tse's sky-is-falling rumors that never came true.
For most people, I think DirecTV will be cheaper. In my area, non-digital cable costs about $50 a month. Digital costs and extra $15 for one set. DirecTV is $30, plus $5 for locals, plus $5 for additional sets. Assuming you have 4 sets [which is more than a lot of people have], it would cost $50, which is about the same as normal cable, but is much higher quality and has more channels. Add the sports pack to get Fox Sports World (often not offered by digital cable), and its still cheaper than digital cable.
For anyone considering getting DirecTV, go ahead and get the dual band, oval dish. I got DirecTV in January and didn't get this dual band oval dish and now I cannot get the Champions League matches on ESPN Deportes without buying and installing a new dish. The downside, other than this, is that to get ESPN Deportes costs an extra $40 a month since you have to sign up for DirecTV Para Todos. Too expensive for me but, if your team is in the CL and you want to watch them play, there may be no other way for you.
I forgot to add that with DISH Network if you add one or more receivers you only pay $5 extra per receiver. You don't have to pay the total subscription cost all over again. Not sure what DirecTV's policy is on this.
I have DirecTV because of NFL Sunday Ticket, and it is great. DirecTV would be perfect if they had GolTV but I am fine with having just FSW. I wish I could see la liga but I can live without it, however, I can't live without the Fins on TV every weekend.
I switched from Time Warner digital cable w/PVR to DirecTV w/Tivo two months ago and have not regretted the decision. For the same programming, it costs $10/month less on DirecTV, plus I get Spanish language channels which weren't even available on cable. Surprisingly, the picture quality is better than it was on cable and the signal goes out only in the worst of thunderstorms. My parents have Dish and I looked into it as well. There really isn't much to choose from between Dish and DirecTV, they price things a little differently, but for us and what we wanted, it priced out almost identically. I went with DirecTV 'cause I got the first two months free. So, Dish vs. DirecTV = tie. Sat vs. Cable = Sat in a blowout.
This is a really good thread. Thanks. I am a bit confused by the availability of some of the Spanish-language programming, though: 1.) The only places I could see FSW Espanol listed on either Direct TV or Dish's website was in the Spanish-language packages. Can you get FSWe with an English-language package? 2.) I didn't see ESPN Deportes listed anywhere on the Direct TV page. The poster above says it only comes with the Latin packages. Is that right? Thanks!
If you like the Spanish Liga & Serie A, then Dish wins. You can get GolTV. I pay $39.00 + plus the 50 bucks for the MLS Shootout. There is soo much action on Dish, it ain't even funny. I am only concern w/ Soccer, football, calcio, futbol, futebol, fussball, or whatever you call it. If I want to watch a NFL game & it ain't on the network, I go to a sportsbar. For footieball, I just flick through a switch. One more thing about GolTV. That TodoGol show is the bomb. You can get hi-lights of all of the games around the globe. I saw hi-lights from Romania the other day. W/ that being said, Dish is a nose ahead of DirectTV. You can have your NFL ticket. I got RealMadrid TV.