AlejandrinaHwang409
I'd finally had an adequate amount of cable after their last service hike. The time had come to join the masses of satisfied satellite customers making the big switch.
But, which one to choose? After all, I'd been a tried-and-true cable buyer for so long; I had no idea which satellite provider was best.
"Oh, just pick one," my neighbor explained. "They're all the same."
That couldn't be right, I figured.
Or could it?
And so i began a month-long saga of satellite TV research, comparing Dish Network vs Direct TV every which way until I knew every last detail about each service.
Much to my family's despair, I was going to find out everything I possibly could concerning the satellite providers available, making an educated consumer choice.
And also the problem is, most sites that make believe you tell how to locate the best deals are simply plain awful.
Now, I did find three which were worthwhile. To find out which ones those are, you need to scroll right down to the foot of this story where you'll find the links.
What's promising, obviously, is the fact that there are just two companies to choose from - Dish Network and Direct TV. Considering how hard it had been to find many differences between your two (and ultimately choose which one was best), I sure was glad there weren't others.
My main objective was whether or not I possibly could use both companies where I live. That wasn't an issue for me personally, but a friend was told that Direct TV could not give a signal in the neighborhood because of some large oak trees in the neighbor's yard which interfered with their signal. But, he told me, since the signal from Dish Network came from the alternative direction (go figure), he was able to sign on with them - making his decision easier than mine.
Next, I looked at service.
Both companies provided comparable degree of service for relatively around the same price. Packages for Dish Network and Direct TV begin at about $19.99 a month, using their most useful family packages ranging around $50-$60.
I did find that Direct TV offered more comprehensive sports packages, such as the NFL Sunday Ticket (hooray!), in addition to packages covering all the major college and professional sports teams. They also sport fewer blackout dates in lots of from the big cities like Philadelphia, making their packages well worth the extra cash.
While Direct TV also offers other less-popular international sports such as cricket, rugby and soccer, Dish Network has a tendency to concentrate more about the international sports coverage, based on many of the people I talked to.
One thing that stood out among the Dish network programming appeared to be their variety of Latino and International channels and shows. For those looking for non-American (non-English) programming, Dish may be the approach to take.
Since both companies offered all-digital packages, loads of hi-def channels and plenty of individual packages to choose from, my next concern was in regards to set-up fees and installation.
It's true that both providers "officially" charge for equipment and installation, however, unless you are the kind of individual who walks onto an automobile lot and merely pays sticker price, you shouldn't ever have to cover this.
Both Dish Network and Direct TV continually provide a variety of promotions and specials for first-time users that provide basic installation and equipment free of charge, in addition to a numerous coupons and gift certificates that may be redeemed for additional equipment and/or services including 1-3 months of free service; free pay-per-view movies; channel upgrades and much more.
Where are you finding these deals?
Again, you really have to go down to the bottom of this story and click on those links! They'll save you a lot of time!
So, to the million dollar question: which services are better?
Surprisingly, after all that research I came away believing that neither service outranks the other in more than a few small areas. Both offer between 180-250 channels, a number of comprehensive sports packages (although Direct TV seems to provide more professional sports game options for that all-around sports lover), 100% all-digital and Definition packages. And they do that for relatively the same price.
In the end, I chose Direct TV since they offered the NFL Sunday Ticket and Dish didn't. Boy, shall we be held glad Used to do!
As promised, Direct TV has given my loved ones more than 250 channels to choose from, lots of sports, music concerts and pay-per-view movies. We've never enjoyed this type of crystal clear picture before, and I am happy to report that we've only lost our signal once, and that was throughout a major snow storm last winter that wound up knocking out the electricity, so we wouldn't have been able to watch television anyway.
And, when the electricity returned on, so did our satellite signal! (Our neighbors with cable weren't so lucky - their signal was out for 3 days. Hah!)
Am I glad I ditched cable? You bet I'm! I've got a clearer picture, more channels to choose from and hassle-free service, all for a fraction from the cost!
