My contract with DirectTV just expired and its time to consider alternatives and I am soooo confused.

I just bought a new HD TV and really want to get a HD DVR. If I stay with DirectTV I can't get Tivo (with all the cool features) and I have to run multiple cables all over directly from the dish (versus using my existing home coax wiring). If I move to Comcast I can buy a Series3 DVR (and add two cable cards) and I get all the great features of Tivo, without the headaches of all the dish cables all over.

I know I have to be missing something here, otherwise nobody who could get cable would opt for Direct TV.

What am I missing???

What you are "missing" is the cost of the TivoHD. Not everyone wants to pay $200-$250 upfront for a TivoHD when they can lease the cable company DVR for $15/mo. Despite TiVo's popularity, most people have never used one, so they don't really know what they are missing. Faced with the limitations of the cable company DVRs, many cable customers have also grown dependent on the cable company VOD, which the TivoHD does not support.

As a DirecTV subscriber, you could opt for their HR2x DVR, although that would extend your service commitment. Most prefer the HR2x DVRs -- now $99 upfront with a new two-year commitment -- to the cable company DVRs.

Note TiVo and DirecTV are working together on a next-generation DirecTiVo. It is expected in 8-12 months.

My contract with DirectTV just expired and its time to consider alternatives and I am soooo confused.

I just bought a new HD TV and really want to get a HD DVR. If I stay with DirectTV I can't get Tivo (with all the cool features) and I have to run multiple cables all over directly from the dish (versus using my existing home coax wiring). If I move to Comcast I can buy a Series3 DVR (and add two cable cards) and I get all the great features of Tivo, without the headaches of all the dish cables all over.

I know I have to be missing something here, otherwise nobody who could get cable would opt for Direct TV.

What am I missing???

I have not looked at Comcast lately, but with D* you will also have about $25 in your pocket every month. I have two DVR's and pay a grand total of $6 and if I wanted to pay the upfront could have 10 dvrs from D* and still also pay $6 per month. Also, they are moving to multiroom viewing so in a few months you will be able to record on one dvr and watch on any receiver other than the H20. And finally, you won't have to deal with Comcast and while D* is no picnic, they are far easier to deal with than comcast and that is the voice of experience.

Comcast has a fraction of the linear HD channels that Directv does. They claim they have the "most" HD, pure deceptive marketing, they include OnDemand programs to inflate their count.

Depending on what HD channels you watch, you might not even find them with Comcast. They are hit and miss in terms of HD channels and service, some areas are better than others in regards to service, and some areas have more HD than others, D* is much more standard across the board. Their home city of Philadelphia has a paltry, pathetic lineup of about 38 HD channels. Chicago and Boston they have recently eliminated many analog channels and have respectable HD channe counts, upwards of 70+.

The main advantage to Comcast is no contracts/committments... can cancel after a month if you want to.