Hi all. I'm moving and get to look into all this again. Any opionions on the best service/price/hardware.
Background: I had Dish Network in my SD days and liked serving both tvs from one dvr but it kept blowing up on me.
When I switched to HD I went with Directv becuase they had more programming at the time. I had to pay $200 just to rent the DVR and am getting nickled and dimed to death. Programing is great, hardware doesn't blow up, but the other TV is only live TV and it is $$$$$.
I thought Dish Network and ATT were the same but apparantly they're not. ATT can bundle my phone & dsl which is nice.
Any opinions?
Thanks!
Keep in mind that these DVRs cost DirecTV and Dish Network $250-$350. That's just for the cost of the hardware itself; it doesn't cover the cost of the software or ongoing software development (hence the DVR fees). Neither satellite provider allows you to buy the box to avoid the fees.
If you want a DirecTV DVR for the other TV, you can pay $200 to lease one. DirecTV only charges one $5.99/mo DVR fee, regardless of how many DVRs you have in your home. DirecTV does charges $5/mo for each additional box after the first, but your monthly bill would be the same if you're replacing a second STB with a second DVR.
Dish Network charges a $5.99/mo fee per DVR (not just the first one), plus $7/mo for every box after the first. In other words, they charge you the same fees (or worse) as DirecTV. Dish Network does offer some programming packages which may represent a better value for your needs. As you note, they also offer a better DVR that can serve two different TVs (one HDTV, one SDTV) assuming both are in range of a cable run.
AT&T U-Verse is IPTV. Their solution allows you to record 4 SD channels or 1-2 HD channels (depending on distance from CO) for your entire household. No matter how many DVRs you have, you can never watch/record more than that in total. AT&T U-Verse currently offers just about the lowest quality HD available in the U.S.
Keep in mind that these DVRs cost DirecTV and Dish Network $250-$350. That's just for the cost of the hardware itself; it doesn't cover the cost of the software or ongoing software development (hence the DVR fees). Neither satellite provider allows you to buy the box to avoid the fees.
If you want a DirecTV DVR for the other TV, you can pay $200 to lease one. DirecTV only charges one $5.99/mo DVR fee, regardless of how many DVRs you have in your home. DirecTV does charges $5/mo for each additional box after the first, but your monthly bill would be the same if you're replacing a second STB with a second DVR.
Dish Network charges a $5.99/mo fee per DVR (not just the first one), plus $7/mo for every box after the first. In other words, they charge you the same fees (or worse) as DirecTV. Dish Network does offer some programming packages which may represent a better value for your needs. As you note, they also offer a better DVR that can serve two different TVs (one HDTV, one SDTV) assuming both are in range of a cable run.
AT&T U-Verse is IPTV. Their solution allows you to record 4 SD channels or 1-2 HD channels (depending on distance from CO) for your entire household. No matter how many DVRs you have, you can never watch/record more than that in total. AT&T U-Verse currently offers just about the lowest quality HD available in the U.S.
bfdtv,
Have you an opinion on both SD and HD picture quality for Dish versus Direct? I am with the latter and thinking about a return to the former. Thanks for any thoughts.
M