Dish vs Direct TV

It's hard to beat Dish's Pay-As-You-Go service for RVers. Turn it on and off at will for no fee. A little frustrating working with the untrained reps on the phone, but it's still the most cost effective IMO. We have condominium cable at home.

Thanks! I have been playing with this stuff for a long time.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You will find that there is no good answer for your question directly. Generally the split of users is about 50/50 and 75% of each service love the service they have and 25% hate the service they have (grass must be greener scenario). DirecTV and Dish BOTH use 3 satellites to provide SD and HD programming but you CAN get Dish HD with a dome style antenna whereas you CANNOT get DirecTV HD unless you have an open face style antenna with the special Slimline 3 LNB (SL3).
That's not a draw back for most users, just something to be aware of.
The DirecTV satellites are centrally located (about TX) and within 4 degrees of each other. The Dish uses 6 satellites (3 East and 3 West) to provide programming to all users which can cause some issues when trying to receive local Network programming but is addressable.
The programming is basically the same with some sports packages being a major exception. If a sports package is important you need to check each to see which can provide what you would like. If you only need service part time (not at home, just in the RV) then Dish offers a Pay-as-you-go service allowing you to purchase the necessary receiver(s) and pay only for the time you like (min. 30 days). DirecTV will require a 2-year contract but the hardware will be free, including a 5 tuner DVR (Genie) if you like.
DirecTV has better service in Canada but both are difficult to receive in Mexico without a larger antenna.
You have some good info listed above so how about some more specific questions that you might have?

Best and most unbiased answer I have ever seen on this subject!

I went with Dish a few years ago because I was told that Direct has more sports channels. I kept that from my husband, LOL.

Both and neither!

Had Direct for 4 years and the prices kept going up and they would not give us any better deals and we kept dropping more and more add on's until we were down to absolute basic and was still being charged a fortune.

Then this guy came around and told us to switch to Dish and the price was a third that of what we were paying for Direct, so we switched. We also purchased a second satellite dish and take one of the receivers from the house when we go camping.

He said, in 2 years switch back to Direct and we'll get all the new customer discounts again. Switch every two years and you're always a new customer with the discounts.

I see no difference between Dish and Direct TV as we've had both. So go for the lowest price!

you are in the east dish. uses only 2 sats 72.7 has all hd, 61.5 is local and sd sat 77 in east arc is latino channels,their newest hd dish has only 2 lnbs and very easy to set up. go with dish cheaper and more customer friendly

simple274 wrote:
What does people prefer, and why.

I was in a seminar a few years back on satellite TV for RVers. The person giving the seminar ask for a show of hands who used Dish and then who used DirecTV . Direct TV won like 10 to 1. This was a sample of maybe 50 RVers at a GS Samboree. Not sure what this means but was interesting.
RV Jim

You will find that there is no good answer for your question directly. Generally the split of users is about 50/50 and 75% of each service love the service they have and 25% hate the service they have (grass must be greener scenario). DirecTV and Dish BOTH use 3 satellites to provide SD and HD programming but you CAN get Dish HD with a dome style antenna whereas you CANNOT get DirecTV HD unless you have an open face style antenna with the special Slimline 3 LNB (SL3).
That's not a draw back for most users, just something to be aware of.
The DirecTV satellites are centrally located (about TX) and within 4 degrees of each other. The Dish uses 6 satellites (3 East and 3 West) to provide programming to all users which can cause some issues when trying to receive local Network programming but is addressable.
The programming is basically the same with some sports packages being a major exception. If a sports package is important you need to check each to see which can provide what you would like. If you only need service part time (not at home, just in the RV) then Dish offers a Pay-as-you-go service allowing you to purchase the necessary receiver(s) and pay only for the time you like (min. 30 days). DirecTV will require a 2-year contract but the hardware will be free, including a 5 tuner DVR (Genie) if you like.
DirecTV has better service in Canada but both are difficult to receive in Mexico without a larger antenna.
You have some good info listed above so how about some more specific questions that you might have?

I prefer the packaging of programming by Direct. This has to do with what I have to pay to get the programs I want to watch. I get 200 more I don't want but to get what I want from Dish I would have to pay for even more.

What you want to watch may be different. Packaging also changes. But how the programming is sold, packaged and priced, is the main difference between DTV services. To choose, you need to know what you want and do your homework.

RVing, there can be additional issues to weigh, again depending on what programming and additional services you want.

We have had directv for years in the house and got sick of moving a box to the TT so last year we put dish in there. Both set up easily dish has an OTA tuner built in and I like it a little better but they don't have the YES network. Get the one that has the programing that you want.