Dish vs. DirecTV

SplitIdentity

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2007
11,467
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113
Minnesota
Hey there people. Quick question here. We are moving out of an apartment next month, and that means I finally get to drop comcast. I'm looking at either DirecTV or Dish. Dish seems a little cheaper, but I've heard great things about DirecTV. Anybody with Dish know if their internet service is any good? Bundling with their 250 channel package and internet for $69 seems like a pretty good deal.

Any advice?
 

peteypie

Well-Known Member
Jun 20, 2007
6,506
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This subject has been discussed a million times on here. I have had mediacom, dish and direct all with in the last 8 years. I'm most happy with Direct and will stick with them, however they are a little more expensive. Basically you get what you pay for though. Nothing wrong with dish for the price, but more channel options on direct, more hd, overall better.
 

Cydkar

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
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When applied to ISU football and basketball, is Direct TV or Dish better suited? Or does it matter? I'm moving and would like to forgo Mediacom.
 

ISUAgronomist

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2009
26,645
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On the farm, IA
When applied to ISU football and basketball, is Direct TV or Dish better suited? Or does it matter? I'm moving and would like to forgo Mediacom.

Well, for this weekend, Dish does not carry FCS and Directv does.

For basketball season, ESPNU is in HD on Directv but not Dish.
 

NickTheGreat

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SuperFanatic T2
Jan 17, 2012
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Central Iowa
IMO, Mediacom is pretty good for ISU FB & BB. I don't care for them that much either, but they'll pick up a lot of those early BB games.
 

ruxCYtable

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 29, 2007
7,137
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Colorado
Hey there people. Quick question here. We are moving out of an apartment next month, and that means I finally get to drop comcast. I'm looking at either DirecTV or Dish. Dish seems a little cheaper, but I've heard great things about DirecTV. Anybody with Dish know if their internet service is any good? Bundling with their 250 channel package and internet for $69 seems like a pretty good deal.

Any advice?
I've had both and I prefer DirecTV but I don't think the gap is as large as some have made it out to be on this topic in the past, myself included.

One thing I did like better about Dish was having the NFL RedZone channel included with their sports pack. With DirecTV you must buy their most expensive ($349/yr.) NFL package to get RedZone.

Specifically to ISU sports, I think I probably missed a handful of games over the course of two years that I would have had access to with DTV.
 

HandSanitizer

Well-Known Member
Apr 19, 2006
4,300
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Bondurant, IA
Just went through this last week. This really depends on how many TV's you have and how much recording you do to be honest. We all could argue all day about what is better, but there is 10 different ways to setup your house.

With my House it just made sense to go with Dish because I have 12 TVs in my house. I am not going to put a receiver and upgraded multiswitch in my house for that. So I have a dual hd dvr and 3 HD Solo boxes with external Hard drives for DVR. The tvs (Office, Garage, Patio, Guest etc...) just get a UHF remote that watch the 2nd tuner of the 722.

If you can live without ESPNU HD and not having Fox College Sports (not to be confused with all the other fox sports channels you will be fine)

The Sunday ticket is nice, but I am a Viking fan so it really doesn't apply and I like the Redzone.

My solution is a lot cheaper than direct and I really hope ISU is going to get to a point where they don't play on FCS again. But if they do its usually at home or I just go to my neighbors and drink his beer.

If I had a small setup I would probably go with Direct though.

All this being said......I hope Google heads our way in the next few years.....
100 Gig up and down and TV Services for about $120. additional TVs are $5 and you get a nexus remote (tablet)
plus no Snow or storm interference. this is where I will be going "IF" they come here in the future.
 
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Let's Go State

Well-Known Member
Nov 6, 2007
1,863
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West Coast (of Iowa)
I love dish and it doesn't carry that JR high produced FCS (unfortunately that is our game this week - it really is the only downfall).

I like the design and functionality of dish much more, and pay another $100 one time and get a slingbox... Best invention ever!
 

zwclones51

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2010
3,954
136
63
West Des Moines
Just went through this last week. This really depends on how many TV's you have and how much recording you do to be honest. We all could argue all day about what is better, but there is 10 different ways to setup your house.

With my House it just made sense to go with Dish because I have 12 TVs in my house. I am not going to put a receiver and upgraded multiswitch in my house for that. So I have a dual hd dvr and 3 HD Solo boxes with external Hard drives for DVR. The tvs (Office, Garage, Patio, Guest etc...) just get a UHF remote that watch the 2nd tuner of the 722.

If you can live without ESPNU HD and not having Fox College Sports (not to be confused with all the other fox sports channels you will be fine)

The Sunday ticket is nice, but I am a Viking fan so it really doesn't apply and I like the Redzone.

My solution is a lot cheaper than direct and I really hope ISU is going to get to a point where they don't play on FCS again. But if they do its usually at home or I just go to my neighbors and drink his beer.

If I had a small setup I would probably go with Direct though.

All this being said......I hope Google heads our way in the next few years.....
100 Gig up and down and TV Services for about $120. additional TVs are $5 and you get a nexus remote (tablet)
plus no Snow or storm interference. this is where I will be going "IF" they come here in the future.

Is 12 tvs really necessary?
 

TakeCover

Active Member
Mar 26, 2012
238
161
43
Des Moines, IA
Hey there people. Quick question here. We are moving out of an apartment next month, and that means I finally get to drop comcast. I'm looking at either DirecTV or Dish. Dish seems a little cheaper, but I've heard great things about DirecTV. Anybody with Dish know if their internet service is any good? Bundling with their 250 channel package and internet for $69 seems like a pretty good deal.

Any advice?

When applied to ISU football and basketball, is Direct TV or Dish better suited? Or does it matter? I'm moving and would like to forgo Mediacom.

My DirecTV service starts on Thursday - very excited to be dropping Mediacom. From past experience, DirecTV typically has more bells and whistles than Dish (although Dish now has the Hopper in their arsenal), but I think both are fairly comparable if you're diligent in taking advantage of all the discounts offered, such as the rebates that you need to redeem online with DirecTV.

Speaking of which, for any of you new DirecTV customers, know that you can get a $100 referral credit ($10/mo for 10 months) when you sign up just by giving them the account # of a current customer - the discount then goes both ways. PM me if you don't know anyone, and I can help with that! :biggrin: