Dish Network.

I’m looking into the current Dish Network offer. Basic package is $31.99 a month. The DVR option is another $4.99 a month.

Any one have any comments on Dish Network? Particularly in the St Paul, Mn area? Any pros/cons? Is there a better deal with something else?

-J.

I got Direct TV. I think Dish Network is the place to go if you want digital channels and TVR.

However, I do think you may get more channels on Direct TV for the same money.

Not sure….

My experience was with Direct TV, and not with Dish Network, but I had many problems losing signal in rain and snow storms. It sucked! What I did like however was the interactive aspect of it. Being able to check what is on, and ordering movies when you wanted to. I know cable has “On Demand” now, but I think most of Cable’s perks come when you go Digital. Hastings has terrible coverage in the digital world of cable at present. I was just told this by an installer yesterday.
My $.02.
Tuck

Yep, Direct TV does suck in the rain/snow storms. However, this past storm this past weekend, I held good coverage throughout!!! First time!!!!

If you can get a real strong strength of signal from one or more transponders, you will only lose signal in the worst of the storms.

I should clarify, this was quite a few years ago for me, and I would imaging things have changed for the better.

Not really Tuck!

At my old place, if a lightning struck in the next state, I would loose reception. I tried recalibrating all the time. It sucked.

It may have been the quality of the installer, as again, with this last storm, mine held in really good at the new place.

Jon,
I have Direct TV and really like it. My in-laws switched from Direct and went to Dish. They really wish they would have stayed with Direct. Customer service issues mostly.

I’ve had Dish Network for about 10 months now and haven’t had any problems with it at all. The DVR is the way to go, it’s awesome. It’s great to be able to watch TV on your schedule and not having to watch commercials is almost worth the price itself. Also, I have the upgraded package which includes satelite radio channels, which are awesome as well. Cable is not an option where I live and Dish seemed to fit my needs/wants better than Direct.

Jon,
I have directv and i enjoy it.(4 years or so) My brother-in-law had directv for about 6 years and recently switched to dish.(special offer – local channels, less money) what he found was less channels unless he spent more money. He says wish he would have kept directv. I know with either the quality of the install, amount of signal received, and stability of dish, can be a major issue with quality of picture and it’s ability to withstand storms.

dave

Jon, that deal isn’t a bad one. We have Dish Network now and haven’t had any issues. We did have DirecTV and between the two we like Dish Network. They were able to offer us all the local channels we wanted. I think you’ll be happy with the programming.

I’ve had Dish for 7 years now and I have no problems with it. I just upgraded to the 100 hour PVR. and local channels. No more antennas on this house.

We have digital cable with high speed internet, it is spendy almost $100 a month. I called charter and complained the last time they raised my bill, I told them I was ready to cancel everything and what would they do to keep me as a customer. They said they could lower my bill to $85 for 6 montnts not much better but I took the deal for now. We are looking at different options when the bill goes back up. One option is going back to basic cable but then we loose the sports package with the Outdoor Channel
One of the other options we are looking at is changing internet providers one option is going with Midwest wireless as we use them for cell phone provider. I would like to dump cable all together but I am not sure if that is the answer. I have never had Direct TV or Dish Network but from what I have heard that once you start adding on the extras to the basic package it gets just as expensive as cable like adding local channels. Rochester Public utilities is talking about adding internet into there services but would not do me any good as I live outside the city limits. I am not sure what the answer is?

One thing to keep in mind….Only DIRECT TV carries the SUNDAY TICKET!! That’s the only reason why I keep Direct TV!

Hey Jon, who do you use for internet at home? I have cable internet for poker, so when I priced stuff out, the Comcast package seemed the best for me.

Cable internet & Reg Cable (on demand is AWESOME-free shows and movies whenever I want) w/ 5-6 HBO channels (even more free on demand HBO movies, series and specials) for $130-140

Then Comcast digital phone w/ many free options for $35/month

Jon,

I’ve had both companies and I’m currently with Direct TV. Dish was fine until we ended our agreement with them. We had met our 2 year contract and I decided to switch to Direct for the NFL ticket. Dish promptly charged me $500.00 for not returning the equipment. I had to fight tooth and nail for two months to get a credit back. I had the tracking number showing delivery of the product and they still wouldn’t acknowledge that I returned the equipment. Needless to say, after a couple overdrafts and many hours of cussing at the customer service folks I was frustrated. We learned our lesson, don’t use the checking debit card to hold any contracts. We did get the credit eventually, but I had to call 3 executives many times to get the credit. Empty promises each time.

Like I said, the service was fine, the customer service was junk.

Jon,
I had Dish Network for 4+ years, switched to DirectV about 2 years ago. Dish Network seemed to lose it’s reception much easier in light storms. I finally had a DVR box installed last week and wouldn’t think of changing back to Dish Network. There are some good promo’s going on right now with DirectV.

Sandbar

What do some of you pay for Dish and Direct Tv and how much extra for DVR?

I think Direct it $39.99 + $5 for DVR + $5 for each additional receiver. Our bill is typically $50.00 per month after all the recivers and DVR service.

Get the DVR for sure. To add it later you have to pay 200 bones and the montly charge. Ticked I didn’t get it at the install. Then you see all the free dvr crap to new customers. I like the service beats the hell out of cable.

I run my cable, phone, and high speed internet through comcast. Throw in HDTV, DVR, and a couple premium channels and I’m looking at $150/mo. *cough*

That should make ya feel better about ANY other option!!

I’ve had dish since directtv bought primestar …. I didn’t like there strong arm advertising that I “had to” switch to direct tv …. been happy since …. bout 63 bucks including 180 channels and two recievers.
barry

I was looking at Dishnetwork for their High Def service. When I got to looking at the channel packages you could not get Fox News Channel till about the third level which was more than I was paying for Direct TV. Total deal buster. Gotta have my news Fair and Balanced!

I’ve had dish network for about 6 or 7 years now, and have been happy almost the entire time.

Like was said earlier, their customer service seems to be a little disconnected. We had a lot of problems last fall where we’d call for something and they’d change something that was totally disconnected from what we asked for.

For instance, last year:

Called to add local channels
(local channels added)
Called to tell them we were moving in two months
(local channels cancelled immediately)
Called to tell them our local channels weren’t working
(local channels reinstated)
Two months later — no confirmation call on install
Call Dish Network
(We cancelled your move when we put the local chans back on)
What????

So there I was, three days before Christmas, with people coming over to the house to watch the Vikes/Packers game and am trying to tune it in with bunny-ears because the service operator thought that by unscrewing my channels I must’ve decided not to move. I had the local satellite company on one phone, the dish network operator on the other, and the veins in my forehead are pulsing visibly because I’m so annoyed.

Once it’s set up and running, I’ve never had a problem, only when I go to change something do I end up having an issue, and it works out in a few weeks, which is fine for the most part, unless it’s Christmas Eve and the Vikes are playing the eeeeevil GB packers. I get the 150 channel package, which includes all the SIRIUS channels and tack on the outdoor channel for $1.50, totalling about $45/month.

Just gonna chime in about the rain fade/storm fade. What I did was get a 30 inch dish instead of the 18″ and that took almost all of the fade away. The other thing that I did was buy a little can of “Rain Fade” and spray it on. After it is all said and done you will be out about 60 bucks but you can count on a lot better reception. I am no expert on any of this but if you have questions let me know. This is for Directv but I would assume it would have to work for Dish also. They are very close in comparison. I sell Directv at work but won’t push either of them here. Just wanted to let you in a little secret. Also, when you do get rain fade it is usually not on all of the channels, just the channels on the even or odd trasponders, so…if you are not to into the show you are watching you can usually find something else on another channel that will come in.

Brent, do we just spray that rain fade in the air before it rains Just kidding, that is a good idea, I have never heard of that stuff.

Rain Fade, huh????

Will that work, to spray that around the boat, when you go fishing, so you don’t need rain gear????

Just kidding!!!!!!
Couldn’t resist!!!!!!!

Never heard of this either. Where does a person get it at???

Give me a call. I sell the stuff, 20.00 for a can, you have to re-apply every 18 months or so. It won’t stop the fade in a driving rain but it will keep the dish clear of rain, snow, and ice. If you have an 18″ dish and would like to try a 30″ I will help you out there too. My number is 507-251-8170. Located in Roch.

You should get at least 3 or 4 applications from one can.