Satellite TV Providers

[Woody]

Well the mrs. and I have been contemplating switching from our lame cable company to getting a satellite.  As far as I can tell there are 2 main satelllite providers out there - DirectTV & Dish Network.  What are some of your opinions of either company regarding customer service, ease of use, pricing, channel selections, picture quality and so on. 

I've been told when it snows or rains hard that it will affect the picture.  Well to me that's just dumb-those are the times my family will most likely be inside wanting to watch tv!  Is there any truth to this?  Or have there been improvements over the years to prevent this? 

I'm  clueless to this, so any help, advice, criticism would be helpful at this point. 

[JackpineRob]

We have had Dish Network for about 7 or 8 years.  As far as losing signal due to bad weather, a couple of times a year we will lose signal for awhile.  From our experience in Forest Lake, things have to be pretty ugly to lose the signal.  Average rainfalls or snowfalls don't cause a problem.

My folks have Dish at the lake Up North, and they seem to lose signal due to weather more than we do.

We were initially attracted to Dish because of price, but it seems like both companies run promotions and free month deals.  Just make sure you READ THE FINE PRINT about cancellation charges and other stuff. 

We have what is supposedly 180 channels plus the locals.  Funny thing though - it still seems like there is nothing you want to watch when a guy decides to sit down and log some sofa time...

[Woody]

Kinda like the old Bruce Springsteen song- "57 channels and nothing on".  ::)

[jigglestick]

JPR, some times the loss of signal is because the dish isnt dialed in as accurately as it could be. weaker signal will cause it to fade out sooner than one that is locked in at higher signal strength.
it takes some real crappy weather to knock ours out.

[WoodChuck]

 ???  we have had the directv every since it,s inception, with the total package and set it up our selves. it took the boy and i 2 hrs to dial it in with vary basic tools plus a compass. after seting it up we have maybe 3 outings in a year that lasts 15 minutes at the longest. what has been the most annoying is the pixel distortion during a sun or rain/snow storm witch is about the same as a free air tv commerical. one thing that i would suggest is to get the largest dish they have , i think it is 30 inches as this collects higher signals and reduces signal loss ( kinda like a sail in the wind ) during these storms.                                                                                               
                       woodchuck   :)

[schwinger]

I have had Dish Network for a couple years with the same experience as the others. Lose signal a few times a year and yes if it is not aimed properly you will lose signal more often. The only surprise I had was when it was installed. Its only free installation if it is mounted on or very near the house and you have existing coax cable running in your house. That part isn't the surprise just a note. The surprise was the only place in my yard that it could be installed required about 300 yards of cable to back corner of my yard. Not that big of a deal but something you should be aware of it does add up. Also they contract out the installs to independent installers and while mine was great a friend who had direct TV installed had a nightmare with the guys that installed his. They punched holes in his walls, ran cable over furniture in the basement to get from one wall to another etc.. all in all I am happy with my service.

[JohnWester]

i had direct tv, switched to comcast because i wanted HDTV and a DVR and directTV wanted me to shell out 400 dollars to buy a reciever.  with comcast, I rent one for $5 a month and am done with it.  But to compare dish companies, I initially went with direct tv because they had more HD channels and a better overall package at the time.  and I had black outs due to weather too... about 6 a year due to snow or rain.

other things to factor in, do you use cable for your internet? that will change that price too...

[Woody]

I have DSL-through the phone company.  That's the weird thing about living here in a small town-the monopoly these companies have!  For example-

My Cable through one towns phone/internet/cable company. #1
My Phone & DSL through a different town's phone company.  #2

Now my cable company (#1) offers phone & internet at a cheaper rate-but I can't get them here as they have an agreement with my phone company (#2).  So for that I am S.O.L.  And the goofy thing is...Charter has their fiber optic line buried about a mile away (alongside I-94) -but no charter service around here-just Alexandria and Fergus Falls are the closest that Charter carries to. 

My cable company just raised their rates again, and the only "premium channel" I get is HBO-I GOTTA have my Soprano's fix!  (Fuhgetaboutit)  Their basic lineup basically sucks!  And while they do offer digital cable-I'm not so sure I want to go with them anymore.  Even with my cable I'll have "blackouts" (Whether I drink or not  )  Now I realize they get their signal via satellite-but sheesh you'd think for what I pay I shouldn't have any blackouts! 
I'll check around for deals with the 2 sat. providers.  This is something to seriously think about.  That and with the HD coming, (2009) I'm going to have to get the box eventually.  I guess I won't worry so much about weather related blackouts-gives us a excuse to watch the vast DVD collection that is taking shape!

Thanks for the input guys!  Very much appreciated!