I've finally gotten fed up with the quarterly increase in Comcast's rates (80% increase over the last 7 years), so I'm looking to switch. Unfortunately, after looking at the various websites, my brain is saturated, so I come to the Axiom boards for advice, as per normal.

Unlike many people 'roude these parts, I'm pretty much looking for basic cable equivalent. I don't need HD, I've already got a DVR I like (assuming standalone TiVos work with satellite.) I don't really watch sports, other than auto racing, so it would be cool to have the Speed channel.

Anyway... anyone have experiences positive/negative to report on Dish vs. DirecTV? Do they actually make any offers to existing customers after that lovely $10/month off wears off?

I had DirecTV for 7 years and all and all their service was good. Sometimes fantastic.
The only thing that bothers me about them is they only offer deals to new customers. You'd think after 7 years they would have seen me as a valued customer and offer me one of their going deals when I wanted to upgrade to HD.
Nope.
Once I switched to Verizon FIOS, DirecTV called me 3 times a week to "get me back" offering sweet deals.
To little to late.
But since you're a new customer you could get a good deal.
BTW they do have the Speed channel.

We had basic cable for years in Florida.....after the local cable company was absorbed by Comcast, the rates went WAY up....FAST.

I was getting to the point of doing something about it...and then we moved.

Here, after checking into installation costs for Comcast cable........I went with Direct TV. The free install helped make it easy to decide.

The previous owner of this house, had Dish Network. I checked into them as well....they were a bit less expensive, but also, seemed to have a little less to offer in general.

All in all, I'm satisfied with Direct TV...(it's harder to "surf" with so many channels, and when there are huge gaps in between the channels that I have in my package) and when there are big thunderstorms....the "searching for picture" screen comes on, and.......no TV for a time.

On a more positive note, the picture is a bit better, many more channels, (than Comcast) and when comparing similar packages......less expensive.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards DirecTV. Unfortunately, I woul dhave to go up a couple of packages (and extra $$ per month) to get the Speed channel with them, as near as I can tell from the website. I do have an offer letter from them that refers to Speed in the base package, but I'm pretty sure it's a misprint.

I know you cannot use your Tivo with Dish, they have their own DVRs. DirecTV used to have and agreement with Tivo to use their brand in DirecTV/Tivo receivers, I am not sure if it is still valid. I used to have Directv, Dish and Comcast. I now have Cox cable. I loved both satellite providers and hated Comcast, not only because of frequent price increased but also bad customer service. Cox is not bad at all, but if I had to chose I'd do satellite. Now, Fios Verizon is coming soon to my area....

Actually, looking at the TiVo site (like I should have done before asking the question) I'm cool as long as the sat. box supports IR control.

I ain't givin' up my modded lifetime subscription TiVo yet!

I switched from DirecTV to Dish and I regret that decision because immediately I was dissatified with their picture quality. During the time with DirecTV, I also had their combined Tivo receiver and I liked it better than Dish's DVR.

On the up side, to get my local channels with Dish, we only need one dish whereas with DirecTV, we would need two. However, I *believe* this depends on your area. Perhaps, you wouldn't need two dishes (unless you are adding HD?). Also, Dish offered us a receiver with a dual tuner which meant we could watch and record different shows on two tvs without paying the cost of an extra receiver. DirecTV didn't have such a receiver at the time I switched, but now I think they do.

Service wise, I've found both DirecTV and Dish to be about the same. As far as deals go for existing customers, my brother upgraded to HD for free (no equipment costs) with DirecTV, but he had to make a commitment that he couldn't cancel his service for a year. Since he had no plans of switching, it was not a big deal. They may have made an exception for him though. I'm not sure if that is the norm.

We actually did the opposite. I went from DirecTV to Dish, and we liked the quality of Dish best. It was noticable better. It is possible that either your Dish install (or my DirecTV install) were not ideal. Even when we first got Dish, we found out months later that the installer did a shoddy job. We had it done right and it was even better. I know a lot of people in the Des Moines area that went from DirecTV to Dish and like it. Some like the channel line-up packages better, or the price, whatever. I would pick either over cable TV and their expensive costs.

As for the Dish DVR, they keep updating the software about every 6 months, and we get new features, etc. Not sure about the Tivo piece.

I'll throw another wrench into it.

I moved from Directv to Comcast. I like to have HD and Tivo so I use the Directv HD Tivo for a while. But I don't like the fact that new HD channels require their new MPEG4 DVR which isn't Tivo. In fact, you'd have to use the new DVR if you want the new HD channels. AND, if you make ANY changes to your HD service, you have to commit to another 2 yr contract. Buh bye.

I personally like that Comcast is month to month. Overall, for me it's cheaper by almost half because of the deal they gave to new customers for a year. I use Comcast w/ the Series 3, fantastic so far.

If you don't need HD, then you can get a decent package w/ a sat receiver to use w/ your standalone Tivo. Honestly, the basic package isn't that bad. Also, because I gave up DirecTV, I now have a DirecTivo Series 1 unit that's unused. PM me if you decide to go DirecTV. It'd cost $5/mo but you'd have a dual tuner Tivo for satellite, not bad. It's upgraded to 80 GB and I have the CD to upgrade any new HD if you want.

Never went to Dish but I hear their DVR isn't bad. The new HD one also lets you archive to external HD, from what they said at CES.

Another alternative, if you have it in your area (some parts of the Bay), is to try AT&T's FIOS. From what I read in the Chron, it's also decent.

I would kill for FIOS. However, since I live in a, shall we say, less desirable area, I can't even get AT&T's 6 MBit DSL.

Definitely not going HD yet; I ain't got no HDTV!

I think largely if you're an existing customer with anyone, you're completely screwed over. They've got you, so they don't need to court you any more. I'm tempted to call Comcast and see what they'll offer me to stick around, but since I'm just on the Expanded Basic plan, they're not likely to be interested.

Thank you all for the opinions. I'm sure I'll waffle for another month or so...

I'm late to the fray, but chalk me up as another satisfied DirecTV customer. I know you are not going for HD, but if/when you do, you will thank yourself. Make the leap! You've got the Axioms for your ears - now give your eyes a treat!

I bet you are right about Speed channel being on one of the top plans. Keep us posted!

Ken, since you're not doing HD yet, I suggest you wait until then. This way, you'll get the best option available with HD package and hardware in mind.

Sadly, it's likely to be year(s) out. I hate to keep paying the cable company more and more for the same thing--which is less than I could get from satellite (as far as I can tell). Ah, for a la carte cable...