Whether you are a casual TV viewer or a home entertainment enthusiast, satellite TV offers a lot of options. When it comes to deciding which provider to choose many people have a hard time deciding on Dish vs DIRECTV. When you compare satellite TV providers, you’ll find that both companies offer great service with similar packages and in the end, either one is a good decision.
DIRECTV has the advantage of providing more 24-hour HD content and exclusive access to sports packages like the NFL Sunday Ticket and Nascar HotPass.
Dish Network offers more international programming packages including the very popular Dish Latino package. And for the budget conscious, their regular monthly prices are cheaper than comparable services from DIRECTV.
The channels offered by each provider can also vary considerably so make sure to check our Channel Line-Up Comparison to make sure you get the channels you want.
To help you directly compare the packages both companies offer I have put each of the providers competing service plans side-by-side so you can more easily see the differences and similarities between them. To help you better compare the number of real channels I have not included any guide channels and have made a separate count for the music channels. Choosing a satellite tv provider is easy: pick the package that fits your budget and check to see if it gives you the channels you want.
Both Dish Network and DIRECTV offer FREE installation and FREE equipment when you sign up. They also both have special deals where you get the first 12 months of programming for a discounted rate. Plus, depending on the package you chose, you can get FREE HD from either provider as well.
For the absolute cheapest package, Dish Network is the clear winner offering their very basic Dish Family plan for $19.99 a month for the first 12 months and then $24.99 a month after that. While it is certainly the lowest price for TV you’ll find anywhere, it may not have all of the channels you want, so make sure you compare the channel line ups.
For the best value with a nice selection of channels that doesn’t go overboard on the monthly price, I recommend Dish Network’s America’s Top 200 or DIRECTV’s Choice Xtra. DIRECTV’s package is cheaper for the first 12 months at $34.99 vs. $39.99 for Dish. But Dish Network is cheaper after the 12 month promotion period with a regular monthly price of $59.99 vs. $65.99 for DIRECTV. Once you get past the initial 12 month promotional period the Dish Packages are a bit less expensive than the DIRECTV packages across the board. So, if price is your ultimate deciding factor then Dish Network may be cheaper in the long run. Everyone is looking to save money and satellite beats cable hands down in the savings category.
Make sure you get the service to match your HDTV investment. Dish Network offers 150 HD channels and DIRECTV offers 170 HD channels. DIRECTV offers more 24-hour HD programming since many of Dish’s HD channels do not have HD content on throughout the day. DIRECTV also offers access for all subscribers to DIRECTV Cinema which lets you watch over 6000 shows and movies at no extra charge. And with pay-per-view you can even watch the newest movie releases in full 1080p Blu-ray quality before they are available on Netflix, RedBox or Blockbuster. I really like this feature as we hardly ever go to the theater anymore and are always eagerly waiting for the newest movies to come out to rent. For the most all-day HD content go with DIRECTV.
Both providers have great sports packages, but for the serious football or Nascar fan, you are better off going with DIRECTV. They have special licensing agreements in place with the NFL and Nascar giving DIRECTV customers access to exclusive programming with no out-of-market blackouts. DIRECTV is actually running a special on their NFL Sunday Ticket where you get the 2011 season for FREE with the Choice XTRA package and above. This is an amazing deal and if football is your thing you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it.
Many users report that they think Dish Network is easier to use. When viewing the channel guide, Dish Network kindly highlights the channels that are not available to you in red so that you can easily skip over them and they also pair the HD channels right next to their SD counterparts to make it easy to find. Additionally, they offer a simplified, basic remote control in addition to the regular remote. This simplified remote gives you access to just the main features of your TV receiver without all the clutter and confusion of the normal big remotes. When comparing Dish vs DIRECTV on ease use, they are both pretty user friendly but if you want the simplest system, Dish TV is the winner.
You will love being able to pause live TV when the phone rings or the unexpected happens. You can rewind what just happened in case you missed something or just want to see it again. If you add on DVR service to your plan these are just two of the benefits. Both satellite TV providers make it easy to schedule your favorite shows to be automatically recorded and watch them later or another day whenever you want. One of the nicest things about recording shows is that you can fast forward through the commercials so you can enjoy your show uninterrupted.
DVR service costs an extra $6 a month from Dish Network and is $7 a month from DIRECTV. Either way it is a great dealconsidering the convenience of the service. Both DIRECTV and Dish Network give will give you one FREE HD DVR, but pricing varies depending on how many rooms you want to connect to the service and whether you want a DVR for each TV or just a receiver. DIRECTV charges an upfront fee for additional HD receivers and HD DVR’s but offers a lower monthly lease fee. Dish Network DVR service is cheaper in the long run unless you want to have DVR capabilities on more than 2 TV’s.
While both satellite providers offer lots of extra International packages, if you want the most channels delivered in your native language go with DIsh Network. Their most popular international package is definitely Dish Latino. In total they have 80 international packages to choose from spanning 29 languages. DIRECTV also offers great international packages but in only nine languages.
As you can see both satellite TV providers offer great deals. For most people Dish Network will be cheaper, but if you want lots of HD and sports go with DIRECTV. Be sure to check out the current Dish Network Deals and DIRECTV Specials.
