Directv's answer to the new Dish promotion! 150+ choice pkg, HD, HD-DVR, Locals for $45 for 1st 12 months

I just got off the phone with a rep named Cecil and she says that they just came out with a new promotion for their choice package. It has 150+ channels, locals, HD, HD-DVR for $45 a month for the first 12 months. After twelve months, it will be $60 a month thereafter.

I told them what Dish had to offer including the platinum hd channels and they said that new customers can get the choice package (not choice xtra) with the HD package, HD-DVR, locals for $45 for the first 12 months. Each month afterwards will be $60 total w/ sales tax. You get showtime for free for 3 months and there isn't a cinemax or HBO promotion.

new customers only ?!

Does it make sense to switch back and forth between Directv and Dish each year, to get the promotions? How long do you have to quit to be considered a new customer next time?

You can only be a new customer with dish and direct once. They keep records forever.
But you can get new service with each by putting it in a spouses name or the kids name.

Both services will lock you in for two years if you get any of the newer technologies like hd or dvr.

Both services look good on smaller TV's, but if you have a larger projection or a big LCD? like a 52", go with dish for the HD.
The picture quality is considerably better. Direct's signal gives dark colors a blockiness look.

d3a1ninja said: receiver, and then your state sales tax on a signal coming from outer space???
It's like online gambling or porn. The activity actually takes place at the location of the server of the gambling or porn website, but, legally, it takes place where the client computer is. People travel via the internet to the gambling or porn location, just as if they had flown there, but governments want to find every possible excuse to exert more control and impose more taxes.

One possible solution would be for DirecTV to introduce a technology whereby people could pay for portable receiver boxes that could be used anywhere, and DirecTV would bill them via the internet, with no concern for their actual location. So if they didn't want to pay sales tax, they could simply sign up from a tax-free state.

I'm assuming the deal you're mentioning is for (1) HD-DVR receiver & no additional receivers?

vaylon said: You can only be a new customer with dish and direct once. They keep records forever.
But you can get new service with each by putting it in a spouses name or the kids name.

Both services will lock you in for two years if you get any of the newer technologies like hd or dvr.

Both services look good on smaller TV's, but if you have a larger projection or a big LCD? like a 52", go with dish for the HD.
The picture quality is considerably better. Direct's signal gives dark colors a blockiness look.

I disagree in part. Yes you are only a new customer with both systems once but after a certain period of time after cancellation (I don't know what amount of time) they can offer you the current "new customer"promo. I switch every two years when conract is up.

Do people even bother to fact check before posting random stuff. I canceled my dishnetwork subscription a few days ago and the CSR said in 90 days I would be treated as a new customer with all of the new customer benefits. Now I just signed up for DirectTV who I had 5 years ago and I got new customer benefits.

So what PJRXJ does is accurate, nothing to be skeptical over.

cnIsfg said: DREAMSOURCE said: You can buy an extra dish and carry your receiver wherever you want. I do that with my Dish receiver on weekends down to the lake. The receiver doesn't know or care where it is as long as it gets the signal. It only complains after a day or two if not connected to a phone line. No sense in buying service for two places if you can only watch one at a time.


Unlike DirecTV who does not care, with Dish Network you can only do that with the really old Dish Network receivers which BTW Dish is currently forcing customers to replace with these newer "trackable" ones when they go bad. The newer Dish receivers use a required hybrid computer controlled LNB signal combiner/spliter/booster module that prevents customers from easily moving Dish receivers around to different locations or as is common "share" your service with your friends who have an extra Dish. The Dish receiver(s)conencted to the hybrid computer controlled LNB stores the LNBs controller's ESN serial in the Dish recevier(s)' firmware at the intial setup and then the receiver(s) check to see if the same hybrid computer controlled LNB is connected each time the Dish receiver looses power or is hard reset. These Dish receivers allow the installer or Dish customers to run the intial setup that learns the hybrid computer controlled LNB serial three times before they lockup and require an onsite Dish Network service call at the customers expense to reset it.

Wow, where did this come from? Not anywhere close to accurate. Zero problems or issues with new IRD's used at different locations. Works great! Of course never connect a phone line (not required even when they say it is).

dgood310 said: To move the receiver to another state for a couple of months, where can you buy a second dish?
check eBay.

9000 said: How does Time Warner Cable HD compare? One problem with satellite is that it gets interrupted by thunderstorms etc. How much of a problem it is might depend on whether you live in an area with a lot of thunderstorms.

I have Comcast cable now...and had DirecTV of about 5 years before that...even with the small dish, I only had outages (for 5-10 minutes) twice in the 5 years I had it. I have had a lot more pixellation issues with cable than I ever did with satellite. I live in a fairly stormy area too. I think they install a slightly larger dish to receive HD signals, and suspect the rain outages would be even less. I am about to switch back from Comcast to DirecTV.