[mythtv-users] Directv vs Dish

[jedi]

On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 01:15:08PM -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
> 
> On Apr 24, 2008, at 1:03 PM, jedi wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 02:30:00PM -0400, Conrad wrote:
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> How did you fare with your directv receivers?  I am seriously  
> >> considering
> >> switching, so I am looking for some recent practical experience.
> >
> > ...one thing that is getting me thinking about switching is the fact
> > that DirecTV wants to charge a lot of money for their HD tuners and
> > such. Dish seems to be willing to give you equipment for free if you
> > are a new customer whereas DirecTV wants to charge you quite a bit
> > for it. Plus they make noises like you're still only just leasing
> > the equipment eventhough they want you to pay them a lot of money
> > to buy it.
> >
> >   I expect to use IR blasters regardless. It's crude but it's
> > always a usable fallback.
> 
> As I've mentioned in some past posts, I'm having trouble with the DISH  
> HD DVR going into SS mode and ruining recordings. DTV may have the  

    I have never had that problem with an SD DirecTV STB. Perhaps there
is some way to disable that screensaver? Considering that MythTV is
using the device in a manner consistent with an end user, this seems 
a bit dumb.

> same problem. DISH units are easy to control with an IR blaster though.

    That's nice to hear.

> 
> I'm not sure whether they consider the receivers as belonging to me or  
> to them, but when I returned an old one they paid me.

    As far as my STB goes, I don't recall setting up anything in particular.
My problem with sat cable has always been trying to change to a bogus channel.
That was always a BIG problem with Dish and Tivo and is somewhat of a problem
with MythTV and DirecTV.

    My old Dish STB basically required human intervention once the Tivo
tried to tune it to a bogus channel. Very annoying.