Looking myself wanted some advise.

Milstar.  Its the only way to go.  When you absolutely have to get those EAM's xmitted.

I've had DirecTV for several years now and have no complaints.  Yes, there are dropouts during severe weather but they are rare and don't last long.

Probably the biggest kudos I can give to them is their customer service.  They have always been responsive, intelligent, and willing to take whatever steps are necessary to resolve the problem.

Let's take my recent upgrade to high-definition as an example.  I've had an HDTV for a while now but never invested in the HD receiver due to the lack of available channels broadcasting in HD.  Well, all the local affiliates are now shooting HD through the air and I decided to take get the upgrade.  I looked at DirecTV's package and equipment and determined that I'd have to spend over $500 to upgrade.  I then looked at other providers and found that I could switch to Time Warner (I can't stand them) with no install charge and get most of the same channels.  I called DirecTV, explained the situation, and told them that as much as I'd like to stay with them, I just can't justify the cost of the upgrade.  They sent me to their retention department and ended up giving me the full upgrade for $99.

In my mind, good customer service is worth a few extra bucks out of my wallet.

E-95

Dish. I own stock in them.

I had directv for a couple of years, then last year I switched to Dishnetwork.  I don't really see any difference in quality/reception/blackouts, but the prices are much better for dishnetwork.

Never had a problem with the customer service for Dishnetwork, and the only problem I had with DTV was that it took them several months to set up the automatic credit card payment for my account.

BTW I live near chicago, so the satellite is pretty much due south for both systems.  

WOW!  Closer than I thought.  

Dish's top non-premium package includes a bunch of Encore channels including the Western and Action channels which are great.  Action has Combat! re-runs.

GunLvr

Dish

have no complaints

Switched from Dish Network to Direct TV recently. It honestly seems like the picture quality is brighter with Direct TV. Also, I love the NFL Sunday Ticket. There are a bunch more channels that I wasn't getting on Dish Network (well, maybe just a few, but it's nice to have History Channel International and some of the others).

The kicker for me was the customer service.

I was a Dish Network subsriber for almost ten years, and had just payed $150 to upgrade a receiver and the dish about 5 months ago.

Well, they finally started offering local channels in my area.

But to get them I had to spend another $150 to upgrade again.

I called on more than one occasion to explain the situation, but to no avail. They wouldn't budge.

Funny thing is that when I called to cancel service, they offered me all but a BJ to stay with them (including a DVR AND the HD receiver!).

Too bad they didn't offer that too me the third time I called, or I'd still be with them.

It's for the better though. I do prefer the Direct TV.

Direct TV wins my vote but only because of Customer service...I had Dish but when local channels became available they wanted extra $$$ to change the dish and then I had to take another year... I figured since they wanted me to take another year I'd try Direct TV with the free install so I called Direct TV and they came out  a few days later... cost was comparable and when Dish wanted to know why I was getting Direct TV they wanted to give me all sorts of things...I told the girl "You should have worked with me when I called about the local channels instead of trying to screw me"...so Direct TV has my vote

Direcway and Directv....money well worth spent Charter network suck my ass!

dish for me

Quoted: dish for me

DirecTV.  Will have had it for four years tomorrow and I have no complaints.  Definitely better picture and sound than Digital Cable.

I used to have Direct but ran into problems. Disney channel stopped working on both of my recievers.  When I called tech support they said "reciever issue" even though I told them it was the same on both recievers.  So they blamed my "self" install even though it had been fine for a year and I got all the other channels with good signal strength.  Then they complained because the telephone line was disconnected. I told them we had an old house with only 1 jack and didn't want the wire crossing the floor in 2 rooms. Also told them that we don't buy Pay Per view movies anyway and put a block on our account if they wanted.  They refused and I refused to connect MY phone line. Told them our business was for sat. tv and the phone line was paid for by me, not them.  Conduct all buisness with their own equipment or lose me as a customer.  They said "fine". Told them to end my service then.  Never EVER heard from them again to try and win me back as a customer.
 Sold the whole 2 reciever system on ebay and signed up for Dish Network. They never send junk mail, the price is better, and there is no phone line requirment.  I love Dish and hope they keep up the good work.

Cool,  thanks everyone for the replies.