Back in the earlier days of satellite TV, the going thing was if you were a movie person, go with Dish network (Echostar) but if you were a sports fan, go with Direct TV (Hughes). This was because the premium packages leaned towards those services more depending on who you went with. Recently however, both services offer the same channel packages, and their "basic" services are about the same. Dish network offers Sirius Satellite radio channels with their basic plans too. I think Direct TV offers XM on theirs. If you have a particluar station you like on these, you can listen to them at home through your TV box.
At least 1-2 years ago, Direct TV didn't charge for multiple TV's (up to 3), but charged $5 for local channel service. Dish was the exact opposite. They charged $5 per additonal receiver box, but didn't charge for local channels. Not sure if this still holds true today.
The architecture of the systems are a little different. Both companies use multi-LNB dishes these days to receive different satellites. Those are the dishes that look sort of crooked, and have several arms on them. After the dish, things change however. Direct TV's system goes into a combiner, where all the LNB's are connected together into 1 wire. After entering the building, the signal is then broken up with a splitter to head to your TV's. Each TV receives a single individual cable to the box. This is nice because you can use your current CATV wiring for satellite system. Dish TV's system is a little different and not quite as good. The LNB's are not combined, but are directly split apart just after entering the house. Each receiver box has multiple coax inputs for each LNB. This makes for a little bit messier wiring, and if your home has CATV sockets in each room, the sockets cannot be used because you need more than one coax terminal.
Satellite TV's I have found are good for childless couples, or with children who aren't big TV watchers. Heavy TV watching families may require multiple receiver boxes if everyone is wanting to watch something different. For me, I cannot fathom needing several receiver boxes so each family member can sit isolated watching their own program in their own room. I always thought families watch TV together. I have found out though that many people I recommend dishes to though find that this is a problem. If you need TV in multiple locations, but will only be watching 1-2 TV's at a time, most receivers have several output connections that can be distributed to multiple TV's. All TV's connected to the same receiver however will see the same thing. My neighbor uses the same receiver for his kitchen and living room TV's.
Satellite TV gives outstanding picture quality that will be DVD quality, and light years ahead of even digital CATV. To experience the maximum picture quality, it is best to use the S-Video terminal between the receiver and the TV. Satellite receivers also have the regular composite video connection, and of course, a modulated channel 3 output. Using the channel 3 option however negates all the picture quality advantage the all-digital syste provides. A few of the newest satellite TV receivers have component video and even DVI (digital video) connections that send a pure digital signal directly to your HDTV/DTV compatible television.
I have noticed some problems with the "technicians" hired to install satellite TV systems. Many are not even licensed contractors, and don't know much about electronics period. They have very little experience running wire, and will not run Satellite wiring in-wall if there's not already wiring there...same type of crap you end up with from Cable TV installers. Many of the Satellite TV installers too won't climb up on a roof for some reason to install a dish, and insist on mounting it to a pole in the yard somewhere...tacky!!! and subject to being bumped by kids, yard machinery, etc. I avoided all this crap and installed my dish myself on the roof of my back porch. You will need a clear view of the southwest sky to hit the bird.
Quite the opposite of Cable providers however is the Customer service after the dish is installed by the corporate headquarters has been VERY good. Both companies have hold times in less than 5 minutes, but do require you to go through phone menus. Most of the time, the person at the other end is very knowledgable, and can activate program changes the instant you request them over the phone. I have rarely ever heard of anyone having billing errors with satellite TV companies...quite the opposite of Cable providers!
