I've had both, Dish service really sucked when I had it, every little storm you lost your signal. Yes, it is a bit cheaper, but you get what you pay for. I have Directv now, and love it. No problems in storms, and I think that the rates are fairly reasonable. I pay around 70 a month for top 150, and HBO and Showtime, once the trial is over it jumps up to 90, but if it works well I'll take it. When I had dish, the DVR sucked, I don't know if the upgraded that yet. Also, when I canceled my service with Dish, I kept on getting bills, for like the next 3 months, and it was a real bear to get that taken care of. My parents also had the same issue when they changed. didn't care for their customer service much.