OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

[Frankie's Market]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Frankie, thank you for your concern. Yes, DISH is aware of it, I told them what I wanted to do upfront. In fact the person on the phone said that his father, who has a home in Mexico, is doing it. As long as I pay my account on time, they said they could care less and they said, it is none of their business. In fact, they said it is no different than someone who uses their box in their RV as they travel around the US, Canada, and Mexico. There is an extra $5 per month charge for them (and me) for doing that.

Interesting. Why didn't you just set up a snowbird account? That way, you don't incur an extra monthly charge. All you need to do is pick up the phone and inform Dish whenever you move your receiver's location and to confine any satellite watching activity on that account to one place.

[matapule]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Sounds like you're stacking an account.... unless you got approval from Dish Network.

Frankie, thank you for your concern. Yes, DISH is aware of it, I told them what I wanted to do upfront. In fact the person on the phone said that his father, who has a home in Mexico, is doing it. As long as I pay my account on time, they said they could care less and they said, it is none of their business. In fact, they said it is no different than someone who uses their box in their RV as they travel around the US, Canada, and Mexico. There is an extra $5 per month charge for them (and me) for doing that. In fact, DISH sold me an extra satellite dish for my installation in Mexico! However that dish didn't work because it was too small. So, I have a brand new 24" dish that I will sell for $20, if anyone is interested, but for Frankie it is free.

As long as I pay my bill on time, DISH is fine with it. And yes, Frankie, to answer your next question, I DO pay my bill on time via automatic payment from my credit card......for which I get a $5 per month deduction.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

In CA I have one 24" dish receiver and it never has to be re-aimed. In Mexico, I have two 48" dishes in order to magnify the signal - one for standard programming and one for HD programming. Again, I only need one smaller dish in CA for both types of programming since the satellites (three of them) are optimized for SoCal. I can take the box (about 12" x 18" x 2") forth and back with me and I only have to pay for one service, since I only need service at one place or the other at any one time.

Sounds like you're stacking an account.... unless you got approval from Dish Network.

[matapule]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

I can't speak specically about HI, but can relate my personal experiences in other locations. I signed up for Dish about two months. I have a residence in SoCal and one in Baja California. Direct TV satellites are blocked in Mexico so that precluded Direct for me, plus Direct TV package was more expensive than Dish package.

In CA I have one 24" dish receiver and it never has to be re-aimed. In Mexico, I have two 48" dishes in order to magnify the signal - one for standard programming and one for HD programming. Again, I only need one smaller dish in CA for both types of programming since the satellites (three of them) are optimized for SoCal. I can take the box (about 12" x 18" x 2") forth and back with me and I only have to pay for one service, since I only need service at one place or the other at any one time.

The picture is perfect in both locations. I was warned that the signal could be interrupted by rain squalls and/or lightning, but I haven't found that to be the case. We had a spectacular lightning storm one afternoon last month (lightning strikes within a mile of us) and the picture never faltered.

I am surprised! I am very happy with Dish TV.

[GregLee]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Do you still need two dishes? Can they be ground-mounted in a decent-sized yard or is the roof the only way to go? How often do you have to move/adjust them? And is that hard? We've seen our neighbors struggle with removal/re-installation when termite tenting.

I've had DirecTV since 2007. I'm happy with it, but I wish it was cheaper. It used to require two dishes, but now one is enough (except perhaps for some non-English channels). Mine is on my roof, on a tripod. People put them on poles sometimes on the mainland, or in cement tubs on balconies, I understand, but the dish size used is larger in Hawaii, so I'm skeptical those other mounts would work here. You have to have line of sight from the dish to the DirecTV satellites.

I wouldn't try to realign a dish, myself, but some people do it. One can find directions on line -- there is some specialized equipment that is helpful. Ordinarily, they never have to be realigned. You wouldn't necessarily have to pay DirecTV for that sort of thing -- it would depend on circumstances. The equipment remains theirs, and they will maintain it sometimes.

[amagab]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Thanks for digging up the thread. I'm also all ears on this subject. I'm still with OTW but looking and looking. I was extremely close to signing up for DirecTV but Japanese channeling is a priority and DirecTV doesn't offer it.

Anyone on Windward Oahu with Dish? How's your experience?

[pzarquon]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Anyone up to sharing more recent experiences with satellite TV? This thread is an older one but still helpful (and comes up in searches all the time). I'm on Hawaiian Tel DSL and whittled my Oceanic service all the way down to analog basic service. I'm seeing more and more dishes on the roofs of my neighbors' homes in Mililani (more Dish than DirecTV, though), and am getting even more curious.

Do you still need two dishes? Can they be ground-mounted in a decent-sized yard or is the roof the only way to go? How often do you have to move/adjust them? And is that hard? We've seen our neighbors struggle with removal/re-installation when termite tenting.

[bueller555]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

http://www.tvjapan.net/en/watching/dishnetwork.html

timkona, where do you live? If you live in Kona then rain shouldn't be a problem However, I do live in quite a rainy area.

This is our situation: Half of our family don't watch much TV and the other half do. But the half (very old) that watch a lot of TV doesn't care about quality much.

We have a flat roof so pointing the dish in the right direction shouldn't be a problem.

Requirements:
1) Japanese channel
2) UH football

Could the Dish still be something for me?

[amagab]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

I did call them.....they told me they don't have any Japanese channels.

[anapuni808]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

timkona, where do you live? If you live in Kona then rain shouldn't be a problem However, I do live in quite a rainy area.

This is our situation: Half of our family don't watch much TV and the other half do. But the half (very old) that watch a lot of TV doesn't care about quality much.

We have a flat roof so pointing the dish in the right direction shouldn't be a problem.

Requirements:
1) Japanese channel
2) UH football

Could the Dish still be something for me?

Direct TV has station KIKU that is Japanese station. and there are plenty of PPV stations. Why don't you just call them?

[anapuni808]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

me too - and the `Olelo stations.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

I really want to go with DirecTV. Just have to figure out how to solve the whole Japanese channel and UH football thing. :-(

The one thing I miss is OC-16.

[amagab]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

I really want to go with DirecTV. Just have to figure out how to solve the whole Japanese channel and UH football thing. :-(

[craigwatanabe]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

Rain can be a problem for Dish Network. Not a problem for Direct TV. One thing I've noticed is the menu on Oceanic vs Direct TV. Direct TV is wayyyy better.

[amagab]

Re: OTW vs Dish vs Directv in Hawaii - pros and cons?

timkona, where do you live? If you live in Kona then rain shouldn't be a problem However, I do live in quite a rainy area.

This is our situation: Half of our family don't watch much TV and the other half do. But the half (very old) that watch a lot of TV doesn't care about quality much.

We have a flat roof so pointing the dish in the right direction shouldn't be a problem.

Requirements:
1) Japanese channel
2) UH football

Could the Dish still be something for me?