(A message from good old DirecTV.)

When I was about five, my family had satellite television. Of course, that was 1986, so that meant we had an absolutely giant satellite dish in our back yard. Now that I think about it, it couldn't have been all that big, but I was little, so it seemed that way. I remember wanting to crawl up in it and sit.

I'm glad dishes now are much smaller--and cheaper. My current dish is small enough I can pick it up and carry it around if needed. My dad's is even smaller; he has satellite Directv at his house, which is up in the mountains, and his service has been great. I think he's had to brush the snow off the dish once or twice, but it's still a lot clearer reception than I would have expected up in the hills.

My service at home is different, but my dad does seem to have a lot more channels with Direct TV than I have here. Of course, he's probably got one of their fancy sports packages, and I know he's got Showtime and HBO too. I've thought about switching, but my current service is just awfully forgiving of my irregular payment history (plus I used to work for them, so I have some residual loyalty!). But if you're looking for a good satellite TV package, including HD channels, then based on my experiences with my dad's service DirectTV is worth checking out.