I keep a firm eye on the industry, and so I've seen comments pro and con for both, of course. Generally, I see a over-abundance of criticism for Comcast for being big and strong and for not operating as a charity with their subscribers as beneficiaries. Very often, when I raise DirecTV as an alternative, people try to tell me that they're not really competitors, for Reason X, Y or Z - those reasons basically being reasons why Comcast is better than DirecTV rather than reasons why they're not providing comparable services.
Don't get me wrong: Comcast isn't perfect. There are legitimate concerns, but the overal numbers distort the perception, because so often the criticisms of Comcast are reflections of the consumer's own unfounded expectations.
By contrast, the criticisms I see of DirecTV tend to be of two varieties: Either legitimate criticisms of DirecTV, or frustration with the nature of satellite reception. Satellite service is more often variable over time due to environmental forces, while cable tends to be very consistent day to day to day, and that variability of satellite service tends to upset some folks.
Overall, folks shouldn't expect one or the other to be objectively better. They each serve a portion of the market better than the other services that portion of the market. Then there's a third portion of the market where it isn't clear which is better, and so you can't go wrong deciding between the two. (Of course, there's also a fourth portion of the market, where the consumer would be better off doing without both service providers.)
The OP indicates money is the major consideration at this time. The way to save money most is to incur the personal cost (time, energy, effort, aggrevation, etc.) associated with bouncing back and forth between two, or better-yet, three suppliers. Lock yourself in for a year or two to get some really low, promotional rate, and then bolt to the next supplier when your promotional rate expires, and you're faced with having to pay what the service is actually worth. While the service providers are all becoming very stingy about extending a promotional rate beyond the promotional period, they generally will offer you a promotional rate, a year or two or three later, to "come back".
Full Disclosure: I'm not associated in any way (not even as a customer) with either Comcast or DirecTV.
