I would never go with dish network simply because they had telemarketers calling my house several times a day even though I had asked them repeatedly to stop and even though we were on the do not call list. I finally had to threaten legal action to get them to remove my name from the calling list. I believe there was a huge thread about this problem with dish some time ago.
We've got direct tv and have never had a problem with them.
We have had Dish Network for about 8 years and have LOVED THEM! They keep adding HD channels (including Disney Channel and Travel Channel last week,) and their customer service has been great.
This question gets asked on here every few weeks.....If you do a search you should be able to find the previous threads.
You'll find some that love Dish / Direct and some that hate both.
We've had Dish for more then 10 years and have been very happy with it. Sunday Ticket is a big draw for direct, but given that I don't need it to watch the Colts it's not a big draw for me.
Either choice should blow your local cable company away.