Why is it your only option? If you can get Directv I would assume you can get Dish network too.
I went dish network because at the time their HD DVR hardware was far superior to direct’s buggy HR20 and they had more HD.
Direct is claiming a whole lot of HD additions coming very soon, but from what I’ve seen it’s a lot of movie channels that I don’t sub to, and regional sports packages that I wouldn’t get because they’re not my region.
Meanwhile Dish has been quietly adding HD channels I actually watch. A&E, History Channel, Discovery (the actual Discovery Channel, not just Discovery HD Theater), TLC, Science, Versus etc have all recently been added.