Tangentially related...

I'm moving in a few weeks, and my new place will be much more DirecTV-friendly than my current apartment. That, along with the fact that only DirecTV has the NFL Sunday Ticket package, has me considering the idea of jumping on the DirecTV bandwagon.

So, questions for those who are more enlightened:

1. What are the best DirecTV deals going now? From what I can tell, you can buy from directv.com or from a number of other online retailers. The best deal I've seen on directv.com is a free 3-room system and $29.99/month for 6 months of the 125 channels + local package. Are better deals to be had from the 3rd party retailers?

2. I understand there is a slightly bigger oval dish for DirecTV that is needed for some services. I know it's required for HDTV broadcasts (I'm not on HDTV yet) but I also read somewhere that it's required to pick up local channels. True? If so, the above deal is just for a regular dish, so I'd have to look elsewhere.

3. I have two ReplayTVs, and am not willing to give them up for a DirecTiVo or similar. So I need a DirecTV receiver that has serial input so I can control it with my ReplayTV. Do all DTV receivers have serial input? Most of them?

4. Any particular brands of receiver I should look for? Other than brand name, what are the things that differentiate the various DTV receivers?

5. Any reason I should let them install for me? I am sure I can handle installation myself, but are there any advantages to letting them do it?

That's it for now. Hopefully I can figure all this out before I get out there so I don't have to miss my football games.