I would say personal prefrance. I have a viewsat and love it. It was SUPER SUPER easy to set up I mean within 10 min of unpacking it we were watching tv! I sugest you go to http://www.dssevolution.com find the section on both receivers and read all about each one and decide for yourself.
I can see it now,How to convert a Pansat/veiwsat to a Scientific Hotbox.. 1 Load the latest bin..now also includes powervu,dtv,globecast,and digicipher. 2 Hook the cable coax to ANT IN connection. 3 watch tv.