Here's the story.

My dad's birthday was coming up and Mom wanted to give him a satellite TV system. He'd been wanting one for a long time, and had even gone online several times to look up information on Dish Network vs Direct TV.

Mom said he always got so frustrated after only a few minutes that he would give up and start playing solitaire. She also told me that she had no idea where to even begin.

So, being the loving, dutiful son that I am, I told her of course I would help her. What I didn't tell her was that my wife Julie had done all the research when we got our system.

I know my way around a computer pretty well, so I figured, hey, how hard can it possibly be?

Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if I'd been alone, but I made the mistake of letting Mom sit beside me when I started looking. I foolishly thought I'd give her a few pointers so she wouldn't feel so intimidated by the computer.

I typed in Dish Network vs Direct TV in my favorite search engine. When I saw over a million websites on the results page, suddenly I was the one who felt intimidated. Geez, a million?!?

Even with my knowledge of computers I was completely unsure how I was going to know whether my Mom would be getting the most for her money.

We sat there for over an hour, with Mom directing me; "Go back to that other place, the one that was giving away a DVD player," she'd say, "No, wait, look-this one's giving free HBO for three months!" When she started taking notes I decided it was time to call it quits.

I'd had all I could take of crappy sites and confusing information. I told Mom we still had time, we'd look later.

By the time I got home, of course I was feeling guilty, remembering the disappointment so evident on my Mom's face. So I got my laptop, sat on the couch, and again typed in Dish Network vs Direct TV.

I clicked on a site we had skipped over before and whaddayaknow...it was exactly what I'd been looking for. You need to see this site - and a couple others I found just like it - before you make your decision. Straightforward, knowledgeable and up to the minute information about the best and most recent offerings.

Finally, a few sites that made sense!

But back to my story.

My wife Julie walked up, leaned over my shoulder and pointed to a couple of other sites she had found most helpful when she was looking.

The pricing and promotions offered by Dish Network and Direct TV are constantly changing and you want to be sure the information you're being given is accurate and up to date.

You can take your chances with one of those Mickey-Mouse sites that are more graphics than facts, or you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration by going to sites that are maintained by people who know what they're talking about.

Oh, and as for my folks, Dad's like a kid with a new toy, and Mom still thinks I'm a genius for finding the best websites for a comparison of Dish Network vs Direct TV.