Hi Kev,
For what it's worth, I would reccommend that you wait until a couple of weeks into the season before purchasing anything. Others may disagree, but I think things can change very quickly, and noone really knows what will be available until the season starts.
Last season I managed to watch most EPL games with a Technomate 5400 Super and a softcam (downloaded from the internet), and a dish pointed at 39E (Bulsat). This is an antiquated method, and nobody thought we would still be able to get EPL football with a softcam last season, but it just goes to show that you never know what will come along.
Anyway, it doesn't matter too much, but I think it's important to let you know that there's always a slight element of risk, even with a paid subscription. Last year, many people in the UK bought legitimate subscriptions to Tring (Albanian TV), and were left quite disappointed at the amount and quality of EPL football they received.
Hope that helps.
Kristian