i am about to buy a pansat 2700a i was wondering if it works for direct tv. and how does pansat work? im a newbie to this. is there any other brand that works and is cheaper?

It will not do anything for DirecTV.
The PanSat 2700a is a DVB satellite receiver. It is capable of receiving satellite signals sent using DVB in QPSK modulation. It will not without serious modification receive other modulation methods, and then would not have processing power to display picture and sound for some signals.
It can be modified to decrypt certain encrypted signals. Viewing encrypted signals without authorization may be illegal.
DirectTV uses DSS for their standard content, a DVB receiver cannot tune a DSS signal.