811, VOOM, or wait?

[RickO]

I've been with Dish as DHP for over 2 yrs. . I have a HD ready 57" Hitachi and would like to use it to its fullest capacity. Been lurking here for a while, and not sure which way to go. Suggestions anyone?
Thanks, RickO

[Don_S]

I was pondering the same question a couple of months ago. In the end I decided to go with Dish because of the teething problems that Voom was going through. Read the Voom forums.. at least until a couple of months ago, it looks like they had not yet found the right size dish antenna for optimal reception, and if I recall right, several people were asking for their antennae to be switched because of this. I therefore decided that I would wait until Voom could sort out its initial problems. I'll stick with Dish for a year (have a one year committment) and then look at Voom again. Hope this helps.

P.S. I did get the 811 and HD pack. The 811 has its shortcomings, but overall I'm happy with my decision.

[Bulldog]

I was pondering the same question a couple of months ago. In the end I decided to go with Dish because of the teething problems that Voom was going through. Read the Voom forums.. at least until a couple of months ago, it looks like they had not yet found the right size dish antenna for optimal reception, and if I recall right, several people were asking for their antennae to be switched because of this. I therefore decided that I would wait until Voom could sort out its initial problems. I'll stick with Dish for a year (have a one year committment) and then look at Voom again. Hope this helps.

P.S. I did get the 811 and HD pack. The 811 has its shortcomings, but overall I'm happy with my decision.

A lot of folks such as myself got the 811 HD package with a one year commitment. I agree with you, I would wait until the end of the commitment and let Voom mature a bit. I know that down the line competition will get hot. With both "D" and "E" going head to head and the cables bringing in HD locals and Voom getting up to speed. It is going to be a very interesting year a two.

[snathanb]

A lot of folks such as myself got the 811 HD package with a one year commitment. I agree with you, I would wait until the end of the commitment and let Voom mature a bit. I know that down the line competition will get hot. With both "D" and "E" going head to head and the cables bringing in HD locals and Voom getting up to speed. It is going to be a very interesting year a two.

Personally, I don't think Voom is going to make it. It's too much of a niche market, and pricing/channel selection is an obstacle to it being a standalone provider.

Their $9.50 per receiver lease fee on top of the $5 mirror fee for each additional box is going to kill them. If you want a two reciever setup, you are already at nearly $25 before you start adding programming.

No local channels (While I wish DISH didn't carry locals, they would have a much smaller subscriber base without them, IMO)

Requiring a land line phone to even install it... especially with more DSL providers starting to market test naked DSL. (DSL without requiring phone subscription). I have no land line.. we rely on VOIP (over a WISP provided connection) with cell phone as emergency backup.

What will be interesting is when it puts itself up for sale and either E* or D* gets it.

[hancox]

Their $9.50 per receiver lease fee on top of the $5 mirror fee for each additional box is going to kill them. If you want a two reciever setup, you are already at nearly $25 before you start adding programming.

I don't know why more people didn't see this coming. After all, it *is* run by a cable company!

[mattyro]

$9.50 and 5 is $14.50. Thats for 2 receivers. Is addition a lost art around here??

[Poke]

Well just got my Dish 811 installed today on my Sony 57 inch with no problems and have been impressed so far!

[GaryPen]

$9.50 and 5 is $14.50. Thats for 2 receivers. Is addition a lost art around here??

Each receiver is $9.50 for the lease, plus $5 for the 2nd receiver mirror fee. The total is indeed nearly $25, as snathanb correctly stated.

Is comprehension a lost art around here?

[WeeJavaDude]

Rich,

Lot of this depends what you expect out of HD. Can you get locals in your area with an OTA? Do you want DVR capabilities? type of programming you watch? What will be cost for each option. THese are all things I would consider.

The 811 can provided both OTA and Dish HD. Without OTA, I am not sure if the HD pack is enough. Depends who you are. I have an 811 and I am happy with mine but others are not. Depends on your use case and confidence in getting an OTA signal. If you can get a good OTA signal, feel that you want run into multipathing issues, and you can get the 811 at a good price then it is a good deal.

As for Voom? not sure no personal experience. Personally if I could get HD on my set for around 200 bucks I would do it. But that is me. Opinions on this issue differ and it is personal choice.

Since you already have Dish, Dish would be the less painful process to go through.. I would add that to the equation.

About two years ago, I was faced with the decision to go with a 6000 receiver and get HD now or wait for the upcoming 921 and have HD with DVR capabilities. At the time there was only OTA and HD Discover and HBO HD. It became obvoius to me that since I invested so much on a HD TV LCD 60", that I should have HD as soon as possible. I decided not to wait the 6 months for the 921 to come out and went with the 6000. Turns out that was a good decision for me because the 921 did not come out to over a year later so I would have not had HD for that year.

At the time the 921 came out I was forced with going 921, staying with the 6000, or moving to an 811. I jumped to the 811, sold my 6000 on ebay, and I am not disappointed with my decision. For me having such a big HD TV and no HD is just wrong. ; But that is me. The entry point is much lower that it was a year ago and there is some compelling content out there. Not as much as us HD folks would like, but there is some. At this point it is still a mixed bag, but a bag I am find enjoyable from time to time to make me feel it was the right decision two years back.

Good luck.

[snathanb]

$9.50 and 5 is $14.50. Thats for 2 receivers. Is addition a lost art around here??

No, but apparently reading comprehension is...