HD Only Pack... do SD programs stay put?

[ClevelandRob]

I'm thinking of switching to the HD Only Pack, but have a question. My daughter (3 year old) loves Noggin. It is pretty much the only thing I let her watch on TV since it is somewhat educational driven and not riddled with commercials. Unfortunately it isn't in HD (duh!) and probably won't be for a very, very long time. It is also probably the only SD channel that is ever on in our house. If I were to record say a hundred or so shows and either protect them on the DVR or put them on an external drive, will they stay there when we switch so that she can continue to watch them? This stinkin' channel is the only thing keeping me from cutting my bill in half!

Thanks.

 

[RandallA]

I'm thinking of switching to the HD Only Pack, but have a question. My daughter (3 year old) loves Noggin. It is pretty much the only thing I let her watch on TV since it is somewhat educational driven and not riddled with commercials. Unfortunately it isn't in HD (duh!) and probably won't be for a very, very long time. It is also probably the only SD channel that is ever on in our house. If I were to record say a hundred or so shows and either protect them on the DVR or put them on an external drive, will they stay there when we switch so that she can continue to watch them? This stinkin' channel is the only thing keeping me from cutting my bill in half!

Thanks.

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to play them. As long as you continue to have service from Dish Network you should be able to play your recordings.

 

[langlin]

Yes you can, we have an archive of sd shows and they still play after we switched.

as a side bar, change your timers BEFORE you change service, otherwise the receiver can get very confused.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Are you sure that YOU want to see the same shows over and over and over and over again? I know thats what my kids would do. I don't mind watching the cartoons with the kids, but sometimes I ask if they actually have more than one Ben 10 recorded.

 

[RandallA]

Are you sure that YOU want to see the same shows over and over and over and over again? I know thats what my kids would do. I don't mind watching the cartoons with the kids, but sometimes I ask if they actually have more than one Ben 10 recorded.

Kids do. My daughter watches the same shows over and over again.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Kids do. My daughter watches the same shows over and over again.

The kids are great and setting up single records of shows (They just hit record while its playing.) and I go through and convert them to recurring timers. I intentionally set it to "new" shows and "keep last 5" just to keep it fresh a little bit. It also auto cleans up all of the half shows on the DVR.

 

[ClevelandRob]

Are you sure that YOU want to see the same shows over and over and over and over again? I know thats what my kids would do. I don't mind watching the cartoons with the kids, but sometimes I ask if they actually have more than one Ben 10 recorded.

I totally zone it out. She will usually watch an episode of one of her shows before she takes a nap or after dinner (great for wind-down time!). Last night I set it up to record all episodes of various programs with a max of 15-20 depending on the show. Plus there is always DVDs of all these shows at my library if need be.

The HD pack is very intriguing and by the time E* adds Nick/Disney, she'll be a little older (like 15!) and probably would have grown out of most of those Noggin shows anyways. Now I guess I just have to be patient and wait a couple weeks to get a bunch of shows! All of my timers have been put on low priority until we make the switch.

Thanks for everyones help. Looks like I'm a go in a couple weeks.

 

[mbole]

If i got the HD only pack, and say I have an SD box, would I be able to see the HD channels on that box, or would I have to upgrade to an HD?

 

[langlin]

If i got the HD only pack, and say I have an SD box, would I be able to see the HD channels on that box, or would I have to upgrade to an HD?

Most "cable" channels have an SD channel also, like USA and SCI FI, so you will still see those on your SD box but some channels like the VOOM do not have an SD dupe, so those would not be seen on your SD box, however you can still send them to an SD set using TV2 feed from your HD box.

 

[nrholland]

Most "cable" channels have an SD channel also, like USA and SCI FI, so you will still see those on your SD box but some channels like the VOOM do not have an SD dupe, so those would not be seen on your SD box, however you can still send them to an SD set using TV2 feed from your HD box.

Are you saying that when you change to the HD Pack (which I will be doing this weekend) that the SD version of that channel will still be on?

 

[mjrusso45]

Don't forget that your local PBS affiliates sometimes carry a lot of the same shows as noggin. My little girl watches a ton of OTA PBS.

 

[RandallA]

Don't forget that your local PBS affiliates sometimes carry a lot of the same shows as noggin. My little girl watches a ton of OTA PBS.

Good point. Same here, I got to have PBS Kids or else I'll break my little one's heart.

 

[AdamGott]

Most "cable" channels have an SD channel also, like USA and SCI FI, so you will still see those on your SD box but some channels like the VOOM do not have an SD dupe, so those would not be seen on your SD box, however you can still send them to an SD set using TV2 feed from your HD box.

this has been the case up until last week. I don't think that they have enabled USA or SCIFI standard def channels for us yet (?). I think I checked last night and they still weren't there. It took them a day or two to enable the SD CNN after they added the HD counterpart.

 

[grb]

this has been the case up until last week. I don't think that they have enabled USA or SCIFI standard def channels for us yet (?). I think I checked last night and they still weren't there. It took them a day or two to enable the SD CNN after they added the HD counterpart.

They appeared last night.

Also, for those HD channels that have no SD version, I have considered getting a 211 or 222 receiver that will allow viewing of these channels (in SD, of course) on an analog tv. I believe right now it costs $75 to upgrade from an SD receiver to an HD receiver (211) plus $5/month "additional receiver" cost. I'm currently using the 622 for 2 tv's and an SD receiver (owned) for the third tv, so I do not have this additional $5 cost.

I'm waiting for Dish to have an "existing customer" promotion for HD receivers (maybe get $60 in programming credits or something similar)...