Possible returning subscriber questions

[GaryPen]

Instead of adding add'l questions to the OTA EPG thread that I started, I think I'll post a number of questions in this new thread to help me decide whether to go back with Dish and their DishHD package. (My other choice would be DirecTV's "Plus HD DVR" package.)

1. Can I get more than one 722 on the account? And, if so, is there an add'l startup fee for the 2nd 722?

2. What would be the NAD (nickel and dime) fees for the following setup, in addition to the $34.99 for DishHD plus Locals:
-722 for HDTV in living room
-2nd 722 for HDTV in BR1 and SDTV in BR2 (or 612, if two 722's are not possible)

3. Does Dish have multi-room viewing from DVR to DVR or non-DVR? (That would negate the necessity of a 2nd 722, actually.)

4. I know that RSN is not included in DishHD package, but is it possible to get HD RSN if I pay for the SportPack? Do they even still offer the SportPack? (It used to be around $5.)

5. What is up with the 129 satellite? From what I understand, it contains most of the HD channels, but is dying. Will I have trouble receiving 129 in Northern California, or is the problem mainly affecting Easterners? Will they be replacing it soon?

6. Are their HD channels being compressed to "HD-Lite" quality? I know that Direct was doing this until they added capacity. Comcast just started doing this in my area. That is one of the reasons I am looking to change, and don't want to switch to a service that is also degrading their HD signals.

Thanks in advance.

 

[digital echo]

You can call and ask.....Lazy

 

[GaryPen]

Ask who? A Dish CSR? :haha:haha:haha:haha:haha:haha:haha:haha:haha:haha

Now, if anyone has anything helpful to write, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[stone phillips420]

tech support, supervisor, or yes csr

 

[GaryPen]

Unless things have changed drastically at Dish, I have a better chance of getting more accurate information about E* fees and services from a bus driver or McDonald's cashier than a Dish csr.

Quite frankly, I was hoping that with the multitude of extremely knowledgeable folks here at SatGuys, I might get better answers than "call a Dish csr".

Have the pricing structure, programming, and HW options at Dish become that much more complex in the last three years? Yikes.

 

[oldford]

I don't think that it is any more complex than the competiton's. I recently went through the research on switching to Direct from Dish by looking at Direct's website and reading the Direct forum here and found that the cost, after the first year, would be about the same for the programming I want.

I've always advised that one should make decisions of this sort based first on the programming that you want, then on the features of the equipment, and lastly on the cost.

Look at Dish's website, and some retailers have them as well. You have a better chance of getting a straight story from a local retailer than Dish CSRs from Bezerkistan.

Good Luck, Eric

 

[KAB]

Unless things have changed drastically at Dish, I have a better chance of getting more accurate information about E* fees and services from a bus driver or McDonald's cashier than a Dish csr.

Yeh, right. Call Dishstore.

 

[garys]

Instead of adding add'l questions to the OTA EPG thread that I started, I think I'll post a number of questions in this new thread to help me decide whether to go back with Dish and their DishHD package. (My other choice would be DirecTV's "Plus HD DVR" package.)

1. Can I get more than one 722 on the account? And, if so, is there an add'l startup fee for the 2nd 722?

2. What would be the NAD (nickel and dime) fees for the following setup, in addition to the $34.99 for DishHD plus Locals:
-722 for HDTV in living room
-2nd 722 for HDTV in BR1 and SDTV in BR2 (or 612, if two 722's are not possible)

3. Does Dish have multi-room viewing from DVR to DVR or non-DVR? (That would negate the necessity of a 2nd 722, actually.)

4. I know that RSN is not included in DishHD package, but is it possible to get HD RSN if I pay for the SportPack? Do they even still offer the SportPack? (It used to be around $5.)

5. What is up with the 129 satellite? From what I understand, it contains most of the HD channels, but is dying. Will I have trouble receiving 129 in Northern California, or is the problem mainly affecting Easterners? Will they be replacing it soon?

6. Are their HD channels being compressed to "HD-Lite" quality? I know that Direct was doing this until they added capacity. Comcast just started doing this in my area. That is one of the reasons I am looking to change, and don't want to switch to a service that is also degrading their HD signals.

Thanks in advance.

Since no one wants to even start this:
1. Yes, there is a upfront lease charge on second 722, cost depends on your history since you don't have one, it would be fairly high ($150 I believe, but don't hold me to that figure).
2. DVR fee $5.99, Phone line fee $5.99 (waived if receiver hooked to either phone line or dsl.)
3. Think you have this confused a bit, coax is run to second tv and anything recorded on either tuner is available to the other tv. 2nd tv is sd, if you have two HD TV's, you may want to check into a 612 and a 211, 612 has dvr, 211 does not.
4. RSN is not included with HD Only pack, you need AT100+ or higher to get RSN. This does lower the HD Only pack to HD Ultimate pricing.
5. 129 is not "Dying", there are signal problems in many areas, some installers put up a separate dish to get higher signal strength than using a version of the Dish 1000.
6. Way too many complaints of HD lite, I don't think you are going to get away from this.

 

[Cantonsurroundsound]

GaryPen,

Don't do it! dish is a rip off now that they do not have VOOM HD! I checked and Directv is cheaper, has more HD and more channels in general with better customer service. I will save $600 the first year and save enough to buy a couple of blu ray disc each month forever.!

 

[Slamminc11]

GaryPen,

Don't do it! dish is a rip off now that they do not have VOOM HD! I checked and Directv is cheaper, has more HD and more channels in general with better customer service. I will save $600 the first year and save enough to buy a couple of blu ray disc each month forever.!

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

I agree with KAB, call Claude at Dishstore. He'll get things right for you.

 

[Peter Parker]

GaryPen,

Don't do it! dish is a rip off now that they do not have VOOM HD! I checked and Directv is cheaper, has more HD and more channels in general with better customer service. I will save $600 the first year and save enough to buy a couple of blu ray disc each month forever.!

This may be inconceivable to you but some do no particualrly care about VOOM.

 

[GaryPen]

Yeh, right. Call Dishstore.

Good idea. Claude set me up with some gear for my company's E* account a few years back.

Since no one wants to even start this:
1. Yes, there is a upfront lease charge on second 722, cost depends on your history since you don't have one, it would be fairly high ($150 I believe, but don't hold me to that figure).
2. DVR fee $5.99, Phone line fee $5.99 (waived if receiver hooked to either phone line or dsl.)
3. Think you have this confused a bit, coax is run to second tv and anything recorded on either tuner is available to the other tv. 2nd tv is sd, if you have two HD TV's, you may want to check into a 612 and a 211, 612 has dvr, 211 does not.
4. RSN is not included with HD Only pack, you need AT100+ or higher to get RSN. This does lower the HD Only pack to HD Ultimate pricing.
5. 129 is not "Dying", there are signal problems in many areas, some installers put up a separate dish to get higher signal strength than using a version of the Dish 1000.
6. Way too many complaints of HD lite, I don't think you are going to get away from this.

Thanks for an actual answer to my questions. (I wonder why so many found that so difficult?) However...
1. I do have a history, as I was a sub from 1999 - 2005. Maybe I can get a better deal? I can always try.
2. Is the DVR fee still per DVR?
3. I'm not confused. I inquired about Multi-Room Viewing. It enables watching HD programs recorded on one HD DVR with another HD DVR. Tivo has it, and the Comcast Motorola boxes are said to be getting it. You are referring to the SD coax output, which I'm not that interested in, other tha
4. Can I not add the $6 Sports Pack to the DishHD pack?
5. From what I've read, it is either dying, or never fully woke from its launch coma. And, as such, they have plans on replacing it. But, what I really need to know is the signal good in Northern California, so that I won't need an add'l dish?
6. That part is annoying.

This may be inconceivable to you but some do no particualrly care about VOOM.

I would be one of those people.

 

[Slamminc11]

you'll have to excuse Cantonsurroundsound, he has voom on the brain, and in his mind, if it ain't voom, it's crap!
good luck Gary!

 

[AdamGott]

Unless things have changed drastically at Dish, I have a better chance of getting more accurate information about E* fees and services from a bus driver or McDonald's cashier than a Dish csr.

Quite frankly, I was hoping that with the multitude of extremely knowledgeable folks here at SatGuys, I might get better answers than "call a Dish csr".

Have the pricing structure, programming, and HW options at Dish become that much more complex in the last three years? Yikes.

Probably true (about the bus driver or McDonald's cashier). They may as well just tell their CSR's to quit answering the phones...

I pay a little over $50 a month ($53?) for two 622's and the HD only plus locals package.

 

[GaryPen]

Thanks Adam. Did you have to pay a lease upgrade fee upfront for the 2nd HD DVR?

FYI - For anybody interested, I finally got the DishBuilder to configure a system with two HD-DVR's. I had to add a 3rd TV.

Here is what I found:
DishHD $30
Locals $5
DVR Fees $12
Add'l Rcvr Fee $7
Total: $54

Not bad for two HD DVR's, which will also feed a 3rd, non-HD, TV.

FYI, the first year of Cinemax is FREE (One cent, actually), if you do paperless billing and auto-pay.

Also, $120 of credits are given in $40 increments on the 1st, 10th, and 20th months.

There is a $99 upgrade fee for the 2nd HD DVR. Not bad. But, I wonder if it is negotiable with the right CSR?

Now, I just have to find out of I would get my local RSN in HD, if I sub to the Multi-Sport Pack. Or, will the pro- games be blacked out, even in my own area, because I don't have an AT package.

Also, do they normally install a Dish 1000+ antenna, which includes an LNB for 118? Or, do I need to order an International channel before the installation?

You know, as much as I've been thinking about going with DirecTV, I may just choose Dish again, may God have mercy on my soul.

 

[KAB]

You know, as much as I've been thinking about going with DirecTV, I may just choose Dish again, may God have mercy on my soul.

Toward the end of the year when the "wash" cycle ends, both D* and E* will pretty much be programming mirrors of each other. Might as well enjoy the advantages of E* equipment.

 

[GaryPen]

You may be right.

 

[MikeD-C05]

YES, DISH receivers rule compared to the clunky directv ones. I just broke my lease this week and gave the DIRECTV receivers back. I hated them. THey worked but it was so clunky and not very dependable on recordings. THe first month I had them I could only turn on my hr 21 with a reboot. It got better towards the end ,but I hated the clunky remotes and interface that the directv dvrs had. I liked the hd channels but I really hated the guides and the way the channels were arranged. NEws channels alone were located in 202 and then you had to go to 355 to see the rest. IN the end DISH had all the hd channels that I really wanted except maybe 9 and they will most likely add them by year's end. If you are a sports nut then DIRECTV is the provider of your choice . I could care less about over inflated priced sports packs. BUt I agree that by the end of the year ,the two providers will look a lot like each other, except for the sports.

 

[Cantonsurroundsound]

dish networks treats their customers poorly as evident by them dropping Voom HD and not even talking to their top tiered HD customers. dish networks also has very poor customer service as most complaints are never answered by an automated e-mail. dish networks also is more expensive than Directv, and dish has less HD channels.

Yes I am pissed that dish dropped Voom, replaced those 15 zero commercial channels with only 7 new channels and now most of the HD lineup is up converted, stretched and not true HD. I also checked my current cost of service and would save over $600 the first year and still save every year after. So why would you want to pay more for less HD, less channels, have poor customer service at a higher price when Directv is rated better in customer service, is cheaper, has more HD and more channels?

 

[GaryPen]

If you compare the equivalent AT package to Direct's Plus HD DVR package, then yeah. DirecTV will have more channels for less money. Also, less nickel and dime fees. But, D* offers nothing like E*s DishHD pack, which is a great bargain for 40 "HD" channels, which include all of the nationals I'm interested in anyway. Why pay for a bunch of channels I don't watch? (Even the so-called stretchovision channels will look better than their SD counterparts due to higher bandwidth and less compression. A lot of Animal Planet HD's shows are like that, and look great.)

Then there is the issue of HW. It's hard to believe after experiencing some of the steaming pieces of crap Dish has released over the years. But, they have a superior HD DVR. And, it has a built-in OTA tuner, unlike the HR21 which needs an add-on piece that would steal precious real estate in my HT cabinet.

I'm familiar with E*'s piss poor customer service. So, no surprises there.

As for Voom, it's much ado about nothing. I was not interested when Dish had them, and I wouldn't be interested in Dish if they kept them and didn't add the nationals that they wisely did. You, OTOH, seem to miss them. Switching to D* won't bring them back, you know. But, if you feel you would be happier with D*, you should definitely switch. (If I was getting a full programming package, I would choose them, as well.)