Losing HD Absolute. Any suggestions?

[zim2dive]

EDIT2: based on $72/mo with Dish and a single 622 DVR (serving SD to my TV2)... for the same 24-month price I can get Choice Ultimate (to be about the same as Silver + Platinum) with a Whole House DVR and a 2nd HD rcvr.... roughly $1728 for 24 more months of Dish, vs. $1715 for the above at Direct. Does make ya think....

It gets worse.. I forgot I had a $5/mo credit for getting someone else to Sign up with Dish.. and this morning I got the email that the Starz 12 month promo is ending... so in the period of 1 month I will

- see my bill go from ~$51 to ~$77
- lose Starz

at this point, every other service becomes competitive in price. Over the next 24 months, DTV I could get Choice Ultra + 5-tuner DVR + 2 HD rcvrs for the same 24-month cost (~$1850)

 

[Juan]

It gets worse.. I forgot I had a $5/mo credit for getting someone else to Sign up with Dish.. and this morning I got the email that the Starz 12 month promo is ending... so in the period of 1 month I will

- see my bill go from ~$51 to ~$77
- lose Starz

at this point, every other service becomes competitive in price. Over the next 24 months, DTV I could get Choice Ultra + 5-tuner DVR + 2 HD rcvrs for the same 24-month cost (~$1850)

you didn't figure in the D* price increase at the 12 month point

 

[NotMe546]

you didn't figure in the D* price increase at the 12 month point

Like someone said the grass may not always be greener on the other side.
How much does it go up?

 

[Juan]

Like someone said the grass may not always be greener on the other side.
How much does it go up?

i dunno depends what package and how much they increase it.. i was saying the price lock is only for the first 12 months

 

[mdram]

Like someone said the grass may not always be greener on the other side.
How much does it go up?

you can go to d* website, build your package and see the price for each month of the 24 months

 

[Laddyboy]

There are sometimes also other rewards. I think Costco has a $120 reward card. AAA is $10 off for 20 months ($200).

 

[Juan]

you can go to d* website, build your package and see the price for each month of the 24 months

u cant see price increases past the 12 month point

 

[Kb Cool]

Like someone said the grass may not always be greener on the other side.
How much does it go up?

Yeah, it maybe better to stay put. Where else are you going to find great online "forum" customer service support?

 

[zim2dive]

you didn't figure in the D* price increase at the 12 month point

Red herring. Prices for both are locked until 2013 (if you were to sign up now).. so BOTH will have a price increase then (and folks here are rumoring that we could see a "fee increase" before that.

This isn't saying Direct is where I'm going.. what its saying is that Dish will be losing every bit of price-advantage for me. I will look at cable and uverse as well. The DirectTv prices I quoted were simply my 1st step of research in to my alternate options.

 

[zim2dive]

If I went DTV, I'd be one subforum over

 

[Juan]

Red herring. Prices for both are locked until 2013 (if you were to sign up now).. so BOTH will have a price increase then (and folks here are rumoring that we could see a "fee increase" before that.

This isn't saying Direct is where I'm going.. what its saying is that Dish will be losing every bit of price-advantage for me. I will look at cable and uverse as well. The DirectTv prices I quoted were simply my 1st step of research in to my alternate options.

its 2012 in 12 months (2013) your price will go up..D* is supposed to go up in feb.(~$4).and probably next feb too so you could be looking at 7-8 dollar increase after 12 months with D*

 

[mdram]

u cant see price increases past the 12 month point

yes you can

 

[zim2dive]

its 2012 in 12 months (2013) your price will go up..D* is supposed to go up in feb.(~$4).and probably next feb too so you could be looking at 7-8 dollar increase after 12 months with D*

again, red herring. you get the new customer price for 12 months. no price increase until 2013.

 

[Juan]

again, red herring. you get the new customer price for 12 months. no price increase until 2013.

just $8 in2013

 

[Juan]

yes you can

my point was it doesnt show future rate increases

 

[mdram]

my point was it doesnt show future rate increases

of course not, they dont know what they will be yet
but both providers will have them

neither show future fee increases either

 

[whatchel1]

Red herring. Prices for both are locked until 2013 (if you were to sign up now).. so BOTH will have a price increase then (and folks here are rumoring that we could see a "fee increase" before that.

Key word rumor. Really what it boils down to is programming and is the price right for you. If you can live w/ less HD programs at D* and price looks good then go with it. You will have to stay for 2 yrs so be very sure before you jump.

 

[mdram]

Key word rumor. Really what it boils down to is programming and is the price right for you. If you can live w/ less HD programs at D* and price looks good then go with it. You will have to stay for 2 yrs so be very sure before you jump.

should rephrase to "if you can live with the diff in hd programming"

i could say less with dish due to lack of sports in hd

 

[whatchel1]

should rephrase to "if you can live with the diff in hd programming"

i could say less with dish due to lack of sports in hd

Said depends on programming so don't need to rephrase anything. It's always been if you are sports nut then you should be at D*.

 

[zim2dive]

Key word rumor. Really what it boils down to is programming and is the price right for you. If you can live w/ less HD programs at D* and price looks good then go with it. You will have to stay for 2 yrs so be very sure before you jump.

Gads, would be nice to have a non-emotional discussion about this.

I'm looking at all my options, not just D*...and thats part of my point, Dish isn't looking like it has as much price advantage as in the past.

And for the prices I listed, I reject your premise of there being a difference in # of HD channels... For comparison, I just did VERY quick jot of the channels for comparison(sorry the column spacing got removed)

Dish Silver+Platinum	vs Direct Ultra
AE	AE
	ABCFam
	AMC
APL	APL
Bravo	Bravo
CBSS	CBSS
CMT	CMT
CN	CN
CNBC	CNBC
CNN	CNN
ComC	ComC
DISC	DISC
	DXD
ENC	ENC
EPIX	
EPIX2	
ESPN	ESPN
ESPN2	ESPN2
	ESPN3D
	ESPNU
FOOD	FOOD
	FX
HDNET	HDNET
HDNET Movies	
HGTV	HGTV
HIST	HIST
IndiePlex	
LFT	LFT
MGM	
MSNBC	MSNBC
	NBCSports
	Ngeo
	NICK
Palladia	
Retro	
	SCI
	SPEED
Spike	Spike
Starz	
Sundance	
syfy	Syfy
TBS	TBS
TLC	TLC
	TMC
TNT	TNT
TWC	TWC
Universal	
USA	USA
WGN	WGN
37	39

I took the liberty of excluding any channel the wife and I just absolutely never watch... you can argue up/down a few channels.. by my count D* has a small edge (tho we don't have a 3DTV so you can probably cross off ESPN3D) but the basic point is that these 2 pkgs are pretty comparable. If it wasn't I wouldn't even bother. In previous years I've been able to justify a definite price advantage to staying with Dish. I no longer find myself able to do that.