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OK, so my E* contract is due up in a couple months, but due to a nasty price increase (about $17 on our package, which is just an old 250 package with all the HD, we don't have any premiums). Basically... Yes, E* is truly having their cake and eating it too. Just the way they "re-structured" our bill let them find a way to screw us, nothing we can do about it, we tried.
We are also fed up with still no HD locals (even though we are at least on a list now) while D* has had HD locals here since last year.
As for programming, assuming E* adds the viacom HD channels this coming week like they said, that would make things pretty much even. At that point E* will have a few channels that I will miss (the non-premium Encore HD channel for sure), Travel HD, & WFN HD (my dad loves that one). But at the same time D* will give us a few new channels to look forward to.
Anyhow, its crunch time. If we are gonna switch, we want to do it now, not have to pay that insanely high bill for another month.
So here are some things I've noticed that make this switch less easy:
1) Future programming. I'm looking to see what D*'s plans are for adding new HD in the near future, and find nothing. With E*, they give updates all the time about the channels they are planning to add this month, even this year. I see nothing of the sort from D*. Nothing in the press releases, no retailer chats.
So for all I know, D* had gained the lead with HD, but E* is coming out with 5 new HD just this coming week, and there is another handful or so listed to come out after that this year. Could E* retake the national HD lead here, maybe even run away with it?
2) I hear awful things about the recievers. I hear the remote control commands are very unresponsive and can be a total pain in the ass. I'll mainly be using the HD DVR's, and I've heard other stuff about how glitchy they are.
3) Dual DVR Recievers. D* doesn't have them! I just learned that I was apparently spoiled to have an HD DVR (vip722) where I could easily schedule and watch my DVR'd programs on 2 different TV's. I mean, I could watch 1 dvr'd program on 1 tv, somebody else could watch another on a different tv. All from the same reciever, which came with 2 remotes as well for 2 tv's.
Now I found out that D* not only can't do that, but since I have 4 tv's, I actually need a reciever for each one! That is crazy to me after all this time of the 2 recievers in a single room controlling 4 tv's, different programming could be on each one at any time. Now I'm going from 2 receivers sitting a top eachother to needing 1 reciever in each room.
And, I need to pay $99 for a DVR just to be able to do the same thing I could do with a single vip722 for free. & instead of just paying $5 per month for an extra reciever, now that jumps to $15 since I need 3 more (on top of the 1 free one). The $15 doesn't bug me much, but the $99 does, considering I had this service luxury for free before.
On the plus side of this, I guess it will be nice to record 4 programs at one time with the seperate dvr's(although I've never needed to do this), but more downside is that what I record on one dvr won't be on the other, & vice-versa. Other than that, everything else about the entire reciever setup and the recievers themselves is a downgrade from E*. Another possible plus is maybe better reception on the SDTV's without the long cable runs, but overall this will take some getting used to.
4) Price. D* really isn't going to be much cheaper, if anything probably just as or more expensive thant E* was for us before we started getting screwed on our bill.
Conclusion. For us, we got screwed by E*, and not in the same way as everybody else, they screwed us extra special. Wasn't really just an annual $3-$5 increase and everybodys happy sort of thing. If it were, we'd be fine with that and still want dish.
As for HD locals, we'll probably have them with E* pretty soon, but how fast is never guaranteed. Assuming we do get them real soon (on the list for after april 1st), it will be an absolute shame that E* had to screw us cuz we would have been real happy otherwise.
I think E* offers a much better & cheaper setup for those with multiple TV's, for sure, better hardware, much better DVR situation. And any E* people that have their HD locals, plus the addition of the viacom 5 HD channels coming this week, should be pretty happy for the most part.
So what I'm saying is that we are 99% sure switching anyhow, and cancelling the last 2 months of E* (assuming D* can here by apr 3rd to install, which would be the last day of E* after we cancel, else we gotta wait another month). We aren't rich enough to keep paying this revised bill from E*, so we don't have much choice.
Just tell me its gonna be OK with D*! It will be inconvenient from what we have now, and I'm spending much more $$ off the top than with E* due to the need for the extra DVR.
But will it all be worth it? Will D* keep adding more HD than E*? Will the hardware hold up?
I hope so. I know when we ordered E* it was the popular choice, then of course after we signed the contract, E* did go downhill quite a bit. Now, with our contract ending, its seemingly making a comeback, of course just as I'm switching to D*! Will D* now become the new E*? Hope not!
We are also fed up with still no HD locals (even though we are at least on a list now) while D* has had HD locals here since last year.
As for programming, assuming E* adds the viacom HD channels this coming week like they said, that would make things pretty much even. At that point E* will have a few channels that I will miss (the non-premium Encore HD channel for sure), Travel HD, & WFN HD (my dad loves that one). But at the same time D* will give us a few new channels to look forward to.
Anyhow, its crunch time. If we are gonna switch, we want to do it now, not have to pay that insanely high bill for another month.
So here are some things I've noticed that make this switch less easy:
1) Future programming. I'm looking to see what D*'s plans are for adding new HD in the near future, and find nothing. With E*, they give updates all the time about the channels they are planning to add this month, even this year. I see nothing of the sort from D*. Nothing in the press releases, no retailer chats.
So for all I know, D* had gained the lead with HD, but E* is coming out with 5 new HD just this coming week, and there is another handful or so listed to come out after that this year. Could E* retake the national HD lead here, maybe even run away with it?
2) I hear awful things about the recievers. I hear the remote control commands are very unresponsive and can be a total pain in the ass. I'll mainly be using the HD DVR's, and I've heard other stuff about how glitchy they are.
3) Dual DVR Recievers. D* doesn't have them! I just learned that I was apparently spoiled to have an HD DVR (vip722) where I could easily schedule and watch my DVR'd programs on 2 different TV's. I mean, I could watch 1 dvr'd program on 1 tv, somebody else could watch another on a different tv. All from the same reciever, which came with 2 remotes as well for 2 tv's.
Now I found out that D* not only can't do that, but since I have 4 tv's, I actually need a reciever for each one! That is crazy to me after all this time of the 2 recievers in a single room controlling 4 tv's, different programming could be on each one at any time. Now I'm going from 2 receivers sitting a top eachother to needing 1 reciever in each room.
And, I need to pay $99 for a DVR just to be able to do the same thing I could do with a single vip722 for free. & instead of just paying $5 per month for an extra reciever, now that jumps to $15 since I need 3 more (on top of the 1 free one). The $15 doesn't bug me much, but the $99 does, considering I had this service luxury for free before.
On the plus side of this, I guess it will be nice to record 4 programs at one time with the seperate dvr's(although I've never needed to do this), but more downside is that what I record on one dvr won't be on the other, & vice-versa. Other than that, everything else about the entire reciever setup and the recievers themselves is a downgrade from E*. Another possible plus is maybe better reception on the SDTV's without the long cable runs, but overall this will take some getting used to.
4) Price. D* really isn't going to be much cheaper, if anything probably just as or more expensive thant E* was for us before we started getting screwed on our bill.
Conclusion. For us, we got screwed by E*, and not in the same way as everybody else, they screwed us extra special. Wasn't really just an annual $3-$5 increase and everybodys happy sort of thing. If it were, we'd be fine with that and still want dish.
As for HD locals, we'll probably have them with E* pretty soon, but how fast is never guaranteed. Assuming we do get them real soon (on the list for after april 1st), it will be an absolute shame that E* had to screw us cuz we would have been real happy otherwise.
I think E* offers a much better & cheaper setup for those with multiple TV's, for sure, better hardware, much better DVR situation. And any E* people that have their HD locals, plus the addition of the viacom 5 HD channels coming this week, should be pretty happy for the most part.
So what I'm saying is that we are 99% sure switching anyhow, and cancelling the last 2 months of E* (assuming D* can here by apr 3rd to install, which would be the last day of E* after we cancel, else we gotta wait another month). We aren't rich enough to keep paying this revised bill from E*, so we don't have much choice.
Just tell me its gonna be OK with D*! It will be inconvenient from what we have now, and I'm spending much more $$ off the top than with E* due to the need for the extra DVR.
But will it all be worth it? Will D* keep adding more HD than E*? Will the hardware hold up?
I hope so. I know when we ordered E* it was the popular choice, then of course after we signed the contract, E* did go downhill quite a bit. Now, with our contract ending, its seemingly making a comeback, of course just as I'm switching to D*! Will D* now become the new E*? Hope not!
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9193 views
My OTA is not working anymore. This started after the latest update. I have the OTA dongle with a OTA antenna that I've been using for years. My hopper does not recognize the dongle anymore and when I go to the OTA setting, it has a screen that says to plug a dongle into the USB. I tried unplugging and plugging back, in the same usb port and other ports. The Hopper does not recognize it. Anyone have same issue?
202 Replies
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5243 views
Hi all. If you were using a single tuner USB OTA adapter that is no longer working, please PM me. Thanks. 
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
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79 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Now that I'm retired, obviously I have different health care insurance. I take 2 prescriptions. With my old insurance I didn't have to pay for either of them, now I do. It's not a huge amount but it led me to dig a little into the cost of prescription medications. I have been using Walgreens for the longest time. But what I found was that Walgreens price is 4.8 times more for one of my prescriptions and the other is 2.3 percent more compared to the lowest price pharmacy. If you pay for prescription medications you might want to have a look at trumprx and see if you can get a lower price.
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9 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xnM_6NlEjsU
Direct YouTube Link - iPhone Duo Preorder Experience With Christina Warren
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xnM_6NlEjsU
Direct YouTube Link - iPhone Duo Preorder Experience With Christina Warren
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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4 views
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
550 Replies
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19053 views
More specifically, these:
A more scholarly story is here:
www.bleepingcomputer.com
A more scholarly story is here:
PHP warns admins of two critical flaws, emergency patches coming tomorrow
The PHP security team is warning administrators to prepare for emergency security updates tomorrow to address two critical vulnerabilities, as information about the flaws has reportedly leaked ahead of their scheduled disclosure.
When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it.
12 minutes after the patch was release I had it patched.When I heard about this exploit I was wondering how quick you would be on it.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68572 Replies
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2675889 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
I was reading this article
thehill.com
That said this-
Last summer, for the first time, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime claimed the largest share of the television viewing audience, surpassing both cable and broadcast TV. Streaming captured 34.8 percent of July viewers, according to Nielsen data, compared to 34.4 percent for cable and 21.6 percent for broadcast.
And then, sometime in the second half of 2022, cord-cutters became the majority. The share of cable and satellite television subscribers dipped to 48 percent, according to a report from Samba TV, a television technology company.
Now I do not consider those with YTTV and the likes, Cord Cutters, but they still do not have Traditional Cable/Satellite delivered Live TV, so I decided to do the math.
There are, now, 129 Million Households in the United States.
In 2015, there were 100 Million Cable/Sat Subscribers , no streaming Live TV Service.
Today, there are 66 Million Live TV subscribers, including Cable, Satellite and Streaming.
Roughly, Streaming Live TV has 14 Million subs including all of them.
So that means, Cable/Satellite now has, roughly, 51 Million Households
So in just 8 years, lost 49% of their subscribers and by the end of this year, expected sub count to be, roughly, 45 million households.
That means a total loss of 55% since 2015 at the end of 2023.
But out of 129 Million households, 45 million will mean only 35% will get Cable/Satellite Delivered Live TV by the end of 2023.
Imagine what 2024 will be like.
Cable TV ‘cord-cutters’ became the majority in 2022
The steady decline of cable and broadcast television, and the rise of streaming services, reached a sort of inflection point over the past year. Last summer, for the first time, streaming ser…
thehill.com
That said this-
Last summer, for the first time, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime claimed the largest share of the television viewing audience, surpassing both cable and broadcast TV. Streaming captured 34.8 percent of July viewers, according to Nielsen data, compared to 34.4 percent for cable and 21.6 percent for broadcast.
And then, sometime in the second half of 2022, cord-cutters became the majority. The share of cable and satellite television subscribers dipped to 48 percent, according to a report from Samba TV, a television technology company.
Now I do not consider those with YTTV and the likes, Cord Cutters, but they still do not have Traditional Cable/Satellite delivered Live TV, so I decided to do the math.
There are, now, 129 Million Households in the United States.
In 2015, there were 100 Million Cable/Sat Subscribers , no streaming Live TV Service.
Today, there are 66 Million Live TV subscribers, including Cable, Satellite and Streaming.
Roughly, Streaming Live TV has 14 Million subs including all of them.
So that means, Cable/Satellite now has, roughly, 51 Million Households
So in just 8 years, lost 49% of their subscribers and by the end of this year, expected sub count to be, roughly, 45 million households.
That means a total loss of 55% since 2015 at the end of 2023.
But out of 129 Million households, 45 million will mean only 35% will get Cable/Satellite Delivered Live TV by the end of 2023.
Imagine what 2024 will be like.
878 Replies
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71357 views
Sony is discontinuing it's last 4K disc player, Panasonic has been rumored to be doing the same, the end of physical media is unfortunately, about to happen.
cordcuttersnews.com
Bad News For Blu-ray Fans: Sony Has Stopped Making a Popular Player | Cord Cutters News
Sony has discontinued its final standalone UHD Blu-ray player, the UBP-X700/K, ending shipments of the device with no successor model announced. The move, first spotted by Japanese website Kunkoku.jp and confirmed through the status of the product on Sony’s own website, marks the company’s...
cordcuttersnews.com
I am so done with Sony on so many levels. This is just one small piece of it.Sony is discontinuing it's last 4K disc player, Panasonic has been rumored to be doing the same, the end of physical media is unfortunately, about to happen.
Bad News For Blu-ray Fans: Sony Has Stopped Making a Popular Player | Cord Cutters News
Sony has discontinued its final standalone UHD Blu-ray player, the UBP-X700/K, ending shipments of the device with no successor model announced. The move, first spotted by Japanese website Kunkoku.jp and confirmed through the status of the product on Sony’s own website, marks the company’s...
Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.
www.tvtechnology.com
Pearl TV Issues Progress Report on Low-Cost 3.0 Converters in Advance of NAB Show New York
Group has secured lower pricing from key tech players to make less costly boxes available
www.tvtechnology.com
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294 views
It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.
There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.
Who says dinner or lunch has to be the only good meals of the day?
Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
Honey butter grits with scrambled eggs and grilled boneless pork ribs on flakey biscuits washed down with cranberry juice.
6631 Replies
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379743 views
Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!
26 Replies
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672 views
LOL. It depends if the person saw it during the years when they were actually still available which is 1968 to 1983 meaning the person could be 43-58 years old or they can even be a few years old if they learned to read and write at a young age and actually saw a telephone with that label somewhere recently just like even here in San Francisco, payphone still exist physically in public places but whether they can be used or not is a different issue. It still looks like this even today:
I opened my Radio Shack in Sept 1984 and right about that time they did the whole deregulation thing with the phone companies. I bought TONS of those phones that had been refurbished with a new outer shell. You could throw one of those out of a 3 story high window and it would still work.
That was an interesting time in history. I would have older customers come in and ask about phones.....they were terrified that they were going to get into trouble hooking up a second phone without the phone company knowing about it. One of the funniest episodes of WKRP was the one where Johnny thought the cops were showing up because they had an unregistered phone. I guess younger folks can't conceive of a time when you were limited to the number of phones you could have in your house....and limited to the length of the cord
That was an interesting time in history. I would have older customers come in and ask about phones.....they were terrified that they were going to get into trouble hooking up a second phone without the phone company knowing about it. One of the funniest episodes of WKRP was the one where Johnny thought the cops were showing up because they had an unregistered phone. I guess younger folks can't conceive of a time when you were limited to the number of phones you could have in your house....and limited to the length of the cord
The two central offices in the area I worked were actually step by step offices.
Speaking about cords, I actually did drop a Trimline phone from probably 3 feet high on the floor when I was about 10 or so and it caused a small crack, this was the one with the modular jacks and it was hooked up with I think a 50 ft or longer RJ11C cable from Radio Shack. I still use the phone today connected to a Obi VoIP adapter and the cord is my custom made 6 position RJ11C, not sure of the official name for it without looking it up and Belden MediaTwist Crescent shaped Cat6+ cable.I opened my Radio Shack in Sept 1984 and right about that time they did the whole deregulation thing with the phone companies. I bought TONS of those phones that had been refurbished with a new outer shell. You could throw one of those out of a 3 story high window and it would still work.
That was an interesting time in history. I would have older customers come in and ask about phones.....they were terrified that they were going to get into trouble hooking up a second phone without the phone company knowing about it. One of the funniest episodes of WKRP was the one where Johnny thought the cops were showing up because they had an unregistered phone. I guess younger folks can't conceive of a time when you were limited to the number of phones you could have in your house....and limited to the length of the cord
S
so that persons in hiding lol