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I frankly don't know what all the excitement is about with Dish. Personally, I'd only watch about 3 of those channels, but then that's just me. If you're not tied to a long-term contract with another provider, read on to see the deal I got with Charter Communications.

Sidenote: I noticed a post that Dish will carry all of VOOM's 21 channels sometime NEXT year. You can bet that the other satellite and cable operators will be talking to Rainbow too in the meantime.

I switched over to Charter Communications Digital Cable for $55/month, which reflects a $25/month credit for 12 months ($300 not the $200 D* is offering) for being a satellite subscriber; although I don't think you really have to be because they never asked me to provide ANY proof that I was. The package includes a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 160GB 2-tuner 8000HD DVR (Nice!-Don't know how I lived without one) for no initial cost at NO rental charge for at least the first 12 months-Why would you pay $250 for one from Dish? ), HBO, Cinemax and STARZ. You also have the choice of one more premium package (see below). There are NO upfront costs and NO COMMITMENT whatsoever!

There is also a 30-day moneyback guarantee (i.e. try it for 30 days for free). Mine was installed the day after I called. It took about fifteen minutes. You've got nothing to lose by trying it out for free.

Naturally, I'm down to only a handful of HD programming - ESPNHD, NESNHD, HBOHD, DiscoveryHD, ShowtimeHD, WCVB(ABC ch.5), WFXT(FOX ch.35), WHDH(NBC ch.7) and my four local HD's. The package also includes 6 HBO's, 8 Cinemax and 6 Encore channels, all in SD unfortunately.

Dish's pick-up of those VOOM HD's is not even a temptation for me to switch to them. It would take a lot more than what D* and dish are offering to tempt me; and even then I'd think long and hard. I haven't had D* for a few years and I still have a very bad taste in my mouth. And I've read some pretty nasty customer reviews on Dish.

I'll wait till something like VOOM comes along. (Which, sadly, will probably be a VERY long time.) When it does, I will painlessly make the switch because I'm under NO commitment whatsoever.

I'll feel a pang in my heart for VOOM for a long time but $55 a month for one year is, to me, darn good for what I get. Get Dish or D*, pay your up-front costs, make your commitment, get your x months at a reduced cost and then take a look at your bill.

P.S. The PQ on many SD channels sucks compared to VOOM, but so did D* when I had it and I'll bet it sucks on Dish and every other provider. Also, the customer support at Charter could not be any better. I've called the a couple of dozen times with various and sundry questions and I've always got CSR virtually immediately 24/7.

Premium Packages:
FAMILY DIGITAL TIER
BBC America/Discovery Home Channel/Military Channel/Do It Yourself/Discovery Kids
Nickelodeon Too-West//Noggin/Nickelodeon Games and Sports/Nickelodeon Toons
Soap Net/FOX Movie Channel/Lifetime Movie Network/Women's Entertainment
Independent Film Channel/Sundance-East The Science Channel/Discovery Health/
Discovery Times/Bloomberg/Biography/ History Channel International/
Fuse (Much Music)VH Uno/MTV Espanol/ MTV Jams/MTV Hits/VH-1 Classic/
VH-1 Soul/VH-1 Mega Hits/VH-1 Country/Great American Country/Jewelry TV/AZN

MOVIE DIGITAL TIER:
Showtime Too-East/Showtime Showcase-East/Showtime Extreme-East
Showtime Beyond-East/FLIX-E/The Movie Channel-East/TMC Xtra

SPORTS DIGITAL TIER:
ESPNews/ESPN Classic/Fox College Sports – Atlantic/Fox College Sports - Central
Fox College Sports – Pacific/Fox Sports en Espanol/Fox Soccer Channel
NFL Network/Fuel/CSTV - College Sports Television/TVG/Fit TV