622: $99 vs. $299. I found the "Catch"

DVDDAD said:
I'm sorry to disagree with the previous poster that told you otherwise. I just got my 622 today and still have a 942 in the other room. The new MPEG4 (MPEG2 with MPEG4 headers) channels are only apparent in my 622's guide. I cannot tune to them on my 942.


The question was would he still be able to see the original MPEG2 channels not the new MPEG2/ pretend 4 ones. And the answer to that is yes.
 
Lots of interesting discussion here.....

Since I'm an "everything" kind of guy the minimum package issues don't apply to me.

All of the monthly charges are the same for buy or lease. The monthly unit charges are the same, whether they are the monthly lease fee or the extra receiver charge.

Soooo, my programming costs are awash whether I buy or lease.

However, if I buy the unit I won't get the "free install." I currently have a legacy system. My install is going to involve the Dish 1000, and the rather expensive DPP switches. I suspect that I will need 2 of them to feed the 4 receivers on my account (2 of them have 2 tuners).

If I understand it correctly, the Dish1000 is needed for the planned HD locals.


ON A LEASE:
My equipment cost is $300.
Total Cost for Lease "Project"= $300

ON A PURCHASE:
My hardware cost would be (Dish + DPP44 Switch+ DPP44 Switch) = $450
Receiver Cost would be $650
Total Cost for Buy Project= $1100.
(My "ladder time", shipping and misc connectors, separators, etc. are not included in the above costs).

If I owned the 622 and sold it later for $400, It would still be $400 cheaper for me to lease than to buy.

I see why many would think that it is better to buy. However, the big difference for me is the cost of the dish and switches.

Moreover, spending another $1100 cash upfront won't pass the "wife test," which is probably the most important factor here!!

(BTW, Can someone confirm that the 622 and 921 does require 2 outputs from the DPP 44switch. I know that you can use the separator. I assume that is inserted after you tie up 2 taps on the switch).

If I get a second 622, I will probably sell the 921 and purchase the new unit. I suspect that the difference would be about the same $300 as the lease cost.

What am I missing in this analysis?
 
gbjbany said:
I wanted a dual tuner HD box. The 942 has been a great buy for me, it has made my viewing much better and made buying a HD tv worthwhile. The PIP and watch one whilst recording another has been great, I dont have to go watch tv elsewhere whilst my wife is watching dancing with the stars or the grammy's and she doesnt have to go elsewhere when im watching scifi friday. Improved quality of life was easily worth $500 on ebay.


180 SD/25 HD according to http://ekb.dbstalk.com/101

Didn't mean to offend anyone that had one before 2/1/06. I mean now, why would anyone get one now for HD purposes at $500+??

With all the HDLite talk going around here the last couple of months really made me sour on DISHHD. I personally would get one for OTA-HD, I thought the 942's would have dropped like a rock like the 721's did when the 522 finally went on sale.
 
There are scenarios where the lease works. I presently have a 942 on "lease" and sub to the AEP tier. It is my only receiver. Because I have AEP, I pay no DVR fee. Because I have only one receiver, I pay no 2nd receiver fee. And Dish is not charging me a monthly lease fee. I know there is a reason for this, but I can't keep the details straight.
 
Scooters said:
Lots of interesting discussion here.....

Since I'm an "everything" kind of guy the minimum package issues don't apply to me.

Yea, it doesn't look like there is any benefit there for you. The scenario I mentioned works best if you want minimum programming (No SD for me) and only one receiver.

Scooters said:
However, if I buy the unit I won't get the "free install." I currently have a legacy system. My install is going to involve the Dish 1000, and the rather expensive DPP switches. I suspect that I will need 2 of them to feed the 4 receivers on my account (2 of them have 2 tuners).

If I understand it correctly, the Dish1000 is needed for the planned HD locals.

My hardware cost would be (Dish + DPP44 Switch+ DPP44 Switch) = $450

That is very steep to pay for! I suspect that you only need one DPP44 for the job though. I have one, and it has four outputs, and you can have one of the outputs feed a 622 with a DPP separator.

Anyway, last year I was in the same boat. They offered a $99 install for a 61.5 dish for Voom. For me that meant they had to add a DPP44 to do it. Score! I was very happy about that, they replaced all of the switches and lnbs and added a 3rd dish on my roof. It took them the whole afternoon to do it too. It was a great deal. I don't know if they still offer it though.
 
Scooters said:
I see why many would think that it is better to buy. However, the big difference for me is the cost of the dish and switches.
Couldn't you upgrade to a 211 for 49$ and get the dish and switches, then send the 211 back when you buy the 622?
 
jsanders said:
However, the other cool thing about owning is that you are not obligated to abide by E*'s terms. Because of that, you are not obligated to upgrade to the HD Stand Alone Pack. If you owned a 942 and have the legacy HD Pack for $9.99 + Voom for $5.00, you can keep that as a grandfathered subscription with the 622 (provided you buy the 622 and don't lease). You will get the new MPEG-4 HD Locals though. For me, it isn't worth doubling the price of the HD pack (from $15 to $30) for programs like GamePlayHD which is worthless. So, I will keep my grandfathered subscription with the new 622.

If you own a 622 and stay with the old HD Pack + VOOM, how would they prevent you from getting all of the new HD channels? I thought their only "security" was in that the new channels have MPEG4 headers. As your 622 gets around that, I would think that you would get ESPN2, Universal, and the 5 new VOOM channels even though you would not be paying for the new HD Standalone or a metallic pack.

Do you think they have to enable your 622 to get the new channels? I thought I read that people with existing 211's saw the new channels as soon as they went up, even though they got the 211s before the metallic packs went into effect.
 
Tom Bombadil said:
If you own a 622 and stay with the old HD Pack + VOOM, how would they prevent you from getting all of the new HD channels? I thought their only "security" was in that the new channels have MPEG4 headers. As your 622 gets around that, I would think that you would get ESPN2, Universal, and the 5 new VOOM channels even though you would not be paying for the new HD Standalone or a metallic pack.

Do you think they have to enable your 622 to get the new channels? I thought I read that people with existing 211's saw the new channels as soon as they went up, even though they got the 211s before the metallic packs went into effect.


211 owners only got the new channels for a day or so w/o a subscription. After that, they were blocked out. It works this way..... A 311 can receive AT60 or AEP, right? The channels are all the same modulation scheme. If you don't subscribe to AT60, you don't get AEP channels. It is blocked based on your subscription. If you subscribe to the old HD Pack, you won't get the new channels if you don't subscribe to them (even if you have an MPEG-4 receiver).
 
I knew the other packages all worked this way, but wasn't certain that the MPEG4 channels were being blocked in the same way. Largely because of those other reports that I didn't follow all that closely. I thought there was a chance that they were relying upon the MPEG4 header as the blocking agent.
 
If I could trade VOOM ULTRA for VOOM World Cinema, I wouldn't be that tempted to upgrade to a new HD pack. I would like to get ESPN2, like a few programs on Universal HD and might tune in to VOOM Family Room once a week, but could live without these.

Likewise for the upcoming Food Network and HGTV HD channels. I'll rarely watch either.

Starz HD would be an attractor, *IF* the content is not upconverted SD, which some have reported that much is.

Not counting Starz, they have or are adding 9 channels into the new HD pack. 5 of which mean nothing to me and two others will be lightly viewed. So I guess it isn't that big a deal to sit on the present packs. I'm still getting a $5 discount on the HD pack until July, so I'm only paying $10 for the HD pack and VOOM. So jumping it to upgrade so I can pay another $10 a month to watch World Cinema and ESPN2 doesn't sound like a good deal.
 
Tom Bombadil said:
So I guess it isn't that big a deal to sit on the present packs. I'm still getting a $5 discount on the HD pack until July, so I'm only paying $10 for the HD pack and VOOM. So jumping it to upgrade so I can pay another $10 a month to watch World Cinema and ESPN2 doesn't sound like a good deal.

I am also getting this deal on the HD pack and Voom, I was not aware that we could upgrade to the MPEG4 receiver and still keep our current deal.....is this true? I agree there is no compelling reason to pay an additional 15-20 dollars a month for the crap being offered on the new channels. Let me know...thanks!
 
dlsnyder said:
So could I get a $25 rebate if I sent in a dusty old 3900 that hasn't been activated in about 2 years - or does it have to be currently on my account?
Not sure you're still interested, but I am sending in a 4700 that hasn't been activated in about 1 1/2 years.

I discussed this with the CSR when I ordered my 622 (already received it, by the way) on 2/1, and I received an empty box to send them the 4700 for which I will receive a $25 credit.
 
Hey guys... I'm getting ready to take the HD plunge. Currently I have a PVR501 and 2 other, ancient receivers (don't want to get rid of my 501), so I want to lease the 622 and return my other 2. I called Dish today to get the scoop and they told me I could buy the 622 now for $299 or wait until April 1st to get the $200 rebate. I had the CSR confirm that I could get this deal no matter if I have/have not been an HD customer. She said - doesn't matter, you'll still get the deal. This would also include the install ... so I don't think I could go wrong waiting until April, considering I don't have any HD receivers at the moment!
 
Yes, I would be leasing it - pay $299 up front and then (hopefully) get a $200 rebate back. Also $25 for each receiver I send back.
 
According to the Chat that was aired just three days ago, you will not be eligible for the $200 rebate. They were quite emphatic about it. The only subs who will qualify for that rebate are people who already have HD DVRs. Even subs with the HD non-DVRs, like a 6000 or 811, will not be eligible.

The person who made this statement was the director of customer retention, and she seemed very sure of her statements.

So you can wait and hope that they change it. For now, I would certainly take the word of what was stated on the Chat over what a CSR believes a future rebate will be.
 
vampirefish.... Not to dampen your day, but I would try Dish again. It was pretty clear that the $99 deal is only for folks with an existing HD receiver. If they are doing it for everyone, that is a big change in their policy.

I suspect that you got a CSR that didn't "get-it."

I hope that you get the deal, but I don't want you to wait for a couple of months and be disappointed when the next CSR says "no way"!
 
Thanks Tom and Scooters... yeah, sounded too good to be true! I'll call again... it was hard for me to understand her anyway (CSR) - thick accent! I wish I could get the deal, because I have to deal with the WAF :eek: , so the cheaper price would've been a better pitch!

I think that's great that they're trying to help existing HD customers out... but I'm just not happy with their overal existing customer 'promos'...they all pretty much bite...

Too bad because I love dish and my PVR!
 
OK, ok.... just got off the phone with someone at Dish who could kind of speak AND understand English.... and you're right (blasted!)! No deal for me! Oh well...:river
 

How much does everyones dish go out?

211 Stock in Biloxi or Mobile area???

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