Another E* Customer considering the swith to D*

[Yes616]

Hello. I am a long time Dish (10+ years) customer and I am considering switching due to Dish's crazy policy of dropping channels I watch. Most recently it was SNY. I was giving it a few weeks for this matter to play out but I am now tired of waiting. I will miss the Sony Movie Channel, Retroplex and the Epix channels. Hopefully they show up on Direct one day soon.

My LiL channels would come from NYC and it's nice to see WWOR is included in HD.

I would be interested in the whole house HD DVR system. I also have been getting OTA locals from an adjacent (Scranton / Wilkes-Barre) market with my Dish receivers. I think it's possible with the Direct receivers but I am not sure.

I hate mail in rebates and in my searches, found some of these. I also find everything very confusing. I think Dish is confusing but I do understand them. I cannot be sure about much of anything with Direct. Depending on the bottom line prices I would be interested in either the CHOICE XTRA OR ULTIMATE packages.

Can anyone clearly explain what I would pay for the first 3 months, 6 months, year and after a year? Thanks in advance.

 

[jwgreen68]

Directv has the Sony Movie channel.

 

[smitbret]

If you go to their website and do all of your sigining up there, right before you check out, it will break everything down month by month and you can scroll through to see what your projected bill will be in the future. Keep in mind that any promo channels will be added to the bill, so if you're just gonna cancel HBO/Cinemax/Starz when the promo period is up, then you can deduct that from the projected bill.

 

[Mr Tony]

The neighboring locals you can get a AM21 box that works with the DVR's. Its $50 and you can get locals on it integrated into the DVR. Couple notes on it
-this does not add any extra tuners to record (unlike the Dish 722)...its still a 2 tuner limit to record
-you cannot scan for locals. You plug in a zip and it loads the stations that are in the database. For me in Minneapolis that means I am missing one subchannel (the Country Network) and 2 low powered church stations.

The rebates you can submit online as soon as the account is created. They will then show on the 1st bill. If you wait for the install then it requires mail in rebate. When I did mine, I entered them the next day after the order was created and they showed on the 1st bill just fine

 

[jwgreen68]

SonyHD 563.
It's easier for you to look for what you're going to pay rather than what others are paying. You may be receiving more/less credits.

 

[RandallA]

I submitted the rebates online and didn't have to mail anything. Also, if you want to have OTA channels you will need to purchase the AM21. It costs around $50 and it will give you the OTA channels. I didn't need one because most of the HD local channels were already on satellite. Just something to think about.

 

[Mr Tony]

Randal
It sounds like he is near the border of 2 DMA's and wants the 2nd DMA I guess as a backup

 

[RandallA]

Randal
It sounds like he is near the border of 2 DMA's and wants the 2nd DMA I guess as a backup

Got it! :up

 

[Yes616]

Randal
It sounds like he is near the border of 2 DMA's and wants the 2nd DMA I guess as a backup

Exactly.

Actually that neighboring DMA is easier to get OTA from where I am. A strong signal for Antenna TV as well.

Can the AM21 give me locals all around the house? I have no ATSC tuners built into any of my TV's. It has to be from the satellite tuners.

 

[DVDDAD]

I'm looking to make the switch like you also for the loss of SNY. I've given Dish until April 30th, then I place the order. From what I understand, if you recorded something on your DVR from a local station on the AM21, then you will be able to watch that program on any of the whole home receivers you have on your account. Someone feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong.

 

[Jimbo]

Exactly.

Actually that neighboring DMA is easier to get OTA from where I am. A strong signal for Antenna TV as well.

Can the AM21 give me locals all around the house? I have no ATSC tuners built into any of my TV's. It has to be from the satellite tuners.

You'll want a AM21 for each recvr.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm looking to make the switch like you also for the loss of SNY. I've given Dish until April 30th, then I place the order. From what I understand, if you recorded something on your DVR from a local station on the AM21, then you will be able to watch that program on any of the whole home receivers you have on your account. Someone feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong.

IF it's something recorded, Yes, they'll be able to watch it anywhere in the house.

 

[jeslevine]

I was a long time Dish customer also, and finally left for the reasons you articulated for Direct. If you can get D* whole house DVR it is worth it, and well implemented.

If you have AAA they used to have pretty good discounts for signing onto D*

Good luck in your decision

 

[Yes616]

-you cannot scan for locals. You plug in a zip and it loads the stations that are in the database. For me in Minneapolis that means I am missing one subchannel (the Country Network) and 2 low powered church stations.

How does this work for me? Do I need to add a zip code located in the DMA I am trying to get OTA? Does this affect what I get from the satellites? Thanks in advance.

 

[raoul5788]

How does this work for me? Do I need to add a zip code located in the DMA I am trying to get OTA? Does this affect what I get from the satellites? Thanks in advance.

When you do the setup, you have the option of adding a secondary market. Just enter the zip code of the area you want to add.

 

[Yes616]

When you do the setup, you have the option of adding a secondary market. Just enter the zip code of the area you want to add.

How easy is it to switch zip codes? I am high on a hill in a very rural area and I get some OTA channels in my own DMA. I sometimes get other DMA's when skip is active. Mostly early in the morning in the summer. There were a few times I got stations several hundred miles away with my 722. Once I pulled in a North Carolina channel from here in New York. Sure that is just a novelty but it's nice to get some of the sub channels I usually don't get like RTV on WFMZ 69.3 in Allentown. That one comes in pretty often.

 

[raoul5788]

How easy is it to switch zip codes? I am high on a hill in a very rural area and I get some OTA channels in my own DMA. I sometimes get other DMA's when skip is active. Mostly early in the morning in the summer. There were a few times I got stations several hundred miles away with my 722. Once I pulled in a North Carolina channel from here in New York. Sure that is just a novelty but it's nice to get some of the sub channels I usually don't get like RTV on WFMZ 69.3 in Allentown. That one comes in pretty often.

It's easy enough, but it does take a bit of time, maybe 5 minutes or so.

 

[Mr Tony]

How does this work for me? Do I need to add a zip code located in the DMA I am trying to get OTA? Does this affect what I get from the satellites? Thanks in advance.

depends on what locals you get all the time. As example I get Minneapolis (thats my DMA) but I can also get Mankato, MN which is 72 miles down the road (its just CBS & FOX in the market)
So for primary zip I load my zip for Minneapolis and for secondary I load 56001 (Mankato)

You can load whatever zip you want and it will load the channels for that market. Now whether or not you can pick them up is a different story
To reset it, you use the "reset settings" option which clears the locals and you re-enter what you want.

This really doesnt work for skip unless its something you can get on occasion since it does not scan. Also if channels are added it may take a while to get updated. As example the CW here in Minneapolis added The Country Network yet on the AM21 it doesnt show in there yet.

 

[raoul5788]

The local Fox channel here in CT added AntennaTv as a subchannel on Jan 1st. Directv has yet to add it to the AM21.

 

[Mr Tony]

yeah The Country has been here since November last year and still no add to the AM21