Another successful E* to D* convert

Status
Please reply by conversation.

sbalmos

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Dec 26, 2007
30
0
Cincinnati (Maineville), OH
Just got back into the office here after finishing my conversion from Charlie's Soon-o-Rama to D*. If any of you remember, my first install attempt about a month ago ended because of a probably-clueless installer. This time around was much different.

I was scheduled for the 12-4 window for today. But around 9:30, I got a call from the guy, asking if he could come now. I was floored, and said I'd see him in half an hour, once I got home from work. He arrived right around 10:00, I explained what happened the last time, my install setup (which isn't really that complex. It can just get frustrating), etc.

I helped the guy along, taking down my E* dish, stringing the two additional feeds from the satellite to my distribution box, etc. He was telling me about a massive install he had to do the other day at a house where someone was getting 9(!!!) receivers. All in all, we had a great time.

The only problem we had was getting the Slimline aligned (a massive beast). He could get 119 fine, but couldn't get 101 (or is it 103?). He could when he kneeled down at the ground, but couldn't when it was mounted on the patio pole bracket. About 45 minutes of fudging around with the pole's angle level finally brought everything into alignment.

After that, everything went like clockwork. Then the kicker - while he's filling out my paperwork, waiting for everything to activate, he says my last name the way it's supposed to be pronounced (not quite phonetic). I mention this to him, and he says he had a 6th grade teacher with the name, so he got used to it. A few questions later, I shock him when I tell him that teacher was my dad.

All in all, a cool experience, much better than even the three E* installers I went through a few months back. I tipped him a $20 for lunch and said I'd tell my dad about it.

As for the technical side, I was lucky if I got 70s on 119 for E*, more often 50s or so. 129 was a pain, barely in the 20s. With all five for D*, I get high 80s to mid 90s. And boy is the HD picture gorgeous (yes I *can* tell a difference between equivalent HD channels for E* and D*, not even counting the additional ones I get).

DirecTV and Bluegrass Satellite has been redeemed in my eyes. Thanks Bob and Plasma Concepts for the rebate special, and others who told me to hang in there after the first time around!

--Scott
Another happy convert
 
I also made the switch after 9 years with dish should of done it along tme ago.
 
Scott... I'm happy to hear it! I hope you enjoy D* for a long time. Your Bluegrass experience (this time) was much more like mine last August. :cool:
 
I'm a former Dish Network customer (nearly 6 years). Here's a perspective after being a DirecTV customer for 10 days. I love USA HD and all the other HD channels. My signal is much stronger. My area was under a tornado warning recently (Central Alabama) and I only lost the signal for about 10 seconds with heavy thunderstorm activity. My Dish Network signal would have stayed off for 10-20 minutes. The only area (in my opinion) where Dish beats DirecTV is the music channels. Sirius satellite radio is far superior than XM radio. The variety and quality of music doesn't compare. All in all, I'm very satisfied with my change and I hope I can get the channel numbers in my head real soon.
 
I'll let you know in a few days.

It's slightly expensive for me to switch, almost completely in breaking my E* contract (I just signed up with E* in December). Otherwise, the cost of the HD DVR is offset by the $100 rebate that Plasma Concepts has going on here, extended until the end of this month.

Just from the quick playing around I've done before I went back to work, I don't see any major issues between the HR-21 and VIP722. I look forward to the day D* allows DVR streaming over the home network, and also look forward to playing with online scheduling, among other things. I hear people complain about the speed of the HR-21 compared to the VIP622 and 722. I honestly either don't notice it or don't care. I turned off the little slide animation in the program guide, which sped it up nicely.

We'll see...
 
Congrats! Hopefully mine goes well this Saturday as I am also switching from E*
 
I just switched over to d* this past Saturday and we love it. We had Dish for over 10 years and just got sick of waiting for more HD programming. The install was great and on time but one little flaw Monday one of my HDDVR's died and D* was here the next day with another one. I have the Premier package with HD extra. With my one-bill program through Verizon, we save about $45.00 a month for one year. I was paying $133.00 a month for Dish and after the first year it should be about $107.00 a month. The hr-21 works fine but a little slower than the 622 but like anything else it takes time to learn but not impossible. For those who are a little hesitant about switching, don't be! you will be happy. so long Charlie
 
I'm one of the few that actually prefers the D* interface to E*. It's a bit more intuitive to me. It is a bit slower to respond though, which is very mildly irritating but not a showstopper.

It wasn't expensive for me to upgrade, but that's primarily because I had to buy my second 722 since I was at my "max" leased receivers with E*. Selling my owned 722 will more than cover my D* up-front costs.

I also did my homework and was able to combine the AAA deal with a few other promotions to get a GREAT overall deal.
 
The only area (in my opinion) where Dish beats DirecTV is the music channels. Sirius satellite radio is far superior than XM radio. The variety and quality of music doesn't compare.
And with Sirius and XM merging in the coming weeks/months, this will be a non-factor. :D
 
Slide Animation

SBalmos you mentioned slide animation in the program guide and having it turned off to speed things up a bit? Where is this feature? I also have a HR21.
 
mstregamer: Yes. The Slimline's a beast. But on the other hand, the D* mount apparently has a built-in leveler, according to the installer. He didn't have to really eyeball it or use my level.

bk63ross: In System Setup, under Display.
 
SBalmos you mentioned slide animation in the program guide and having it turned off to speed things up a bit? Where is this feature? I also have a HR21.

After I read his post I did some digging and found the setting:

Push Menu and go to Parental, Fav's & Setup

Go to System Setup

Go to Display and turn off the Scrolling Effects

Really helps when using the online guide, now I just wish they'd show more than 1 1/2 hours.
 
How do you guys like their equipment compared to E*? Is it just as good or better? Was it expensive to switch?


If I understand the specs correctly the E* HD units have only one HD tuner and one SD tuner. Although you can record 2 programs at the same time you cannot record 2 HD programs at the same time. The only advantage I see for the E* equipment is that it is designed to feed two TVs at the same time with one tuner for each. You get 2 remotes one RF the other IR. Thus you can control the receiver from another room.

Personally I prefer to have a separate receiver in the bedroom and a dual HD tuner on the receiver in the Living Room.
 
If I understand the specs correctly the E* HD units have only one HD tuner and one SD tuner. Although you can record 2 programs at the same time you cannot record 2 HD programs at the same time.quote]

Uhh, no. The 622 can view/record 2 HD programs independently, plus one OTA. That's 3 simultaneous HD recordings. The output is 1 HD + 1 SD to a remote location.
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)