Any D* to E* converts out there?

[SRust]

Hello everyone. I am not a frequent poster, but I read these forums with great interest almost daily. I would like some advice from you who have first hand recent comparative experience with D* & E*.

From what I have gathered, E* has the edge at the present with HD. I have three HD setups with D* right now, an HRD-250 hooked to a Samsung 50" DLP, an H10 on a Panasonic 37" HD-Plasma, and an old Samsung TS-160 on a Sony 46" HD-CRT projection tv. All are fed with OTA signals for local HD successfully.

I really am tired of waiting for D* to add more national HD channels while they pour on the locals. Dish would obviously be better as far as HD content & quality for me at the present as I am not a sports fan, but a movie fan.

I have read many recent opinions regarding HD PQ, but my main question to all who have switched or for that matter have seen side by side comparisons is how do the two compare on the SD channels? I realize apparent PQ is like taste for food; it can be preferred on one provider by one viewer and the reverse for another. Let me say this about what I prefer. Image sharpness is the most important element to me followed closely by color vividness. Motion artifacts don't upset me nor does occasional blockiness on fast moving scenes. I know that HD gives me all this, but because only 1 out of 10 movie channels are in HD, I still watch a lot of SD. So the quality of the SD content will be the deciding factor for me.

D* has a very soft SD image lately on most movie channels, especially the Encore theme channels. I can play an old VHS tape and get a similar picture!

With this description of my priorities, which service (considering SD only) would you all think I would be happiest with? I know if I do switch to E*, that I should wait until after Feb. 1st to get the MPEG4 boxes. All helpful suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

[txfeinbergs]

Sorry, I don't have an answer. I am looking to make a change from D to E also so am curious to see if you get any helpful responses on this. Picture Quality on both HD and SD is important to me, so I am wondering who has the best PQ.

 

[C1787GJ]

Mine was not a recent change, but about 2 years ago roughly I switched. I only have SD but I think the picture quality seems the same to me. E* just seemed to give me more bang for my buck, plus I got new equipment, DVR, Dual Tuners,etc. I would have no reason to switch back to D* after having both I would stick with E*.

 

[Grandpa J]

You may want to wait until there are a number of posts on how the new MPEG4 boxes handle both SD & HD / HD lite. Note there is a question about when MPEG4 will actually start due to encoding problems at upload.

 

[SRust]

Thanks everyone who have replied, more input yet would be appreciated.

 

[gigapower]

I recently switched from D* to E* and I'm really happy I did. My wife and I have been loving the VOOM channels.

 

[ccash]

I'm about to do the opposite (E* to D*) due to the Dish/RSN situation here on Long Island.

 

[samatha6]

I had DTV about a 1.5 years ago.. Had two 435 RCA boxes. Did not like them. For me, I had alot more pixelation on one of my TV's. The boxes themselfs were ugly.. I mean really ugly. The sides were not even finished (bare metal) and the top was not level.. had a slopey surface. The IR remotes were horrible and had poor reception.. Both remotes, including a third RCA universal remote I had bought would not hold the codes for my other equipment for more then a few weeks. The build quality on those IRDs and remotes were bad.

My Dish dual tuner 322 with radio controlled remotes gives me better PQ on two TV's, and the remotes themselfs are a hundred times better. I also prefer Dishes' software over DTV. I have a 811HD box on my third set with OTA HD on that.. It has a very good HD tuner. I like that receiver very much as well. Personally, I like Dish much more over DTV. I won't be going back to DTV. But like the other poster said.. you might want to wait to see how the new mpeg4 receivers perform. I think those receivers will be ok.. but may be a little buggy.. But Dish is pretty good about fixing bugs with firmwares. I think the new HD content will work fine since the channels will still be sent in mpeg 2 initially, with mpeg4 headers.

So in my experience, Dish is providing me with nicer looking and better built receivers.. They perform much better over the crummy RCA 435 RCA boxes I had. Charlie seems to be more active in his business and progressive in terms of introducing new technology and HD etc.. Murdoch with DTV does not seem to be as active like Charlie. I like the fact that Charlie has alot of interest in the future of Dish. If you like HD movies then definitely Dish has the edge with all the Voom stuff added in. Being a new sub.. you might get priority in being one of the first to aquire the new dish 1000 and vip622 dvr receiver.

 

[iceondsom]

Never being a D* subscriber, I cannot help you with a comparison to E*. However, since you stated that you are movie fan, I thought that I would mention that Charlie has invested over $100 million into developing VOOM and other HD programming to create truly compelling HD content. The best HD programming is still on the horizon and it will be on DISH Network.

 

[Barry Erick]

I switched about 2 years ago and the e* SD/HD/OTA pictures were all better. Cost was better at the time, too.

 

[mneitzel]

Just switch recently. Picture quailty is about the same. I was able to get a better deal and a dvr. Happy with it. Think they will be better in the long run as well.

 

[jmd102354]

Never being a D* subscriber, I cannot help you with a comparison to E*. However, since you stated that you are movie fan, I thought that I would mention that Charlie has invested over $100 million into developing VOOM and other HD programming to create truly compelling HD content. The best HD programming is still on the horizon and it will be on DISH Network.

Nice Try ! We know it's you Charlie...

 

[SimpleSimon]

Nice Try ! We know it's you Charlie...

LOL

 

[jmd102354]

LOL

 

[scooby2]

I will be calling on Wednesday to make the switch. Hopefully the 622 will be available.

 

[joedekock]

In my humble opinion... Right now I subscribe to D*. For HD content, I would rather have E*. I would not subscribe to the voom channels, don't get me wrong, they look fantastic, but the content on them is just not my taste. I do like the fact that E* has the same HD channels D* has, except they have TNTHD, (i'm a sports fan, so the more basketball I can get in HD, the better). However, once D* has my locals in HD, I will prefer their HD package over E*'s. I have a hard time pulling in all my locals via an antenna, so if I can watch evening programming in HD on the major networks, I will feel like I am getting triple out of my HD TV than what I get now. I know a lot of people on the D* boards are complaining that D* is adding only local channels right now, they don't care about national HD channels. I myself see the logic. If you look at the Nielson Media research ratings, the shows on the major networks, (CSI, Survivor, The Office, My Name is Earl, 24, the O.C., etc...), these are the shows that Majority of Americans watch... by a long shot.

All in all Competition is good, so right now majority of HD junkies feel that E* is better, but next year that tune will probably change, and we will see the E* boards full of complaints! (Maybe).

 

[gigapower]

I don't get why people dog the content on VOOM, I'd say it makes up a good quarter of our viewing time, I love Monsters HD and the wife loves Ultra HD.