Are Dish's Voomer's happy?

[piperut]

To get something similar to the voom basic I need the top 180 package and the hd package and the voom hd...

$56 for the top 180 package, then $10 for the HD package then $5 for the Voom package. instead of $60 a month I am now at $70 a month. Not at all nice.

On top of that you have to pay $400 for a stb. Not what I want to be doing.
They need a better plan.

 

[mdonnelly]

To get something similar to the voom basic I need the top 180 package and the hd package and the voom hd...

$56 for the top 180 package, then $10 for the HD package then $5 for the Voom package. instead of $60 a month I am now at $70 a month. Not at all nice.

On top of that you have to pay $400 for a stb. Not what I want to be doing.
They need a better plan.

VOOM is the one that needed the better plan.

 

[Lucky]

I love the PQ of Dish. I am happy with the channels. The one thing I hate is that the 811 does not have native passthrough. I like my TV to do the stretching. It does a better job than the stretch of the 811. We need native passthrough and the box would be fine for me.

 

[rvsixer]

To get something similar to the voom basic I need the top 180 package and the hd package and the voom hd...

$56 for the top 180 package, then $10 for the HD package then $5 for the Voom package. instead of $60 a month I am now at $70 a month. Not at all nice.

On top of that you have to pay $400 for a stb. Not what I want to be doing.
They need a better plan.

More incorrect numbers. Why the insistence on using incorrect pricing, not comparing apples to apples, and not listening to the posters here trying to help you out .

You don't have to pay $400 for an STB. And the DISH top 180 package is $48/mnth not $56 (so you are back to $63/mnth).

My monthly cost is:
$5 (811 lease, why on earth buy a relatively soon to be obsolete receiver)
$38 (AT120 package)
$10 (HD pack)
$5 (Voom pack)

That makes $58 total per month. I have a little less HD content (and a LOT less repeats ), a lot more and better quality SD, for close to the same price ($3 difference per month).

 

[DucTape]

THX for clarifying that as it seemed Piperut's was using fuzzy math.

 

[rvsixer]

I love the PQ of Dish. I am happy with the channels. The one thing I hate is that the 811 does not have native passthrough. I like my TV to do the stretching. It does a better job than the stretch of the 811. We need native passthrough and the box would be fine for me.

Native passthrough would affect scaling, not stretching (I have no problems with letting my TV do 720p/1080i 4:3 to 16:9 stretching).

 

[rickaren]

Much happier with DISH than I thought I would be. Love the 942 DVR HD recorder. Still have DirecTV (plus their HD) and may drop or change my selection with them as I had planned with VOOM, when things shake-out. Can't believe that DirecTV never added TNTHD for the NBA playoffs. DISH has that, plus the 10 VOOM channels. Recording a lot of OTA HD programing. Enjoying what I have now. DISH is the HD leader but with four antennas on the roof (2 DISH, 1-DirecTV, 1-VOOM supplied OTA) it is a good thing that they are out-of-view. May be OK with FCC, but could be considered an eye-sore. YES I am very pleased with all the HD now available and recordable!

 

[shanewalker]

I am quite happy, though I, like others, greatly miss the other premium national HD channels. Not just the other V-21s. Especially UHD and StarzHD. What's the buzz on why E* won't/isn't carrying UHD?

 

[JH1949]

TO: roland

Sorry to hear that you have to buy your E* HD receiver. I was a former Voomer and went with an 811 lease.

Also, I watched very little SD. Only History, Discovery, Sci-Fi, USA, and CNN. These look better on E* than they did on Voom.

For me, the switch to E* with HD and Voom10 was a better choice and the other Voom channels are supposed to be added in the future.

IMO: if your only choice is to buy, then I would suggest you go Voomless for a year and wait for the new MP4 receivers to be de-bugged.

 

[MichaelG]

Native passthrough would affect scaling, not stretching (I have no problems with letting my TV do 720p/1080i 4:3 to 16:9 stretching).

Ah yes but the SVideo port on the 811 doesn't passthrough properly. On my Mits Diamond, the component inputs accept the native 16x9 signal properly to fill the whole screen. If I connect the SVideo output of the 811 to the Mits, the picture is formatted for 4:3 television by automatically adding the top and bottom bars. I can correct this by changing the scaling on the monitor.

This same issue occurs if the 811's SVideo out is connected to a DVD recorder. Since the recorder will accept the signal as is, it will record the video WITH THE BARS.

The SVideo output on the Voom STB did this properly and passed the signal unaltered. I could record 16x9 material in a native fashion, it was scaled properly and without bars.

You can change the SD output on the 811 with a 2 way toggle on the remote but the settings are only Normal and Zoom. It will not "stretch" the picture up and down to remove the bars and restore the 16x9 format.

Therefore in response to the original post.....am I happy?....well I am not unhappy but (to me) the 811 is not as capable as compared to the Voom Moto because of the SVideo passthrough issue. Oh yeah and the less than 48 hour PG is a little weak.

 

[Walter L.]

I'm definitely a happy camper with E* HD (inc. VOOM Pack). The only channel that I really miss (from the VOOM DBS days) is CinemaxHD. I don't care much about UniversalHD (did not watch it that much) and StarzHD (too many upconverts). Having HDNet + the 942 DVR makes up for all the loss by FAR.

 

[rvsixer]

Ah yes but the SVideo port on the 811 doesn't passthrough properly.

S-video? Oh yea that's that thingy out by the 8-track tape rack . I stand corrected, I was thinking 811 HD outputs only.

 

[dimi1963]

Not extremely happy but RAVE HD is great....

 

[wbuffetta]

I'm a very HAPPY E* Voomer. In fact I'm so happy I Unhooked From My 18X24 D* Tripple Lnb dish the 110 & 119 (Changed out the C Sat. Lnb for a proper Lnb from a dish I had laying around) & Hooked them up to a SW21X then Hooked it up to a SW21 with the 61.5
Voom dish.
Now I have Voom, Hd Pkg., HBOHD, ShoHD & All Local HD's on my Ebay Dish 811 & on Sat. 101 I Have all my SD Channels on D*(Still Have 5 Months Left on my Commitment)

 

[MichaelG]

S-video? Oh yea that's that thingy out by the 8-track tape rack . I stand corrected, I was thinking 811 HD outputs only.

Interesting enough though, in my testing with the 942 (which lacks an S-Video port), the composite output port passes video without any alteration.

Now, if E* can get the external USB drive option for the 942 operational.....that would be something.

And add TMC, MAX, STARZ, ENCORE in high def like Voom had.....

Sorry ...sorry.... I guess I still miss V*

(I think I still have a couple of boxes of 8-tracks around here somewhere)

 

[bookwalk]

I posted yesterday that the Dish HD channels, programming itself is ok, but Customer Service not so great--well, it is escalating to really, really NOT good at all. They messed up my install package and forgot to add the $19.99/mo for Top 180 (Dish Madness) Promo and so my first bill was over charged.

I have called 5 (FIVE) TIMES--inlcuding twice to the Local Dealer--the acknowledge there is a problem, have promised to correct my Package to the $19.99 promo ANd credit my first bill for $24.

HOWEVER, as of yesterday (I started calling about this on May 9, the first day I was able to see my bill online), there is NO RECORD of my package being corrected to the $19.99 promo OR the $24 discount.

I was transferred to "Dish Executive Offices" and given the name and phone number of a "person" who was going to email the "Promotions Management Department" and I will find out tomorrow what has happened.

In the meantime, I am sure a second bill will be generated with the incorrect charges.

I have not paid my first bill yet and lean toward paying only what is due (the original bill minus the $24 credit--which WAS to be posted to the 2nd bill), BUT I will be charged a $5 late fee, I am sure.

Any suggestions?

This is what I had heard about Dish and it certianly is a nightmare for a newbie and I really hate Dish at this moment for all the trouble I have had to go through to get this corrected.

It seems the first 4 or 5 Billing CSR's I talked to out and out lied to me and did not make any changes or notations about the changes that needed to be made. I made anote of their names and ID numbers, but that didn't seem to make any impression on subsequent BIllin CSRs.

Again, any tips on handling this?

 

[rvsixer]

Again, any tips on handling this?

ceo@echostar.com

 

[swade]

It is better than no Voom, but I miss Cinema10, two HD feeds of HBO, SHO, STARZ and CINEMAX as well as TMC and UniversalHD. Technology wise the PQ is great, sound quality is good we were just spoiled with a lot more HD channels than Dish has. But right now, Dish is the best HD game in town. Mainly though I miss this the Cinema 10 and Cinemax HD channels. Otherwise I am a happy camper.

Ditto for me. My only saving grace is the DVR 924. Still because I'm a network HD junky that drive is too small. I miss not having more premiums and I liked to occationally watch the old TV programs on Universal HD. Heck I even liked the Wealth HD channel.

 

[bobhaze]

Basically happy that some of the Voom channels are still available, and reasonably happy with the HD content. I'll be happier when the rest of the Voom channels are available. And maybe UHD.
I don't like the way E* packages the SD. I have to spring for the Top 180 package to get the few things I want, but this comes with about 120 channels that I'd rather not be paying for, and that just get in the way cluttering up the program guide and sucking money. I read about one of the Canadian services that breaks things up on packs like Sports pack, family pack etc. that would suit me a lot better. For my viewing the Voom lineup was OK the way it was, I wasn't one of those that kept wanting more and more channels. If it wasn't for wanting Speed Channel to follow F-1, and needing the block of kids channels to maintain peace, I'd be just as happy with HD only plus OTA and Netflix.
The second thing I'm dissatisfied with is customer service. In a word, it sucks! The wait time for technical support is ludicrous, I've never had a wait less than 10 minutes and it's been as long as 1/2 hour. To their credit once you get through at least the technical people seem to care. Of course if the darn replacement smartcards were right in the first place this could have been avoided. The rest of the time the attitude is: "you suck Mr. Customer, and you should be lucky we agreed to take your call". Maybe they're punishing me for defecting to Voom after three years with them, but they're reminding my why I was happy to defect. It took three transfers just to get one of my old Dish 500 receivers upgraded to an 811 lease so I could order the HD pack. One would think they would try to make it easy to give them an extra $15/month, not make you have to jump through hoops. I wasn't about to shell out $400 for the thing if its going to be obsolete when MPEG-4 comes in. You have to work at anything you get E*. It's like buying from "honest" John's used cars. They should play "Ain't to Proud to Beg" continuously on hold just to get you in the mood.
And despite Voom's flaws, the box was still better than the 811. The menu system was superior, with a brief description of the highlighted selection available without having to press the info button. And the guide data was correctly populated for OTA and the subchannels. The 811 gets some, but too many stations just say Local Program. Duh, I know that already, how about some data.
On the other hand, they have more HD content than D*, they gave the Voom Originals a second chance, and my local cable company is useless so I don't have a lot of choice.

Bob

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

The Voom HD and in general, Dish's HD quality is superb, I also get Sho and HBO HD, the other available movie channels in HD would sure help.

Also get CBS, NBC and ABC OTA HD, and CBS HD off 61.5.

Warm weather is here so not much time to watch TV.