Best(i.e. cheapest) way to have 6 TV DVR service now?

[billybgame]

I had Dish for years. Finally bailed due to their excessive extra box fees(722s, I think). But, I hate Charter(already knew I did and would), more.

I know that even though they had the glorious Hopper, years ago, when I set up service at our new house, I opted for regular receivers. I have 6 rooms that need cable. Maybe not necessarily 6 rooms that need DVRs. Maybe only 3. But, sure seemed to me the 722's was the cheapest way to go. Until they jacked up the extra box fees, that is, and made me flee.

So, now pondering what to do. Even thinking about pulling the cable plug. But, I'm a sports nut, so that is very difficult for me to do.

From what I can see, we'd need 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys...not even sure if that's correct. Sounds expensive!

Advice anyone?

I recall not giving a hoot about recording 8 shows at a time, blah, blah, blah. I guess it has some ok features. I'm more about reasonably having cable TV on 6 TVs and DVRs on some of them. That's what's important to us.

 

[Scherrman]

I had Dish for years. Finally bailed due to their excessive extra box fees(722s, I think). But, I hate Charter(already knew I did and would), more.

I know that even though they had the glorious Hopper, years ago, when I set up service at our new house, I opted for regular receivers. I have 6 rooms that need cable. Maybe not necessarily 6 rooms that need DVRs. Maybe only 3. But, sure seemed to me the 722's was the cheapest way to go. Until they jacked up the extra box fees, that is, and made me flee.

So, now pondering what to do. Even thinking about pulling the cable plug. But, I'm a sports nut, so that is very difficult for me to do.

From what I can see, we'd need 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys...not even sure if that's correct. Sounds expensive!

Advice anyone?

I recall not giving a hoot about recording 8 shows at a time, blah, blah, blah. I guess it has some ok features. I'm more about reasonably having cable TV on 6 TVs and DVRs on some of them. That's what's important to us.

Get a 722 and some 211 receivers and mirror any extra rooms you need. The best setup would be a 722 and 222 with mirrored TVs but I believe you have to purchase the 222 as your second receiver. Dish doesn't allow you to lease a 222 as a secondary receiver anymore, I may have to double check that.

 

[Bob Haller]

go with cable and hold your nose Tivo offers 6 tuner DVR boxes I use cable card with my tivos.

cable cards on comcast only cost 3 bucks a month

Dish made themselves no longer affordable

 

[ChadT41]

Wait a couple days, and get an H3($15DVR service fee) and 5 Joeys(5x$7=$35) totalling $50 in receiver and DVR fees

 

[Tampa8]

When you left DISH, what did you go to, why do you want to leave them now?

You were not happy with DISH then, even though they were still the least expensive, you won't be now either when they still can be the least expensive. Nothing has changed, other than like everyone it is more expensive now than then. Charlie is still in charge, you didn't like him then you won't now. Why even consider DISH? Get Directv (Higher fees, no Charlie) or Cable (Much higher fees, no Charlie) or as mentioned get TIVO's with a cable subscription and cable card. That would be less Cable fees, but of course fees for each TIVO, and/or hundreds in lifetime fees.

 

[Bob Haller]

When you left DISH, what did you go to, why do you want to leave them now?

You were not happy with DISH then, even though they were still the least expensive, you won't be now either when they still can be the least expensive. Nothing has changed, other than like everyone it is more expensive now than then. Charlie is still in charge, you didn't like him then you won't now. Why even consider DISH? Get Directv (Higher fees, no Charlie) or Cable (Much higher fees, no Charlie) or as mentioned get TIVO's with a cable subscription and cable card. That would be less Cable fees, but of course fees for each TIVO, and/or hundreds in lifetime fees.

if this post was about me, my extra receiver fees went from 5 or 7 bucks to 17 each... any company that jacks up rates like that overnight cear they dont want me as a customer.

i saved huge bucks going with comcast cable cards, 3 bucks each and used lifetime tivos, bought here from the classfied area.... plus i saved on the internet, phone tv triple play bundle.....

te best part about tivo, rock stable dvr functions. no rebooting necessary/

i was always a good dish sub, my extra receivers plugged into a phone line at all times, bought all my own receivers, installed my own system and troubleshooted everything myself

 

[Bobby]

if this post was about me, my extra receiver fees went from 5 or 7 bucks to 17 each... any company that jacks up rates like that overnight cear they dont want me as a customer.

i saved huge bucks going with comcast cable cards, 3 bucks each and used lifetime tivos, bought here from the classfied area.... plus i saved on the internet, phone tv triple play bundle.....

te best part about tivo, rock stable dvr functions. no rebooting necessary/

i was always a good dish sub, my extra receivers plugged into a phone line at all times, bought all my own receivers, installed my own system and troubleshooted everything myself

What part of "why do you want to leave them now" don't you understand? You damned sure don't want to go back to Dish, you've make that abundantly clear over years of tirades. The question wasn't directed at you! Face it, You are not the center of the world!

 

[JTBenson]

Is there actually a cheap way to have 6 DVR's? If there is, I haven't found one. If you want to go cheap, drop cable and go with Sling, Netflix, Hulu, CBS All Access, HBO Now, etc. You won't get cheap with cable or dish.

Best would be to wait until the Hopper 3 is out and get that with 5 Joey's.

 

[mdavej]

Another vote for TiVo here. I've got one 4 tuner DVR serving 6 TVs for a grand total of $2/month in DVR and equipment fees. 6 tuners would also be $2, 12 tuners $4, etc.

 

[Claude Greiner]

TiVo

 

[Tampa8]

if this post was about me, my extra receiver fees went from 5 or 7 bucks to 17 each... any company that jacks up rates like that overnight cear they dont want me as a customer.

i saved huge bucks going with comcast cable cards, 3 bucks each and used lifetime tivos, bought here from the classfied area.... plus i saved on the internet, phone tv triple play bundle.....

te best part about tivo, rock stable dvr functions. no rebooting necessary/

i was always a good dish sub, my extra receivers plugged into a phone line at all times, bought all my own receivers, installed my own system and troubleshooted everything myself

I'm posting to the OP not you.

 

[dare2be]

Yep, government mandated cablecard is the cheapest way to go.

 

[Yespage]

Is there actually a cheap way to have 6 DVR's? If there is, I haven't found one. If you want to go cheap, drop cable and go with Sling, Netflix, Hulu, CBS All Access, HBO Now, etc. You won't get cheap with cable or dish.

Best would be to wait until the Hopper 3 is out and get that with 5 Joey's.

Agreed. I want to have six independent signals for cable/sat. What is the "cheapest" way I can go? To begin, prioritize about what televisions actually need an independent hookup and reduce the number down from 6.

 

[mdavej]

I got you 36 tuners for $12, and that's still not cheap enough? Are you running a hotel?

 

[Bob Haller]

tivo is awesome, and used lifetime tivos are pretty common and affordable

 

[billybgame]

Thanks for all the replies. I tried to select email notification of replies, but didn't get any.....didn't think I had any replies yet! Just checked and yowza.

Anyhow, Tampa 8......as I stated in my initial post, I finally got fed up due to the huge increase in extra box fees. Just like Bob Haller....my two extra boxes started costing me $34 more a month. Outrageous.

I went with Charter.....after taking a big gulp. Their offer seemed cheaper, but their own extra box fees and all the other add-on fees, make it virtually no cheaper. $170 a month for cable and internet is not what I have in mind. I don't care if it's 2016!

ChadT41....I had yet to hear info about the new Hopper....so that allows more rooms now? That's still a lot....with the 200 plan....like $115....but, as I stated in the original post, I may decide not to have DVRs in all rooms....would be nice to have at least cable, but I realize that may not be possible anymore.

However, I will look into TIVO also. That sounds interesting, at the least.

 

[mdavej]

All those Charter fees go away with Tivo. That's the whole point of it. I'm paying $115 for Charter internet/TV/phone with a mid-tier channel package (like AT250), including HBO/SHO/MAX. That's far cheaper than any comparable satellite package. Plus Charter has about 50% more HD channels than satellite.

 

[billybgame]

Not sure how you quote here now.....mdavej.....I'd love to hear more about how you do that...what exact TIVO equipment....can you PM me?

I do also know I read where you can have issues, with the cable techs, as they won't know anything about the cards.

 

[mdavej]

Just watch for deals. I currently have a $300 4-tuner Roamio with lifetime and several Minis at $69 each from Woot (that deal comes and goes). You can't get the Roamio deal I got anymore, but you can buy used for about $100 more. You can also use an OTA Roamio and add your own cable card bracket to it. Those are $300 on Amazon from time to time (not at the moment).

If you don't get lifetime, best deal these days is a new Bolt for around $250, first year of service free, $150/yr (works out to $12.50/mo) thereafter.

The beauty of the Minis is they're always subscription free. That saves you $7 a pop over a Charter box. Each pays for itself in 10 months.

Additional things I bought were a couple of Moca adapters, QWERTY remotes and a bigger hard drive.

When you get tired of Charter, resale value on lifetime Tivos is excellent. You'll probably get back what you paid and then some, making them essentially free.

As for the cards, that's a total crap shoot. Goes really smooth sometimes, is a nightmare other times. I've probably activated cards a dozen times over the years and my experience has been all over the map. Just take solace in the fact that it will all eventually work out once you get the right person on the other end of the phone.

 

[billybgame]

Ok...I'll keep that all in mind. I did a quick Ebay check.....will see what those Roamios are going for. And Minis too....so with your setup, you don't need cards?

Seemed cable tv used to be so simple