Cancelling Dish.....how long does it take?

[JimP]

I'm planning on switching to DirectTV and would like to know what happens when I cancel Dish?

Do they do it immediately or does it continue until the end of the billing period? Then, what do you do about the DVR (722 in my case) and the thing out in the yard?

What I'm trying to avoid is starting up Directv and paying for several weeks of service when the coax has been switched to the Directv system.

 

[AZ.]

I had 2 accounts....The time I called is when it ended....Problem with me is they keep sending the boxes to the wrong address....So no worries, just cancel when you have direct all hooked up....so no lose and you will have credit or owe dish...canceling was the simple part...

 

[Hall]

Do they do it immediately or does it continue until the end of the billing period?

I'm pretty sure they cancel it when you want it cancelled. You can say "now" or pick a date in the future.

 

[Tampa8]

Agree, should end the day you call.

 

[maverick22]

If you don't mind me asking, why are you switching?

 

[JimP]

I would like to have the 5 independent tuners and the better picture quality that I've heard is available with Direct over Dish. If I understand the Hopper correctly, it doesn't offer the tuner options that the Genie has.
....and if the combination of OTA and Satellite tuners get me what I want, I could drop my Tivo Romeo with the 4 OTA tuners.

The only negative that I can think of is that my wife goes a little crazy programming stuff on the satellite DVR. She'll set up recordings and then never watch them. She hardly ever records things on my Tivo which is where I record 95% of my content. My concern is that she'll hog the Genie tuners and will prevent mine from recording. Last month I cancelled one of her repeat recording on the Dish 722 (she had 17 episodes of this one show) and still hasn't noticed that they're not recording nor has she viewed any of them and she's as happy as a clam. I suspect that I'll get the genie and have to keep the Tivo anyway.

 

[KAB]

I would like to have the 5 independent tuners and the better picture quality that I've heard is available with Direct over Dish. If I understand the Hopper correctly, it doesn't offer the tuner options that the Genie has.
....and if the combination of OTA and Satellite tuners get me what I want, I could drop my Tivo Romeo with the 4 OTA tuners.

The only negative that I can think of is that my wife goes a little crazy programming stuff on the satellite DVR. She'll set up recordings and then never watch them. She hardly ever records things on my Tivo which is where I record 95% of my content. My concern is that she'll hog the Genie tuners and will prevent mine from recording. Last month I cancelled one of her repeat recording on the Dish 722 (she had 17 episodes of this one show) and still hasn't noticed that they're not recording nor has she viewed any of them and she's as happy as a clam. I suspect that I'll get the genie and have to keep the Tivo anyway.

You are aware you would have 5 independent sat tuners plus one OTA with a Hopper and Super Joey?

 

[Hall]

If you don't mind me asking, why are you switching?

He thinks Directv's picture quality is better....

 

[JimP]

He thinks Directv's picture quality is better....

Is it not?

 

[JimP]

You are aware you would have 5 independent sat tuners plus one OTA with a Hopper and Super Joey?

I thought with the Hopper the tuner number count was overstated since during prime time several are being used to that function which would not leave you but one or two for other content.

 

[sam_gordon]

Is it not?

It depends on who you ask. Some say Dish is better, some say Direct.

My suggestion would be find a local retailer who markets both and go into their showroom. Dial in your favorite channel (or better yet, a couple of them) and look at the output of the boxes on the same TV (preferably on a comparable input HDMI vs HDMI or Component vs. Component). I would NOT take just someone say "Direct has better quality". I want to see it myself.

Look on both HD and SD channels.

 

[dwarren2]

Picture quality with the Hopper is excellent. Do you have any recordings saved on your 722? If you cancel, they are toast and you can never access them again. With the Hopper you can transfer all the recordings on the 722 to an external HD and then watch them on the Hopper. The Hopper supports 2 ehd's at a time. And it will support a 3tb ehd. I just hooked one up.
How much Prime time TV do you watch. How many TV's do you have?
You can record all 4 major networks using 1 tuner on a Hopper. That leaves 4 for sat use with a SJ and an additional ota tuner with the ota dongle.

 

[JimP]

It depends on who you ask. Some say Dish is better, some say Direct.

My suggestion would be find a local retailer who markets both and go into their showroom. Dial in your favorite channel (or better yet, a couple of them) and look at the output of the boxes on the same TV (preferably on a comparable input HDMI vs HDMI or Component vs. Component). I would NOT take just someone say "Direct has better quality". I want to see it myself.

Look on both HD and SD channels.

Only problem is that there are no local dealers that sell both.

It sounds like your had an experience that would indicate otherwise. If so, could you elaborate?

 

[thomasjk]

I thought with the Hopper the tuner number count was overstated since during prime time several are being used to that function which would not leave you but one or two for other content.

PTAT uses 1 tuner while recording all 4 major networks. That leaves 2 tuners for other purposes. Adding a Super Joey gives another 2 tuners for a total of 5.

 

[sam_gordon]

I have never seen the two side by side. But I have seen plenty of people (mainly on this site) say "Direct is better" then someone answers "Dish is better". However, it may come down to the channel (does one bit starve FXX to give ESPN more bandwidth and the other bit starves MTV to give USA more bandwidth?).

Also "better" is relative. I might look at two images and see a difference between them while you don't (or the other way around). Assuming you can't tell the difference, does it really matter which is "better"?

I know this doesn't really help you make a decision, but I feel you should know if you switch simply because someone tells you "the grass is greener", you may be disappointed (not necessarily in the product, but the hassle of installation, learning new systems, etc). None of that is really a big deal, but just want to throw it out there.

 

[lparsons21]

I thought with the Hopper the tuner number count was overstated since during prime time several are being used to that function which would not leave you but one or two for other content.

If you get a Hopper, it has 3 tuners built in to it. Then add a Super Joey for the 2nd TV and that gives 2 more tuners. And all 5 tuners appear unified and are managed everywhere exactly the same.

And the PrimeTime stuff uses one tuner to record your HD locals (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) which leaves the other 2 or 4 tuners available. IOW, if you had a Genie and recorded the 4 locals you'd only have one tuner available.

The video on DirecTV is very slightly better than Dish's, but not enough to make it a big part of the decision process imo.

One advantage DirecTV brings is that you can use a Genie with other of their HD DVRs but there is an upfront charge to add them to the order. I think it is $199 but it may be higher. It essentially gives you more available tuners, but not ones that can be centrally controlled. IOW, you go to the DVR you want to make the recording on. The playlist of recordings is shared though.

Hope that helps.

 

[JimP]

Picture quality with the Hopper is excellent. Do you have any recordings saved on your 722? If you cancel, they are toast and you can never access them again. With the Hopper you can transfer all the recordings on the 722 to an external HD and then watch them on the Hopper. The Hopper supports 2 ehd's at a time. And it will support a 3tb ehd. I just hooked one up.
How much Prime time TV do you watch. How many TV's do you have?
You can record all 4 major networks using 1 tuner on a Hopper. That leaves 4 for sat use with a SJ and an additional ota tuner with the ota dongle.

Sounds like I've got my facts wrong. Thanks for the redirect.

I've got 3 TVs...two we watch and a third thats pretty much a decoration.

I watch a lot of prime time.

I wouldn't mind loosing the recordings on the 722.

Would you think that the satellite recordings of prime time would be as good as recording off of OTA. Seems that there would have to be more compression given band width limitation with satellite.

 

[thomasjk]

One OTA module per Hopper. With PTAT you also get Autohop, although recent contracts are delaying when autohop is applied.

 

[sam_gordon]

Would you think that the satellite recordings of prime time would be as good as recording off of OTA. Seems that there would have to be more compression given band width limitation with satellite.

I GUARANTEE you there is more compression watching your locals over satellite via OTA. However, will you notice that difference? If not, then record from the satellite (more compression = less hard drive space).

Does the Hopper allow for an OTA antenna? And if so, does/can it use that antenna to record instead of satellite?

 

[JM42]

I thought with the Hopper the tuner number count was overstated since during prime time several are being used to that function which would not leave you but one or two for other content.

Hopper has three tuners. A Super Joey adds two more.

If you enable PTAT, then one tuner is dedicated to the Big4 nets during prime time.

You do not have to enable PTAT though, it is optional.

Even if PTAT is not enabled, the big four will still share a tuner when/if you are watching/recording one of them. With a Super Joey, at anytime of day you can record five non-Big4 channels or four non-Big4 + the Big4 (+ OTA).

You'd also have the option of two Hoppers. Let your wife record all her stuff on one and keep one to yourself.

As for PQ, I might still give a little edge to Directv, but it's a minor difference.

I MUCH using the Hopper over using a Genie, but that is largely subjective.