Considering Dish Network

[milhouse]

I'm considering signing up for Dish Network after 5 months of rabbit ears on top of the TV. We've had Dish Network in the past before we moved and I had no problems. I was considering Voom, but it was missing some channels the wife wanted and now I've missed out on the free install deal. I've got an HD ready TV in the basement and a TV on the 1st floor I'd like to hook up. My main concern in HD locals. The Mrs. just wants more than the locals we get now. I went through the Dishnetwork website and it said I'd get an 811 and 510 and a second dish for locals.

Is there anything I need to be aware of or concerned about? I'm guessing I should/could order through dishstore.net?

Any input/comments appreciated.

 

[ShadowEKU]

I havent seen any HD local on dish or any plans to add them. that would be my concern. However D* is launching new sats dedicated to HDTV and Dish hasnt announced anything. Im not sure what I would think about getting HD right now. Its a matter of taste.

 

[milhouse]

I should have explained better. I meant OTA HD locals. I can get those with the 811 can't I?

 

[ShadowEKU]

Official Answer is YES. you may want to do some reading on the 811 forums before making a descision.

 

[Bama Mac]

I get all my local OTA digital channels via the 811 OTA tuner with a very reliable signal. I use an indoor antenna and am about 20 miles from the furthest tower.

 

[DarrellP]

If you want the SD channels, steer as far away from Dish as you can, SD will look nothing short of horrible on your HDTV, but if all you care about are the channels you can get then go for it. Dish is a good deal for the channels they deliver, but the PQ falls way short on a HD set. The SD channels will be blurry, fuzzy and faces will mush and lose definition with movement. If that's what you want from your program provider, then Dish is the one for you.

 

[rad]

I second the post on resarching the 811 so you know the issues. You also mentioned you had E* before, you might not get any deals since you're a returning customer. If you do go with E* I'd recommend getting something without a commitment since the 811 works great for some and is a POS for others and I don't think you'd enjoy looking at the 811 door stop for 12 months if it turns out to be a POS in your environment.

 

[SimpleSimon]

DarrellP may have had a bad experience. Strangely enough, wiith my 921 (and formerly my 501), I never had any of the problems he's talking about when viewing SD on my 60" HD RPTV.

That being said, some E* LiL channels aren't the best due to overcompression - but that's going to show up on any TV you have, more obvious on a big screen.

 

[korsjs]

You also have to remember that 9 out of 10 times, when someone posts they are interested in Dish Network, You will have someone that has direct tv or voom talking bad about Dish Network. Picture quality is about equal for Dish and Direct. I have had no problems with my HDTV looking washed out. Picture looks just as good as direct tv and better than cable (can only speak of cable in my area).

I have been thinking about switching to Direct Tv because of their announment of more HDTV, but then again, they have been saying that for months now.

I would compare the two (i would not consider voom) and see what programming price fits you best. Voom, in my opinion is on the way out or headed for a merger.

 

[DarrellP]

DarrellP may have had a bad experience. Strangely enough, wiith my 921 (and formerly my 501), I never had any of the problems he's talking about when viewing SD on my 60" HD RPTV.

That being said, some E* LiL channels aren't the best due to overcompression - but that's going to show up on any TV you have, more obvious on a big screen.

That's the difference, a 60" screen has almost 1/4 the display area of a projector, so the SD mess does not show up as well at that size, but when you blow it up, YUCK. Just imagine a 40 ASA film blown up poster size vs a 400 ASA film. Which one will look better?

 

[korsjs]

If you want the SD channels, steer as far away from Dish as you can, SD will look nothing short of horrible on your HDTV, but if all you care about are the channels you can get then go for it. Dish is a good deal for the channels they deliver, but the PQ falls way short on a HD set. The SD channels will be blurry, fuzzy and faces will mush and lose definition with movement. If that's what you want from your program provider, then Dish is the one for you.

I know your signature says you have a nine foot tv, but you should not have told someone the picture looks like crap when that is what you are watching on. People watching tv on a 9 foot tv in just my opinion is a very rare occurance. I believe both dishnetwork and direct tv will look just fine on a standard 50 - 65 HDTV.

That is why it is so hard to get an honest assesment when someone ask for an opinion. People will go from forum to forum bashing whatever they do not have. You have voom and are trying to convince this potential satellite buyer that dish network sd looks like crap. I admit both direct and dish do compress their signal, but like I said before, most likely, someone is not watching it on a 9 foot tv.

 

[Neutron]

Did they release a software upgrade for the 811 to display guide info for OTA HD channels? When I had DISH and it first came out it didn't display guide info. I have Directv now and the HTL-HD displays guide info for the OTA HD channels.

 

[milhouse]

You also have to remember that 9 out of 10 times, when someone posts they are interested in Dish Network, You will have someone that has direct tv or voom talking bad about Dish Network. Picture quality is about equal for Dish and Direct. I have had no problems with my HDTV looking washed out. Picture looks just as good as direct tv and better than cable (can only speak of cable in my area).

I have been thinking about switching to Direct Tv because of their announment of more HDTV, but then again, they have been saying that for months now.

I would compare the two (i would not consider voom) and see what programming price fits you best. Voom, in my opinion is on the way out or headed for a merger.

My main reason for looking at Dish is the price. The DirectTV website shows a couple hundred for HD boxes. Dish would be free.

 

[Neutron]

It's one of those where you get what you pay for kind of things. The Directv HD box has been rock solid. When I had the 811 it was so buggy that it was pissing off the wife.

Maybe since I had the 811 they've fixed some of those bugs.

I'm not trashing E* in anyway I'm just stating my experiences.

 

[rad]

Here's a recent post from another happy 811 user: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=28309.

As I said, the 811 is good for some, a POS for others, so don't get locked into a commitment in case you fall into the POS catagory.

 

[GaryPen]

Did they release a software upgrade for the 811 to display guide info for OTA HD channels? When I had DISH and it first came out it didn't display guide info. I have Directv now and the HTL-HD displays guide info for the OTA HD channels.

Sure. Rub it in, why dontcha!

My main reason for looking at Dish is the price. The DirectTV website shows a couple hundred for HD boxes. Dish would be free.

Have you heard the expression "You get what you pay for?"

 

[milhouse]

Thanks for the input fellas! Although, I don't feel any better about making a choice then I did when I started. All the nay-saying kept me from Voom, now I'm afraid of Dish... If I post a similar question in the Direct forum will I get similar comments?

By the 'you get what you pay for' theory should I go with Voom? It seems to be the most expensive now.

Again, thanks for the input. I do appreciate it. I need to do something soon. You gave me more to think about.

 

[rad]

If I post a similar question in the Direct forum will I get similar comments?

IMHO many folks will say that D* hardware is more stable. It may not have as many bells ans whistles as E*'s, like no RF remote, no called ID on screeen, no interactive games, but it works for it's intended purpose, watching TV. As Neutron mentioned, D*'s HD boxes have EPG for the OTA ATSC stations now, and has since 2001, E*'s still working on it.

The big issue with D* now is picture quality on the HD channels. With the start of NFL-ST they've had to try to fit 20lbs of sh*t into a 10lbs bag for all the HD NFL-ST channels and they've got three HD channels on a single transponder for HBO-HD, Showtime-HD and HDNet-Movies. Some folks are up in arms wanting to cancel D* while others say they see a minor degradation but not enought to cancel over while others don't see any problems. The biggest thing they have going for them is the HR10-250 HD Tivo, it works, even for over the air ATSC/HD vs. the 921 which even the most ardent backer says has OTA issues.

Hate to ask, have you looked into what your local cable company can do for you? Depending on your system they might have more HD then either D* or E* and a HD PVR that you can rent vs. dropping $1K on. Since you don't have to purchase anything you can give them a try and if they don't work out you can drop them. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[DarrellP]

I know your signature says you have a nine foot tv, but you should not have told someone the picture looks like crap when that is what you are watching on. People watching tv on a 9 foot tv in just my opinion is a very rare occurance. I believe both dishnetwork and direct tv will look just fine on a standard 50 - 65 HDTV.

That is why it is so hard to get an honest assesment when someone ask for an opinion. People will go from forum to forum bashing whatever they do not have. You have voom and are trying to convince this potential satellite buyer that dish network sd looks like crap. I admit both direct and dish do compress their signal, but like I said before, most likely, someone is not watching it on a 9 foot tv.

That's YOUR opinion, I was watching Dish on a 27" TV and dropped their SD programming because it looked so bad. Dish heavily compresses their SD programming and it does look like crap, on ANY TV. BTW, this guy ended up having a screen bigger than mine, so it was an honest opinion to him

 

[milhouse]

The downside of cable is less SD channels for about $20 more. Important ones like IFC. Plus I haven't researched OTA HD with cable, does it work the same way?

On the subject of SD picture quality-most of that would be watched on a 32". The 65" would be the HD. I don't want 'crap', but I'm not expecting perfection.