Dish HD vs HD DVD: price and quality comparison

[chewbacca]

So i just hooked up Dish last week, finally swayed from cable by the free VIP722 and the ability to hook up an external hard drive.

I love HD...love it...but am not made of money. So I want to get the most for my cash--probably like most of you. Around Thanksgiving I'm guessing I'll be able to get an HD DVD player (with around 8 movies thrown in) for $200. For that same $200 around Thanksgiving I could likely instead get 2 500GB external drives.

So, for my $200 investment I could get:
1) An HD DVD player with 8 movies, and the ability to rent and buy as many as i want for extra $$
2) Enough hard drive space to archive around 40-45 HD movies from Dish for NO extra $$

It seems like, at least price-wise, the Dish-designated hard drives is the way to go.
But what about the quality difference?

Could some people who have both Dish HD and an HD DVD player please let me know what the quality difference is between the two over HDMI?

If HD DVD is much better, than that might make a difference in my decision.

Thanks everyone!

 

[cebbigh]

There isn't an easy answer to this. And there are some unanswered variables like what programing you are getting from Dish. I'd suggest wait and see how things look around the Thanksgiving time frame regarding your satisfaction with the Dish programming you are subscribing to.

The PQ on dish is quite good. Of course it is not on a par with HD-DVD (or BluRay). When I purchased my HD-DVD player I thought Netflix would become my main movie source. That hasn't happened. To date there just aren't enough HD-DVD movies available. That might change. But don't count on having as many software choices in HD-DVD as you have on DVD. And while the HD-DVD players do a very good job on SD DVD upconversion, it's still a step down compared to HD over Dish (if you subscribe to and don't mind waiting for the premium channels).

 

[KAB]

So, for my $200 investment I could get:
1) An HD DVD player with 8 movies, and the ability to rent and buy as many as i want for extra $$
2) Enough hard drive space to archive around 40-45 HD movies from Dish for NO extra $$

A single 500GB drive for $100.00 or less (by Thanksgiving) will give you about 80 hrs of HD content, your #2.

 

[120inna55]

Speaking only to picture quality, and as cebbigh stated, DISH doesn't even come close to that of HD DVD.

That's not to say that DISH HD is bad. It's just no where near the quality of HD DVD. For instance, for years I enjoyed DVD (SD), and I couldn't imagine how the picture quality could improve. Then I got DISH HD. I was blown away. Suddenly all those DVD's seemed to look like crap to me. A similar experience occurred when I got HD DVD. Now DISH HD doesn't "look like crap", but it is a far cry from HD DVD.

That said, if HD DVD doesn't offer the movies you want to see, then what good is the picture quality?

Speaking to the two media as a whole, however, it's not a fair comparison. HD DVD has many interactive features and general "cool stuff" that's not available with DBS-provided HD (archived or otherwise). I rarely watched "extra features" on DVD's, but with HD DVD the features are so interactive and intuitive I find that I watch them more.

None of the aforementioned arguments address the longevity of the media. No one really knows how long HD DVD will be available. For me, the price was right. If HD DVD only survives for 1 year, I feel I'll have gotten my money's worth.

 

[primetimeguy]

I agree, HD DVD is much better than Dish HD. If I have a choice I'll rent the HD DVD vs renting Dish PPV. You don't have to worry about compression artifacts and bit starving on HD DVD, and you get better audio.

 

[yardline]

I broke this down further in this post. Check it out.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd-discussions/101388-analyzing-hd-movie-watching-option-long-term.html

 

[kennya]

I would wait until the format war is over. I have read a lot of articles that sound like Blu-Ray might win this war. I want an HD or Blu-Ray dvd player, but I want to wait to see who comes out on top.

 

[KAB]

I would wait until the format war is over. I have read a lot of articles that sound like Blu-Ray might win this war. I want an HD or Blu-Ray dvd player, but I want to wait to see who comes out on top.

With Paramount/Dreamwork's defection to HD-DVD, the playing field is about even right now. And I expect Blockbuster to back off it's Blu-Ray only stance soon.

 

[yardline]

I say when a dual format player get's under $200, I'll jump in. Until then, I'll just watch Dish HD.

 

[adavis720]

I say when a dual format player get's under $200, I'll jump in. Until then, I'll just watch Dish HD.

I would even go to $500 for a dual format, if it also does DVD-A and SACD.

 

[Dirtydan]

120inna55 just about says it all. I have all the Dish programming, external HDD,622,soon to be 722, I use Netflix. Having said that, I would like to cut back on something but I need HBO and Showtime not for movies,etc, but for boxing, so maybe in the future I will drop Netflix, but this would be a hard move for me to take. Imho HD Dvd player is worth the cost just for Sd upconversion.

 

[navychop]

I would wait until the format war is over. I have read a lot of articles that sound like Blu-Ray might win this war. I want an HD or Blu-Ray dvd player, but I want to wait to see who comes out on top.

I agree with Kab, at least about the two formats being close to even now. Based on your time line, it's too early to decide. Later in the year, it may become clear about both formats remaining competitive (or both declining). And external hard drives will be cheaper.

One thing for sure- you'll get use for sure out of the external hard drive. It looks like I'll get at least 80 hours on my 500, really a lot more since a lot is still SD. That drive will certainly be useful to you for years to come. A high def disc player is still a bit of a risk- but only a $200 one, plus discs. A year from now, the format war/competition might be clearer- and will certainly be cheaper. That $500 dual format player might be the norm, then.

 

[jayn_j]

I would even go to $500 for a dual format, if it also does DVD-A and SACD.

dream on. SACD/DVD-A are the poster child as to why you don't want a format war. Dead, dead, dead.

 

[cebbigh]

Check this out:

HDTV Info Europe - Venturer SHD7000 cheap HD DVD player

This is going to be available for the Christmas season.

 

[bigdog5142]

Well, here's my $.02. I have a Dish VIP622 and just got my HD channels back today. LOVE my HD channels. I have an Xbox 360 with the HD DVD add-on and got a PS3 for my birthday. As far as I'm concerned...that's the best way to get both formats. The ONLY dual-format player on the market is a LG player that retails for just over $1000. I ended up paying about $800 for both systems and I have two separate video game systems as well! (I'm not made of money either, I wanted to get the most bang for the buck.) I decided to go with Blockbuster's online program where you get them to send you the movie (like Netflix) and then you can return the movie to your local Blockbuster store and you get a free rental while you wait for the next movie on your list to show up in your box. My local Blockbuster now carries Blu-Ray discs and the online service has just about every Blu-Ray AND HD DVD that is out available for rent. There is a wait sometimes, but I hardly EVER get anything other than a HD DVD or Blu-Ray sent to me. I will sometimes rent a DVD at the local Blockbuster (for free, mind you) and my PS3 upconverts DVD's to HD signal. The only bummer is that they used to do a one-at-a-time mail service with unlimited rentals per month AND unlimited in-store exchanges for $9.99 per month...now that service has gone to $16.99 per month. I am keeping the $9.99 per month and I get two free in-store exchanges and then other rentals are only $1.99 after that...so it's still a TON cheaper. Also, I get one free movie rental/game rental coupon per month with my membership...all for $9.99. I have loved it. Just the game rental alone is a free $7.99 per month. So...that's been working GREAT for my family. Let me know what you decide...I have no idea who will win the format war...and I'm thinking of getting rid of my HD DVD player...but I recently heard that Universal Studios went with HD DVD exclusively...no more Blu-Ray production for them. All in all, I love dish and HD movies ROCK!

 

[KAB]

Check this out:

HDTV Info Europe - Venturer SHD7000 cheap HD DVD player

This is going to be available for the Christmas season.

That would work for me, but folks with 1080p sets probably won't go for it.

 

[bigdog5142]

Just understand...you CANNOT upconvert DVD's over a component cable...copyright infringement laws dictate over analog conversion. You can ONLY upconvert via a HDMI cable. My Xbox 360 would not upconvert because it does not have a HDMI cable. It is possible on a 360 via a RGB connection only, unless you get the newest 360 models which now come with a HDMI port. The software on the 360 and the PS3 can upconvert the DVD's to HD signal.

 

[nazz]

....and you can only benefit from the lossless audio through HDMI or analog connections. You cannot use it through an optical connection.

 

[berck]

...you CANNOT upconvert DVD's over a component cable...

There are some DVD players that will upconvert over component cable. Most won't, but they do exist.

Zenith model can do it, click on the additonal info link to view that it can.

 

[navychop]

...but I recently heard that Universal Studios went with HD DVD exclusively...no more Blu-Ray production for them.

Universal has always been HD DVD only. They were the only major studio to do so. It's Paramount that just switched from producing in both formats, to producing in HD DVD only.