I've been with Dish since 2003. Since FIOS is now available in my condo complex, I decided to sign up for the 20/5 internet package and also figured I would sign up for the TV service for their 15 day free trial. And after watching FIOS for a while last night, I think I'll be keeping it and canceling Dish Network.
I got a package deal that consists of the 20/5 internet service and the Extreme HD television package for a bundle price of $79.99. That price is good for two years and my understanding is that after the two year period you either pay full price of $57.99 for the 20/5 internet service and another $57.99 for Extreme HD -- OR you sign a new contract and get another promotional bundle price.
The only other cost I have is $15.99 for their DVR (kinda steep) as I only have one TV connected.
Here are some pros and cons for FIOS that I've seen so far for anyone that may be thinking of switching:
FIOS PROS:
1. Price. For the next two years, I'm paying $37.99 for TV service including DVR fee. After that, I'm either paying $73.98 for TV service including DVR fee or signing a new contract to get a lower price. With Dish, I was paying $45.98 for HD Absolute, locals, DVR and Dish CD. Which brings me to #2....
2. Channel selection. The FIOS Extreme HD bundle gives you EVERY non-premium channel that they carry in both SD and HD (like 250+ channels). After filtering out all the junk I immediately knew I didn't want to see (shopping, religion, etc.) and all the SD/HD duplicates, there are still more than 175 channels in my guide! Many more channels than I had with my HD Absolute package, and at a cheaper cost for the next two years. And for everyone that is going to say "But I don't watch SD"....
3. Picture quality. FIOS picture quality is stunning. SD channels are actually very watchable on my 42" plasma and in many cases appear to be almost DVD quality. Looking at FIOS SD, it's amazing to see how much Dish is compressing their SD content. HD is incredible... much better picture quality than Dish. Last night, I was watching the same program on both Dish and FIOS and switching back and forth between them. FIOS won the "does it look better" contest every time.
4. The ability to have SD programming sent to my TV in it's native 480i format instead of being upconverted by the DVR box to 1080i.
FIOS CONS:
1. The DVR. It only has a 160gb hard drive and only records 20 hours of HD programming. I could solve this with a TIVO if I needed to.
2. The guide on the DVR. No where near as nice as Dish's guide and you only see 90 minutes into the future.
3. No map downs of channels. This means, to watch CBS in HD, I need to tune to channel 502 on FIOS instead of channel 2 on Dish.
4. Some menu options are difficult to find in the FIOS DVR. It took me about 45 minutes and a phone call to support to figure out how to keep my FIOS favorites list as the default guide listing and how to have that favorites list as the list of channels that get seen when you do a channel up / down.
5. Instead of using favorites, I'd prefer to lock out channels so I see new channels as they are added. But I haven't yet figured out how to prevent locked out channels from appearing in the guide or from being chose with the channel up/down button on the remote control. There may be a way, but I'm not sure how to do it.
I got a package deal that consists of the 20/5 internet service and the Extreme HD television package for a bundle price of $79.99. That price is good for two years and my understanding is that after the two year period you either pay full price of $57.99 for the 20/5 internet service and another $57.99 for Extreme HD -- OR you sign a new contract and get another promotional bundle price.
The only other cost I have is $15.99 for their DVR (kinda steep) as I only have one TV connected.
Here are some pros and cons for FIOS that I've seen so far for anyone that may be thinking of switching:
FIOS PROS:
1. Price. For the next two years, I'm paying $37.99 for TV service including DVR fee. After that, I'm either paying $73.98 for TV service including DVR fee or signing a new contract to get a lower price. With Dish, I was paying $45.98 for HD Absolute, locals, DVR and Dish CD. Which brings me to #2....
2. Channel selection. The FIOS Extreme HD bundle gives you EVERY non-premium channel that they carry in both SD and HD (like 250+ channels). After filtering out all the junk I immediately knew I didn't want to see (shopping, religion, etc.) and all the SD/HD duplicates, there are still more than 175 channels in my guide! Many more channels than I had with my HD Absolute package, and at a cheaper cost for the next two years. And for everyone that is going to say "But I don't watch SD"....
3. Picture quality. FIOS picture quality is stunning. SD channels are actually very watchable on my 42" plasma and in many cases appear to be almost DVD quality. Looking at FIOS SD, it's amazing to see how much Dish is compressing their SD content. HD is incredible... much better picture quality than Dish. Last night, I was watching the same program on both Dish and FIOS and switching back and forth between them. FIOS won the "does it look better" contest every time.
4. The ability to have SD programming sent to my TV in it's native 480i format instead of being upconverted by the DVR box to 1080i.
FIOS CONS:
1. The DVR. It only has a 160gb hard drive and only records 20 hours of HD programming. I could solve this with a TIVO if I needed to.
2. The guide on the DVR. No where near as nice as Dish's guide and you only see 90 minutes into the future.
3. No map downs of channels. This means, to watch CBS in HD, I need to tune to channel 502 on FIOS instead of channel 2 on Dish.
4. Some menu options are difficult to find in the FIOS DVR. It took me about 45 minutes and a phone call to support to figure out how to keep my FIOS favorites list as the default guide listing and how to have that favorites list as the list of channels that get seen when you do a channel up / down.
5. Instead of using favorites, I'd prefer to lock out channels so I see new channels as they are added. But I haven't yet figured out how to prevent locked out channels from appearing in the guide or from being chose with the channel up/down button on the remote control. There may be a way, but I'm not sure how to do it.
