phatbastard said:
I am going to make a service decision in the next few days, and they are not installing until my voom goes dark.... But for some reason this is a very hard decision for me ever since I have found this website and realized how much BS these 2 providers provide... Money is not a huge concern, but obviously I like a deal when i see one. I would like to probably rent a HD receiver if I can since the technology is changing so fast, so which one am i going to get the most HD programming with for now and maybe a year from now....and which one has the better image quality. I also heard from somewhere that even with a HD reciever and my locals broadcasting in HD that even D* nor E* will give me a HD signal for locals. Im just at a loss and dunno what to do. Anybody care to comment?
Both providers have said that in the future they'll be moving to MPEG4 for their HD content, but neither provider has a MPEG4 STB at this time. Unofficial comments about D* have said that they will replace any HD STB and dish you have now with a new MPEG4 box when needed for no or little charge and maybe a 1 year commitment. No rumor from E* on what their plans are for this. D* has said that with their four new satellites going up that they'll do 1500 local HD channels and 150 national HD channels between this year and 2007 (but no word on any new national HD channels anytime soon, just locals). E*'s said maybe one or two new channels but need to wait to MPEG4 before any large increase. E*'s also not really said what they're going to do with all the transponder space they've been leasing or purchasing (Rainbow-1).
As for your local HD channels, both E* and D* STB's have an ATSC receiver in it, so if you got your HD locals with your V* STB then you'll be able to get them with E* or D*. For D*, if your local ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX station is an owned and operated, and no other station can claim you with a grade A or B signal then D* would give you the NYC HD feed for that network.
Since your post says you're in Houston, D* has you as one of the first cities that could get the HD local major networks via the new Spaceway 1 satellite that's launching this month, estimates are sometime early 3rd quarter that they would start firing up the channels:
The first group of DMAs to receive local HD channels is: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Houston and Tampa. These markets represent nearly 36 million homes or 32.8 percent of all U.S. TV households. Additional markets to receive local HD programming this year will be announced at a later date. Today, DIRECTV offers local channels in standard definition in 130 markets, including these 12 markets.
Good luck with your decision.