Equipment needs....switching from Dish

[Likesspace]

Hi guys..

I am strongly considering making the switch from Dish to Directv but I'm having a lot of problems figuring out what equipment I will need.

Here is my current setup:

Living Room: VIP 622 HD DVR which controls our t.v. in the living room and also a smaller t.v. in my home gym. My wife or kids can watch one thing on the living room t.v. while I can watch something different in the gym.

Kids bedroom: Dish SD DVR (don't remember the numbers).
The receiver is located in one daughter's room and other daughter can watch her own programs in her room. Basically it is the same setup as above but on a SD DVR.

From what I've read, the HR24 has some pretty cool features that I'd like to have yet I also have to keep this same basic setup or I will get ran out of our house. Everyone wants to be able to watch their own programs and also record their own programs like we can do now.

I hope I've made myself clear and I hope some of you can give me some advice here. I'm ready to make the call to Directv as soon as I know WHAT I need to ask for.

Thanks in advance.

Dave

 

[mdram]

LR hr24
gym h24

kids bedroom hr24 and h24 share the recordings

 

[Likesspace]

mdram,
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately, that sounds like it's going to get expensive, making the switch.
I'm not sure I'll be able to talk the wife into spending a lot to make the switch even though I'm fed up with Dish.

Thanks again.
Dave

 

[RandallA]

You could go with a Standard receiver in the gym which is free and 2 H24s in the kids bedrooms. They could view recorded programs from the HR24. The only problem would be, how many shows the family actually records. If the family does a lot of recording, then another HR24 would be needed.

 

[mdram]

mdram,
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately, that sounds like it's going to get expensive, making the switch.
I'm not sure I'll be able to talk the wife into spending a lot to make the switch even though I'm fed up with Dish.

Thanks again.
Dave

you may be able to work a deal
ask for 1 hr24, 1 h24
whole home dvr
2xsd
and get upgraded

someone with more knowledge would have to answer
but it whould be @ 300 for what i originally said

 

[raoul5788]

You aren't guaranteed the H/HR24 through Directv. From what I have read, virtually all MVR installs get them, so if you include it in the order, you should get them. An additional hd dvr can sometimes be had for $100. Why not call and ask what they can do for you? That's the only way to tell for sure what you can get.

 

[Likesspace]

A standard receiver in the gym would be perfectly fine since I don't have HD or need a DVR in there.

As for the kids room(s), they each like to record their own shows and then like to watch them on their own t.v..
There are times that they will have two shows recording at once while my wife will have two recording on the 622 living room receiver as well.

The kids could get by without HD but they do need the ability to record separate programs in two separate rooms.

I'm just trying to figure out a way to make the switch as cheaply as possible and still have the same options/abilities that we have now.

Thanks again for the replies, guys. I really do appreciate it.

 

[dishrich]

In some markets, D* installs ALL HD receivers as standard, since they are required for those particular local channels.
But, since I have NO idea where in IL you're at, it's hard to help you out in that respect...

You can get 1 HD DVR free & 3 standard receivers free - but if you ask for MRV, you'll end up getting all HD receivers anyway.
An extra HD DVR could be installed in place of one of the standard receivers & it should only cost $99.
You would then be able to share BOTH HD DVR's across ALL your receivers & ALL would be in HD to boot!

 

[Likesspace]

In some markets, D* installs ALL HD receivers as standard, since they are required for those particular local channels.
But, since I have NO idea where in IL you're at, it's hard to help you out in that respect...

You can get 1 HD DVR free & 3 standard receivers free - but if you ask for MRV, you'll end up getting all HD receivers anyway.
An extra HD DVR could be installed in place of one of the standard receivers & it should only cost $99.
You would then be able to share BOTH HD DVR's across ALL your receivers & ALL would be in HD to boot!

dishrich.....

Are you saying that if I sign up for MRV they will automatically upgrade the standard receivers to HD receivers for no additional cost?
If this is possible I'd be very interested in doing it.
If I could make the switch for only a $99.00 additional charge that would make this a deal that would be hard to pass up.

I'm just sick and tired of losing channels on dish AND having my service/equipment fees raise each and every year. I honestly hate to go through the hassle of making a switch but I also really want to send the message that their current business practices are unacceptable.

Please let me know if I understand you correctly and thanks for the response.

Dave

 

[Likesspace]

Okay, sorry to be a pain but I do have one more question.....

First of all I've decided that even if I have to pay $200.00 to switch that still would not be bad.
If I have this figured correctly (and please correct me if I'm wrong), I could get the following equipment as a new customer:
2- HD DVR, 1- HD receiver & 1 - SD Receiver. (first HD DVR free, 2nd HD DVR $99.00, HD receiver $99.00 and standard receiver free). These figures are from the Directv website.

If this information is correct I'm seriously thinking about making this switch. With the package I've chosen (that actually gives me MORE programming than my current Dish setup) I would save over $500.00 the first year and about $165.00 per year after that. That's not bad at all.

Anyway, here is my question....
When I was looking through the channel list I saw that I would get Fox Sports Midwest with the package I've chosen.
But, when I looked on the HD channels it did not show Fox Sports Midwest.

Before Dish stopped carrying FSMW I did get many of the Cardinals and Blues games in HD. My question is if this would this still be the case with Directv?

As I said, I'm sorry about all of the questions but if I'm going to enter into a two year agreement I'd like to have all of the answers ahead of time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bbixler]

Okay, sorry to be a pain but I do have one more question.....

First of all I've decided that even if I have to pay $200.00 to switch that still would not be bad.
If I have this figured correctly (and please correct me if I'm wrong), I could get the following equipment as a new customer:
2- HD DVR, 1- HD receiver & 1 - SD Receiver. (first HD DVR free, 2nd HD DVR $99.00, HD receiver $99.00 and standard receiver free). These figures are from the Directv website.

If this information is correct I'm seriously thinking about making this switch. With the package I've chosen (that actually gives me MORE programming than my current Dish setup) I would save over $500.00 the first year and about $165.00 per year after that. That's not bad at all.

Anyway, here is my question....
When I was looking through the channel list I saw that I would get Fox Sports Midwest with the package I've chosen.
But, when I looked on the HD channels it did not show Fox Sports Midwest.

Before Dish stopped carrying FSMW I did get many of the Cardinals and Blues games in HD. My question is if this would this still be the case with Directv?

As I said, I'm sorry about all of the questions but if I'm going to enter into a two year agreement I'd like to have all of the answers ahead of time.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, you would get this in HD.

 

[dishrich]

Again, WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT DMA (TV market) YOU ARE IN TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS...
(give us a town, zip, something - we PROMISE not to spread it around...)

 

[Likesspace]

Again, WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT DMA (TV market) YOU ARE IN TO ANSWER SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS...
(give us a town, zip, something - we PROMISE not to spread it around...)

Okay, I guess I missed that part.
The zip for my town is 62849.
The local channels I currently receive (through Dish) are the St. Louis channels.
Directv does show them as being offered in HD.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[dishrich]

Well since your SD locals are on 101, DirecTV still uses SD equipment. (in markets such as mine that are in MPEG4 only, they can ONLY use HD boxes) So those 2 other FREE receivers will normally be plain SD receivers.
But again, you can still get 1 HD DVR & 1 HD receiver FREE, along with up to 2 SD receivers. (standard offer)
But you'll probably still want another DVR - you can still probably get an HD DVR for $99, (maybe even FREE) which would then replace one of the plain SD receivers.
I do still believe that if you request MRV, they'll automatically upgrade the 2nd DVR & plain SD receiver to SD for FREE. (since neither supports MRV)

I think you'll end up getting a great deal from D*, particularly if you tell them you're switching from E* - give 'em a call & see what they say. I think you're upfront cost will probably be less than $125 for 2 HD DVR's & 2 HD receivers, all w/MRV.
Also, if you have either cable or DSL broadband, be sure you ask for the internet hookup as well - it should be FREE as long as you do it on your initial install. (you DO have to have an active broadband connection at the time they are there)

 

[Likesspace]

dishrich, thanks for the information.

I did call D today and they basically said that I would have to pay for the 2nd HD DVR receiver.
I will say that the rep was pleasant and that it was refreshing to speak to someone that I could understand. That was certainly a different experience from Dish.

I did not make the switch today since I wanted to run everything by my family. Also, at this point the extra $198.00 plus signing a 2 year commitment is not a small thing.

I will say that after having done some research I think I would be very satisfied with what Directv has to offer. I was always under the impression that Dish was simply the better choice and never seriously looked at the competition.
Well now that I have done a side by side comparison I feel that the equipment that D has to offer is at least equal to what E has to offer and I would be saving some money with D, even after the bonus period expires.

Now I just have to decide if I want to make the switch at this point. As I said, this is no small matter with both Christmas expense and health club dues all coming up in the near future.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the information you've provided. I will probably call D again in the near future and see if I can wrangle out a deal on the second HD DVR. If I can get them to come down to the $99.00 range, I will make the switch in a heart beat.

Everyone have a great evening.

Dave

 

[dishrich]

Glad to help - one tidbit to be perfectly honest with you, & since it was brought up already...

Do NOT assume that you WILL definitely get HR/H24 receivers on your new install - even if you are getting MRV. If you read around here, & from talking to local installers, there is a shortage on all HR/H24 receivers, & D* is still putting in older model refurbs. (along with the external DECA adapters) While the older models (21 thru 23 series) do MRV & internet on-demand, they do run slower than the newest 24 series. But in D*'s eyes, all those models are equal, so FYI...

 

[ibskiing]

Do the DirectTV receivers support two TVs like the Dish Network receivers (one HD, one SD)? Or do you have to get one receiver for each TV?

 

[raoul5788]

Do the DirectTV receivers support two TVs like the Dish Network receivers (one HD, one SD)? Or do you have to get one receiver for each TV?

They have two hd outputs. In fact all outputs are live, but only one channel at a time.

 

[ibskiing]

So you can not use one DirectTV receiver to support two TVs and watch two different programs like you can with Dish? I think I do remember reading that.

The whole home DVR thing is cool, but you do have to get an extra receiver with DirectTV.

 

[joed32]

Yes.