Got Dish, dumped cable. Right or Wrong choice?

[cmags]

New to forums, wanted to say they are great.
i live in the ny/cy region and had cablevision for the longest time. as you can expect i was paying an outrageous amt. each month.did have the hddvr so heres a little feedback. it basically worked ok, only 20hrs harddrive space but had locals and regional sports networks. analog channels looked like crap on 42' plasma. i basically changed because of monthly cost.(io-$55 + 10box rental as none are free + $10 dvr fee + $ 45 internet= $120with taxes and fees.switch to SBC/Dish top 120 $42 + $ 5 dvr fee + $ 20 DSL along with phone all for $100. it took some time to get used to the remote and delay when changing channels but picture quality is great. i love the 522 dvr and have not had any problems as of yet. did not get the 811HD because i did not think it was worth it for the 6 channels and my wife wont let me put an antenna anywhere to get locals.
i am disappointed about not getting locals in HD so when is E* getting them?
no yes network(which is now in HD on cable) any new negotiations for this season?
what about next season with the Mets starting there own channel? being in ny/ct region and not being able to get your hometown baseball team would really SUCK.
will hold off till next season to see what happens with yanks,mets,and HD but if it doesnt improve back to cablevision i go.

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys... If you are in the NY dma you should be able to get the NY feeds... If you could get them and find a 921 dvr you would be set...

 

[Lifterguy]

Hi CMags -
Welcome to Dish. My current setup is similar to yours, but I did opt to get the 811 in addition to the 522 (I hope to eventually upgrade to the 942). I also have HBO, so the HBO HD channel is one of the best parts of having the HD Pack - but I have to admit that I don't watch any of the HD channels alot. (Partly because I haven't had much time lately to watch any TV, except while I'm working in parts of the house that only have SD TV's.) I'm not sure how far you are from the broadcast towers for your local stations, but if you have strong signals, you might be able to get away with using a simple indoor antenna for HD. I bought the Radio Shack Double Bow-Tie UHF antenna, ($15 on their web site) and I get all 8 of my local digital channels crystal clear. The broadcast towers for my local stations are 6-to-20 miles from my house. The double-bow-tie is not completely inconspicuous (it measures about 14" high by about 11" wide), but it fits nicely on top of my entertainment center, and it could easily be hidden by a house plant or some bric-brac.
E* says it will start adding local HD channels after it aquires a satellite it is buying from Voom, and makes the switch to MPEG 4. The earliest that is likely to happen is late 2005 or early 2006 (and I predict it will be later than that). Of course, in the beginning, only the largest markets will get their locals in HD, but since you are in the NYC area, you might be lucky enough to be in that group.