Gotta love Dish!!

[king3pj]

Let's come back to the financials for a minute. I had always thought that switching every 2 years was a money saver, and I suppose it might be for some. But for me, it isn't at all now that the HR34 and Hopper situation is in place, or nearly so in the case of Dish.

Direct:
HR34+H25+Advanced receiver+Choice Xtra = Retail : $96.99 Current pricing for new customer before rebates
$29 off the first year = $67.99 = 1st year sub price $815.88+$99 upfront for HR34 = $914.88
$10 off the 2nd year = $86.99 = 2nd year sub price $1043.88

Total cash out total for 2 years = $1958.76



Dish :
Hopper+Joey+MRV+Top 200 = Retail $77.99 Current pricing for new customer before rebates
$25 off the 1st year = $52.99 sub price = $635.88
2nd year no rebate = $77.99 sub price = $935.88

Total cash outlay = $1571.76

So you save quite a bit with the Direct to Dish switch comparing new customers offers, but heres' something interesting:

Dish full price/year = $935.88 * 2 = $1871.76 !!!

IOW, staying with Dish for 2 years past contract is cheaper than switching to Direct! Yeah, I know different configs and different subs will change that a bit, but I thought that to be damned interesting. And if you add in premiums, Dish just gets better. The channels available are different which does have an effect on which to pick and number of total receivers certainly does, but with the Hopper/Joey in the mix it takes a lot more receivers to make that a factor.

And yeah, with Direct you get more actual tuners, but if the extras have no value, and for me they wouldn't, then it isn't an issue.

Using the numbers here, I could switch to Dish at the 1 year point with D* and pay the ETF and come out ahead a bit. Interesting!

I'm getting different numbers than you for sure.

Choice Xtra with HR34 and HD receiver with whole home service.

Year one:
Programming $39.99 *12= $479.88
Equipment $16 *12= 192.00
Total year one = $671.88

Year two:
Programming $58.99 *12= $707.88
Equipment $16 *12 = $192.00
Total year two = $899.88

If you add in the $99.00 upfront cost the total for two years is $1670.87 not $1,958.76 unless you were including the price the premiums for the full two years or something.

Edit: As I was typing this someone else pointed out that you forgot to remove the premiums from the Directv price. I just went through a fake signup as a new customer and these are the actual prices for 2 years.

Edit 2: The cost for all for premiums if you didn't remove them for 2 years would be $945 which is way more than you're off. I'm not sure what your mistake was but either way you're number for two years is $287.89 more than my number for 2 years.

 

[Tampa8]

I'm trying, I can't get what you are, I'm getting more. I'm NOT saying you are wrong, It just won't give me that price.

 

[lparsons21]

Your figures are off a bit, but I see why. After you get to the cart, then remove the free Showtime. They'll give you HBO with a $12.99 discount for 3 months and you lose a $1.98(?) discount 'cause you only have one movie channel.

Here's the correct totals:
3 Months @48.99 = $146.72
9 Months @61.93 = $557.82
12 Months @75.00 = $900
Upfront =$199

Total : $1835.00

If you went to the Choice Xtra which is the comparison to T200, it would add $228 to the total. So we're both right. You are saving as much because you are dropping down to a package that suits you compared to the package you have with E* as you are with the discounts for a new customer.

 

[Tampa8]

That's what I am getting, you have to drop Showtime cost for 21 months, but you also have to add $1.98 a month for those months. No matter how you look at it, I am not seeing much, or any if you stay with an equal package of savings by switching. To say nothing of the ongoing cost being much less with Dish. With all those promos, there still is not much of a difference, maybe none if you feel the the entertainment package has less. It's still very revealing.

 

[king3pj]

Your figures are off a bit, but I see why. After you get to the cart, then remove the free Showtime. They'll give you HBO with a $12.99 discount for 3 months and you lose a $1.98(?) discount 'cause you only have one movie channel.

Here's the correct totals:
3 Months @48.99 = $146.72
9 Months @61.93 = $557.82
12 Months @75.00 = $900
Upfront =$199

Total : $1835.00

If you went to the Choice Xtra which is the comparison to T200, it would add $228 to the total. So we're both right. You are saving as much because you are dropping down to a package that suits you compared to the package you have with E* as you are with the discounts for a new customer.

I don't understand what you mean with the HBO $1.98 discount. I just completely ignored premiums for my pricing. They add up to $54.96 and then have a credit for $54.96. It counters itself out so I just didn't use that $54.96 in my total for any month. I still don't get where the $1.98 you mentioned is coming from though.

 

[king3pj]

That's what I am getting, you have to drop Showtime cost for 21 months, but you also have to add $1.98 a month for those months. No matter how you look at it, I am not seeing much, or any if you stay with an equal package of savings by switching. To say nothing of the ongoing cost being much less with Dish. With all those promos, there still is not much of a difference, maybe none if you feel the the entertainment package has less. It's still very revealing.

I used Choice Xtra for all my numbers. Unless you are saying the base packages cost $1.98 more if you don't have premiums I don't understand what you mean. Like I said the cost for all four added is $54.96 according to my new customer page. It then shows a $45 credit and a $9.96 credit. I didn't factor any premiums in to the cost I just used the base package rate plus the equipment rate.

 

[lparsons21]

I'm getting different numbers than you for sure.

Choice Xtra with HR34 and HD receiver with whole home service.

Year one:
Programming $39.99 *12= $479.88
Equipment $16 *12= 192.00
Total year one = $671.88

Year two:
Programming $58.99 *12= $707.88
Equipment $16 *12 = $192.00
Total year two = $899.88

If you add in the $99.00 upfront cost the total for two years is $1670.87 not $1,958.76 unless you were including the price the premiums for the full two years or something.

Edit: As I was typing this someone else pointed out that you forgot to remove the premiums from the Directv price. I just went through a fake signup as a new customer and these are the actual prices for 2 years.

Edit 2: The cost for all for premiums if you didn't remove them for 2 years would be $945 which is way more than you're off. I'm not sure what your mistake was but either way you're number for two years is $287.89 more than my number for 2 years.

I did mine straight off a new build at D*.

It started with a $67.99 figure for the 1st month. So I did the math, which didn't include any premiums, just Choice Xtra. Note that the first months cost is the total cost with no premiums for the 1st year.

1st year would be $67.99 per month according to their quote.
2nd year would be ($67.99+29-10) or $86.99 per month

So (12x67.99=815.88 and 12*86.99=1043.88) gives a total of $1859.86. Hmm.... Off from my 1st figure, but much closer to it than you!

I'm off by $99 'cause I had inadvertently added $99 for additional equipment which was not correct.

EDIT: OOOPS!!!

You are right and I was wrong. But I swear I did one the other day that came out to a $67.99 starting price first month. My bad and I apologize.

So basically now with the correct figures, there is a $1 cost increase to stay with E* for 2 years beyond the contract vs switch at that point.

 

[lparsons21]

I used Choice Xtra for all my numbers. Unless you are saying the base packages cost $1.98 more if you don't have premiums I don't understand what you mean. Like I said the cost for all four added is $54.96 according to my new customer page. It then shows a $45 credit and a $9.96 credit. I didn't factor any premiums in to the cost I just used the base package rate plus the equipment rate.

I think he's referring to the posting from LazySenior where he has HBO instead of Showtime. If you don't make that change in the cart, then there is a $1.98 credit for having more than one premium.

 

[mdavej]

Altho I am a long time sub to HBO, I do not think it makes any difference how many HD premiums either company has. With a DVR it makes little difference.

I was only surprised because I have read the Dish fanboys brag about the extra Premium channels Dish had, and then I saw the comparison chart saying it wasn't so.

But you totally ignored the main part of my post that said Dish was the premium leader for years until very recently. If you had looked at the chart a few months ago, the numbers were very different. So what the fanboys were saying at the time was true. When you finally looked at the chart it had changed.

To answer years of subs begging for basic HD, DirecTV added a bunch of premiums, which are totally useless and redundant, just to pad their HD channel count. When DirecTV added all those premiums it just made me angry. I had DirecTV for years and just got tired of missing all my favorite shows in HD. Since I'm not a sportsfan, DirecTV no longer has anything to offer me, even if they are cheaper in some cases. You get what you pay for.

 

[king3pj]

I did mine straight off a new build at D*.

It started with a $67.99 figure for the 1st month. So I did the math, which didn't include any premiums, just Choice Xtra. Note that the first months cost is the total cost with no premiums for the 1st year.

1st year would be $67.99 per month according to their quote.
2nd year would be ($67.99+29-10) or $86.99 per month

So (12x67.99=815.88 and 12*86.99=1043.88) gives a total of $1859.86. Hmm.... Off from my 1st figure, but much closer to it than you!

I'm off by $99 'cause I had inadvertently added $99 for additional equipment which was not correct.

Ok I see what you are saying now but that isn't the monthly price for a new customer. Monthly price for the first year is $55.99 and $74.99 for the second year.

 

[king3pj]

This might be hard to see but I'll attach a screen shot.

 

[lparsons21]

This might be hard to see but I'll attach a screen shot. View attachment 74400

Yeah, that's what I got for a startup when I pulled my head out of strange places!! Thanks for catching that, it was not my intent to skew figures.

 

[lparsons21]

So let's talk about this. With the correct figures, staying with Dish vs switching to Direct at the 2 year point is basically a wash if you are not really changing subscriptions and such around, but are trying to keep like for like as much as possible. It shows that E* at retail is basically the same cost as D* with 2 years of rebates in the configuration I showed.

Not as good as saving money, but really reduces the incentive to switch unless there is something that the other guy has that you want. Is that a fair assessment?

 

[king3pj]

So let's talk about this. With the correct figures, staying with Dish vs switching to Direct at the 2 year point is basically a wash if you are not really changing subscriptions and such around, but are trying to keep like for like as much as possible. It shows that E* at retail is basically the same cost as D* with 2 years of rebates in the configuration I showed.

Not as good as saving money, but really reduces the incentive to switch unless there is something that the other guy has that you want. Is that a fair assessment?

Actually no, I don't think it is a fair assessment. For a current customer out of promos with a hopper and a joey 2 additional years would be 76.99 *24 = 1847.76. 2 years of promo pricing with Directv with a HR34 and HD receiver would be $1571.76. The cost of a current customer upgrading to a hopper and a joey would be $99.00 so that would be the same price as Directv's upfront costs. That is a wash.

A current customer with no promos would save $276 over the next 2 years by switching to Directv.

 

[lparsons21]

Wow! Make one little math error...

Thanks for catching it, but this was fun while it lasted and the jokes on me. I think I'll take up drinking again!

 

[dare2be]

Wow! Make one little math error...

Thanks for catching it, but this was fun while it lasted and the jokes on me. I think I'll take up drinking again!

Can I have my "like" back now?

Buy me a drink and we'll call it even.

 

[lparsons21]

Can I have my "like" back now?

Buy me a drink and we'll call it even.

Nope, you're stuck with it.

Have a virtual beer on me!!

 

[dare2be]

ok, I'll just not like your last post, since I've already pre-paid.

 

[TheKrell]

The Like link changes to Unlike if you really want to.

 

[king3pj]

Wow! Make one little math error...

Thanks for catching it, but this was fun while it lasted and the jokes on me. I think I'll take up drinking again!

No harm, no foul. I crunch numbers for a living every day. If anything this was a good thing because now people can see exactly what the gain by switching to Directv and taking the promo's versus the convenience of staying with Dish.