Happy with dish HD

jb1945

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Feb 26, 2006
138
0
Sacramento, California
This month marks my first year with Dish. I have a VIP 622 and the HD package. Overall I am happy with the service. Had only a few minor glitches along the way. I think the HD looks great. The HDMI cable works fine and the optical audio sounds good too. Currently my only issues, which have been discussed endlessly on this forum, are the lack of new material on the Voom movie channels and lack of HD on the RSN and Fox channel 40 here in Sacramento.
 
yup, I'm pretty happy with E* too - as long as they keep adding national HD content, finally move ahead with the external storage and if old Charlie would just stop sticking his hand a little further into my pocket every year! :rolleyes:

--Doug
 
This month marks my first year with Dish. I have a VIP 622 and the HD package. Overall I am happy with the service. Had only a few minor glitches along the way. I think the HD looks great. The HDMI cable works fine and the optical audio sounds good too. Currently my only issues, which have been discussed endlessly on this forum, are the lack of new material on the Voom movie channels and lack of HD on the RSN and Fox channel 40 here in Sacramento.

Funny, my one year anniversary with Dish is tomorrow. :)

Frankly, aside from a couple of install issues, coming from D* I am very satisfied. DirecTV talks the talk, E* just keeps adding HD channels. Perhaps down the road D* will have more HD but I can worry about it then.

I have a 622 and a 211 and, I've got to tell you, the 622 fits my needs PERFECTLY (except for being noisy). Couldn't be happier with the hardware or the programming, except that I'd like Setanta and perhaps Yes (the lack of the NFL package doesn't really bother me, there's enough to watch as it is). RSNs in HD, for me, means little as I'm in NY and there is no prospect of getting FSNY-HD or MSG-HD in the near future. SNY-HD and Yes-HD might be nice but I'm not really a baseball fan. Again, the ONLY thing that MIGHT make me switch back is Setanta, but not likely.

As I said, D* has some programming that E* doesn't, and vice versa. Each person needs to make their own evaluation as to what is most important. It's just that for ME the pluses of Dish outweigh those of DirecTV. Plus, I can't stand D*s continuous stream of announcements as to what they're GOING to have. Maybe yes, maybe no.

The one thing I WILL say: D* used to have an edge with me because it only required one dish, whereas E* required two (that's why I originally signed up with them). Now it's basically reversed: I switched back because E* requires two dishes which can more or less be mounted easily on my brick chimney (if you know what you're doing, which the install guys didn't) while D* has that, IMHO, humongous 5-LNBer. If E* can make it so it takes one or maybe two small dishes to get all their programming then I think they'll have a distinct advantage, at least with the part of the population that just wants the most channels for the least money and fuss.

=NLK=
 
The only thing that bothers me is not having FSN Bay Area in HD. This would have been a deal breaker for me, but I don't have line-of-sight for D*. I signed up with E* in July of last year, and at that time they were promising that all the RSNs in HD were just around the corner. It's almost a year later and nothing. I would gladly give up those VOOM channels and their endless reruns for a little A's/Giants/Sharks/Warriors in HD!
 
Again, the ONLY thing that MIGHT make me switch back is Setanta, but not likely.
Trust me, you won't have to switch back. Nudge nudge wink wink, say no more...
Yes616 said:
I am happy too. Especially now that A&E is showing more real HD content.
Sorry, I must have blinked and missed it. When was this ?
Did they sneak something in between the repeats of "24" in 4x3 and SD ?
 
I spent last weekend at my parents' house in Portland, OR and they have Comcast. On the surface it's comparable (they get some HD we don't, we get some they don't). The quality was great, and the On Demand service was nice for the weekend and for the kids (since my parents hadn't recorded Spongebob on their DVR :).

BUT... after working with their Comcast DVR, I have to say that the 622 just ROCKS. It's fast, it's responsive, it's intuitive, and, well, did I say "fast" ? For all the issues that we have with the 622, they really are trivial compared to the overhead and bloat of the Comcast DVR. And even in the On Demand, I had to mute it every time b/c as you're picking things, you have to listen to their TV Guide channel blah blah blah blah all the time.

So, yes, I too an happy with Dish HD and am looking forward to USB storage and native passthrough to make me even happier :).
 
After spending the week at my brothers house, I understand how E kicks azz over D. He has the Tivo DVR and it was very slow at responding. But maybe I am not giving D their fair shake. Anyways, I am loving E and since I upgraded to the 622 it is even better.

My 2C.
 
I like the Dish HD, don't get me wrong, but I have an old Voom box that I used for my off-air HD signals because it produces a superior picture. Same antenna, same coax, same everything except for the box and its HD software and the old VOOM box beats the off-air signal everytime. It also used to show the old VOOM HD channels better back in a day than Dish HD does now. The software could be better for Dish's HD. I see too much noise and pixellation in the picture now vs. the old days.
 
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