HD Pack

[sbonzai]

Is it possible to subscribe to a "cheaper" HD pack without all the Voom channels? I have heard of a package for subscribers with older equipment but was not sure how much this was or if it was available to everyone? Thanks.

 

[kstuart]

Have you actually watched the Voom channels ? Despite the propaganda from the providers who don't have them, the content in the Voom channels is actually better than the other HD channels.

Rave-HD has HD recordings of live concerts. New material debuted this weekend, so don't believe the "only repeats" comments.
Gallery-HD has art shows, and nothing improves more from SD to HD than art (it's almost like you are in the room with those masterworks, without the $2000 air fare bill).
Ultra-HD is fashion shows, which will appeal to many female family members (or males that like pretty but skinny chicks).
Rush-HD has extreme sports and WorldSportHD has international sports.
Monsters-HD, KungFu-FD, FilmFest-HD and WorldCinema-HD have horror, martial arts, indie, art-house and international movies, all in HD.
Equator-HD has travel and nature shows, Treasure-HD has programs about collecting things, and Gameplay-HD and Animania-HD are self-explanatory.

Most importantly, it's all True HD 24/7.

In contrast, A&E-HD, NationalGeographic-HD, TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, and ESPN2-HD have lots of upconverted SD programming. Just to show you how bad it gets, A&E-HD are showing "24" in SD and 4x3. Even the DVDs of "24" are 16x9, so A&E-HD couldn't even bother renting DVDs of "24" in order to at least give you the whole wide screen of the original. Even worse is TNT-HD which stretches 4x3 SD programming to make it fit the HD screen, distorting the image.

FoodTV-HD and HDTV-HD are 24/7 HD, but in order to do that, they have to show a tiny fraction of the SD channel's programming (eg no Emeril).

 

[yaz96]

The answer to your question, is no, there is no cheaper pack. The "old" pack is grandfathered for those that still only have MPEG 2 receivers; 6000, 921, 942.

 

[TNGTony]

If you live in Alaska or Hawaii where Voom and other HD channels are not available to you there is a $9.99 HD package. See the 5000 channel range on www.dishchannelchart.com.

But for mainlanders, nothing cheaper than the $20 add-on to AT100.

See ya
Tony

 

[Sammy033]

There is a cheaper pack. Pay for the enabling fee, get an antenna, and get the locals in HD if they are close enough. If the TV already has a tuner thats even cheaper and its only a one time cost for an antenna. The only other options I think.

 

[kstuart]

There is a cheaper pack. Pay for the enabling fee, get an antenna, and get the locals in HD if they are close enough. If the TV already has a tuner thats even cheaper and its only a one time cost for an antenna. The only other options I think.

IMHO, the $14 difference is worth it for the HD-Pack - if you can see yourself watching something other than "water cooler" shows, ie good shows in HD that your friends are not watching...