HD Upgrade Inquiry

[cruiser83]

Bear with me, this will probably ramble a bit. I have spent time on DISH.com and here of course and just hoping to get some clarification on some things before I call DISH this afternoon.

Currently I have a 522 (yes I know, ancient stuff) Thinking of pulling the trigger to upgrade to HD before they pull FHDFL. So if I upgrade, the best I can tell the gold, silver bronze packs are gone, so I guess I would just keep my current AT120 core package and all the HD channels would be made available to me within that package? This is the free part of FHDFL?

To run programming to 2 TV's, I can do a hopper/joey or the VIPduo 722 but with the 722 only get HD on TV1 although I assume programming that is DVR'd on TV1 would replay in HD to TV2? Is that correct or wrong logic?

What fees should I expect to see on my monthly bill for a VIP722 vs. a hopper/joey? Is there DVR fees & HD fees, etc? Ok, I think that's it for now, thanks in advance!

 

[lucky86]

On the 722 everything can be recorded in HD but the TV2 is connected via coax so when you play that HD content back on the TV2 you are only going to be viewing it in SD.

 

[TheKrell]

Wrong logic on the 722. You can't get HD out of TV2 without a Sling Adapter (and a HTPC). The sat and OTA tuners are all HD, so you can record HD programs anywhere and play them back anywhere. They will just be SD on the TV2 outputs. This wouldn't be that bad if we could set the TV2 outputs to anamorphic widescreen (like a DVD player), but alas that option doesn't exist unless you put the receiver in solo mode.

 

[cruiser83]

On the 722 everything can be recorded in HD but the TV2 is connected via coax so when you play that HD content back on the TV2 you are only going to be viewing it in SD.

bummer, oh well....if it's cheaper than the hopper/joey will go that route. I am trying to upgrade with the least impact to my monthly bill.

 

[lakebum431]

Don't cheat yourself. Go with the Hopper. You will be much happier later.

 

[cruiser83]

Don't cheat yourself. Go with the Hopper. You will be much happier later.

Can you get programming to 2 TV's with just the hopper or do you need a joey no matter what?

 

[lakebum431]

Realistically you need a Joey too. But it is worth it. HD in both locations. True whole home DVR. 3 tuners plus the bonus of PTAT allowing you to record all of the networks plus two more things during prime time. Much more refined interface. Larger hard drive. Remember the 722 is several years old.

 

[Scherrman]

The 722 only outputs HD to TV1 and SD to TV2. It doesn't matter what tuner is used to record a show, if it was an HD program it will be in HD on TV1 and SD on TV2. The 722 would only cost you $7 a month for the DVR and no other fees.

A Hopper and Joey would give you 3 tuners and HD on both TVs not to mention a lot more recording space plus a load of other features exclusive to the Hopper. The Hopper would cost you $12 a month for the whole-home DVR fee and $7 a month for the Joey for a total of $19.

If you do plan to upgrade PLEASE DO NOT call Dish directly. Either go to a good retailer or get a hold of DIRT on here.

 

[navychop]

If you don't mind both TVs watching the same thing, you can feed multiple TVs from a single Hopper (go Hopper With Sling, BTW). The Hopper has the following outputs: HDMI, Component and Composite. So if you have 1 HDTV and 1 SDTV you can use the HDMI and Composite outputs. In fact, there are wireless solutions so you can just wirelessly send that composite signal. I have one such system from Astrotel, but there are better ones on the market today.

 

[navychop]

Wrong logic on the 722. You can't get HD out of TV2 without a Sling Adapter (and a HTPC). The sat and OTA tuners are all HD, so you can record HD programs anywhere and play them back anywhere. They will just be SD on the TV2 outputs. This wouldn't be that bad if we could set the TV2 outputs to anamorphic widescreen (like a DVD player), but alas that option doesn't exist unless you put the receiver in solo mode.

Yes, YES, concentrate on those flaws! Hop this way!

 

[cruiser83]

Thanks all, the hopper/joey set up sounds sweet, but $19/mo on top of the $5 core programming increase, ouch I don't know if I got the funds to support an extra $24/mo, I have some thinking to do.

 

[TheKrell]

Yes, YES, concentrate on those flaws! Hop this way!

Well... I am somewhat mollified that the increase in cost would "only" be $11 (Sherrman in another thread) to go from my 722/612/612 setup to a 2H/2J configuration. This could be decreased a tad more if the SJ had bluetooth headphone capability and an OTA tuner, or more still if I could run a VJ on my HTPC downstairs. Do we have any costs on any of the new Joeys, yet?

I will still have issues doing anything with a Hopper setup, and I sure wish I could keep my 722 and just get one Hopper (and assorted Joeys). (1) My wife doesn't want to deal with the new GUI. (2) I'll be damned if I'll do without OTA tuners, most notably for subchannels that Dish doesn't offer. So... I have 3 OTA tuners now, and even the 2H2J setup, I'd be down by one OTA tuner. But the other issue is (3) I have only one coax going to my receivers now. This is why I've always perked up when anybody tells me they're running Joeys over Ethernet and not Moca. Note that the Moca channels Dish uses overlap with OTA broadcasts.

 

[Scherrman]

There are no solid prices yet for any of the new Joeys. A Virtual Joey will cost somewhere between $0-$7 and a Super Joey will cost between $7 and $12. I have absolutely zero details on the Wireless Joey at this time.

 

[david_jr]

My guess is Dish is teasing us with the $0 - $7 bit and the VJ will land at $7, but not lower than $5. My guess is the same for the SJ which will probably land at $10; if it lands lower you can bet on it going to $10 within the year. Dish has set a pattern now with prices and are not above realing you in to raise the price later.

 

[Scherrman]

My guess is Dish is teasing us with the $0 - $7 bit and the VJ will land at $7, but not lower than $5. My guess is the same for the SJ which will probably land at $10; if it lands lower you can bet on it going to $10 within the year. Dish has set a pattern now with prices and are not above realing you in to raise the price later.

This is not a tease. It was more of an opinion from a Dish employee. The guy that did the webinar is just a regional trainer and only has a limited knowledge on the knew product.

 

[Tampa8]

My guess is Dish is teasing us with the $0 - $7 bit and the VJ will land at $7, but not lower than $5. My guess is the same for the SJ which will probably land at $10; if it lands lower you can bet on it going to $10 within the year. Dish has set a pattern now with prices and are not above realing you in to raise the price later.

I don't think an employee was teasing......


EDIT - just saw response above...