Help me decide to switch to Dish or not

[mike6097]

Ok I have been with Directv for six years and I currently have 3 HD DVRs. I receive my HD locals as well as HD from NY (grandfathered in, got them before my locals were offered in HD) which is nice during football season given my a few options. I subbed to Sunday ticket up until last year. Just got too pricey and I enjoyed the Redzone portion which I understand Dish has in the top 200 package. Now for my questions

1. How is Dish HD picture quality compared to Directv? I am happy with that part of DTV. This used to be discussed a lot, not so much lately. Big factor for me.
2. I would need to get 3 HD DVRs to satisfy family viewing needs. Any chance programming credits would be offered to offset upfront cost of adding second and third HD DVR? DIRT team? FYI all 3 of my boxes were given free with commitment, 2 at one time, 1 about a year later.
3. Could someone verify that Redzone is available in HD in the top 200 or does it require sports pack?
4. If you were signing up new, would you opt for the sling box. When going through online ordering adding sling was the only way to ensure I received a dual tuner on primary receiver.
5. Online lists HD solo as my second and third box. I assume that means that I would only be able to record one program at a time. Is that correct?

Sorry for the long post. Seriously considering jumping to Dish for Redzone, AMC HD, and slightly lower monthly fees even with my receiver configuration. Upfront costs hurt and actually make switching fairly costly (300.00 in equipment for 2 additional receivers and sling box)

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcomed and very appreciated.

Mike

 

[isaacmorseMI]

1. It is fine. No noticeable differerence that I can tell.
2. Dish offers up to 3 receivers for free. No upfront cost.
3. RedZone is in the MultiSports pack.
4. Yes I would opt for the now free Sling Adapter. You do not need Sling to get a Dual Tuner receiver. Just PM a member of the DIRT team and tell them what receivers you want and they'll get you set up.
5. Yes

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Hi Mike, I will be happy to help with your questions.
1. I cannot really tell any difference between DISH vs Directv HD picture quality but their will be plenty of other who will weigh in on this.

2. Since you are looking to have HD in 3 rooms, to accomplish this you will need 3 HD receivers and there are some options on this for you. I would get the VIP HD DUO Dvr for your main TV with the sling adapter. There is a rebate promotion now that will give you a $99.00 MasterCard rebate. You do need to pay out of pocket but it will reimburse you. For your second and third TV's, you can go with a VIP612 DVR, these receiver's will add an addition $10.00 each to the monthly bill, you can record one channel and watch something on a different channel. You will also have the ability to add External Hard Drives (EHD) to all 3 receivers and move them between receivers for more viewing options. There is no charge to add EHDs to these receivers. To get these additional receivers at point of sale will be a $99.00 up-charge for each.

Your other option for TV 2 & 3 is to get a VIP211 for each TV. This is a solo receiver that will cost an additional $7.00 each month. These receivers can be converted to a DVR with the addition of an EHD. There would be a one time account level fee of $40.00 to activate this feature on your account. The EHD could be moved between both VIP211 receivers but will not be compatible with the VIP HD Duo DVR. There would be no additional cost at point of sale for these receivers. But you would need to qualify for the Digital Home Advantage Account.

3. NFL RedZone is in HD. It is part of out Multi Sports Package which runs $7.00 a month. You would need to have AT120+ or higher programming to qualify for the sports package.

4. HD Solo with the EHD can only record what is being watched. The HD Solo DVR (VIP612) can watch one show and record something completely different.

Please feel free to PM me directly if you have any additional questions or concerns. We would love to have you as a part of our DISH Network family!

 

[oldengineer]

Mike,

I'm considering switching to Dish from DirecTv for similar reasons. My neighbor switched to Dish about 6 months ago. He has a VIP722 and his picture quality looks as good as my DirecTv picture. I like my D* MRV setup so if I switch I'd probably get 2 612 receivers and put WD MyBook AV hard drives on them so my wife and I can record redundant shows independently. Dish receiver costs are a little higher than D* but I really like the extra HD channels Dish offers while D* is promising more HD "soon".

 

[vash1090]

Hi Mike, I will be happy to help with your questions.
1. I cannot really tell any difference between DISH vs Directv HD picture quality but their will be plenty of other who will weigh in on this.

2. Since you are looking to have HD in 3 rooms, to accomplish this you will need 3 HD receivers and there are some options on this for you. I would get the VIP HD DUO Dvr for your main TV with the sling adapter. There is a rebate promotion now that will give you a $99.00 MasterCard rebate. You do need to pay out of pocket but it will reimburse you. For your second and third TV's, you can go with a VIP612 DVR, these receiver's will add an addition $10.00 each to the monthly bill, you can record one channel and watch something on a different channel. You will also have the ability to add External Hard Drives (EHD) to all 3 receivers and move them between receivers for more viewing options. There is no charge to add EHDs to these receivers. To get these additional receivers at point of sale will be a $99.00 up-charge for each.

Your other option for TV 2 & 3 is to get a VIP211 for each TV. This is a solo receiver that will cost an additional $7.00 each month. These receivers can be converted to a DVR with the addition of an EHD. There would be a one time account level fee of $40.00 to activate this feature on your account. The EHD could be moved between both VIP211 receivers but will not be compatible with the VIP HD Duo DVR. There would be no additional cost at point of sale for these receivers. But you would need to qualify for the Digital Home Advantage Account.

3. NFL RedZone is in HD. It is part of out Multi Sports Package which runs $7.00 a month. You would need to have AT120+ or higher programming to qualify for the sports package.

4. HD Solo with the EHD can only record what is being watched. The HD Solo DVR (VIP612) can watch one show and record something completely different.

Please feel free to PM me directly if you have any additional questions or concerns. We would love to have you as a part of our DISH Network family!

Good answer

 

[budda]

I have 3 722K HD DVR's with dual tuner OTA mod's.. Sling adapter and a slingbox. Got adapter in promo and paid for Slingbox. Really like all the features and Picture. Just went from top 250 to 200. total cost after tax and everything is 105.00. Just giving it as a reference for you. Have fun good luck.

 

[mike6097]

My monthly fees are around 120.00 I also sub to HBO. Does Dish carry PBS Sprout? I have two boys who love them some sprout.

 

[Tampa8]

My monthly fees are around 120.00 I also sub to HBO. Does Dish carry PBS Sprout? I have two boys who love them some sprout.

Sounds to me you need to stay with Direct TV. My red flag goes up when "Sprout" is, 1). even a question when deciding on switching, and 2.) can be looked up on the Dish site. If you are happy with Direct TV overall, I would not switch.

 

[mike6097]

I cannot find Sprout listed on dish website. Redzone being available on dish and not being offered by Directv unless you spring for huge football package. Yes, channels my kids enjoy are a consideration when choosing providers.

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

I cannot find Sprout listed on dish website. Redzone being available on dish and not being offered by Directv unless you spring for huge football package. Yes, channels my kids enjoy are a consideration when choosing providers.

The Sprout Channel is not available on DISH Network, sorry...

 

[mdavej]

In my market I get a lot of sprout content 24x7 from a local PBS sub-channel over the air.

 

[mike6097]

Not having Sprout is not a deal breaker. I am just trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Read on Scott's post where if switch I could get the multi sports pack for like 99 cents this season to get redzone. Dish is really pulling at me with that one.

 

[whatchel1]

D* is better for Sports fans but E* has some. E* has the most premium channels (movie type stations) AMC HD and many other HD channels. The PQ is slightly better on D* than E*. But the PQ looks pretty damn good on E*. It way better than my local cable co where I live.

 

[NotMe546]

Most importantly equipment that works.

 

[ronyod10]

I switched to Dishnetwork almost a year ago after 12 years with Directv. IMO the PQ is about the same but Dishnetwork equipment is much better. I just laugh at these "We want you back" messages from Directv.

 

[Jhon69]

Not having Sprout is not a deal breaker. I am just trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Read on Scott's post where if switch I could get the multi sports pack for like 99 cents this season to get redzone. Dish is really pulling at me with that one.

Nick JR is a decent replacement,but then so is the regular Nick channels.When it comes to TV viewing kids learn to watch what Mom and Dad can afford.

 

[KimmiKat]

We tried Dish for a couple of weeks, but tossed them. I did like the DVR though and a neighbour who installs it has the 922 box, which looks pretty sweet.

I switched to Dishnetwork almost a year ago after 12 years with Directv. IMO the PQ is about the same but Dishnetwork equipment is much better. I just laugh at these "We want you back" messages from Directv.

 

[mdavej]

We tried Dish for a couple of weeks, but tossed them...

How did you do that exactly? Wasn't it quite expensive to cancel?

 

[KimmiKat]

This was years ago, before the commitments was in place. I canceled due to the Dish Taliban (Audit) bloke being really rude to me. There's another thread on the board where I explained it.

How did you do that exactly? Wasn't it quite expensive to cancel?

 

[JimWH]

You know that DISH does not offer NY RESNs. It lacks other sport channels as well such as MLB. If sports are an interest go elswhere