is now a good time to become a "new" dish subscriber?

[dvx24p]

i have cox cable right now am and contemplating switching over to dish. we have 2 hdtv's and 2 sdtv's.

promo i was offered for the top 180 is $62.99. includes 811 receiver, 942 dvr, (forgot the model# of the other 2 receivers). hd pak free for 6 months, $5.00 dvr rental, 49.99 credit on first bill.

is this a fair deal? any better deal i should be pushing for?

i understand this equipment will not be compatible once mpeg4 is introduced?

should i stick w/ cable until the transition to mpeg4?

any update on the mpeg4 transition?

thanks and much appreciation!

 

[kavula]

I think you should probably stay with cable. Hopefully, new receivers will be released November-January, and E*'s new customer promotions usually are good most of the time. There really is no information about the MPEG4 transition except that it's coming by year's end. There are only assumptions and hope about the costs, channels offered, and timelines for the transition.

 

[Purogamer]

Definetely wait if you can.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

No costs for all of that?

I assume all equipment is leased and not owned by you, true?

Any monthly lease charges after 6 or 12 months?

Not a bad deal. I would be tempted to wait too, but if all of this is on lease, then Dish may well offer a good replacement option once MP4 is in production. After all, Dish is going to want you to migrate to MP4.

 

[jtravel]

If your getting better value out of this offer than Cable
Why wait and not Take advantage of the lease offer now??
I would make sure your getting the Voom HD channals.

Who knows when MP4 will actually be implemented.
I understand HD channels will be the first to go MP4 and then the DVR-942 will have to be replaced. Thats a good reason not to buy a DVR-942 but under the lease plan what do you have to lose? Dish will have to replace all leased HD boxes when MP4 rolls out as the non-MP4 receivers will no longer function. The receiver belongs to Dish and they have to provide you a working receiver for you to use the service.
The worst case is if for some illlogical reason they didn't replace it you would then have to cancel dish service and move to Direct or back to cable.
even with a 1 year commitment it would be sastified by the time MP4 actually rolls and you could cancel with no penalty.
Whats the huge risk here??

I would not buy and HD equipment even after MP4 rolls as dish track record for quality functioning hardware is pretty poor.
I would need to see the proof the equipment worked as advertised befor I purchased.

 

[kavula]

All the existing HD receivers that work now will work after E* starts releasing MPEG4 receivers. That's because all the new HD channels will be in MPEG4, but for a time (probably months) E* will have the existing HD channels in MPEG2. E* does not have to replace the leased receivers when this transition occurs, although they will. Leasing customers may have an upgrade fee or they may not. No one knows, and that's the point. You can get E* know, or you can wait and get the new receivers to start with. I doubt they will be much worse than existing receivers, and they could be better. The 942 is the best yet, and I see no reason that E* can't add MPEG4 to it and a few extra functions and sell it as a new model.

 

[Pondracer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the contract cancellation is $20 a month or $240 - whichever is less. So if 6 months goes by and they roll out MPEG-4, *and I lose my HD channels* - the worse that can happen is I cancel and I'm out $120. 9 months and I'm out $60.

 

[jtravel]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the contract cancellation is $20 a month or $240 - whichever is less. So if 6 months goes by and they roll out MPEG-4, *and I lose my HD channels* - the worse that can happen is I cancel and I'm out $120. 9 months and I'm out $60.

This should be correct if you order direct thru Dish and have a 1 year commitment.
If you order thru a reseller they often have there own cancellation terms and you could get stuck paying them and dish if you cancel early.
Just make sure you read all the terms and conditions carefully.

 

[jtravel]

The 942 is the best yet, and I see no reason that E* can't add MPEG4 to it and a few extra functions and sell it as a new model.

Good point
Its possible they could refurb the returned leased 942's and upgrade them to MP4 and then offer them for sale or just use them to replace the non upgraded model.

 

[dvx24p]

just talked to the dish rep yesterday and says it is $250 to lease a 942. didn't know about that. should i go forward w/ this? thank you for your suggestions and comments. it's been helpful.

 

[Stargazer]

You can wait and wait just like those that wait for televisions or computers to get better and cheaper but no matter when you buy there will always be a better deal and better hardware to come out eventually. Besides, Dish Network will be swapping all customer's receivers with MPEG-4 eventually anyways so its not a loss to the customer.