after reading and researching hd sat, i gotten kind of discouraged w the whole business. first i looked into voom. well i'm way too far from the ota tower, so no networks. then i look into dishnet. after getting them to offer me an 811 at $150. iread numerous posts that its a piece of junk, unreliable and needing constant tweaking, downloading, etc..., not to mention a way too dark sd picture. so i check out direct tv. similar complaints of all types. please correct me if my perception is wrong. can i reasonably say that the technology is in its infancy and will get better over time. i really dont want to have to fool w the tv and the reciever all of the time. i just want to turn it on.
i've been discouraged away from hd satellite.......
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ocd said:
If you just want to turn it on then give DirecTV another look. I had a Dish 6K which was an OK receiver but the EPG really stank, so I upgraded to the Dish 811. That 'upgrade' was a big mistake which caused me to upgrade again to DirecTV. I did the switch back in January, getting the HNS E86 STB. I didn't have one single problem with that box but got a new HD set that had DVI input so I replaced the E86 with a Sony HD300. So far in the past month or so the box has 'hung' twice, but rebooted itself and came right back up. This is MUCH better then the 811 which I had to reboot multiple times during the day. If you read through all the post, some folks are happy as pigs in sh*t with the 811, while others think it's a piece of sh*t, your milage will vary. If you can get one with no commitment and a 30 day return go ahead and give it a shot. But if the only way you can get it is to pay and take a commitment walk away from that deal.
You didn't mention, have you checked to see if you can get HD via your cable provider? If yes that might be a better road at this time, no hardware to buy and no commitment, so you can see how their hardware and programming are.
It's an issue of putting the cart before the horse really. All companies do it really. I can remember the problems I had with Time Warner when they started digital cable and Roadrunner.
The trick is to wait about 6 months after any major product update (or in Dish's case get the DHP). The first batch of 811 did, well, sucked. People who bought from retailers had problems longer as they were clearing out there old stock rather than sending back units they knew were defective. These things aren't anywhere close to the 522 in ways of problems.
Echostar is releasing a number of software updates which is why it's good to turn it off every other night or atleast once a week. If you don't it will get too far behind and may not take a download.
"after reading and researching hd sat, i gotten kind of discouraged w the whole business. first i looked into voom. well i'm way too far from the ota tower, so no networks. then i look into dishnet."
if its networks in HD you want DirecTV is right for you! if you live too far away to get a signal you can get CBS-HD now and Fox-HD soon. (with a waiver in most cases). If you live in one of the top 30 DMA's DirecTV will be adding your locals in HD next year, unlike Dish or Voom. if you want the best HD satellite receivers and the very best HD DVR then DirecTV is for you again.
you are correct on the 811-it is junk-that is why they give it away for free or a reduced rate and DirecTV makes you pay. you pay for what you get. its very clear in the wonderful world of Satellite TV.
if its networks in HD you want DirecTV is right for you! if you live too far away to get a signal you can get CBS-HD now and Fox-HD soon. (with a waiver in most cases). If you live in one of the top 30 DMA's DirecTV will be adding your locals in HD next year, unlike Dish or Voom. if you want the best HD satellite receivers and the very best HD DVR then DirecTV is for you again.
you are correct on the 811-it is junk-that is why they give it away for free or a reduced rate and DirecTV makes you pay. you pay for what you get. its very clear in the wonderful world of Satellite TV.
Don't overlook cable. Check what the sat companies can provide in the way of hd programming and then check what cable offers. In my case I can't get any off air hd. I'm with Dish now. I'm moving in a few months. I also can't get a waiver for cbs hd so all I have is the hd package (hd net, hdnet movies, discovery and espn) and HBO.
When I move I'm getting cable. I'll get all the stuff in my current hd package plus abc and cbs in hd (no nbc for now where I'm moving) plus some other hd channel I can't recall the name of and the cable company provides the hd receiver with hd dvr for a low monthly rental.
So, for hd opportunities I think it depends on what your choices are where you live. If you can't get off air reception and your cable company offers the networks in hd, I'd go with cable.
When I move I'm getting cable. I'll get all the stuff in my current hd package plus abc and cbs in hd (no nbc for now where I'm moving) plus some other hd channel I can't recall the name of and the cable company provides the hd receiver with hd dvr for a low monthly rental.
So, for hd opportunities I think it depends on what your choices are where you live. If you can't get off air reception and your cable company offers the networks in hd, I'd go with cable.
