Letter from dish - MUST UPGRADE OR LOSE SERVICE

[Nebugeater]

My parents got this letter from Dish and are unsure of what it means and concerned on what will happen when they call. I am a ways away (also a Dish Customer) and they sent it to me to look at. They have a 301 and one a receiver that is older than that but I do not remember the #. They have a Dish 500 Dish and SD programing with no locals. They pay a year at a time and own all their equipment. They are not going to call for fear of being tricked into something they do not want or need. They love there DISH TV but are not tech driven at all. No computer at all in the house for example. My guess is that this is an offer to replace the really old recever.

Has anyone gotten this letter? What is the Real meaning. If in fact it is to replace the old receiver what will it get replaced with? Will there be an extension of a commitment? Any pointer or pitfalls before I try and call Dish on their behalf to see what is going on.



.

 

[Mr Tony]

thats what it sounds like. Dish wants to get the really old boxes (1000,3000,4000,5000) boxes out of circulation as they dont have the ability to get much beyond the original 4 sats and are really slow.

Call em up and see what they want. The 301 should be fine

 

[Ronnie-]

I agree with ice. Its probably just to get the REALLY old ones out. I doubt it is a "trick", but there MAY be a commitment extension. I know when I called about replacing older DVR that I owned they werent going to extend anything, but dont take that as fact as to what your parents will get.

Maybe you should call and check?

 

[okiekevn]

its better then you think. they are going to replace your parents old mpeg2 rec with the equivlent a leased mpeg4 rec at no cost with no commit. you will still have to credit card qualify though since its a lease rec, but thats no biggie. right now your folks are paying 9.99 for the legacy hd pack. they will get the current hd bronze silver or gold depending on their package for a cent more at ten bucks, and get a load of more channels. tell them to take dish up on it. look at how many threads there are about people upset over having to pay to upgrade when your folks get it for free without asking.

 

[JayStil]

I got the same letter today. I haven't called them yet but I figured that my two 7100's weren't going to be compatible with the new smartcard swap.

I'm curious to see what they'll offer me since the old receivers are DVR's. 2 722's perhaps?

No matter what it's going to cost me as the 7100's have no DVR fee.

 

[TheKrell]

thats what it sounds like. Dish wants to get the really old boxes (1000,3000,4000,5000) boxes out of circulation as they dont have the ability to get much beyond the original 4 sats and are really slow.

Call em up and see what they want. The 301 should be fine

Huh. My 301 is almost as old as my 4900. So... I should reactivate my 4900 NOW and see what they give me? It's collecting dust at the moment, as is my 301.

 

[Mr Tony]

its better then you think. they are going to replace your parents old mpeg2 rec with the equivlent a leased mpeg4 rec at no cost with no commit. you will still have to credit card qualify though since its a lease rec, but thats no biggie. right now your folks are paying 9.99 for the legacy hd pack. they will get the current hd bronze silver or gold depending on their package for a cent more at ten bucks, and get a load of more channels. tell them to take dish up on it. look at how many threads there are about people upset over having to pay to upgrade when your folks get it for free without asking.

uh, that was done on 8/31 as the HD channels are already MPEG4 now

 

[Mr Tony]

Huh. My 301 is almost as old as my 4900. So... I should reactivate my 4900 NOW and see what they give me? It's collecting dust at the moment, as is my 301.

the 4900 has a fair amount of memory. Its the old ones (the ones that ended in 000 and the 7100) that have limitations. My 5000 can only accept 61.5,110,119,148 as satellites. No other options

 

[David_R]

its better then you think. they are going to replace your parents old mpeg2 rec with the equivlent a leased mpeg4 rec at no cost with no commit. you will still have to credit card qualify though since its a lease rec, but thats no biggie. right now your folks are paying 9.99 for the legacy hd pack.

That's only if they have an old HD receiver. From the OP I got the impression the old receiver was SD.
Dish is also replacing 721s (with 522/625s), and I believe a number of other SD receivers with newer SD receivers as well. Best explanation I've seen is that they either don't want to, or can't, update the older receivers to be compatible with the new encryption/smartcards. The fact that they're doing this at the same time as swapping mpeg2-only HD receivers for equivalent mpeg4 receivers seems to be confusing alot of people, especially since they're using the same generic letters to inform customers about both.

uh, that was done on 8/31 as the HD channels are already MPEG4 now

uh, I was watching HDNet on 9/13 on a 921 That was the day I was swapped out for a 722, so I can't say for sure past that, but I'm pretty sure the mpeg2 HD channels are still in mpeg2. 8/31 sounds roughly right for when they marked the 94xx channels as ViP-only, but at the same time they mapped those same channels into the 62xx range, but without guide data. Rumor was that today was the day that the mpeg2 HD's were supposed to switch to mpeg4, but the 62xx's are still active, and the uplink report makes no mention of the switch yet.

-- Dave

 

[kstuart]

uh, that was done on 8/31 as the HD channels are already MPEG4 now

- The MPEG2-HD channels on 110 West are not yet converted to MPEG4-HD. It may occur tonight, in fact.

- They will not replace old MPEG2 receivers with MPEG4 receivers.

- They will replace old receivers that are not getting support for the new smart cards, with new receivers that have more features and capability.

- Your monthly cost should remain the same, and you should not have any out-of-pocket costs or increased commitment, unless you ask for an even better receiver than the one they offer.

- The new receiver may be leased rather than owned, but you will not have to pay additional lease fees.

- The old receiver that is the subject of the letter will cease to receive Dish Network programming within a few months.

- You will get $10 if you send the old receiver to Dish, otherwise you can keep it as a paperweight.

- The following receivers will continue to work (as far as I know): 722, 622, 612, 211, 222, 301, 311, 322, 501, 508, 510, 522, 625

- The following receivers are being discontinued and receive the letter: 7100, 7200, 721, 921, 942

- Other receivers are not yet known by SatGuys members. ( I would guess that all "four digit" receivers are being discontinued)

 

[boba]

721/921/942 atre all affected by the TiVo decession and the 7100&7200 were designed/programmed by Microsoft so are probably a problem to upgrade.

 

[DWS44]

-- The following receivers will continue to work (as far as I know): 722, 622, 612, 211, 222, 301, 322, 501, 508, 510, 522, 625

I believe you left out the 311, which I would assume should still work as well, since it's nearly identical to the 301.

 

[Foxbat]

I wonder about those Dish Pay-as-you-go folks with the 3900 equipment. Since they have no monthly commitment, I bet they have to purchase an as-you-go 301 with their own money.

 

[nh_dish]

I got the letter yesterday... have a 301 and a 721 active on my account, both of which I own outright.

I just know I'm gonna get screwed on this

Anyone know what model they are substituting for the 721's??

 

[rcwilcox]

I got the letter yesterday... have a 301 and a 721 active on my account, both of which I own outright.

I just know I'm gonna get screwed on this

Anyone know what model they are substituting for the 721's??

usually 522 and waive DVR fee and phone line requirement

 

[nh_dish]

isn't 522 technically a downgrade from my 721??

 

[megamike]

isn't 522 technically a downgrade from my 721??

IMHO yes, as was the 721 from the 7200, IMHO. Except that it has dual tuners.

 

[navychop]

522 has name based recording, does it not? It feeds 2 TVs, not just one. Slightly larger recording space (100 vs 90 hr?). Better reliability than the 721. Compensates for LNB drift when the 721 does not. How is it a downgrade? Is there any single feature on the 522 that is less than what is on the 721?

I gave up my 721 (6th one to pass thru my home) for a ViP722 (so now I'll have 2, plus a 508) and paid $75 and about $7 more per month. I'm quite satisfied, thank you. Everything has a limited lifespan, and the 721 seems on average to have had a more limited one than most. Great receiver, when it works.

Great post, kstuart, thanks.

 

[nh_dish]

Navychop, I'm confused.

You say the 522 is as good or better than the 721... yet you then say you chose to upgrade to the 722 (apples and oranges?).

Are you suggesting that I request the 722 rather than the basic 522?

<EDIT> OK, I see now... the ViP722 is HD. No info on the 522 at DN site, though. So, they are replacing my obsolete DVR with a less obsolete DVR??
Yeah, this has nothing to do with smart-cards and everything to do with the TiVo lawsuit.

 

[neljtorres]

Guys I got the letter a couple of weeks ago! They are taking out the 721. Since I live in Puerto Rico they wanted me to go to retailer here in P.R. but no retailer is exchanging reciever so finally after almost two weeks dish finally gave me a deal they gave me a 522 for a 721!