Looking to switch to Dish, confused on a few things...

[Tirade]

With DTV I have 2 HD-DVR's and 1 SD-DVR. I would need the same with Dish.

Couple of questions:

1. If 1 box can control 2 TV's, how does each TV have independant control? (i.e. does each TV have a receiver?)

2. Cabling is a concern that I have as I wired the house during construction. Each room has 3 RG6 runs and they all go to a box in the garage. Will there be a requirement for additional cabling?

3. How expensive would it be to add SD (non-DVR) boxes to other TV's at a later date?

4. Do the 612 or 722 boxes have media sharing capability like the DTV boxes that I have? Its nice being able to watch our home movies that we keep on a PC on our TV's.

5. There is 1 local HD channel that is not provided by Dish currently but I do have an antenna installed that I use with DTV currently that picks up this channel. Can I continue to use this antenna with Dish?

6. We really just want HD channels but were going to go with the Classic instead of the TurboHD because my wife likes the music channels. If we end up just going with the TurboHD package, and then Dish drops this package in August, how does that affect our 2 year contract?




Should I wait for the newer boxes that are coming out or make the switch now?

The reason Im dropping DTV after 4 years is that Im tired of waiting for my locals in HD to come to my area. I do have an atenna but Im near a mountain and I can only pick up 2 of the local HD feeds and luckily one of the 2 I get is the only one that Dish doesnt offer. The $$ isnt really an issue for me, as Im paying $65 a month with DTV now and that will ump to $85 a month in Oct and with Dish it would be $45 a month jumping to $80 a month after 6 months.

 

[mike123abc]

1. If 1 box can control 2 TV's, how does each TV have independant control? (i.e. does each TV have a receiver?)

One box, the box sends out a cable TV channel for TV2. TV2 also has an UHF remote, TV1 has infrared (but you can buy a wireless one for it too if you wanted).

2. Cabling is a concern that I have as I wired the house during construction. Each room has 3 RG6 runs and they all go to a box in the garage. Will there be a requirement for additional cabling?

You could use one of your 3 from the receiver back to the garage and then connect to one going to the remote room. It is easy if you have 3 RG6, one for satellite, one for OTA and one for the backfeed.

3. How expensive would it be to add SD (non-DVR) boxes to other TV's at a later date?

You can get receivers pretty cheap on ebay. Dish will just charge you the $5/month SD receiver fee.

4. Do the 612 or 722 boxes have media sharing capability like the DTV boxes that I have? Its nice being able to watch our home movies that we keep on a PC on our TV's.

not at this time. To share shows between them you have to copy to an external USB drive and then take the drive to the other receiver.

5. There is 1 local HD channel that is not provided by Dish currently but I do have an antenna installed that I use with DTV currently that picks up this channel. Can I continue to use this antenna with Dish?

Yes, especially if you get an HD box, they intergrate very well. I use both OTA and Dish for my locals, allows you to record more shows at the same time (i.e. the 722 can record 2 OTA and 2 satellite at the same time).

 

[Tirade]

2. Cabling - So its done via backfeed, thanks.

4. Media Sharing - I wasnt referring to the ability to share shows between the different DVR's, I meant using the DVR's as Media Extenders so that I can view downloaded content that housed on my media server PC. The DTV boxes I currently own have this functionality and Ive read that you can connect the DISH boxes to your network, but Im not sure if they will act as media extenders or not.

5. HD Antenna - Do I need to buy some sort of adpater/addon box to use the antenna or do the HD-DVR boxes already include this?


Thanks for the response!

 

[STL]

the 722 can record 2 OTA and 2 satellite at the same time).

WRONG. Maybe the 722k can do this if you buy the OTA tuner module, but a 722 only has 1 OTA tuner (and no way to expand that).

 

[old corps]

#4. Sorry, but no "media extender" capablity--at least that I'm aware of.

#5. All Dish receivers have an antenna in coax connection for your OTA.

Good luck with your choice!

Ed

 

[STL]

Be aware that the Regional Sports Network HD channels on DISH are not full time like DTV. They might show a HD baseball game one evening and not show the next game in the series the very next night (even if it's in HD). There isn't any rhyme or reason to it, and you have no way of know in advance.

Also, if your are considering TurboHD then be aware most of the new channels coming online at NOT being added to those packages (despite what their CEO has implied in the past). TurboHD packages were basically created just to bait people over from DTV, but now they are in the process of being phased out. I made the switch recently and I'm not at all happy with the way DISH treats their customers -- it's a very deceitful and dishonest company IMO.

 

[osu1991]

The 612, 622, 722 have a single over the air antenna connection that will integrate into the guide with the rest of the satellite channels.

The 722K requires the additional purchase of the over the air antenna module to be installed into the back of the receiver and then it will integrate the locals from an antenna into the guide with the sat channels.