Need Advice: America's Choice 250, upgrading receiver and Insurance.

[thesaint]

I am a 2 year Dish Network subscriber (live in a apartment building) and I am currently not under contract.

I still have the basic DVR receiver and America's Top 200 - $42.99 (w/HBO and Cinemax for 22.00 + DVR $5.99 + insurance $5.99) = $81.99

I wanted to know if it makes sense to pay for insurance?

Also how could I get Dish Network to upgrade my DVR to one with a larger hard drive for free (and would you recommend that I do so)?

And I wanted to know if this plan sounds good:

If insurance isn't neccesary, then I can try this package, I can call Dish and threaten to cancel the entire service and see if they will upgrade my receiver for a newer one with a bigger hard drive...

America's Top 250 $52.99
HBO $12.99 (remove Cinemax)
DVR $5.99
Tax .50
________________________________________
$72.47 (with the $5.99 insurance - $78.46)

Now I could have most of the movie channels (Encore, HBO, TCM and all the basic channels for the same price)

its not really a lower bill but at least I will be getting more for the same $80.


What do you guys think?

 

[digitalartifact]

1) do you have an HD tv?

2) which dvr do you have now??

 

[thesaint]

1) do you have an HD tv?

2) which dvr do you have now??

No HD TV

522

 

[digitalartifact]

something wrong with your 522? the 625 does have a larger HD... but dish uses the extra space for VOD stuff.... Ok it took a lot for me to call it stuff and not what I really think of it...

both units have MOL 100 hours of user recording time.

If you are looking for more space go HD and pay for the external storage... (of course you will need an HD monitor/tv but hay it is an option)

 

[boba]

Buy a DVD recorder and clear off your HD.

 

[thesaint]

Buy a DVD recorder and clear off your HD.

can you recommend one that is compatible?

 

[thesaint]

something wrong with your 522? the 625 does have a larger HD... but dish uses the extra space for VOD stuff.... Ok it took a lot for me to call it stuff and not what I really think of it...

both units have MOL 100 hours of user recording time.

If you are looking for more space go HD and pay for the external storage... (of course you will need an HD monitor/tv but hay it is an option)

I didn't really have the cash to invest in a HD TV.

But I'll take your response to mean that the 625 isn't really a big step up.

 

[thesaint]

So can anyone give me some responses on switching packages and if I should keep the insurance?

 

[MikeD-C05]

You don't need the insurance . You can add it and drop it as needed. No penalities when you do and no 5.00 downgrade fee usually. Done it several times . As to packages you can upgrade to the dvr advantage pack for top 200/ $49.99 or top 250/ $59.99. It includes one dvr fee and your locals included for one price. You save $3.98 over the traditional way you are bundeling now. Also premium channels are added at 10.00 a pack when you use the dvr advantage pack. As to upgrading to a better receiver ,You can always do that. Also if you upgrade to a 622 or 722 you will have an hd access fee of $6.00 or $20.00 for the hd pack.

 

[thesaint]

You don't need the insurance . You can add it and drop it as needed. No penalities when you do and no 5.00 downgrade fee usually. Done it several times . As to packages you can upgrade to the dvr advantage pack for top 200/ $49.99 or top 250/ $59.99. It includes one dvr fee and your locals included for one price. You save $3.98 over the traditional way you are bundeling now. Also premium channels are added at 10.00 a pack when you use the dvr advantage pack. As to upgrading to a better receiver ,You can always do that. Also if you upgrade to a 622 or 722 you will have an hd access fee of $6.00 or $20.00 for the hd pack.

THANK YOU!


that's exactly what I wanted to know.

I'call and see if I can get that Top 250 dvr advantage package with HBO and cancel my insurance, I figured there had to be a cheaper alternative to the package I get now.

I also wanted to know if it makes any sense to upgrade receivers since I don't have a HD TV.

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF you have the 625 sd dvr you should be good to go for all the sd offerings. It offers about 100 hours of recording time. If you want more than that in recording time , then you could upgrade to a 622 or 722. IT still will work on an sd tv on all the outputs except hdmi. You should be able to upgrade to a 625 for not more than$ 49.00 including install .

 

[thesaint]

DVR Advantage may not be a good option for me.

Yes - it will be $49.99/month which includes Top 200, local, and DVR service but...

you MUST have Autopay or a 18 month commitment with early termination fee.

I'm not planning to not pay my bill or cancel early but I like not being under contract.

I think I'll just cancel the insurance, NOT upgrade my 522 receiver (don't need HD TV and will just have to clear out my hard drive), upgrade to Top 250 ($52.99), keep the HBO and remove the Cinemax (hope they don't charge me a fee for removing it)

If I upgrade to Top 250, I get Showtime for free for 3 months (I think there is also a $25 rebate)

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for all your help...this board is great!

 

[thesaint]

IF you have the 625 sd dvr you should be good to go for all the sd offerings. It offers about 100 hours of recording time. If you want more than that in recording time , then you could upgrade to a 622 or 722. IT still will work on an sd tv on all the outputs except hdmi. You should be able to upgrade to a 625 for not more than$ 49.00 including install .

Thanks for the info..

I have the 522 and it acts up now and again but nothing really major (sometimes when I am watching a recording it will stop during play and won't continue past a certain point. I will then reset the receiver and usually that fixes it, are you familiar with this problem?)

I think I'll just remove the insurance, upgrade to Top 250 and see what it comes out too.

 

[thesaint]

I just wanted to thank everyone on this board for all of your advice.

So this is what I did...

I upgraded my package to America's Top 250 which included the Encore movie package

removed Cinemax (wasn't charged a downgrade fee)

got Showtime for free for 3 months (if I downgrade later I will not be charged a fee)

and removed the insurance. (5.99)

so my monthly bill is now lower then $80 a month.

I will now try to get some advice on upgrading my current 522 receiver because I want a larger hard drive with more then 100 hours.

Thanks agin.

 

[thesaint]

IF you have the 625 sd dvr you should be good to go for all the sd offerings. It offers about 100 hours of recording time. If you want more than that in recording time , then you could upgrade to a 622 or 722. IT still will work on an sd tv on all the outputs except hdmi. You should be able to upgrade to a 625 for not more than$ 49.00 including install .

What's sd?

 

[RandallA]

SD = Standard Definition
HD = High Definition

 

[thesaint]

Thanks for clarification RandalA

Does anyone know how I could get Dish to upgrade my reciever without paying the $49?

 

[thesaint]

Thank you

SD = Standard Definition
HD = High Definition

What is a better 100 hr receiver the 622 or 722?

 

[MikeD-C05]

The 622 has the ability to do either 30 hours of hd or 200 hours of sd. The 722 has the ability to do 55 hours of hd or 350 hours of sd. Both can do a combination of either hd or sd but the 722 has more hard drive space. Both can use an external hard drive to add unlimited hard drive space.

 

[thesaint]

The 622 has the ability to do either 30 hours of hd or 200 hours of sd. The 722 has the ability to do 55 hours of hd or 350 hours of sd. Both can do a combination of either hd or sd but the 722 has more hard drive space. Both can use an external hard drive to add unlimited hard drive space.

Thanks! :up

I've been getting a lot of conflicting info on the receivers.

I will definately look into a 622 if it has 200 hours availible.

Does anyone know of any deals or promotions for upgrading your receiver?