No COMPELLING reason to upgrade, sorry Charlie

[iKramerica]

as a 6000 + 721 customer, I've been waiting for the 622, and will likely upgrade even though I am also going to see about sueing Dish or petitioning the government to make them actually give us HD.

Why? Because my TV only does EDTV anyway, but it's the principle and the future I care about. Yet, going in, i know I'm not getting full HD and I'm personally okay with that. I just don't think it's right to sell it to people with HD sets as HD.

But I won't upgrade unless I can get them to offer me the same $99 upgrade as the 942 folks. After all, my 6000 and 721 cost me OVER $1000 when I bought them as well. Not sure how it is fundamentally different to have a 942 vs. a 6000 and a 721 other than not being able to record HD programming.

So I'll be contacting some higher ups to see if they can give me a $50 a month for 4 month credit when I take the $299 offer. My guess is the answer is yes, if you talk to the right person. After all, when my 2nd 8VSB card died on me and it was out of warranty, I got it "for free" via credits after explaining that I wasn't about to keep shelling out money on a defective design while waiting for the 622 to arrive, nor was I going to buy a 942 just to have it not work in 6 months.

 

[sixbears]

I do agree with you that the 6000 should be treated the same as an 811 under the upgrade policy.

 

[DVDDAD]

I do agree with you that the 6000 should be treated the same as an 811 under the upgrade policy.

The 6000 is going to be treated the same as the 811. iKramerica wanted it to be treated the same as the 921/942. Being a past 6000 owner who upgraded and bought a 921 and later upgraded that and bought a 942, I wanted to be offered a better deal than a 6000 owner or someone who was leasing a 942. That didn't happen. There are many people that this is a good deal for and many that it's not such a great deal. Especially if you factor in people that have multiple HD receivers now.

 

[long_time_DNC]

I would like to have ESPN2-HD and UHD. The Voom channels thusfar haven't impressed me all that much and the FU channel isn't nealy as good as GUYHD was, and what I'm really interested in is my locals in HD (which I can't via OTA due to a huge hill about a quarter mile north of me).

So, I'll wait until the Seattle locals in HD are available and the rebate is available in April and then I'll think about upgrading to the 622, but not until my locals are available in HD. I too would also like to see the existing HD be some version of true HD, not HD Lite. So, since I'm enjoying what HD I have and really enjoying my 942, I'm most definitely not in a hurry to upgrade to the 622 for $299 and wait 2 months for a $200 rebate.

 

[chipvideo]

I would like to have ESPN2-HD and UHD. The Voom channels thusfar haven't impressed me all that much and the FU channel isn't nealy as good as GUYHD was, and what I'm really interested in is my locals in HD (which I can't via OTA due to a huge hill about a quarter mile north of me).
So, I'll wait until the Seattle locals in HD are available and the rebate is available in April and then I'll think about upgrading to the 622, but not until my locals are available in HD. I too would also like to see the existing HD be some version of true HD, not HD Lite. So, since I'm enjoying what HD I have and really enjoying my 942, I'm most definitely not in a hurry to upgrade to the 622 for $299 and wait 2 months for a $200 rebate.

Do you use cable internet? If so you might get the locals in hd. Just split the internet connection and run it to your tv if you have a qam tuner or just buy one for $150. Heck I have all my hd through my cable internet line as well as a crapload of others that I dont watch.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Do you use cable internet? If so you might get the locals in hd. Just split the internet connection and run it to your tv if you have a qam tuner or just buy one for $150. Heck I have all my hd through my cable internet line as well as a crapload of others that I dont watch.

They (Comcast) put a filter on the line so that if you don't subscribe to their TV package (just their internet service), you can't get any TV channels from their pipe. Besides, there's just something about that that doesn't seem entirely legal (at least to me).

 

[chipvideo]

They (Comcast) put a filter on the line so that if you don't subscribe to their TV package (just their internet service), you can't get any TV channels from their pipe. Besides, there's just something about that that doesn't seem entirely legal (at least to me).

Strange. Everyone I know in Seattle that has comcast internet is able to view their locals in hd through the cable internet line. I am doing it now. They usually just block out channels 1-70. If you havent tried it and are just assuming then you might be surprised. Also it is not illegal as your not modifiying anything. The local channels are by law supposed to be in the clear.

 

[vinnyv07]

I own my 811 and have no lease option because I sub to just the HD pack plus the current VOOM ch's. I tell you the truth....I really didn't watch any of ESPNHD2 when I had Direct.....and UniversalHD was a waste of bandwidth in my eyes. I love watching MonstersHD and Rave and an occasional movie on HDNET and some stuff on DiscoveryHD. I get my local ch's OTA .....so I'm not going to go out and buy a new receiver. It just isn't worth it for me.

 

[horseflesh]

I'm still trucking along with a non-HD receiver, the 301. I like HDTV and I am willing to spend money on it, but I hear nothing from other Dish customers besides complaints about "HD Lite," buggy firmware, poor availability of new hardware, installer horror stories, and no price breaks for loyal customers. The Dish PVRs are also supposedly pretty crummy.

I use a ReplayTV to record SD off my 301. Currently, I am a lot more likely to throw money at some other kind of gadget to record OTA HD--which I receive fine--instead of investing in Dish HD stuff. Maybe I am paying too much attention to the gripes on forums like this... that's always a risk I guess, you never hear the good news on the Internet.

 

[Carl B]

Most of the HD that I want to be sure to watch and thus would like a DVR for, is on my local DTV channels. If I could find a reliable OTA DVR for under $500, I'd buy it instead of dealing w/ E* or my local cable company. Too bad the LG unit out a couple of years ago was such a reliability problem.

 

[horseflesh]

Yep, that's really what it comes down to... an affordable way to record OTA HD is what I want. I'd love to time-shift HD off HBO, but I'm just not willing to pay a lot for it.

If a person already has a home theater PC, it looks like you can add OTA recording for less than $200 in hardware and software. I may go that route for the other fun it offers, though it certainly won't be cheap to build a HTPC.

 

[kb7oeb]

If your TV has firewire you don't need a high power computer to run it. It works great, I can even use the TV remote to skip the ads.

 

[Peter Iowa]

My 811 (bought 3 months ago) will not be upgraded to a lease, and for recording
high def w/$700 dvd with many probable bugs is not in the cards right now.

 

[kelboy]

The 1st post was about a lack of compelling reason change to the new HD pack, and the new Mpeg4. Not just the receiver. But no matter.
Personally I agree with respect to the higher cost HD Pack with littled added. The cost for the new hardware is not great but could be worse in my opinion.

I agree..I currently lease the 811(commitment to *E over in Sept)...
$99 for UHD /ESPN2 and VOOM not worth it...could give a rats*ss about HD Locals and believe it is a complete waste in my opinion(I realize there are people that cannot get them) and very poor *Added Value* for "Most HD customers" ...
I think D* made a bad choice by doing HD locals over "real" content...

Though I'm going to see what D* has(HD ) around Sunday NFL ticket time...
I really do not want to commit to either for 18/24 months over very limited compelling content in HD(NFL games on D* or VOOM/UHD on E*)....

Funny ...I looked at the content on UHD and the same day I looked at the Oxygen content...Sadly the Oxygen was more(albeit small) compelling than UHD!!
....

so in short the additional commitment is what i see as a negative this whole "new equiptment" upgrade Parade.......

my .02

kel