Quote From Charlie on MPEG4 Upgrading For Existing Customers

[drdr]

I imagine a service call might be involved if the new channels are at 61.5 or 129. Most E* subs still have Dish 500, and would need to change to a Dish 1000 to get the new channels on 129. Maybe that's what Mr. Ergen meant by "Probably the cost of a service call". I do have a 942, so I'm expecting a reasonable low-cost upgrade. It wouldn't be hard to go back to Comcast if E* makes it hard to upgrade.

I trust Scott on this. I think they will take care of their current high-end customers. I'll wait for the HD chat on Monday before getting worried.

 

[M Sparks]

Now what are they going to do with all the people that have 811's are we all going to have to fork out 600 bucks and are we all going to have to get another dish installed? If this is the case I will go back to cable. Hell there rates keep going up but you don't have to purchase all this extra dam equimpment. Its acually cheaper to have cable.

Do you even bother to read ANYTHING aside from the subject before you start whining?

Where did you get the figure "$600"? A 211...the direct replacement to the 811, goes for $400 if you're a sucker, and I'm sure many will sell it for less. So the absolute worst case scenerio is $400.

BUT, the FIRST POST IN THIS THREAD pretty much states that the worst case scenerio won't happen.

And why the heck would you need another Dish? I mean, you might, but it's not related to these announcements.

PAY ATTENTION...This is a great announcement. Charlie is finally admitting that it's in THEIR interest to switch to MPEG-4. MPEG-4 will be good for everyone, but it helps DISH the most. Their goal is to get an MPEG-4 reciever in every customer's home. They'd rather not do it for free, so they put a lil carrot on a stick. "Here's a few extra channels, you can get them if you send us $50 or $100, and you'll get a new receiver too!

But EVENTUALLY, they need to get an MPEG-4 receiver in every customers home. Eventually, every guy who's got a dusty DISH 1000 will get a new receiver.

The fact that some of you are ALREADY FURIOUS means their plan is working! You are actually upset that you won't be able to receive SEVEN channels. (And odds are, you aren't even interested in one or two of them.) But noone else offers the VOOM channels, which makes up 5 of the seven channels. So switching to another provider won't fix anything. So you plunk down your $99 and get a few extra channels. And DISH just saved $99 and kept a customer. They don't care if you're irritated, as long as you don't leave.

Now the local HD is another story. They need to roll this out to compete with DirecTV. And DirecTV is giving people free upgrades as the HD locals come online. Chances are DISH will do the same, but they don't have to. They just need to make it cheaper than switching to DirecTV. $99 anybody?

I have a 942 that's less than 6 months old. I refuse to drop another dime, just so I can get a few extra channels. But I'm not going to complain about it.

A few months down the line, my local HD channels will come online. Now THAT is a big enough carrot for me, because I get NO OTA HD. But I also half expect to get a free replacement then. If I don't, I will finally get on the phone and raise a stink.

BUT...if I still get nowhere, I will still reluctantly plunk down $99, because I really want HD network programming.

REMEMBER...DISH NEEDS you to get an MPEG-4 receiver eventually. But they don't need you to get it today. They have the upper hand now. They want you to salivate over 7 freakin channels. And if it's worth $99 to you, then pay the $99 and don't complain. If it's not, then don't pay it. And don't complain.

You are entitled to nothing until they REDUCE your level of service...by that, I mean switching existing channels to MPEG-4. And they will do that eventually...but that's when everybody that held out gets free stuff.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Company officials also emphasized the importance of making the technological transition to MPEG 4 to maximize current bandwidth, expand the HD market and make the addition of the new HD networks a successful one. Ergen said that DISH network would make it "very attractive" for current customers with MPEG 2 set-top boxes to upgrade to one with MPEG 4. "Probably the cost of a service call," he said.
http://www.skyreport.com/?HDPictures.com

Some of you guys are not reading these properly. Charlie said "probably the cost of a service call", which doesn't necessarily mean that they're only charging for the service call. It just means that the upgrade should cost what a service call costs today. And as juan pointed out, DHP service calls are free, but DHPP and regular service calls are from $29 to $99.

 

[M Sparks]

Upgrade should be FREE
Holy crap- this stuff changes so fast- we'll probably all need MPEG 6 receivers in 16 months. !protest

Yeah, they've made one upgrade in 10 years

(Actually, the original DirecTV was MPEG-1, but the first receievers were MPEG-2 capable)

 

[David Dietzel]

Upgrading policy will be announced Monday evening, probably the cost of service call and Scott feels that most exisiting customers will be pleased.

Sounds good to me.

What also sounds good to me is that Scott and SatGuys has a good relationship with Charlie and company, which means that we'll all be getting solid information through SatGuys for years to come.

By the way, a "service call" for me was just quoted as either $49 or $59 dollars (it was late at night and I can't remember exactly) to have a technician come out and check what seemed to be a faulty switch (turned out the switch power adapter got inadvertently pulled from the entertainment center powerstrip which we ultimately corrected ourselves).

If it costs me under $100 to upgrade my leased (6/05) 942 I'll be a very happy camper -- I just hope I don't have to wait until June to get one -- that would be bad mojo.

 

[jmd102354]

Now, let's not be offering more!

Ditto !!!

 

[BobMurdoch]

I'll even pay a little extra to jump to the head of the line. $299 wouldn't freak me out. But I don't want to have to fight to grab the 1 or 2 boxes they sent to the retailers. Sell them direct and I'll give you my 921 in exchange......

Right now, my plan is to call them up daily on Feb. 1st with every software hiccup that will inevitably come with my 921. I've just suffered in relative silence as far as E* is concerned. No more. If it drops a recording, I call. If it keeps withthe whitewashed output when archiving to DVD, I'm calling. Eventually, they'll figure out that it is cheaper to replace it than to keep paying for CSR calls on this lemon.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I expect I will be happy with the price of the upgrade.

Someone asked if we will have upgraded equipment by 2/1. There is no way we will have 622 receivers in our homes by 2/1. I think we will be lucky if we have them by 4/1, and would not be surprised if it took until May or June to upgrade everyone who wants one.

 

[rthomp03]

And why the heck would you need another Dish? I mean, you might, but it's not related to these announcements.

The new dish is related to the announcements. The new HD is all on 129, although I thought they would be smart and put ESPN2-HD on 110 along with all the other HD except VOOM. Those of us with only a Dish 500 need another dish!

 

[mdonnelly]

The new dish is related to the announcements. The new HD is all on 129, although I thought they would be smart and put ESPN2-HD on 110 along with all the other HD except VOOM. Those of us with only a Dish 500 need another dish!

Isn't it likely ESPN2-HD isn't on 110 because of MPEG-4? I thought that a transponder had to be either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, but couldn't have both. Of course, the better solution for us would have been to put it on 110 in MPEG-2.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

so these new channels are only on the 129? I have 61.5 and 110/119 will I need to get rid of 61.5 in favor of 129?

 

[mdonnelly]

The new VOOM stuff and ESPN2-HD are on 61.5 in testing mode now. But in LV, why wouldn't you want 129? Get a Dish 1000 and get rid of the extra dish.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

because I don't want to fork out more money then I already have to

 

[DishBacker]

because I don't want to fork out more money then I already have to

Then you can just as easy use your 61.5 for 129... if you want.. and probably get stronger signal strength then the dish 1000.

 

[CJPC]

I dunno, ive said it before, and Ill say it again, got no issue paying around $100 to LEASE a 211, I just dont want another commitment, Now if it was a 622 for $100 + a 1 yr commitment, we got another story! But for an entry level box, its not worth it.

Back when I had D* I shelled out too much $$, SD Tivos etc, they were amazing dont get me wrong, but spent wayyy too much $$ on em, cant see spending that kind of $$ again!

 

[Big_Ed]

I want it RIGHT NOW, I want it FREE, I won't accept HD-LITE, where are Cinemax HD and Starz HD, and oh yeah, those better be FREE too...you see, I was an early adopter, I spent all this money, blah blah blah.

Keep in mind that if E* isn't profitable, we'll all get to switch.

 

[Stargazer]

That "price of a service call" could be a translation of saying $99 to lease if you sign a commitment. If you want to own it could cost you more but maybe they will still get a discount if they sign a commitment. You would still have your old receiver that you could sell and maybe make up a little more of the difference. Maybe they will give those that own the HD receivers a special deal for being early adopters but it's hard to tell.

So we might actually get some real news on a Charlie Chat before we get it anywhere else for once.

 

[BrettTRay]

I got this same email from Skyretailer about upgrading being about the cost of a service call. I don't mind paying only 99.99 to upgrade from the 811 to a 211, do yall? I want mind a one year commitment neither. I just don't want Dish to have these HD channels up and alot of people not even be able to see them because Dish hasn't got off there ass and started shipping the new receivers. Put the damn 211 in the mail and I will send you the 811, period, don't need some installer out here to swap a bunch of cables around and activate it. Come on Dish were not idiots.

 

[drdr]

Isn't it likely ESPN2-HD isn't on 110 because of MPEG-4? I thought that a transponder had to be either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, but couldn't have both. Of course, the better solution for us would have been to put it on 110 in MPEG-2.

Those of you who whan HD locals from dish will need something besides Dish500 regardless. There certainly isn't room on 110 or 119 to start retransmitting HD locals in MPEG2, MPEG4, or any other existing compression scheme. You will need a dish 1000 or an extra dish at 61.5, 148, or somewhere else to get HD locals.
I think the compression is done before uplink, so MPEG2 and MPEG 4 signals could theoretically be sent through the same transponder. There may be some internal limitations in the E* receivers which require all signals on the same transponder to have the same compression scheme.

 

[CJPC]

If you want to own it could cost you more but maybe they will still get a discount if they sign a commitment. You would still have your old receiver that you could sell and maybe make up a little more of the difference.

See my issue is, my 811 is on lease, you would think that it would be swapped out w/o issue or commitment, namely its there box, im just wondering when to call them, been holding off calling em about this box for 2 months, its all screwey etc, wondering if they will replace w/ a 211 or not!