jhump said:
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.