SD Experience with Dish in South Jersey?

[stuartnj]

Has anyone had recent experience with Dish Network in South Jersey? What is the picture quality of SD channels, including locals?

Also, are there some local installers I should consider, or should I go directly through Dish Network?

Thanks. I'm getting close to a decision, but in reviewing this board, it seems as if satisfaction with Dish Network is a mixed bag (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Stuart

 

[Murphdog]

Hi Stuart....I'm in Cherry Hill.The SD locals picture is ok. Not the greatest once in a while..soft and a little blurry but watchable. I mostly watch HD and only watch SD locals when the HD audio goes out of sync. The other channels are very good. Good luck on the installer. Evey Dish dispatched installer I have had has been a problem. My first install had improper grounding,rigged wiring, and the cables(4)were run over the peak of the roof and nailed to the shingles. I was not at home at the time to stop the work. Off course a call to dish did nothing. When I moved into my new home that I pre-wired for dish it was not as bad because I did most of the work. The installers almost left because they were convinced I needed a Superdish...not around this area! Of course I stopped watching them for some unknown reason and they installed a DP34 switch that is not compatible with my two tuner DVR and legacy tuner that I had at the time. Back in July I wanted a VIP622 and DISH demanded that it be "installed" by their installer. He never showed up and could not be found during my 4 hours on the phone with dish that day. I bought two 622's out of pocket since they could not help me....my reward...Dish was convinced that they owned all of my receivers(I own all of them..no lease) and charged me lease fees and put me in a contract. Every month I have to call them to complain about the fees...and they apoligize and tell me they will fix the problem, they never do. Have fun with the foreign billing and tech center. Ask for customer specialty or the executive offices when they give you the run around. The only reason I have stuck with them is that I like their new 622 DVR and they have the most HD. I have two HD sets so I need HD. I have never been a fan of Comcast but they are only a little more expensive (or less expensive with promotions) in our area once you factor in that Dish makes you lease or buy a receiver and pay extra for service calls and parts. I am lucky that I have spare parts and aiming equipment. I have FIOS internet now and look forward to FIOS TV. I went with Direct TV then DISH 9 years ago when cable had a poor lineup and was analog. Now that it is digital and Verizon competition is coming 1Q2007 I'm ready to leave.I hope Dish gets it's act together.

 

[Super Dave]

I live in Maple Shade and had Dish installed 4 months ago. The installers, Antenna Star, sucked. They didn't properly install the LNB, it filled with water when it rained, and when they came back the next guy aligned the Dish to the strongest signal possible, but never looked at the LNB. It took an email to ceo@echostar.com that finally got Dish to send out an in house tech and he found and fixed the problem. Since then not a single problem. With all of the rain we have had I have not signal loss at all.

As for the PQ, I watch all the local HD channels, both OTA and over the sat, and the picture is great. I don't get any local SD, but the national HDs are much better than the ones I had with DTV. Not as dark and fuzzy. I find the PQ to be real good. I know it won't compare to FIOS, but it is better than Comcast and DTV. And I like the VIP622 better than my DTiVo boxes I had, much faster and no problems. My wife figured it out quickly, so the learning curve isn't that hard, and I like the 3 tuners.

 

[stuartnj]

Thanks for the replies. It seems as if finding a good installer is key -- going directly to E* and letting them subcontract it out is apparently not the answer. There seem to be a couple of established installers in the Central Jersey area to check out.

I guess the real question is whether I should just wait the 1-2 years for FIOS?

Stuart