switching from Time Warner Cable to Dish-a few more questions, please!

[Z06_Pilot]

hi folks,

TWC has told me that can't fix the problem they are having with switched digital, so my beloved Tivo Series 3 DVR's and the wonderful Tivo user interface is going the way of the dodo for me.

so I have a few more questions regarding dish if you don't mind?

1. the 722 DVR. I understand it has 4 tuners? two that are satellite sourced and are HD capable, one for OTR and one for SD(which also has the separate RF remote). is this correct? I am interested in putting up an antenna on my house to try to tune in the local stations on HD, so that when the eventual satellite fade happens(because I live under the perpetual cloud cover that is Columbus, Ohio), I can get my locals at least. How does the 722 determine whether to use the satellite or the OTA tuner to pull in local HD stations for recording?

2. service. until now, with this unsolvable SDV problem, I have had nothing but fantastic service from TWC in my area. If I had a problem, they would always be out within two days. how does that work with Dish if I get all my equipment through them? is the support all over the phone, and shipping hardware back and forth, or do they contract for local in-home service?

3. one area of heartburn for me is this 2 year commitment, with apparently no money back guarantee. I doubt this would happen, but what if they come out to install, and the HD pictures just don't look all that great, or for some reason, they can't aim the dish to get acceptable signal levels? Can I tell them "no thanks" and walk away?

4. equipment upgrades. how well does Dish handle this? for instance, if true multi-room viewing would require a new receiver/DVR in the future, do you have to pay full replacement costs for upgraded hardware, or is there an upgrade allowance of some sort?

5. finally, is leasing all the equipment through Dish the way to go? I have seen numerous places where you can buy the 722. are there advantages one way or the other?

comments are greatly appreciated

Jeff

 

[KAB]

1. The 722 has three tuners...2 sat and 1 OTA. There is no SD only tuner.
The 722K...2 sat plus two OTA with OPTIONAL OTA tuner module.
YOU determine which local channel source to use via the programming guide. It will list the sat and ota versions of a local channel provided you subscribe to locals. If not, the OTA channel will just show up as "digital service".

2. In general, if a receiver has been deemed to have failed, they will send you a replacement. If you have DHPP (digital home protection plan) your cost will be nothing. If no DHPP, they MAY charge you $15.00 for shipping. If a failure can not be determined on the phone, they will send out a tech.

3. As long as you have good LOS, you should have not problems. That will be determined immediately. Dish will send out a tech if problems occur within 30 (I think) days from installation. They are pretty good about that kind of thing.

4. After you have had a receiver for a year or more and you are a customer in good standing, they offer Dish It Up (DIU) options for equipment upgrades, generally $100.00 or less. Hard to be specific about that subject.

5. Lease...period. No real advantage to purchasing.

 

[garys]

1, If you are referring to the 722k with the OTA module and not the 722, not quite. The 722k with OTA module will have two sat tuners (HD included) and two OTA tuners which will give one sat and one OTA to tv1 output and one sat tuner and OTA tuner to tv2 output. Anything recorded on any tuner is available to both outputs. You set what is recorded by selecting the channel you want it recorded from whether it is sat or OTA, the DishPass software does not gust pick any tuner.

2. Depending on the problem, any of the three methods you asked may be used.

3. You do have a couple of days, I believe it may be three but am not 100% sure. If there is no line of site while installing, you are not held to the commitment.

4. Going through Dish and not an outside retailer or installer, the equipment is leased to you and you do not own it. Any upgrades are with an upfront fee and is not full price. If you purchased the equipment on your own, you would pay the full price and be liable for the installation (either doing it yourself or paying someone to do it for you).

5. Leasing means you cannot sell it and if you cancel your service, the receiver must be sent back to Dish or you are charged full price for the unreturned receiver. But you are not stuck with outdated equipment when you lease.

 

[JohnL]

hi folks,

TWC has told me that can't fix the problem they are having with switched digital, so my beloved Tivo Series 3 DVR's and the wonderful Tivo user interface is going the way of the dodo for me.

so I have a few more questions regarding dish if you don't mind?

1. the 722 DVR. I understand it has 4 tuners? two that are satellite sourced and are HD capable, one for OTR and one for SD(which also has the separate RF remote). is this correct? I am interested in putting up an antenna on my house to try to tune in the local stations on HD, so that when the eventual satellite fade happens(because I live under the perpetual cloud cover that is Columbus, Ohio), I can get my locals at least. How does the 722 determine whether to use the satellite or the OTA tuner to pull in local HD stations for recording?

2. service. until now, with this unsolvable SDV problem, I have had nothing but fantastic service from TWC in my area. If I had a problem, they would always be out within two days. how does that work with Dish if I get all my equipment through them? is the support all over the phone, and shipping hardware back and forth, or do they contract for local in-home service?

3. one area of heartburn for me is this 2 year commitment, with apparently no money back guarantee. I doubt this would happen, but what if they come out to install, and the HD pictures just don't look all that great, or for some reason, they can't aim the dish to get acceptable signal levels? Can I tell them "no thanks" and walk away?

4. equipment upgrades. how well does Dish handle this? for instance, if true multi-room viewing would require a new receiver/DVR in the future, do you have to pay full replacement costs for upgraded hardware, or is there an upgrade allowance of some sort?

5. finally, is leasing all the equipment through Dish the way to go? I have seen numerous places where you can buy the 722. are there advantages one way or the other?

comments are greatly appreciated

Jeff

Jeff,

1) Yes the 722 has an OTA tuner as well as two satellite tuners. If you get a 722k it has a separate OTA Tuner Cartridge that is an add on that slides into a Cart slot on the back of the unit. With a 722k + Tuner Cartridge you can use 2 OTA Signals and 2 Satellite signals at the same time. This means you could record 2 OTA signals and 2 satellite signals at the same time, while you playback upto 2 prerecorded channels. In the guide your local OTA stations appear in YELLOW, as opposed to your locals uplinked and delivered by Dish appear in the standard guide color. Lastly the Rain fade you elude too almost never happens, it has to be an absolute down pour (Thunderhead) and even then the signal is likely to off for less than 5 minutes.

2) Dish's customer service is by phone, if you have an issue you can expect either a local service person to come out or Dish will send out a replacement unit via UPS, with a prepaid label to send back the defective unit. Dish's and LNBF's seldom have problems. You mileage may vary.

3) The Commitment is 2 years, but if you are not satisfied right off the back you can cancel out within a day or two. If you do not have Line of sight to the satellites you will not be installed in the first place.

4) Equipment upgrades vary and can depend on your service level. The more services you purchase means they are more interested in offering discounted upgrade paths.

5) All Dish equipment is leased, there is really no incentive to purchase the equipment as the service along with any additional fees involved are the same for Purchased equipment as they are for leased equipment.

 

[Z06_Pilot]

thanks so much, that really cleared things up for me. I have a very clear line of site with the SW horizon, so my signal should be very good.

just one more, I promise!

can someone clear up the remote control issue I have heard explained a couple of different ways?

both of my 722's will be stacked together in my main viewing room.

I have to ensure I can control both 722's without interfering with one another.

I have been told two different things:'

1. using the AUX button, you can program a single remote to talk to two 722's independently without their signals affecting each other.
2. you have to use a separate remote for each 722, but they can be set so the remote frequencies don't affect one another.

finally, how does the RF remote that comes with the 722 for remote TV viewing work when you have two 722's stacked together?

thanks!

Jeff

 

[Islandguy43]

TWC has told me that can't fix the problem they are having with switched digital, so my beloved Tivo Series 3 DVR's and the wonderful Tivo user interface is going the way of the dodo for me.

Just curious, with you having a TIVO, why aren't you looking at Directv, whom is supposed to be the TIVO Friendly Satellite Company?

 

[KAB]

thanks so much, that really cleared things up for me. I have a very clear line of site with the SW horizon, so my signal should be very good.

just one more, I promise!

can someone clear up the remote control issue I have heard explained a couple of different ways?

both of my 722's will be stacked together in my main viewing room.

I have to ensure I can control both 722's without interfering with one another.

I have been told two different things:'

1. using the AUX button, you can program a single remote to talk to two 722's independently without their signals affecting each other.
2. you have to use a separate remote for each 722, but they can be set so the remote frequencies don't affect one another.

finally, how does the RF remote that comes with the 722 for remote TV viewing work when you have two 722's stacked together?

thanks!

Jeff

First off, NEVER stack the 722's together. The emit a lot of heat and stacking would almost certainly be the kiss of death. As long as each remote has a unique address matched to each receiver, you will have no problems. Which begs the question, why are you putting two receivers in the same room? Assuming there is a good reason, you will need to get another 6.3 or 21.0 (the new learning remote) UHF Pro remote to control the TV1 via UHF that is not in the same room.

 

[Z06_Pilot]

thanks for the responses folks.

Islandguy. I didn't think D* was Tivo friendly anymore?! they dumped the Tivo based DVR's several years ago, then had a long and nasty legal battle, now have apparently made up, and Tivo is SUPPOSED to be making hardware for them in 2010. it's yet to be seen whether all Tivo features will be there or if they are just having this arrangement to end the legal arguing and only apply the minimal amount of engineering required to keep both sides happy

from what I understand, the Dish user interface is so much like Tivo's, they have a copyright infrigment suit against Dish for the technology.

Plus, if it's not on Speed HD, I have no use for televised sports, coupled with the clear technical advantages Dish has over D* from a DVR perspective, and this was a pretty easy decision.

or did I miss something regarding Tivo and D*?

thanks.

Jeff

 

[Z06_Pilot]

Thanks KAB,

sorry, should have been more clear. the 722's will be on top of each other, but each will be sitting on their own shelf on the back wall of my viewing room-no enclosure either, so heat dissipation is no problem. each shelf has about 10" of vertical separation...

regarding having two 722's in the same room. help me out, as I think I am missing something. I am replacing two Tivo Series 3 DVR's which have dual cable cards, allowing me to record up to 4 programs simultaneously, and select either one for playback to my RPTV through my A/V premamp.

I think to get the same capability with Dish, I would need two 722's in the same location, no?

 

[Raymie]

The Dish/TiVo suit is a patent issue over DVR technologies, not a user interface dispute.

You're lucky you switched now because WBNS HD became available a month or two ago (after Dispatch and Dish were battling).

 

[Z06_Pilot]

The Dish/TiVo suit is a patent issue over DVR technologies, not a user interface dispute.

Darn, thought I might be getting a Tivo-like interface

 

[KAB]

Thanks KAB,

sorry, should have been more clear. the 722's will be on top of each other, but each will be sitting on their own shelf on the back wall of my viewing room-no enclosure either, so heat dissipation is no problem. each shelf has about 10" of vertical separation...

regarding having two 722's in the same room. help me out, as I think I am missing something. I am replacing two Tivo Series 3 DVR's which have dual cable cards, allowing me to record up to 4 programs simultaneously, and select either one for playback to my RPTV through my A/V premamp.

I think to get the same capability with Dish, I would need two 722's in the same location, no?

I see the madness to your method. ONE 722K will record two sat channels and two OTA at the same time...there is your four if two can be OTA. Seems to me, with the way many of the cable channel shows are repeated during a week, you would able to get everything you want and not need to be such a "power recorder". An extra receiver will cost $12.00 more per month. Also keep in mind, the 722K has more storage capacity than your Tivos. If you want more, you can enable an External Hard Drive.

 

[Z06_Pilot]

very good point KAB.

Problem with OTA, is, I have never tried it before. I don't even have an antenna on my roof right now, so I'm not sure how OTA will look from the location I am at(middle of the city). I have heard reports of picture freeze and pixelation during windy and rainy days...but that was a couple of years ago, when the locals first started broadcasting in HD.

OTA was going to be a safety net for me in case I have a situation where, for example, fade takes out the sat signal, but i can still get my local HD's from OTA. I know sat fade is rare from what I hear, and even it it occurs during heavy storms, it does not typically last long.

other reason I was thinking of two 722's. I'm all about backups. I have backups for many things in my house(wife not included.....yet)

If a 722 goes down, while I am working on getting it repaired/replaced, I can apply critical program schedules to the other 722 in addition to what it was already recording, to limp along until I am back to two units again...

and oh yes, you better believe I am all about the external storage! another reason I chose Dish. Love the way they handle external recordings compared to Tivo I have now and D*. I will be attaching a 1TB unit to each 722 as soon as they get installed...

thanks!

 

[KAB]

very good point KAB.

Problem with OTA, is, I have never tried it before. I don't even have an antenna on my roof right now, so I'm not sure how OTA will look from the location I am at(middle of the city). I have heard reports of picture freeze and pixelation during windy and rainy days...but that was a couple of years ago, when the locals first started broadcasting in HD.

OTA was going to be a safety net for me in case I have a situation where, for example, fade takes out the sat signal, but i can still get my local HD's from OTA. I know sat fade is rare from what I hear, and even it it occurs during heavy storms, it does not typically last long.

other reason I was thinking of two 722's. I'm all about backups. I have backups for many things in my house(wife not included.....yet)

If a 722 goes down, while I am working on getting it repaired/replaced, I can apply critical program schedules to the other 722 in addition to what it was already recording, to limp along until I am back to two units again...

and oh yes, you better believe I am all about the external storage! another reason I chose Dish. Love the way they handle external recordings compared to Tivo I have now and D*. I will be attaching a 1TB unit to each 722 as soon as they get installed...

thanks!

I have my antenna in my attic. I always opt for OTA over a sat local, even if better quality only on paper. But, if you have the money to spare, go for it.

 

[Z06_Pilot]

thanks, I will compare OTA and Sat local when I get set up and record using the best quality(to my eyes anyway).