The Positive Spin of the HD Channel delayed

[Sean Mota]

I know some of you are upset, frustrated or whatever emotion you are feeling right now. I am just trying to get a positive spin to this whole thing. It sounds like the worst that can happen is that on February 1st some of us be without an MPEG-4 DVR receiver.

I can see some positives:

1 - Since now we are going to have MPEG-4 channels this should increase the capacity of the Hard Disk on the DVR.

2 - MPEG-4 is the future and if Dish was going to do it at one point or another someone was going to be turned off by the adjustment or transiction to MPEG-4 equipment.

3 - HD programming will be downloadable to PocketDish.

4 - Heck! That's a freaking awesome lineup of HD channels in one system.

5 - MPEG-4 will leave the door open for more HD channels and as the HBO HD, Show HD and the 10 Voom HD channels are moved to MPEG-4, more space will be allocated.

6 - We only have a press release that does not specifically states anything about current subscribers. I am sure Dish will not screw their current base and will come up with a good solution to upgrade to the VIP622 and even those people with 811/6000u receivers.

7 - The future of MPEG4 is in 2006. I think Dish is doing the right thing by moving forward to it and leave behind MPEG2.

8 - There should be no excuse for Dish not to deliver all channels at its native full resolution and with high bitrates. The PQ issues should go away.

9 - HD Archiving may become a reality with the MPEG-4 and the Dish Solution which it is better than Firewire/Blue Ray.

Yes, we are all frustrated and shocked by the MPEG4 model but take a deep breath and also think about the positives.

 

[jonesbruce91361]

no more mpeg2

I'm with Sean on this. Better to suffer a little in the beginning and enjoy a lot more good stuff a lot quicker. This is like a preview of what the whole country will face in 2009 when they shut down analog.

I only hope they do well by us current customers. All I gots this dinky lil ole 6000 in my basement!

 

[Cyclone]

This is funny, Everyone for the past two years had been so excited for MPEG4 to launch. Now that it is just around the corner, everyone is bent. Heck Feb 1st is a delay? Thats not even a month, and we had been getting hints of that for some time now.

Besides, its not like you are losing channels on Feb 1st.

Also we all knew that the 942 was a lame duck from the day that it was announced. We knew of MPEG04, and how the 942 did not support it. Every recommendation for the 942 was conditioned with the MPEG-4 warning.

 

[NightRyder]

Well said Sean. Thanks for a level headed analysis. :up

NightRyder

 

[avsfan33]

Maybe the delay is to get the transition started now from mpeg2 recievers to mpeg4 for those of us with HD by Feb 1

 

[Cornstalkk]

Thanks Sean for that perspective. I agree with you whole heartedly (spelling?) and I currently have a 942, and am waiting anxiously for the upgrade info which may or may not be discussed on the Charlie Chat. Only one can speculate.
I currently have a Dish 500 w/ a 61.5 also. Will everything be mirrored accordingly so I can receive all the new channels?

 

[mwgiii]

I agree Sean, but Dish better have a nice upgrade path for us.

In the past they have not been very good at upgrading existing customers. Look at how long it took for them to allow us to lease the 942.

After dropping almost $1000 on my 921 and putting up with all of its problems, I really can't get excited about dropping $299 for the privilege of leasing a Vip 622.

 

[M Sparks]

In the past they have not been very good at upgrading existing customers. Look at how long it took for them to allow us to lease the 942.

I'm so sick of this completely invalid argument. The 942 is nicer than the 921. It doesn't get more channels.

Actually, that's a completely different invalid argument than yours..."My 921 doesn't work perfectly, so I should get a new receiver free!" :river That's the price of being an early adopter. I used to have a freakin 7100! You think that thing EVER worked right? Eventually, I bought a 508, but I didn't feel entitled to a free one...and there was a successful LAWSUIT over the 7100!

Your argument is less annoying...sorry to jump on you. But did you ever think that maybe the reason the 942 was hard to get ahold of is that they knew they would have to replace them to begin with?

DISH will upgrade the HD receivers at little to no cost. That doesn't mean you'll have one in your hands Feb 1st. More than likely, they will botch everything, the upgrades will take twice as long as expected, and thousands will get pissed off. But they will upgrade them. They're not going to screw their best customers. And they're not going to let themselves fall further behind DirecTV than they already are.

But they DO need to tell us what's going to happen.

 

[riffjim4069]

I'm not asking for nor am I expecting very much in the way of assitance from E*. But I do expect E* to upgrade those individuals who have a purchased a HD receiver under warranty with a similarly equiped MPEG-4 HD receiver - $49 in shipping and administrative fees would be fair.

For those owning HD receivers that are out of warranty...I feel for you, but you got some use out of it and E* should offer you a fair upgrade plan when rolling out HD LIL to your area. What's fair? Good question!

Anyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it until I change my mind.

 

[pcbelize]

All good points Sean. Assuming there is a reasonable upgrade plan for my 942 (and that is a BIG assumption) I'm a happy camper.

I understand that the 622 has the same size hard drive space as the 942. I hadn't considered that mpeg4 would take up less space on a hard drive. So once all HD is in mpeg4, how many more hours of HD could the hard drive hold???

 

[Sean Mota]

Anything between 25-50 hours I assume. It all depends on the compression scheme MPEG-4.

 

[DishBacker]

Anything between 25-50 hours I assume. It all depends on the compression scheme MPEG-4.

You would think they would advertise this... even with the 320GB vs. 250GB, the 25 hr MPEG2 HD time should increase. Are they gonna make the 622 like the 625 and use the extra space for On Demand PPV stuff?

I would expect to see:

25 hr MPEG-2 HD
40-50 hr MPEG-4 HD
180 hr SD

Or something like that. Otherwise Dish has some bad advertising...

 

[Smith P.]

DISH already informed as - check CES photos : 25 hours HD and 180 hours SD for the ViP622.

 

[BrettTRay]

I think Sean is right about us coming out for the good on Dish doing MPEG4. I would think that Charlie would want to get these new receivers out to us as soon as possible to be able to get these extra channels and to get MPEG2 behind us. With MPEG4 there should be no reason for HD Lite. If they continue to use down rezzed programming then shame on them for being greedy. Charlie has apperently had a change of heart on the whole thing and I think he has made the right decision. The only way I can see this being bad for anyone is if they do not give existing customers a reasonable path to upgrade and not wait forever.

 

[Airblair]

DISH already informed as - check CES photos : 25 hours HD and 180 hours SD for the ViP622.

But there will also be a USB add-on option.

 

[Harold]

Long time "guest", firt time posting.
You would think Dish would know that alot of current customers would be following what went on at CES and with Dish HD. That said, he should have said something about what their planes are for upgrading us. I have an 811, 322, and a 301. I got dish because of the HD. I will not pay more for the HD lite we are getting now and have to pay out the nose for an upgrade.

 

[kyblue]

Her is my concern, if they are going to double the charge of the HD programming they should also provide reasonable relief for those who can not receive the entire programming package..i.e mpeg4 channels. It would be IMO unethical and perhaps illegal to charge for programming that they know the customer is unable to receive because of changes that E* made and was through no fault of the consumer. Thats my take.

 

[dogday]

I think you are right on. Seems like it would leave them wide open for a class action suit.

but then, I'm no lawyer...

Her is my concern, if they are going to double the charge of the HD programming they should also provide reasonable relief for those who can not receive the entire programming package..i.e mpeg4 channels. It would be IMO unethical and perhaps illegal to charge for programming that they know the customer is unable to receive because of changes that E* made and was through no fault of the consumer. Thats my take.

 

[BrettTRay]

Her is my concern, if they are going to double the charge of the HD programming they should also provide reasonable relief for those who can not receive the entire programming package..i.e mpeg4 channels. It would be IMO unethical and perhaps illegal to charge for programming that they know the customer is unable to receive because of changes that E* made and was through no fault of the consumer. Thats my take.

Thats my reasoning for thinking that they will start upgrading us as soon as possible to keep from some customers being able to get the new channels and the others not being able to get them.

 

[nickg420]

I think we are all jumping the gun let's give them till at least the next Charlie Chat to explain themselves.....

Then we'll cut his F....ing head off