Thinking of moving to E*

[ChrisFix]

Update:

I got my install today. Things went very well. I ended up needing the second dish to get the HD nationals on 61.5. The installers put both dishes on the roof as I expected they would need to. They took their time and did it right. All told, install took about 4 hours. I did have them run an extra line from my attic to the unused 2nd connection from back when I used to have DirecTiVO. My plan is to have another go at OTA. Worse case, I should be able to get PBS-HD with it which does not come over the dish.

My impressions of the 722 so far are very positive. The HD picture is very crisp and clear with VERY few compression artifacts or macro-blocking so far on the channels I have watched so far. The interface is very snappy, although it was not at first while the receiver was first booted. I was glad to see it speed up later on. The receiver looks great and is SO much quieter than the SA boxes.

One nice bonus was the ability to use both remotes in Single mode which means the wife and I both have our own remotes. Also, working CallerID is nice to finally have after Jones Intercable first promised it back in the 80s. I know hacks have been around for a while and it works for some Digital Phone subscribers on TWC have it, but I have never successfully experienced it before.

In short, is it a Tivo, no, but my initial impression is that it is years ahead of Passport and decades ahead of Navigator. So far, so good.

Ted

Ted,
Congrats on getting your new setup. How is the SD picture quality...how would you compare it to TWC digital SD? Also, what dishes did you actually have installed, and what did it cost?
Thanks,
Chris

 

[ncted]

Ted,
Congrats on getting your new setup. How is the SD picture quality...how would you compare it to TWC digital SD? Also, what dishes did you actually have installed, and what did it cost?
Thanks,
Chris

Chris,

I would rate SD "about as good" as the simulcast digital SD channels on TWC. The DISH SD channels are a bit over-saturated while TWC's SD channels are over-dark IMHO. Both exhibit compression artifacts on my 46" Sammy LCD over component, but the DISH picture might be a little more uniform, so less distracting to me, but more to the wife (who told me not to have her look at the TV up close any more as it looks fine from 10 feet away, LOL). I don't expect much from SD either way, so I was not disappointed. I could tell virtually no difference between TWC and E* SD on my 27" Sony CRT.

I got a DISH 1000 Plus for the 110, 118, and 119 birds and a DISH 500 for the 61.5. Cost was $49.99 which will be refunded to me in my first month's bill. There were no up-front equipment fees for the VIP722 and DVR625 I got.

DISH only needs one line to each DVR receiver which is a nice change from what DirecTV used to require, although I believe that D* offers something similar on the HR20 now. Either way, my previous investment in cabling paid off in that I did not have to pay for them to re-run or run additional lines (other than the attic to crawlspace line for my antenna -- wish me luck!). I paid $40 for the attic run, but that was cash to the installer since it was not part of the DISH install.

All in all, I would say it it comparable to TWC for PQ, better for some HD channels, but there are more HD channels, but the real win is in the quality of the equipment and software. Oh, the GUI might be too busy with menus, but it actually works mostly as expected and speedily which Navigator does neither. If I can get OTA working, I think I will be as happy as I can reasonably expect to be (at least until they decide to screw something up).

Ted

 

[ncted]

Update: I setup my CM 4228 antenna in my attic. I just stuck it up there, sitting on the floor, roughly pointed at 129 degrees. I can pull in all the locals except WLFL-22 which is fine as I watch nothing on the CW. WRDC comes in at 100% which was surprising. WRAL and WNCN have some errors on them, but that is not surprising given this was my first attempt. I was more shocked that I could pull in anything at all reliably. I think it it time to invest in a tripod, a mast, and a rotor for peaking.

Ted

 

[Cold Irons]

I considered a rotor for my 4228, could get a couple more channels - however, the problem is the DVR and scheduled recordings. Have to insure the antenna is pointed in the right direction for the channel you're recording.

In the end, decided to pass on the rotor so wouldn't have to worry about DVR events vs. where the antenna is pointed.

 

[ncted]

I considered a rotor for my 4228, could get a couple more channels - however, the problem is the DVR and scheduled recordings. Have to insure the antenna is pointed in the right direction for the channel you're recording.

In the end, decided to pass on the rotor so wouldn't have to worry about DVR events vs. where the antenna is pointed.

I think of the rotor as a buy-once, use infrequently kind of device for me. All the channels I am trying to receive are at 129 degrees, so I really just need to fine-tune the aim. Hopefully I can all of the big 4 networks to come in strong with the proper aim. If not, I would settle for a subset of them, just as a little insurance against rain-fade. Although, I guess there is always bittorrent, but generally HD recordings are not available there or are SO large they take forever to download.

Ted