Thinking of switching to Dish, have questions

[hahler2]

With the upcoming release of the 922 I am very intrigued about switching to Dish Network. I'm very happy with Directv, but they have nothing in the realm close to the 922 and that's a huge selling point for me. Also, from what I have heard, Dish is supposed to have better picture quality, but not sure on that one.

The only things holding me back are the fact that Dish doesn't offer my locals in HD, and doesn't have Spike or FX in HD. But I did some research on here and it sounds like my DMA (Sioux Falls, SD) is supposed to be getting locals in HD sometime soon. And I noticed that FX and Spike are on the list for 09.

I was just curious if anyone knew when the FX and Spike channels will come in HD? Also, with my setup I have 6 coax cables coming from my sat into my basement, then into a multiswitch, and I then have 2 cables routed through the walls to my DVR in the den, and then have 2 more cables routed to the DVR in my living room. All of these cables are fairly permanently installed. How hard will it be to adapt a Dish setup to my installation? How many cables come off the satellite dish and how many come off the multiswitch?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

If your happy with D* ,you might as well stay there. The 922 isn't even available untill sometime later this year.
Dishnetwork only has better HD PQ about 30% of the time IMO over D*. Some new HD in the spring, so Mid March - Mid June Sometime.
Dish would be able to use the exsiting wiring, Unless its RG-59, But i doubt it is ,since D* wouldn't have or shouldn't have installed their own D* HD equipment using RG 59.
But depending on your setup you want, its 1 cable per receiver no matter what for E* satellite service. 1000.2 and 1000.4 can run 3 HD DVR's without a Muiltiswitch.

 

[cparker]

Base your decision on what you know you have available now, not what you think you might get later. If you would make this switch based solely on the DVR, then plan on giving up the channels that DishNetwork does not currently provide. If and when they arrive, it would be a nice bonus but do not count on anything happening (and this probably goes for EITHER of these providers) on time or as promised.

 

[hahler2]

Thanks for the opinions guys. I will not make the switch until the 922 is out and FX and Spike are in HD. Too many shows on those channels that I watch. However, I will be making the switch eventually. Today's screw up with Directv's DVRs has me really angry. I lost all my to do items on both of my DVR's. And this is the 3rd time they have screwed up badly in 6 months! I'm sure that Dish DVRs have some issues as well since nothing is perfect, but I haven't heard about anything this bad. Plus all the websites seem to rate the Dish DVRs much higher then the Directv.

Question though. I have never heard of RG-59 Coax cable. What is the difference and how do I tell what my cable is?

 

[johnwadams]

If you also want the networks in HD, don't switch until they are HD. Around my multi-state area dish has some locals in SD only and you can't get a timeframe when they will be HD. Looks like I headed for DTV next month.
Like you, I also want FX and the networks in HD. It looks like D* is more expensive than E*, once the package credits run out, but if they don't have what you want, it is a moot point.

 

[Laddyboy]

Fx is not on the ad that E* has out for new HD this Spring, only the Viacom channels.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Fx is not on the ad that E* has out for new HD this Spring, only the Viacom channels.

Yes your right. I'll edit.

 

[Pakbackr]

Having had both, I wouldn't agree that DISH HD is of higher quality than Directv. In fact, I have had more issues with sound blips and pixelated HD issues with DISH than I ever had with Directv. But the 622 HD DVR is awesome and I stay just because of that. The 922 does look like another leap in HD DVR technology. I don't think you will be disappointed in making the switch unless you give up HD content that is really important to you.