Upcoming "mid July" 942 promotion for existing customers

[SpenceJT]

Don't concern yourself with the MPEG-4 coming soon, it will take Dish about 3 years to get to the MPEG-2 cutoff point for the HD channels, then they'll have something even more cool to upgrade to.

If that is the case, by the time Dish Network gets it's MPEG4 crap together, I(along with many other marginally satisfied Dish Network Subscribers) will be switched over to DirecTV.

Have you seen initial information on their H20 MPEG2/4 dual tuner receiver/recorder?

Pretty damn tempting! Other than the fact that it is being offered to new and existing subscribers for only $199, this is the only information that I can find on the unit.

DIRECTV H20 HD receiver

DIRECTV new or existing subscriber price only $199.99. No deposit for this advance order. Your credit card will be charged $199.99 when we ship.

New DIRECTV subscribers who sign a 2 yr. programming agreement get the 18"x20" Multi-Satellite antenna dish system and standard professional installation at no additional charge.

The H20 features HDTV Local and MPEG-2/4 Satellite decoding and Dolby Digital surround sound.

Receiver Features:
Outputs all HD and SD outputs at the same time, so you can slave the signal to another analog TV or record onto a VCR or recordable DVD

Decodes 480i/480P/720P/1080i
Video HDTV for local and satellite broadcasts.
Multi-satellite reception capable receiver.
Dolby digital AC-3 Fiber optic outputs.
Component Video Pb, Pr, Y
HDMI with DHCP Digital HD video out
S-video out
RCA outputs: L/R audio and video
Standard coaxial out

Box Includes:
RF/IR Remote Control Unit
Owner's Manual
1 year parts, 90 days labor warranty
DIRECTV Plus dish required for HDTV multi-satellite reception

Note - it doesn't mention any type of Name Based Recording nor does it make any mention of a monthly subscription fee. I remember hearing a while back that DirecTV was going to switch over to all DVR models with no subcriber fee. If true, Dish better come through with something soon or I'll be terminating their service!

...oh, and Hi Darrell!

 

[GaryPen]

Not only doesn't it mention NBR, it doesn't mention DVR functions of any kind. It sounds to me like a straight receiver, a la the Dish 811. I'm sure it's better than the 811. (A brick is better than the 811.) But, it doesn't seem to be a DVR. So, it isn't really competing with Dish 942.

I'd like to hear about DirecTV's replacement for the 10-250, which would be a direct comparison to the 942.

 

[SpenceJT]

You know what Gary? You are absolutley correct!

must be Friday afternoon brain dead heat stroke or something

crap.

well here is to dreaming!

 

[gqmagic]

Software upgradable?

I asked 2 advanced tech people about the upgrade to mpeg4 and they both said the 942's would be software upgradable.

 

[Stacy A]

I asked 2 advanced tech people about the upgrade to mpeg4 and they both said the 942's would be software upgradable.

They misunderstood you. All Dish receivers are software upgradeable, but none can possibly make the switch to MPEG4 with software alone. Moving to MPEG4 would require some hardware upgrades as well. The "advanced tech people" you talked to don't know what MPEG4 is.

 

[GaryPen]

Has it been definitely established that the 942 does not have the necessary hardware that makes it software upgradable to MPEG4? Perhaps it does. Broadcom may have considered this when designing the chips for the 942.

 

[DVDDAD]

Has it been definitely established that the 942 does not have the necessary hardware that makes it software upgradable to MPEG4? Perhaps it does. Broadcom may have considered this when designing the chips for the 942.

It's been stated many times that the 942 would not be software upgradeable to MPEG4. Tech Chat, Scott G. and also Mark from DBStalk have all confirmed this.

 

[Grandude]

I think Dish should, in all good conscience, offer a one to one swap of the 942 to all 921 owners who have lost all their recordings, have to reboot (still), or are just totally fed up with the unreliability of the dang machine. I have had all of the above along with many other silly problems which a $1000 machine should not have. I should add to the list, anyone who bought their 921 because of the firewire promise.

 

[Sirius_Rich]

I am on my third 921 with pretty much the same problems as #1 and #2. Frozen stretch mode (known problem), violent picture shuttering (denied known problem), mis aligned picture, OTA issues, reboots several times a day and the like. At least this one has not crashed and burned totally, yet.

Advanced tech rep just told me I had a bad DVI cable (there is nothing wrong with my cable) and not to worry about the other problems and that component cabling was just as good anyway. DISH is to release SW v 216 that will fix my problems, "hopefully" next week. I can't wait, again.

 

[GaryPen]

It's been stated many times that the 942 would not be software upgradeable to MPEG4. Tech Chat, Scott G. and also Mark from DBStalk have all confirmed this.

Oh well. Very forward-thinking on Dish's part. Save a few pennies now, and pay for it big time later.

 

[hdaddikt]

Dish has a few issues that will be coming to a head. Leasing 942s to existing customers, hardly a priority issue with them it seems, introducing new hardware that will process mpeg4, having local HD channels available in major metro areas, picking up remaining Voom channels and seeing how they can turn those into more profit, etc.

How well and how timely they handle these issues will determine if they can still be the gorilla on the block. Maybe if they spent less time with SBC and Sirius promotions, they might get more done with their prime business.

 

[larrystotler]

The current DishNItUp program has an end date of November 30, 2005. At this time, there have been no changes announced to the program that would include the 942, 322, 625 receivers. Qualifing receivers are still ONLY the 301/311, 510, 522, & 811.

 

[robo45h]

I'm one of those that emailed requesting the new customer $250 lease as an existing customer, but was turned down and told to watch for a "mid-July" offer.

I called Dish earlier this week and the CSR did indeed have an offer -- one that's been reported here. $798 to purchase the 942 directly from Dish, installation included.

This is considered an "offer" by Dish because 1) in the past existing customers had to purchase from a reseller for $699 and 2) the installation cost from the reseller was not a fixed rate and would probably be around $150.


Wow. I'm dancin' in the isles. Now that Verizon has pulled fiber throughout my town, I'm waiting for their HD Video service to launch and give Comcast and Dish / DirecTV some competition. Fiber won't have the bandwidth constraints that dog the satellite companies -- if you're lucky enough to live in an area they've decided to lay fiber. Other telcos aren't so smart (SBC is doing a hybrid fiber / copper implementation).

 

[MikeD-C05]

Maybe they don't want to add anymore 942s to the lease option because they are getting ready to start the mpeg4 conversion by year's end and they want to start with the new 962 mpeg4 receiver. Besides the 942 has some truely cool features the competition doesn't have presently. And Dish has the most hd channels right now as well, so maybe they don't feel like they have to lease the 942 since it is so much in demand right now. They would rather make customers pay the full price for it . Now if Directv had a lease option for their Hd dvr, maybe then Dish would also for current customers as well.

 

[hdaddikt]

Apparently some folks are getting them on lease by emailing the powers to be. Long term customers, primarily.
The point is they do still lease the 942 to new customers. I like the 962 scenario but I am not convinced MPEG-4 is 'right around the corner'. Hope I'm wrong!

 

[Purogamer]

I disagree. They mention it on all the chats and whatnot. The average bingo-watching, shopping channel loving E* customer doesn't understand what the hell they're talking about so they aren't mentioning new tech for those people. They can't be doing it just to keep "informed folks" up to date because we'll find out the truth shortly afterwards and rip them apart for lying if we didn't already know before they talk about it, so i'm inclined to believe that it's not as far off as it seems. I don't think it's ready to go either.

I think late november will be a very interesting time for E* and D*. No matter which one you've got, the other one is doing something similar and it's all up from here.

The next 2 months are kind of iffy, but after that, it seems like it's going to be a very good thing to be a satellite customer.

 

[hdaddikt]

so i'm inclined to believe that it's not as far off as it seems. I don't think it's ready to go either.

So what's different?

I've been too busy to keep up with the Charlie Chats..guess I need to program those up on my 510...LOL
In the past I avoided them because it seemed like 98% discussion on new programming, 1% on their problems sigining up syndicated networks, and another 1% on technical improvements.
But if they are talking up MPEG4 as much as you claim, as well as other features (local HD, etc.), then I have no problem waiting a few more months.
Regardless of your perception of their typical customer base, that is no excuse for not having more technical info available (on the website) for those of us interested. Other businesses do that.
Whether the new receivers will have lease options for existing customers (now, some do, some don't) will likely continue to be a bone of contention.
If the new receivers promise a big jump in technology, then it would be an opportune time for Dish to offer a lease-to-buy option. (yeah, I'm dreamin'..)

I am all for upgrading technology but only for the advantages it offers short-term, not 'sometime' in the future. Because at that rate, we are only funding their research with benefits to come after we've sweetened the pot even more. I agree, that's about the only way it can happen, but they can be more forthcoming about it too.
And when it comes to customer service, it would not hurt them to upgrade those policies more frequently also.
I may sound harsh, but as a long time customer of Dish, so I am not slammin' them because something is better out there, or I would not spend time here.
I just expected a bit more maturity from the industry as a whole, by now.
It's either that, or just provide the service and let us pick up hardware on our own, so we can deal with a competitive market.

 

[kavula]

To a certain extent, E* does give out more technical information than many companies. They have been lauded on several satellite tracking sites (not lyngsat) for providing health information on their satellites. In their annual reports, there is a wealth of information on what is happening and what was happening. Unfortunately, there is not much information on what will be happening, like most companies with their "forward-looking" financial and other statements.