Want to get dish--need advice and a good deal

[gserack]

I'm looking at getting Dish.

I've got two SD TVs and one HD tv.

I live in Bothell, WA (near Everett, about 15 miles north of Seattle)

I currently have a Media Center PC running on standard Cable.

My original thinking was, sign up for the HD Platinum Package, and get the 622, and two regular SD receivers, and hook them up to the media center, (I rather like the PVR functionality of Media Center, and my xbox in the kids room lets us watch live TV on both SD tvs at the same time).

I then thought, maybe pick up the SD receivers on ebay, and only lease the 622.

I then changed my mind, and thought that I should lease 1 622 and 1 625, and forego using Media Center.

I want to keep the 'extra fees' (extra receiver, dvr, etc...) per month down to a minimum.

Oh, and I bought a nice HD Antenna that I intended to hook up, but havn't gotten around to yet. Would the installer hook that up for me?

First, any suggestions?

Second, what is my best deal?

Third, where should I buy through? I wrote a long message to the DishPro website on their contact page on the weekend, but nobody got back to me. *sigh*

Anyway, any ideas and comments are welcome.

G

 

[Digital Dude]

Contact Claude at www.dishstore.net

Welcome to satelliteguys!

 

[Jolard]

Welcome to another "possible" new Dish customer in Bothell! I live in Bothell too, so welcome.

Media Center PC's are nice, but so is the VIP622 receiver, and I bet you would get most of the functionality you wanted from that. You could use the Media Center PC as a backup, in fact that might be nice especially for archiving shows off your VIP622.

As for buying versus leasing? I would personally lease the 622, but if you can get a good deal on the SD receivers they might be worth buying.

Antenna in Bothell? Just so you know I have a CHEAP antenna I bought at Circuit City. It is a small internal one I have sitting on my mantel next to the TV. In Bothell I can pick up all the channels just fine, although optimizing for Fox can leave other channels a little lower, but with careful adjustment I can get all of the networks just fine. So it might be worth just trying one if you would rather have a small internal one rather than install an external one.

Good luck!

 

[Jolard]

lthough optimizing for Fox can leave other channels a little lower

Just another FYI, the reason I am optimizing for Fox is that it is the only one of the Big 4 locals that Dish doesn't carry in HD in Seattle. They are supposedly "negotiating" but I guess the local Fox affiliate is making demands that Dish isn't willing to accept. So you can get ABC, CBS and NBC for Seattle all in HD over the Sat, but you will need to get Fox HD over the air by antenna. They are all of course available on DISH in SD, including Fox, it is just the HD feed they don't have.

 

[bookwalk]

You can get a great discount deal via a Club Dish referral. PM me for details and a code.

 

[PeggyD]

They are supposedly "negotiating" but I guess the local Fox affiliate is making demands that Dish isn't willing to accept.

It's not the local Fox affiliate, KCPQ, that is the problem, it's Tribune that owns Seattle's Fox station & 12 or so others around the country. Tribune is demanding that Dish also carry KMYQ - My Network, former WB-22, & won't allow/agree to retransmission of KCPQ's HD signal.