What's YOUR tipping point?

[sigmtr]

Never mind the speculation on what Dish will or won't do in regards to more HD content. I am curious what it will take for individuals on this forum to defect from Charlie's ranks.

Yes, I'm a Sci-Fi fan and would like to see BSG in HD. Also Stargate Altantis. But I also see more and more of my hard-earned cash paying for TV and am starting to wonder if it's worth it. With Dish I also have two premium packages (Starz and Cinemax) and only ONE channel in each group is HD. Scanning through the SD channels the other day, I had almost forgotten about how many channels these packages have beyond the main east coast feed.

And it's not that I am willing to consider Direct. Rather, I'm entertaining the notion of giving up pay TV and just going with OTA for a while. The warmer months are coming and perhaps it's time to re-acquaint myself with the great outdoors. Not to mention I am sick of saturation advertising on all but the pay channels and a few others.

So what's YOUR tipping point to leave Dish? I've been with them a long time, nearly ten years now. It would be hard to leave, but I'd probably get over it...

sigmtr

 

[TenaciousJoker]

Well, Sci-Fi HD isn't up this morning as of 6:00 Eastern Time. If it isn't there by the time I get home from work, I'm jumping ship to DirecTV. I might miss the premiere episode of BSG in HD , but no more than the first episode. Not only that, but Spike is showing all of the Star Wars flicks in HD starting April 4th, so there is another good reason. So, Charlie has until this evening to keep me as a customer. We'll see what happens.

 

[JH1949]

I....see more and more of my hard-earned cash paying for TV and am starting to wonder if it's worth it....I'm entertaining the notion of giving up pay TV and just going with OTA for a while.

If you survived the reruns caused by the writers strike, then you should be fine with just OTA reruns all summer.

I.....see more and more of my hard-earned cash paying for TV and am starting to wonder if it's worth it. With Dish I.....have two premium packages (Starz and Cinemax)....I am sick of saturation advertising on all but the pay channels and a few others.

You could save some of your hard earned cash by cancelling these and subscibing to Netflix instead. Or have you checked out your local library for free DVD rentals ?

 

[tenaciousdave]

BSG in HD. If Dish doesn't get it, I'm gone.

 

[teneightyp]

Obviously E* doesn't have the ability or bandwidth to add more national HD or they would have done it by now. If they do, why is Charlie delaying this? People are leaving E* in hoards right now. Dish needs a new boss. My tipping point was reached a while ago when customer service pissed me off for the 100th time.

 

[AT&TDishman]

There is such a thing as buyer's remorse, and I have it--sort of. If I had it to do over I would have stayed with cable, but I like DISH now. Yes, DISH offered many HD channels when cable had none. However, cable is catching up and in some places has passed DISH in channel offerings. Sadly, I have found out that satellitge TV is a great idea, but technology wise is still in its infancy, which brings along the inherent outages, satellite malfunctions, failed satellite launches, and now limited offerings in HD for us TV junkies.

DISH tries to be everything to everybody, and that has not, and will not, ever work as Confucius, or whomever, said centuries ago. DISH has the resources and the money to provide every available domestic HD channel, but since it is a global player those necessary resources are providing satellite TV to foreign countries (most of which hate us) around the world.

DISH complains about lack of bandwith for new HD channels, but still offers all those music, infomercial, PPV, NHL, NBA, etc. that could be used for regular HD channels as they become available. Yes, I know they make DISH a lot of money, but on the other hand do we all need multiple channels of HBO, Showtime, Starz, Encore, Cinemax, which show the same programs over and over?

I imagine if Chuckles and Jingles had it to do over they would have planned better for the future, but now they are in the first leg of a marathon that all satellite companies will lose to cable come February 2009. As I said in another thread, I am too old to wait for 2012-13 and beyond to wait for DISH to catch up to cable, and that is why I am going back to cable "soon"!!!

 

[Volitar Prime]

I am going to call Dish customer support later on this morning to find out if I'm still under a contract (I can't remember) and if so, how much it will cost to get out of it. I'll then call DirecTV to see if I can get an install by Friday. I love my 622 and have many shows and movies archived on 2 external hard drives but am seriously considering giving it all up and changing sides.

 

[TalonDancer]

...I also see more and more of my hard-earned cash paying for TV and am starting to wonder if it's worth it. ..... I'm entertaining the notion of giving up pay TV and just going with OTA for a while. The warmer months are coming and perhaps it's time to re-acquaint myself with the great outdoors. ....

We could all benefit from re-acquainting ourself with the great outdoors. Life is just too short to spend much time in front of a TV

Here in central Texas, Spring is putting on a sound and light show that dwarfs anything Dish offers. The flowers are blooming, the hummers are swarming the 5 feeders we have out, the nesting birds are setting up territories, the monarchs that overwintered in Mexico are laying eggs on the milkweed so their offspring can continue the yearly migration, the frogs are calling out to have a party down by the creek.... And OBTW NONE of this is a rerun 24/7

FWIW If we could get our locals OTA at our new house, we would not have signed up for Dish (or any other TV service). After all, we only had OTA for the last 30+ years and somehow survived

Talon Dancer

 

[Weezknight]

I'm an HD subscriber, but HD isn't the be-all, end-all of my Dish subscription. For me as long as I can still get GolTV & Fox Soccer Channel for $25 less than DirecTV than that's fine by me. If, at some point they moved these channels into the AEP (like D*), then I would reconsider my options.

 

[Slamminc11]

I'm not planning on going anywhere. Have had Dish for over 6 years and don't plan on switching any time soon.

 

[cmcnabb]

I used to have DirecTV. Won't be going back to them, ever. So I guess at a minimum it would take a third satellite provider that offered as much as Dish or DirecTV.

Overall, I'm quite happy with Dish, though. Even though they are a tad behind DirecTV on HD, they still offer much more HD than local cable company, and some of it is stuff you can't get anywhere else (yes, the VOOM channels, which I happen to enjoy watching). Also, their boxes do things that I don't think Directv or any cable company does, such as DishComm.

 

[ncted]

My tipping point is if FIOS ever comes to Durham AND offers equipment that is as good or better than DISH. I don't see myself ever going back to D* or TWC, but anything is possible. With D* I had much worse rain fade than with DISH. Someone here suggested it was due to Ku vs. Ka band, whatever that means. I won't bore you with the reasons not to go back to TWC. That pretty much leaves FIOS as the other alternative which it isn't, yet.

Ted

 

[ClevelandRob]

D* pissed me off when I used to subscribe and they don't have MPEG4 TiVo, so if I went anywhere... it would be cable. The cable company in my area is still ten or so channels behind E* (counting all Voom as 1!). If they ever pass E*, I might leave.

The lack of HD channels bugs me, but I have never NOT had SOMETHING to watch (especially with an external drive with 75+ HD movies). I'd probably be watching pretty much the same stuff as I am now if I had D*, but would be using a "lesser" DVR. I currently have the ViP622 feeding 3 HDTVs with 1 IR and 2 UHF remotes. We seldom have more then one TV on at a time right now, so it works perfect. Having access to all of my recordings on one box from all three TVs in my house is awesome. I could do this with D*, but would need to research IR extenders AND I wouldn't have the "fall back" of TV2 output in SD for those rare instances where more then one TV is in use at the same time....

Kind of a long answer without an answer...

 

[butzchan]

I am still here because of the HD only pack. However, I am still very happy that I didn't sign a contract with E*. I sure hope they launch some national HD today.

 

[sammy4041]

I am not sure what the answer is. I do know this. I could care less about any of the channels that dish is speculating about. I am interested in CNBC HD, which I am sure nobody else cares about. So really it doesn't matter what Dish or Direct does, somebody will be ticked off.

I was scrolling through the direct forums and they were complaining about the travel channel not being in HD.

I guess what it comes down to is we all have to look at this as a hobby, I know I do. Yeah it sucks that we don't get all the channels that we would like, but I guarantee you that if we are on this site, we have something in our blood that makes us want more that the average guy wants, so in reality we are never going to be happy.

Sure I have looked into direct and charter cable. Both would have there pluses and minuses. Neither one in my opinion would be worth all the hassle of having to mess around the installs.

The only thing I am really considering is OTA and even that has trade offs, because the wife likes to DVR her sitcoms when she is at work all day.

The fact that many of us spent a Friday night watching a new satellite go into orbit says a lot about our sickness.

 

[Stacy A]

When the end of May rolls around and Dish is still rolling out LiL's with no new national HD, then I'm done with them. They can throw us a bone now. On the homepage this morning is the announcement that DirecTV got some HD today. Charlie's bleeding subs and its going to get worse with everyday that we hear "soon" or "a little birdie told me..." or "my contacts are telling me..." and nothing ever gets added. I've been with Dish about ten years and I'm loyal, but my frustration level is getting higher with each passing week.

 

[duckydan]

I was looking at D* but their hardware won't do what I need without substantial financial investment and a contract. I have no contract and living in Philly my only alternative to dish is Comcast and hell will freeze over before they get a dime out of my pocket. That said I'm pretty much stuck with dish so while I would love USA HD and some of the other channels I don't have a tipping point.

 

[Poke]

Yeah I'm fine with Dish I think overall their service is better than Direct and by far Dish receivers are better. Yes Direct added some HD which they had nothing else to do since they were behind for so long. But I would still not go to them due to I have seen what they have and I'm not impressed. Overall Dish will add HD just like everyone else and when its all said done Dish and Direct will have about the same in HD. It will come back down to price, who has better hardware and service. Either way I always tell folks go with whatever makes you happy.

Dish and Direct are better I think than cable or telco tv "Iptv" so to me you can go wrong with Sat TV. Right now I'm not worried about Dish they will get us more HD just maybe not when we want it. But be careful jumping ship you might wished later on that you did not and I have a friend that did and he hates it that he did. He will be coming back to Dish as soon as he can.. I just get a kick how quick people jump the wagon back and forth when really most time there is no need to.

 

[mattopia]

I've thought about going to just OTA. I have an Apple TV, and could easily buy subscriptions to a few of the "must see" shows. However, TV is not yet in HD on the Apple TV, so I feel like I'd not be getting the full potential of my home theater if I did so.

I own a modest house and drive a modest car for my income, so the ~$90 I budget for TV is not going to kill me. I still plan on getting out and smelling the roses this spring! It's time to get out there and do some geocaching again!

As far as my tipping point with Dish specifically -- I have a D* install scheduled on Friday morning. if Dish throws a bone or two I'll likely cancel it. It would actually save me money with their current promo though.

 

[darrencp22]

You guys might as well make that call to D* now. I think the only thing we're going to see today are more Locals.