Who in here is moving to another cable/satellite company?

[goldengoose]

Thinking about switching to Star Choice- seems to have distant net service- and HD programming along with most if not all of the channels I like to watch.

Been with Dish since the beginning- so if NPS works out might hang in there. We are mostly full time RVers and have been waiting since Dec5th for NPS to get back to us so we can activate.

 

[obermi]

But, it seems that with most technology products are getting cheaper why does technology services get cheaper?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

The rate hike isn't an issue, and we really love our 622s, but Adelphia/Comcast is offering a 12-month $29.95 special (digital cable, HBO, Showtime, Starz) that is hard to pass; $58 plus tax including HD, two HD DVRs, and a HD CableCard.

Still thinking...

Sounds to me like the rate hike just might be a factor to you. You are tempted by cable's lower price and the rate hike is making the price difference greater. There are going to be people out there at the HD-platinum level who are going to jump on cable offers in part due to the $10/month increase.

I know if I switched to Charter Cable with their new digital TV / Phone / cable modem package that I would save a bundle in the first year. The entire bundle is about what the new AEP + HD pack is going to run me. Unfortunately as I'm out in the boonies, their cable HD offerings are quite minimal, just 5-7 channels more than I can pick up OTA, and they still don't offer an HD DVR in my area.

 

[webbydude]

I'll probably stay with E*. I was considering entering into the 622 or 211 fray...but the recent rate hike may keep me at the current (AT180) level

 

[MikeD-C05]

STaying with Dish and downgrading my service to the top 120 with locals and hd pack for now. IF it goes up again next year more than $3.00 I will drop the hd pack too. I was a Plat hd customer and before that AEP , but no more. I can not justify a single increase of $10.00 a month , just to keep AEP + locals and Hd pack which would put my bill way over $130.00 a month with tax.

THe hd pack is not worth $20.00 a month with all the repeats from the 80s and all the old movies I watched before. HD picture is not as spectacular as it once was , especially since Dish went with HD lite anyway. Hd channels should be free if you sub to the sd equivalent already like they do with HD locals and the HBo , Showtime, STarz premiums. Charging for TNT, NAtional Geographic, Espn , Espn 2, NFL hd, HOme garden hd, Food hd is stupid . IT is like paying twice for the same channels . You already paid for it in your basic programming pack . IF Dish wants to keep growing their hd subs , they need to consider not charging for these same channels twice. I don't know of to many people who want to pay twice for the same channel , even if it looks better in HD .

Dish is still a good value in SD , but the hd fees are pricing them right out of the market for their hd receivers. Dish nees to end the bullsh*t fees when you downgrade. The hd enabeling fee of $6.00 PER RECEIVER and the Dvr fee of $5.98 PER DVR RECEIVER is way to much. This alone makes people have to either bite the bullet and pay for the AEP to escape the fees or they have to bite the bullet and pay the extra made up fees so you can pay less a month for less programming.

For example I have two 622 dvrs. IF I downgrade to a lower pack then AEP I get hit with Two hd enabeling fees 2X$6.00 =$12.00. I then get hit with the dvr fees 2X5.98=$11.96. That comes to a total of $23.96 a month NOT to watch Hd or sub to the higher programming pack. God forbid you don't keep your phone line hooked up to your dual tuner dvrs or you are looking at another $10.00 a month on top of the other fees.

Dish needs to wake up and see that they are not helping the transition to mpeg 4 with this $10.00 a month increase. WHat happens in two years when Dish wants to save bandwith and switch all to mpeg 4 receivers? Do you think the sd subs want to upgrade and learn that they are going to get hit with ever FEE known to man if they try to sub to a lower pack or even downgrade to a lower pack? THis is not helping the mpeg 4 transition and it is not helping their hd customers either. Not everyone has over a $130.00 a month to watch sat tv and Dish used to be the value packed alternative to Cable and Directv. I can not say that anymore.

 

[OoTLink]

But, it seems that with most technology products are getting cheaper why does technology services get cheaper?

It's not the tech that is the problem, it's the content industry jacking up the prices (and usually delivering less) every year.

The price of games has gone up, the price of movies has gone up, the price of music has gone up too (outside of download services).

Basically we're just making some rich jackass' pockets bigger, guys, nothing to see here.

Dish pays more, DirecTV costs more, Comcast, AT&T, and TW cost more along with everyone else because the content providers are charging them more as well, and in able to deliver the better content they have to upgrade their crappy old infastructure (cable companies were getting away with rotting old ass systems for years).

The prices of HD are skyrocketing because of more content, and well, you guys have just proven that you're WILLING TO PAY THEM MORE. Whoopeee.

The prices of SD haven't really changed much (at least for us cheapies) - I think they've noticed if they keep jacking it up, some of us only give a damn about the bottom line, and that will drive potential customers away.

Really though, the prices are more innocent than it seems. After fees, lease fees, extra receiver fees, taxes, and other ridiculous surcharges the $29.99 goes to $36 or whatever. Nice.

What about the constant 50-120 or so watts each of those receivers suck down? That's got to be a buck or two on your power bill lol.

To me, digital cable isn't an option. In our locality, Comcast CSRs are lazy and their service is horribly structured with sloppily organized channels. When we decided to try it out, we got a dirty old box with a worn out remote and no setup whatsoever. The menus, IMHO were crap and slow. *shrug*

So dish does have one thing going for us I guess I like their service and am willing to pay a few bucks more for it than cable, but I'd prefer it to stay the same! Especially because for the price I could get a few more channels.

 

[ZandarKoad]

Well, if our monetary system were sound we in fact would be seeing a universal drop in prices every year as businesses became more efficient and supply and demand and competition worked it's magic. Unfortunately, we have something called 'inflation' that is created by our government giving the power to create money to a private corporation known as the Federal Reserve. So until we can abolish the Federal Reserve and eliminate inflation, you can all expect price hikes from Dishnetwork, Time Warner, and DirectTV. Sometimes though, technology, business ingenuity, and industrial efficency overcomes inflation for a short time span and you still see goods and services dropping in price. But there is only so much a business can do to be efficient. When I started it took me 3-4 hours to hook up a two tuner install. Now it takes me 1.5 - 2 hours to hook up a four tuner install. I will never get a four tuner install done in 5 minutes. The Federal Reserve however, has no cap on it's inflationary powers and history has proved that this form of monitary system must inevitably crash.

Hehehe, pardon me, I just watched "From Freedom to Fascism."

 

[cobra2225]

i'm going to leave,enough is enough, local on the 8's not,loss of distance
local's not, now a rate increase not, 3 strikes dish you out of here.

 

[OoTLink]

Yeah I'm not paying a dollar more with the rate increase of AT100. They're even giving new channels.

DAMN YOU DISH!

 

[Slamminc11]

i'm going to leave,enough is enough, local on the 8's not,loss of distance
local's not, now a rate increase not, 3 strikes dish you out of here.

Sounds more like you're out! Adios

 

[Kaydigi]

Not leaving Dish as of yet due to having 12 months left on a 625 lease. The price increase doesn't bother me too much as it has been going up every year.

My biggest complaint is the picture quality coming from Dish. The SD channels are terrible; Dish has this huge quantity over quality mission. I do not like it one bit and this will be my main reason for leaving if it doesn't improve.

I wanted to sign up for the 622 lease but something in the back of my mind told me that DISH will treat their HD channels in the same manner soon.

The second reason for bailing on Dish after the contract is up is the local tech support (both local installer and phone). Without getting into the whole story Dish sent me seven 721's (yes SEVEN) instead of sending a tech out to look at the Dish. The tech finally showed up (3 weeks later) swapped out the LNB in 5 minutes and all was well.

Dish would not lease me a HD receiver without a HDTV during the 921/942 phase. No problem so I do the 625 upgrade. Man the installer didn't want to run the cable for the install, so he tried to talk me into running my 522 in dual mode to TV2. I had to tell him to leave and wait for another tech to show up a few days later.

The 625 ended up being DOA and I had to wait another 5 days for another tech to show with a replacement receiver. Then there was a heated debate that my 721 was a HD receiver and I didn't need the 625 at all. I had to call dish and threaten to cancel to get everything correct.

How did Dish try to make it up to me for the 625 install fiasco? Free 622 with USB support enabled NO, free HD pocket dish NO, by giving me 5 club dish cards to sign up my friends. I gave them right back to the installer as soon as he handed it to me.

I really want to see what DISH HD PQ looks like but I don’t want to get caught in any loopholes if I want to cancel.

 

[dodge]

I'm going to switch to RFC Satellite!

They PAY YOU to install satellite dishes on your house, seal them perfectly so that they never leak, and the dish is only 10" round but picks up 100+ signal strength on 10 birds!

The picture is uncompressed and flawless, the boxes are quad tuner HD DVRs with 4 solid state hard drives that make no noise and have no fans, and yes they only need 1 cable to the dish!

The service is cheap ($25 a month) and every month they add a new HD channel!

[If only]

I want in on that deal
Do they have distants as well????

 

[AZ_Sky]

I wont be leaving but when the rate hike comes I'll be downgrading my service.

I've been with DISH since 1996 and I do like the service - but It's starting to get to expensive.

I currently subscribe to Platinum HD + Locals + Super stations.
When the rate hike hits I'll definitely be dropping the Supers which should net me only a $4 dollar/mo increase.

 

[thiggin2]

I've been with Dish from the start (well about 6 months after they started) and I'm staying put. I'm not into the HD thing yet so it's only going to cost another $3.00/month, no big deal if you consider the price increases of everything else.

 

[GadgetGirl]

I currently have the Plantinum pack plus superstations and locals. I can't justify paying $10 more for television. That is just too big a jump especially when they aren't offering me anything new. I will be dropping back or switching to cable or have a combination of both. I have had cable for just over a week and have discovered it has improved a lot in the 8 years since I left. I was only going to keep it for a couple of months as they offered me a good deal. I found that the equivalent cable package is less than Dish now. With a $10 price increase coming, it is hard for me to justify sticking with Dish. With cable, I will also have my true locals that Dish doesn't offer plus more local HD channels. I may end up dropping the superstations and my locals and drop back to the top 180. I can get my locals through my cable company and use netflix for movies or I just may go 100% cable. Not having a couple of dishes attached to my home would be a good thing. I will wait to see if Dish is going to announce anything new at CES and then decide what I will do.

 

[sA :: Shaggy]

im staying and upgrading.. my bill is going up 25 bucks a month but i have had wonderful time w/ E* and don't plan on switching anytime soon. especially after a 622 upgrade. choose whats right for you. i know its a hard choice these days. good luck

 

[bderouen]

Right now, I am still deciding to stay with E* or move to D* my family wants Filipino Direct from D* and the Viva Pinoy Pack from E* shows the same old movies over and over again. I know E* is great and somewhat cheaper.... I'm still lost lol

Merry Christmas!

I just came from D*. I know I'll never go back!!

 

[Ceas2182]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have made my decision... and I will keep Dish Network. =) I don't want the hassle to return the boxes to Dish and you guys helped me to make my decision. Thank you all.

take care and have a great xmas!

 

[Fgsilva]

Actually I meant a lot more MONEY for a lot less CHANNELS! that's also how it goes with comcast in Sacramento.
I also forgot to say that another reason for staying with dish is that I'm only paying $19/month for the HD bronze package. I go the $20 HD discount + an extra $10 discount for 10 months. I played "dumb" and sent the coupon as a "new customer" even though CSR had already set up an initial $20 discount

"The only other option is comcast (a lot more for a lot less) "

Francisco, I think you got it backwards with Comcast. (A lot less for a lot more). At least that's how it's here in So. San Francisco, you pay more money for less channels.

Looks like U-Verse has launched in some cities here in the Bay Area, I'll wait and see what they got to offer and when it's offered here in my area, I'll give them a shot. But not because of the recent raise, since every provider is raising their prices.

Added the channel line-up for UVerse here in the the SF Bay Area.

 

[cobra2225]

Sounds more like you're out! Adios

your point?