Why is Dish charging so much for the 811?

[jdsabin1]

I am a current Dish Network customer (have been for three+ years now). I have the Dish 500 with four receivers (one of them being a PVR).

I subscribe to everything but the adult channels.

With that information, I am now gearing up to enter the world of HDTV. I am purchasing two HD tvs in two of the rooms (already have an RPTV HD ready in another).

I want to add two 811's and one 921. Dish is comparably priced to e-bay sellers and e-tailers at the $500-ish range so no problem buying that from Dish but Dish has a price of $399 on their 811 when I see NIB 811's on EBay for $218. Naturally getting two for the price of one interests me.

When it comes to buying HD receivers from someone else other than Dish, will they activate them when I call them after I receive them?

Thanks everyone and great forums here BTW.

-Jeff

 

[BFG]

Hi Jeff, welcome to satelliteguys!

Save your self the hassle and money on those 811s that may become obsolete in the fall and rent them. I think they will let you rent 2 811s so that should set you up. But yes you can always activate a receiver purchased from someone else, just make sure there isn't any unpaid balances on the stuff you're buying or they'll make you pay that to use them.

 

[jdsabin1]

Bryan,

Sometimes the most obvious answer is the hardest to find. Great idea. Can I simply call them and ask to lease two 811's then? The Dish site has no pricing information that I could see as far as cost of the 811 per month so I will just give them a call.

Reading through, it appears I will still have to purchase the 921 which is fine too.

Thanks again!

 

[BFG]

Yes you should be able to call them and they'll give you your leasing options.

The leasing price on equipment is $5 which is basically the same as the $4.99 mirroring fee if you owned to equipment, so it really doesn't cost anything more to lease...

Yes you'll still need to buy a 921. You can get one through a dealer such as http://dishstore.net for $549. But if you get one through dish they'll chagre you taxes, where as a online retailer will not.

If you've been a pretty long customer you might even get lucky through retention. I've seen some strange instances where user have been offered a 921 for free to stay or as low as $200

 

[korsjs]

when i cancelled dish a couple of days ago, their best price for the 921 was 549. i didn't push them on it, because i wasn't going to buy it and would not have stayed with them unless they gave it to me for free.

 

[JimMcC]

921

I would not buy the 921. The new 942 is in the works, and the 921 will be obsolete due to Dish going to MPEG4, from what I've read here. You should wait to see what happens, or see if you can lease the 921.

 

[MikeD-C05]

The 942 will be obsolete by years end, since it too is not mpeg4 compatiable.

 

[jdsabin1]

This is really putting a crimp in my HDTV plans big time. I have a standard DVR receiver today and love it (via Dish Network). Sounds like I am screwed either way with the current state of affairs in HD DVR regardless of provider and I would really like to stay with DVR technology.

I can spend roughly $500-ish for the 921 which will be outdated, or I can spend $900 for the DirecTV HD DVR which will also be outdated before too long.

I guess I need to factor in the timing of the whole mpeg4 compatibility thing (anyone know?).

 

[BFG]

The 921 will work for a while with the programming that's currently available, HD pack and OTA. It just may not work when they start adding programing in MPEG4, but there's not that much to be added anyways. Also don't bet on it but don't also rule out that they wont upgrade the boxes that are out their. There are also plans to work on a possible switch that would convert MPEG4 to MPEG2 so the receiver would still work

 

[WeeJavaDude]

This is really putting a crimp in my HDTV plans big time. I have a standard DVR receiver today and love it (via Dish Network). Sounds like I am screwed either way with the current state of affairs in HD DVR regardless of provider and I would really like to stay with DVR technology.

I can spend roughly $500-ish for the 921 which will be outdated, or I can spend $900 for the DirecTV HD DVR which will also be outdated before too long.

I guess I need to factor in the timing of the whole mpeg4 compatibility thing (anyone know?).

Here is my thoughts... And I went this way when I bought my 6000. HD is a joy to have. If you are going to sit back and weight until all the MPEG-4 stuff comes to actually deployment who knows how long that will be. Yes they plan by the end of the year, but we all know how that goes.

the 942 has been announced at 749. 200 bucks above the 921. Not sure if it is worth it for the NBR and and some other additional features like simultaneous output of both the SD output (Coax, svideo, composite) and DVI/Componet output. Also the 921 has had a year to get the bugs out. Yes it is still buggy but better than what I would expect the 942 to be released out. The 942 is due out next month so You might want to wait and see what that does to the mix.

Renting two 811 might be a good option. I also would expect some time of very good trade up program because of the nature of moving to MPEG4. No promises to life though and time will tell.

A lot of what was stated below and what I have stated is speculation. But that is basically what we have to go on. My suggestion is to move to HD know.. Enjoy it.. and hope that a reasonable offer will be given come MPEG4 time. Going the lease 811 way will minimize your case outlay, but you loose DVR capabilities. The 921 or 942 will give you DVR capabilities. If you feel you can get OTA locals through an Antenna, that really raises the bar to make a move.

I love the ability to record HD and the 921 really improved our TV viewing abilities. Yes it is still quirky, but given the benefits I am happy with my choice.

It is a tough choice, but given you don't have HD know and want it I would move forward on some level. Waiting until MPEG-4 could mean wanting a minimum of another year.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[Stanleee]

Does anyone know if Dish will ever lease a HDDVR?

 

[BFG]

They said they plan on offering the 942 in a certain DHA plan, but hasn't been specific details... Rumors have said that there may be upfront costs as great as $200 just to lease it...

 

[jdsabin1]

Anyone know if Dish will allow me to lease three 811's if I get the 942? Didn't know if Dish had a limit on the 811's per customer or not. I currently have three 301's and a standard DVR receiver.

Thx.

 

[noremac]

What's the current deal for leasing a 811, over and above the $5/mo? Is there a time commitment (e.g. 12 months)? How about setup fee/shipping, etc.?

 

[MustangLX89]

All you ever needed to know about Dish Network and why they charge what they do. See siggy below....

 

[jbcheshire]

I am a current customer and when I "dished up" from a 301 to the 811 for my new HDTV I only had to pay a 24.95 shipping fee for it. Since it is my 3rd receiver I have to pay that $5/month lease fee. But let me say this to you first...

Look around this site to see others comments on their HD channel package. If you want their basic 5 station HD package (TNT HD, DiscoveryHD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, ESPN HD) then you will get their 6 month free promo with a one year commitment. I got this package but didn't commit for a year so they are giving them to me for half price for 12 months instead. However, I find that I hardly ever watch them. If I didn't have that half price special, I probably would have canceled them by now. And depending on where you live you might be able to get your locals using an OTA and go directly to your HDTV if it has the HD tuner built into it like mine does. The 811 is acting also as a HD tuner for those OTA stations so you may actually need it for this to see them on your TV.

Anyway, I know that as soon as they start offering the 522 or 921/942 (something with an updated DVR), I will be trading in that 811 since it doesn't have that much value for me for only 5 stations and doesn't do DVR... just my .02$...

 

[noremac]

Thanks for the reply. I am a long term model 6000 user.

I'm curious of the $5/mo lease fee also covers the 2nd mirrored receiver fee. In other words, if I keep my 6000 and also lease an 811 (so I have two receivers active), is the total additional fee just $5, or ($5 + $5) = $10?

 

[Barry Erick]

That price is not too bad when you look at the price of a OTA set top DTV/HDTV box. They run from 299 to 499 and with the 811 there is a sat receiver plus the OTA set top box. But, try to lease them and the cost is zero. And when finished, they are worthess to sell, so leasing makes all the sense in the world.

 

[BFG]

Yes the $5 lease fee replaces the mirror fee that is on owned boxes, so it's the same price.

 

[vividere]

Dish Network Won't Let Me Remove HD Pack

unless I return the 811... I don't want to pay the lease and the HD pack fee... I want the 811 for OTA HD but don't want the $10 HD pack. They insist I pay the $5 lease and the $10 HD pack. When I got the 811 they said I could cancel the HD pack and keep the 811 but now they won't let me???

I read elsewhere someone got the 811 just for paying the shipping, no lease...I am pretty good at crabbing about stuff but despite my protestations they were insistent I pay the whole $15/month or give up the 811.