Considering switch from TWC to satellite

[buckeye3d]

Like many here I'm getting a bit fed up with TWC's lack of HD content. I've been reading posts here and it definately sounds like satellite is a much better option as far as HD content goes....Dish especially. Here's the problem...I have not had satellite TV in like 6 years and have not really followed the latest news. I feel like I have no idea where to start investigating my options. Any good primers / sites you can point me to?

[mace]

I did most of my research at satteliteguys.us.

Just keep in mind that the whiners usually are much louder than the happy customers. I too was in the same situation you were and have thus far been very happy with my switch to Dish Network.

[Timcredible]

just call dish (dishnetwork.com will have their phone number). tell them how many hd and sd tvs you have and how many (if any) dvrs you want and they'll tell you the price.

[gruxx]

alternatively, you could call directv, who's CSR reps would tell you to go get some vaseline and bend over. :eek:

Seriously, as a D* user, Unless you absolutely need to see a certain NFL team's every game, go Dish.

[zelig2]

I recommend going through AT&T since they're rolling out more Video-On-Demand stuff with their HomeZone program (not availible in HD yet). Follow this link here (http://www.hdcolumbus.net/vb-hdtv/showthread.php?p=3067#post3067) to get the phone number and promo code to give a referrel to nakedeye.

I'd recommend getting the ViP 622 HD-DVR box for the house with the Silver HD package. Also tell them on the phone that you're switching from cable and they give another discount (I think 3 free months). The only thing with satellite is you need a phone line as they have yet to figure out how to get the box to authorize via the ethernet jack.

[buckeye3d]

What does going through AT&T mean? Why does it matter?

I realize this is a very general question but how is the on-screen guide with current Dish hardware (DVR and non)? How does it compare to TWC? Is it fast? User-friendly? Are channel changes quick like with cable?

[Timcredible]

i just got the upgraded receivers and dish. i now have 32 hd stations, and the old voom stuff looks really good. bottom line, the hd channels on dish all look better than anything directv had when i switched (that's pre-mpeg4). as for the channel guide, it's fairly standard - press guide, it puts the channel you're watching in the upper right and you up/down through the channels. The new receivers change channels almost instantly, even from sat to ota (the old ones took about 3 seconds to do that). also, i'm now picking up 51-1 at 85 signal strength, where i didn't even get it before. i can't compare with tw hd channels since i dropped them right when i got an hdtv because they had no hd channels at the time (they still don't - i just checked, and they have 14 hd channels available vs. 35 with dish if you count movie channels and locals on both lineups). let me check directv - 14. and wow - 18.

[mace]

I think one of the coolest little features with Dish's HD receivers is the guide. Not the actual interface, but you have three different options.

press guide once, and it gives you all of the channels they carry.
Press guide again, and it only lists what you have subscribed too.
Press guide once more, and you will get nothing but the channels that are in HD.

Silly? Yes, Cool? Absolutely.
and yes, 35 HD channels speak for itself.

I am a big foot ball fan, and I would have liked to have gotten Sunday ticket, but it was a no brainer for me. I enjoy all my HD channels, and like Tim said before, the OTA signals come in strong through the 622 and the 211. I even have my antenna split to go to both of my receivers.

[zelig2]

Going through AT&T could help in getting a HomeZone HD box if that's important to you. Once that's availible it'll be that digital convergence we've heard about for years. Movie downloads and remote web configuration. Plus everything comes on one bill from them: Dish, DSL, Phone. You get all the same deals and rebates as if you call dish directly.

[buckeye3d]

Does Dish only require one dish to receive everything? The dish needs clear line of sight to the southwest right?

[zelig2]

I only have one dish that looks to the southwest. The HD-DVR box has two connections for satellite dishes. I'm not sure if you could use two dishes if for some reason you couldn't get one to hit all three satellites.

[Timcredible]

yep, one small dish pointing sw (thankfully the older, humungous dish i used to had is now just a memory).

[festivus]

This is good to know. I'm in a fairly new neighborhood but some very large trees were not cut down, as fate would have it, west/southwest from my house. I don't know if this would affect my reception or not. I guess that the dish could me mounted on the southeast side of my house, but I have a mid-size birch tree there.

At what angle exactly does the dish need to be mounted? Is it exactly southwest, i.e. 225 degrees? I think that if it's under 245 I'll not have any obstructions whatsoever if I get it mounted on the southwest side of the house.

I chatted with a dish rep for a while yesterday. I like the deal and I like my prospective setup. Got a plan to use the HD DVR dual tuner and a second SD dual tuner. I'll be splitting 3 or the 4 feeds out so that I can accomodate all of my TV's. Having 2 TV's forefully tuned to the same channel is not an issue once I thought about it. Seldom do I need ever 4 different channels going at once.

The only con is the up front $250 cost. $200 for theHD DVR and $50 for the promotional DHA. You get the money back over the course of some time, but it's still a decent size up front commitment.

I'll probably make my decision toward the end of August. I'm changing jobs right now and got enough other stuff to worry about!

[festivus]

Man, pardon my spelling above. I must be stressed out.

[AV8TOR]

When I put in my address to see if local channels were available from Dish Network, they were but none had an HD by it, so are any of the local channels in HD?

[festivus]

Dish doesn't carry Columbus locals in HD but my HD DVR has an OTA input. And the Dish programming guide clones their satellite provided locals to the OTA channels. So as long as you pay for SD locals, it's easy to DVR the HD OTA locals. At least the *.1 channels.

I did have some issues with getting my dish aimed correctly. Took 3 follow up visits after the first install. 4 tries in all. That was not fun.

[AV8TOR]

Thanks festivus I guess I read that wrong. What about Direct TV?

[MeHDTV]

DirecTV has columbus locals. Let me know, I can hook you up with either Dish or DirecTV.

[nicholc2]

Right now I have TW, but considering the announcement that DTV made at CES I might have to switch. Scifi, TBS, etc in HD! Doubt TW will have an answer to that any time soon, but we'll see. Once those channels are officially up and running, I will make a final decision.

[Robaticus]

With the upcoming change to the TW DVR interface (switching from 2003 to 1986), I'm seriously considering a move to satellite. I was a DirecTV subscriber back in '95 or '96 and liked it a lot, even though my dish was mounted on a piece of wood that I conveniently placed outside my front door whenever I wanted to watch TV.

Here's my dilemma. We have three TVs that we want DVR functionality on. Worse comes to worst, I could use a video distributor and get that down to two DVRs, with the livingroom DVR feeding the theater projector, since we rarely want to watch both the living room TV and the projector at the same time. HOwever, when I go to either the DirecTV or the Dish web sites, I either see only a choice for *1* DVR or I hear that the DVRs are ungodly expensive.

Any thoughts on this, or have I just been totally spoiled by the monthly lease, and I'm not looking at the total cost of ownership, and the fact that the reduced monthly cost of the satellite programming will quickly pay for any difference in hardware?

Help me convince myself to make the switch!

Thanks,
R

[zelig2]

The ViP622 is supposed to be free now after CES from Dish. With that you can watch on one tv and send out a signal to another tv with the second tuner. That second tuner signal can then be split out onto multiple tvs, but those extra tvs would all be watching the same thing. Also that limits what you can record in the back ground when other tvs are using the second tuner.

[velvet396]

how much does a "free" Vip622 cost per month, if I'm getting a new install on 4 tvs, 3 standard and one HD?

[MeHDTV]

The free 622 starts February 1st.

And to answer velvets question, it depends on your programming package!

[mace]

Their HD packages start at $50 per month. $29 promo price right now.

Linky to thier deals. (http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/dishhd/offer/index.shtml)