Dish Network ?

wetaline · 10-15-2003, 05:24 PM

I think i've had my last straw w/ comcast(although i'll keep them for broadband). There's some pretty good promotions, from what I can tell, out there right now Dish Network... and includes a DVR on one of the units.

What are the goods and the bads?
What would be your recomendation?

thanks for all your help.
hp

wetaline · 10-15-2003, 05:25 PM

Also - is it true that you get Dolby 5.1 when broadcast that way?

roadsend · 10-15-2003, 05:58 PM

I don't know diddly about the technical aspects of TV, but I have had DISH for several years.
It was easy to install. I had a receiver problem only once during that several years, for which their tech support folks walked me through a quick fix. I am very pleased with their product.

Dipnet · 10-15-2003, 06:11 PM

We've had Dish Network for 5 years and have had absolutely no problems ever. We installed it ourselves with no problem. We got an extra dish for our cabin on Tenmile Lake and just have to take the receiver down when we go. You can even get an extra receiver for cheap if you want. This is even after the receiver fell on the the driveway from the back of the car!! Never any outages, always excellent reception. I could go on and on!!!!

Dipnet :grin:

Reelentless · 10-15-2003, 07:41 PM

I had Dish Network. I cancelled it after they tried to give me the runaround over the phone.

I now have DirectTV. My receiver is a digital video recorder (Tivo) with Dolby Digital 5.1. I really like it. You can pause live TV, record your shows and watch them whenever you want, etc. Being able to fast forward through commercials is great!

If the broadcast is DD 5.1, then you will receive it assuming you have it connected to your home theater. DirectTV charges an extra $5 a month for the DVR service. Not bad for what you can do with it.

Reelentless · 10-15-2003, 07:46 PM

I might add that in order to receive DD 5.1, you need to have a satellite receiver that decodes it. The free receivers you get when you sign up usually don't. But if its a DVR you are getting, it probably will.

wetaline · 10-15-2003, 08:44 PM

northriverman - yes it would be dish networks DVR receiver... so you think it would be dolby 5.1 then as well?

what kind of run around did they give you?

W/ the new satalite systems that include local stations - is the programing and channel line up basically the same as digital cable?

thanks for all your help

HOGGEMIN · 10-15-2003, 09:24 PM

I am in east maultnomah county where there is a lot of fir trees. During the summer I have no problems but during the spring, winter and fall when the wind blowes hard or we get a decent down pore I temporaly lose reception, some times it bounces in and out for long periods. My neighbor had dish and now has comcast he likes the programing on Dish but got tired of loseing reception. If you get a dish and it snows or freezing rain you will lose recption, but no problem get the kids super soaker and fill it with warm water, spray your dish and it melts away.

FISH HAWK · 10-16-2003, 06:51 AM

I sent you a private message concerning dish network. Give it a look.

Matt

Herring Impaired · 10-16-2003, 07:32 AM

Keep in mind that when you drop comcast TVcable, your high speed internet bill will go up $10.00 a month because you are no longer a "Loyal" customer. I can't wait to get DSL in my area.

I myself prefer DirecTV, only because of the sports coverage.

Reelentless · 10-16-2003, 07:55 AM

To make a short story long...

I wanted to add the Outdoor Channel to my package. I called Dish Network and they told me that I had to upgrade my receiver to Dish 500 in order to get that channel. They also told me that they couldnt just add one channel. I had to upgrade to the next package. So to add one channel I had to spend $150 on a hardware upgrade, plus $15 a month for a package upgrade.

I went online and sure enough you could add channels ala carte. So for $2 a month I added the Outdoor Channel.

So in their effort to try and cheat me, they lost a customer.

The local channels are an extra $5 a month and you get all the national broadcasts, ABC, NBC, CBS.

The DVR will say if its DD 5.1 on the specifications. Its a high end receiver so it should be.

I looked on their site and the 500 and 700 series DVRs have optical output for Dolby Digital.

[ 10-16-2003, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: Northriverman ]

wetaline · 10-16-2003, 09:32 AM

Man - I would have never thought making this decision could be so difficult... from all the surveying i've done w/ people at work etc.... its a coin flip as to what they think - some love it, others are just satisfied basically for the same reasons listed above (reception going out at times)....

What i do know - is i've gone rounds w/ comcast and i promised when the righ promo came around i would drop them.. .kinda feel obligated at this point. And I know they have the technology such as DD5.1 and HDTV but are so slow to release it in our area (they just anounced today they would release hdtv)... In addition in upper digital chanels the picture gets pixelated at times.

I suppose there is no perfect solution - even though its seems like their should be.

Even w/ the $10 bump in my broadband - i figure i can get everything i have now, plus DD5.1, DVR and one more movie channel for the same price.

the thing that concerns me at this point is:

* ease of use as far as channels go (are they catogorized etc? - old satalite systems i used seemed to be all over the place).

*Is this the best dish solution? beni's vs con's over directTV

*Is the reception really an issue? i mean is it up 99% or what is a numerical figure to "bad at times"

and thanks again to everyone - hopefully others can learn from this as well. PS the DishDirect promo that i'm referring to ends saturday at noon.

hp

wetaline · 10-16-2003, 03:32 PM

thanks everybody... i think i'll give it a go... at least till something better comes along - like free TV - theres a concept long gone

Its funny how we'll all pay for premium services like Cable/Satalite.. and now XM radio has arrived. If they could figure out how to let you dial in to local programing (sports) i'd be all over that too. How great being able to listen to your college football and baseball playoffs at Deer Camp.

Reelentless · 10-16-2003, 11:03 PM

The only time I have reception "blackouts" is when its raining like mad or if snow gets on the dish. It happens very rarely.

In my opinion, there is no decision between cable and satellite. The decision is DirectTV or Dish. For a free DVR, I would choose Dish. Check on their monthly fee for having it though. I pay $5 a month. Make sure they dont charge more than that. Tivo is $13 a month I think.

Having a DVR is awesome. I like to watch good movies over and over. I record a bunch of movies I like, and when nothing is on TV, I browse through my list and find something. You can also record pay per view movies and sports. If you fall asleep or get distracted, you can play it whenever you want, as many times as you want.

As far as ease of use goes, its very similar to cable. The numbering will likely be different, but you will get to know it with time. You can make your own guides, showing the channels you usually watch. You can search the guide for a movie or show you would like to see. You can lock out channels so the kids dont "accidentally" tune to something they shouldnt. Its as flexible or more flexible than digital cable.

[ 10-16-2003, 12:10 PM: Message edited by: Northriverman ]

AuntyM · 10-17-2003, 08:41 AM

If it's not too late, I want to add my .02.

We just switched from Dish to DirectTV. The main reason was because we were also getting Direcway Internet.

I'm glad we switched. In spite of having Dish 500, I had an older Dish receiver that didn't have interactive capabilities and a remote that needed to be replaced. I wasn't about to pay big bucks to replace those things.

I got VERY tired of waiting for the Dish programming guide to update itself. With DirectTV, it is already there! No "please wait or cancel"

I pay less for my local access.

I think DirectTV/Hughes has better financial backing and saw Charlie/Dish as a long term risk.

Martin85 · 10-17-2003, 10:19 AM

DirectTV is the best I think, more sports easier format in the guides, better money backers, I've called them twice in 5 years and talked to a person right away! I hate the cable companies. My mom has the dish and it doesn't seem to be as user friendly.