1/9 Charlie Chat Recap

Airblair said:
But who would have gotten the 942 without knowing it was going to be obsolete? Existing subs had to jump through some hoops to get that special deal, and I find it hard to believe that anyone knowledgeable enough to discover how to get that deal wouldn't know that it would not work with MPEG4 channels.

My installation was just done a little less than a month ago. The installer kept reiterating that he didn't think the $250 for the 942 was worth it. Literally he kept saying that he thought it would be better to wait. Perhaps he knew something was up?

Looks like the 811 lease may work out. Unless, of course, they keep the 1-year before upgrade rule in effect.
 
They said that ANY receiver can be upgraded to the ViP211 for the price. When I leased my 811 last year I was required to subscribe to the HD pack in addition to paying the lease fee, although it was reduced from $10/mo. to $5/mo for the year of my lease term. Is everyone who leases a ViP211 going to be forced to subscribe to the new $19.99/mo HD pack, including those who upgrade from an SD receiver? It seems that E*'s new business strategy is to produce nothing but HD-capable MPEG4 receivers, and to lease as many of them as possible. Will it be possible to lease a new receiver and NOT subscribe to the HD pack?

Also, is there anything that will be available on 129 that will not be on 61.5? I currently have legacy LNBs on a Dish500 at 110/119 and a second dish at 61.5, all going into a SW64. Should I repoint the second dish to 129 if I upgrade to the ViP211 if I want the additional HD channels?
 
dlsnyder said:
They said that ANY receiver can be upgraded to the ViP211 for the price. When I leased my 811 last year I was required to subscribe to the HD pack in addition to paying the lease fee, although it was reduced from $10/mo. to $5/mo for the year of my lease term. Is everyone who leases a ViP211 going to be forced to subscribe to the new $19.99/mo HD pack, including those who upgrade from an SD receiver?

Yeah I was wondering the same thing. I'm guessing that as long as you have your old hardware they'll keep charging you whatever you're current rate is. However as soon as you upgrade to the 211 or 622 than you instantly have to choose one of the new HD packages, such as Bronze, Silver, etc...

My question is about cost. In order to keep my rate the same I'd have to go with HD Silver, which, essentially is a downgrade from the AT180 I currently get. I'm guessing they'll hit me with a downgrade fee as well since I'm still in my "commitment" range.
 
I think a great trade-in for the customers that would have kept Dish Network's cost down would have been to charge any consumer that wants an HD receiver the same upgrade fee but it does make sense to start with those that already have the receivers. They should give you free HD programming for 1-2 years as a trade in for your receiver (based upon the receiver you have) to make up for some of the cost that you have in it. They would still get the DVR and additional outlet fee when it applies. Even if they would have only charged $5 instead of $20 for the HD programming that still would have been giving credit for the receiver. If you send the HD receiver back you do not get the rest of your credits.
 
I currently own an 811 and a 4700. I have the AT120 package, HDPak, and locals. If I upgrade my 811, I pay $49 for the install (worth it because I'll need a new dish and switches) and the Silver HD package jacks my bill up $5/month over the post-February AT package rates. So far so good. Now if, the additional receiver charge becomes a leased receiver charge, then I go up another penny. If that is it, I may be able to sell it to the wife. However, if the increase is really $10/month for basically what I already have, it may be DOA.

If I want to go from the 811 to a 622, then the cost is $299 installed plus the $5/month DVR fee and the $5/month HDPak increase. With a DVR, this might be an OK sale also, but if there is another $5/month for a lease fee, it will also be DOA. It is the monthly charges that get my wife.

Do I have the numbers correct?
 
I currently lease a 942, own two 921s and own an 811. I plan on calling Dish on Apriil 1st, having them charge me $346 and deliverying me three new ViP622s and one ViP211. I plan on switching to the DishHD Platinum plan at that time.

If they cant do that, FiOS will be up and running in my area.
 
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I have a dish 500 pointed at 119 110. I need a second dish to get the new HD channels, am I right? I live in PA, by the way. If that is so, I won't be getting new HD channels 'cause the wife isn't real happy with the dish sitting on our front porch roof now. She'd be really unhappy with 2 of them there. My luck, looks like it might be back to cable for more HD.
 
delanewf said:
I have a dish 500 pointed at 119 110. I need a second dish to get the new HD channels, am I right? I live in PA, by the way. If that is so, I won't be getting new HD channels 'cause the wife isn't real happy with the dish sitting on our front porch roof now. She'd be really unhappy with 2 of them there. My luck, looks like it might be back to cable for more HD.

Must be something about wives in PA. Mine isn't too happy about 2 dishes and they're hidden out in the back of the house!

From what I understand you need at least 61.5 to get the new HD's.
 
My question is if I own my 811 and sub to just the HD pack and VOOM will I be able to lease the new receiver? Do I have to have the new dish installed if I do not want it?
 
that was covered with the promotional offer.

Anyone will be able to lease a 622 for $299

The special deal for those that own a 921 or 942 is if they wait until April to upgrade they'll get a $200 rebate making it $99 to upgrade to the 622
 
Stargazer said:
I don't think they said anything about an upgrade from a MPEG-2 nonHD receiver to an MPEG-4 HD DVR for the $299 price.

A person with a 811, 6000, or any nonHD receiver will receive the same $299 offer for the 622 (I was on hold during Charlie Chat to ask that question until they let someone else on to ask about his trade of a 6000 to a 622).

I believe they mentioned ANYONE...even a new sub...has access to this deal (they may be charged more for an install). That's why I'm upset with the deal they offered us current 6000 and 811 owners. Throw us a bone and offer us a $199 upgrade. Heck, I'll take someone's previous suggestion and pay $299 and then receive credits on the HD pack for 6 months because I am currently an HD sub.
 
BFG said:
remember you'd be charged $946 and get (3) $200 rebates, unless it's an instant rebate
I would imagine that its an instant "rebate". If not, I dont mind floating the charges on AmEx until I get my rebate.
 
Wow!

1) if you don't want to trade in your 921 or 942 you don't have to. you can keep what you have and enjoy the existing HD channels until all are switched to Mpeg4

2) if you want to get the new HD channels and don't want to trade in your 921 or 942 you don't have to. you just have to pay $49 for a 211 lease or $299 for a 622 lease.

3) If you want the 622 upgrade and the $200 rebate you have to trade in your 921 or 942.

Simple

4) The $5 lease fee is the same as the Addl' recvr fee. you bill won't change.

5) Leasing costs much less than owning. you get the use of the reciever for as long as you have Dish network. if you cancel dish network the reciever is useless to you so dish gets it back.

upfront cost for standard HD reciever =$25-$50 to lease, $300-$400 to own. (Monthly cost The same)

upfront cost for DVR HD reciever =$250-$299 to lease, $700 to own. (Monthly cost The same)

Owning. upfront cost = much more than leasing. when you cancel dish network the reciever is just as useless to you. And if its more than a couple years old has virtually no resale value. Even if you get 1/2 your money back the lease would still have been cheaper and you wouldn't have had to deal with the hassle of selling packing and shipping it.

If you bought a 921 in the last 10 months or so.. What were you thinking?

If you bought a 921 12-24 months ago you've gotten some good use out of it and it will still be useable for at least another 12 months.

If you bought or leased a 942 it's still useful for another 12 months at least. and depending on how long you've had it, you've gotten good use out of it.
 
Line #3 - ?

3) If you want the 622 upgrade and the $200 rebate you have to trade in your 921 or 942.
I have seen nothing concrete that says if you OWN your 921 or 942 that you have to trade it in a this point. This was not covered in the Charlie chat.
Gerry
 
This is what my D* Bill looks like

86.99 = DHA - AEP/local
9.99 = Dish Network HD Package
5.00 = Voom Original
4.99 = Addl Rcvr Access Fee
4.99 = Addl Rcvr Access Fee
5.00 = Addl Rcvr
5.99 = Dish Home Protection
0.50 = Tax
-5.00 = HD Promotion Adjustment
118.45 = TOTAL

This is want I have:
921 - own - connected to Panny projector in Theater Room with 108" screen
811 - lease - connected to Akai 37" HDTV LCD
811 - lease - connected to Akai 42" EDTV Plasma
522 - lease - Panny 26" SDTV -> whole house distributed to other TVs

and a Maxent 26" HDTV LCD connected to PC that's screaming for D*



mebgardener said:
This thread has not answered the confusing lease fees. Please set the record straight for me so I can make an informed decision.
- I own my 811
- I subscribe to the AT120 ($37.99) and HD Package ($9.99)
- Local/State tax is $3.36
- My total monthly bill is $51.34
I want to upgrade to the Vip622 DVR. The initial charge is $299. What will my monthly bill look like?
 
Read my earlier posts.

If you own 921/942 you can upgrade to the 622 NOW and then you will receive the rebate when it becomes available in April or you can wait to upgrade in April. when the rebate is available. Plus you do not have to return the 921/942 if you own it. It was said on the chat!!!

All in all, its a pretty fair deal. At least for me. My total bill only goes up $3.00 due to the rate increase!!! Not too shabby. My bill may even actually go down, since I lease a 522 and probably won't need it anymore due to the 622 and ability to whole house distribute.

I'll upgrade my two 811s to 211 and my 921 to 622. Just not too happy about the installation fees, since I won't need any installation. Already have two dishes and am not eligible for D*1000. Unless I can get my two DP34s replaced with DP44 then I'll be happy to pay the installation fees. With the DP44 I'll be able to install Sirius (S*?) dish and whole house distribute Howard on my S* radio.



ggw2000 said:
3) If you want the 622 upgrade and the $200 rebate you have to trade in your 921 or 942.
I have seen nothing concrete that says if you OWN your 921 or 942 that you have to trade it in a this point. This was not covered in the Charlie chat.
Gerry
 
retsef said:
Read my earlier posts.
I'll upgrade my two 811s to 211 and my 921 to 622. Just not too happy about the installation fees, since I won't need any installation. Already have two dishes and am not eligible for D*1000. Unless I can get my two DP34s replaced with DP44 then I'll be happy to pay the installation fees. With the DP44 I'll be able to install Sirius (S*?) dish and whole house distribute Howard on my S* radio.

But I have been wondering if Dish will actually charge us multiple installation fees.

The $49 fee on an upgrade from 811 to 211 is for Professional Installation and the Lease Upgrade is actually free. Also the $99 fee (after rebate) for the 942 to 622 upgrade includes Professional installation as well. Does Dish really charge for 3 installation fees for one trip to your house to install the 942 and 811's.

I guess I'm thinking that instead of having to pay 197 (49 + 49 + 99), we would only have to pay $99.

Seems like whenever they have come out to my house in the past it was one fee for all the work, whatever was required to do the install. Sometimes that entailed new dish's, switches, lnbs, running coax, but it was all covered by one fee. but I don't think I've ever gotten 2 or more receivers all at one time.

Just speculation. Can anyone clarify Dish's policy on this type of thing.
 

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