811...worth it?

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dhillii

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Mar 24, 2004
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Finally got the 811 installed. I have to admit, the pic is awesome but I am concerned that the $99 and $10/month for programming was worth the whopping 4 channels in the HD Pack.

How many times can one watch Jefferson Starship and polar bears?

Yes, there is HBO and SHO and the HD-PPV, but is it worth more $$$ to watch movies I have already seen or $50 per-pop sporting events?

I'm banking on the ESPN HD baseball games coming thru for me, but that is a once-a-week program.

I have the 811 connected along with the 510 PVR to the same TV and the switching back and forth is a pain. I have a widescreen TV and if I only use the 811, the sides are cut off on the regular channels, if I do the stretch option it looks, well, stretched... plus I cannot record using the 811.

Sour grapes and I shoulda known, maybe, but has anyone else felt this way and do you still have the 811? Or should I make plans to send it back and wait for the HD-DVR combo when it becomes avail?
 
dhillii said:
I have a widescreen TV and if I only use the 811, the sides are cut off on the regular channels, if I do the stretch option it looks, well, stretched...
Click to expand...

I find on my TV that if I switch to 480p mode, regular channels fit my widescreen perfectly, without needing to stretch.
 
I had/have some of the same feelings

I have a 508 and a 811 and have never gotten nothing free from Dish. I paid full price for all my equipment. I paid with tax $429 for the 811. I have them both hooked up to my HDTV in the living room. On the second day after watching my new 811 the main issue was that for 2 years I had been watching everything time shifted with the 508 and was now having to watch commercials! I get such a better picture with the OTA on the 811 with the locals that broadcast in Digital or HD. I mean I bought a $2,000 HDTV and if I wanted to finally see some HD I had to fork out the money and put up with not every channel doing HD at this time. I do think it is worth it as the HD that is curently available is so awsome. The other alternative was for me to wait, and wait for Dish to get the inventory thing fixed or pay another $600 for the 921! So for now I have happy with what I got. I am just glad i waited for most of the bugs to be fixed even though there are still a few out there!

Ron
 
dhillii said:
Finally got the 811 installed. I have to admit, the pic is awesome but I am concerned that the $99 and $10/month for programming was worth the whopping 4 channels in the HD Pack.

How many times can one watch Jefferson Starship and polar bears?

Yes, there is HBO and SHO and the HD-PPV, but is it worth more $$$ to watch movies I have already seen or $50 per-pop sporting events?

I'm banking on the ESPN HD baseball games coming thru for me, but that is a once-a-week program.

I have the 811 connected along with the 510 PVR to the same TV and the switching back and forth is a pain. I have a widescreen TV and if I only use the 811, the sides are cut off on the regular channels, if I do the stretch option it looks, well, stretched... plus I cannot record using the 811.

Sour grapes and I shoulda known, maybe, but has anyone else felt this way and do you still have the 811? Or should I make plans to send it back and wait for the HD-DVR combo when it becomes avail?
Click to expand...

The Dish 811 also provides an off-the-air tuner which provides you as many OTA HD/digital channels as you can pull in (for no additional $$). That alone makes it worth well over $99. As for the $10/HDPack, I know, seems a bit pricy, but if you consider that alacarte channels are $1.50, $2.50 doesn't seem too bad for virtually uncompressed, commerical-free channels. Plus, I think the price/channel will drop as they add more HD channels.
 
AcuraCL...thanks...

I was unaware of the tuner you mentioned....is there a link or more infor on this feature? I live in Dallas (the home of HD, thank you Mark Cuban) and would like any HD that is coming to me....
 
dhillii said:
AcuraCL...thanks...

I was unaware of the tuner you mentioned....is there a link or more infor on this feature? I live in Dallas (the home of HD, thank you Mark Cuban) and would like any HD that is coming to me....
Click to expand...


Link to page 27, Chapter 2 of your 811 user's guide that should have come with the 811.
 
dhillii said:
AcuraCL...thanks...

I was unaware of the tuner you mentioned....is there a link or more infor on this feature? I live in Dallas (the home of HD, thank you Mark Cuban) and would like any HD that is coming to me....
Click to expand...

I think the manual (as Jerry mentioned) tells you more than any of the web pages.

Also check out www.antennaweb.org, type in your address, and it will tell you what OTA channels you can get and in what direction they are located. In Dallas, which is pretty flat as I remember, you might do really well picking up stations with no more than a Silver Sensor or Radio Shack 1880 indoor antenna.
 
bsic said:
"Never gotten nothing free"? That means you always get things free.
Click to expand...

Ah, reminds me of Mr. Schulman my 9th grade English teacher back in '58. He was death on double negatives. If you say "I ain't got no", then "you do got yes." He wasn't too cool on ain't either, but he got his point across.
 
I've got a friend near Dallas who just got an 811 receiver, and he isn't utilizing the OTA tuner either. I've even sent him a link to the Silver Sensor antenna for $20, told him about all of the primetime HD programming, and he still doesn't get it. On top of that he's paying $5/month to E* for his locals. We watch OTA locals by far more than the 4 HD channels.
 
redline65 said:
I've got a friend near Dallas who just got an 811 receiver, and he isn't utilizing the OTA tuner either. I've even sent him a link to the Silver Sensor antenna for $20, told him about all of the primetime HD programming, and he still doesn't get it. On top of that he's paying $5/month to E* for his locals. We watch OTA locals by far more than the 4 HD channels.
Click to expand...

If he's really a good friend, why not spend the 20 bucks and give it to him. He can pay you back with a drink or two.
 

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