Besy way to upgrade to HD?

[David1997]

I have a dish 500 one HD TV and one regular TV all connected to a 322 reciver that dish owns. I would like to get Voom HBO-HD and Showtime HD and any other channel that is HD

What would be the best way to upgrade and the cheapest? I can do without DVR if it would cost a lot less. Yes i could just buy a 942 but that cost to much for me.

Thanks

 

[bhchan]

A 811 recieves HD but doesn't have DVR functionality. I think they lease 811's to existing customers.

 

[David1997]

I would need more than that though? What about the secound TV could i just use the 322 reciver for that one?

 

[Cyclone]

Yeah, it would likely be easiest just to add the 811 to your HDTV, and then keep the 322 on the other. Really a 942 would fit the best in your senario, but its cost a bit more.

Still with that you would get a modern receiver (the 811 is getting old), its a DVR, and it services two locations like your 322 does. People also seem to really like the 942, whereas the 811 has complaints.

Keep in mind that reguardless of which receiver that you go with, that you will want to look into getting a Over the Air (OTA) antenna to receive your local HDTV channels with.

 

[jergenf]

You going to need to add another 18 inch dish for Voom. Depending whether you have legacy or dishpro series LNB on your dish500 you'll need a SW44 or DP34 switch to combine the two dishes. The reason is you already have two coax lines for your 322 so you'll now need one or two more lines (depending which receiver you buy) for the HD receiver.

Also you'll need a TV antenna (outdoor perferred) in order to get digital OTA.

Presently the receivers are 811 ($400), 921 ($550) or 942 ($700). The 811 is a single tuner while the 921 & 942 are dual tuners. All have an additional digital OTA tuner built-in.

 

[SimpleSimon]

You going to need to add another 18 inch dish for Voom.

OR, simply get a D1000 with DPP-Twin. This gives you a feed for the 811 and a feed for a DPP-Separator for the 322.

OR upgrade the D500 to a DPP-Twin, and add the 18" dish - same result cable-wise.

 

[jergenf]

OR, simply get a D1000 with DPP-Twin. This gives you a feed for the 811 and a feed for a DPP-Separator for the 322.

OR upgrade the D500 to a DPP-Twin, and add the 18" dish - same result cable-wise.

Would those options be cheaper?

What would be the best way to upgrade and the cheapest?
Thanks

 

[David1997]

My wife said i could get the 942! Will i need another Dish? It would be nice if i could only have 1 but i think i read somewhere that you must have 2 to get Voom.

 

[rad]

OK, have the flame jacket on, have you considered seeing what your cable system has to offer for HD programming? They probably don't have the Voom channels but they might have your OTA HD channels along with either/ or both InHD and HDNet's plus the movie channels. That way you don't have to worry about an OTA antenna and what upgrade/replacement to the E* HD STB's that would be necessary when they switch to MPEG4 for HD. Plus no upfront cost or 1/2 year commitment to go to HD. You might also have 'OnDemand' service which is really neat. Plus a number of systems are starting to mirror their analog channels on the digital teir so all the analog PQ issues are gone. Of course since everyone's cable system differens in price and quality you won't really know how it is at your home until you give them a try. Just a thought, a number of folks have tried cable again and are happy with the siwtch.

 

[David1997]

We have adelphia and they suck i had them once and will never again. As far OTA i can only get one channel in HD (ABC) I do worry about the 942 after the switch to MPEG4 but i get tired of wating for new stuff to come out usally when it does there will be something even better later on all tech stuff seems to be like that.

btw would i have to pay a DVR fee?

 

[rad]

btw would i have to pay a DVR fee?

Unless you have AEP package then you pay the fee.

 

[David1997]

There's no chance that the 942 will work with MPEG4 after a software update?

 

[rad]

Everything that I've seen up to this point is that the upgrade requires a physical hardware change, not software, so no upgrade path except for a box swapout to the new model.

 

[jergenf]

There's no chance that the 942 will work with MPEG4 after a software update?

No receiver currently in the market decodes mpeg4. If you heard some computers were doing it through software let me assure you those are super fast systems if they're doing it in real time. You will see more mpeg4 when the new DVD-HD and BluRay Dics players arrive next year.

The new satellite receivers will have a mpeg4 decoder chip instead of the present mpeg2. Mpeg4 is downward capatible so it can also handle mpeg2 and mpeg1.

 

[David1997]

Maybe i should just get the 921 since it's cheaper? Eather one i have i'd sell it on ebay when something new comes out.

I would think MPEG4 would work on my PC without any hardware changes. All i would need is software and i would think the 942 would work the same way. But you say it need a chip to decode?

I don't know anything about MPEG4.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Would those options be cheaper?

Dunno if they're cheaper - it just depends on what you can find where, but cheaper isn't always best.