Brand new to Dish HD, loads of questions

[sequentialcoma]

Hello all! I'm so glad I found this forum. Sorry if the questions I'm about to ask are old hat, but I've been reading for a good hour and still have tons of questions. I'm a current E* customer and have been very pleased with programming and quality, but the customer service is a little shaky and I feel I'd get better answers here.

When I was looking at the website, I noticed that none of our local channels reflect being HD. Does this mean I'll be hosed with locals or can you request different locals? I live near Colorado Springs, Colorado if that helps.

I'm planning on going with the HD DVR, BUT I'm wondering if it's worth going with that one unit or if it would be better to have one HD receiver and one DVR receiver? The reason I ask is that I own my current E* DVR. I currently only have the one HDTV and one SDTV, so I'm wondering if it's worth the $199 to lease the HD DVR.

Thanks so much in advance! I can't wait to see what this tv can do.

 

[dude2]

Some of the locals that broadcast in HD will be HD, but not all of them. I;m not sure how dish decides which get it and which not. I would guess it has something to do with subscriber base.
Our Minneapolis local nbc fox cbs and abc do all network hd in hd and nbc has local hd on dish.
Sioux Falls sd has one HD channel but dish does not do it in hd.
Dave.

 

[lakebum431]

First off, where are you located? That will make a difference on if you are at least on the list to receive local HDs in the near future.

 

[Pepper]

lakebum: He said he's near Colorado Springs. I don't think that's in the E* current or future HD locals plans.

sequential: You said you have one HDTV and one SDTV, the ViP622 DVR can run both of them. It will also receive and record whatever over-the-air digital local channels you can get with an antenna.

The other option you're talking about (HD receiver and SD DVR) will cost you $5 more for the 2nd receiver fee and you won't be able to record any of the HD content. I didn't want to pay $199 to lease one and pay a $6 lease fee on it forever so I bought one from DishStore (one of the premier sponsors here). I'm very pleased with that investment.

 

[yaz96]

Howdy! and Welcome!
I live in Colorado Springs, KKTV, KOAA, KXRM, and KRDO are all broadcasting in HD finally! BUT you can only receive them OTA with an antenna, not through DISH. I recently "moved" to Denver so that I could receive all the networks in HD through DISH (and continue to watch the local sports!), plus I still get all the Colo Spgs HD channels OTA with the 622, which is helpful for recording shows.

If you have questions about "moving" your service address, do a search on the DISH forum here, and you'll find all the info you need.

 

[sequentialcoma]

Howdy! and Welcome!
I live in Colorado Springs, KKTV, KOAA, KXRM, and KRDO are all broadcasting in HD finally! BUT you can only receive them OTA with an antenna, not through DISH. I recently "moved" to Denver so that I could receive all the networks in HD through DISH (and continue to watch the local sports!), plus I still get all the Colo Spgs HD channels OTA with the 622, which is helpful for recording shows.

If you have questions about "moving" your service address, do a search on the DISH forum here, and you'll find all the info you need.

Thanks. It looks like I'll need to move in about a week to take a six month job and darn it, I need my Dish. Guess I'll have to make a call.

Did you switch over to paperless/online billing when you "moved"?

The other option is getting an OTA atenna, but I'm about thirty five miles from the nearest transmitter. I guess that means I'd need to go up on the roof. To be honest, it sounds easier to just "move".

 

[garys]

Very true, but you will only get four networks via dish. You should be able to get a lot more networks ie: pbs, cw, mynetwork and others via the OTA if hooked up correctly.

 

[sequentialcoma]

Very true, but you will only get four networks via dish. You should be able to get a lot more networks ie: pbs, cw, mynetwork and others via the OTA if hooked up correctly.

It's something that I'd probably do in the future (and do it right), but right now for time reasons, I'd like to just get them via the Dish. But this leads me to another question that hopefully someone can answer:

Could I "move" across country? Right now I live in Pueblo, CO. Could I "move" to Boston and get the Boston HD locals on my TV? The reason I ask...let's just say it involves football. Is this something I'd be able to do? I don't care about local news...I've maybe watched it twice this year. I perfer reading the news, so that wouldn't bother me one bit.

I feel sneaky just for askin'

 

[Poke]

I know Dish has the Denver Locals in HD..


http://ekb.dbstalk.com/hdlocal.htm
Denver
Available 3/1/06 ABC CBS NBC Fox 129°
6330 6331 6332 6333

 

[CoachGibbs]

Not to steal the thread here, but related to what is being asked...

Are the HD locals on 61.5 spotbeamed? I'm thinking this could be a way around Sunday Ticket for me if I could pick up DC locals in NH.

From looking at http://ekb.dbstalk.com/61-5list.htm is seems they are on transponder 5 which I get fine(well my neighbor does anyway, I don't have E* yet) , but I wanted to make sure I'm not missing something.

 

[Poke]

Yeah it looks like all the HD Locals in DC are on the 61 so I would think you would be fine..

 

[bytre]

I'm planning on going with the HD DVR, BUT I'm wondering if it's worth going with that one unit or if it would be better to have one HD receiver and one DVR receiver? The reason I ask is that I own my current E* DVR. I currently only have the one HDTV and one SDTV, so I'm wondering if it's worth the $199 to lease the HD DVR.

You should totally go for the HD DVR. You know how having a DVR changes how you watch TV, you don't want to step back from that for viewing HD.

I had to do that for some time between the lengthy time between the 6000 being released and the 921 being released. It was awful having to worry about calendar schedules again.

 

[yaz96]

Very true, but you will only get four networks via dish. You should be able to get a lot more networks ie: pbs, cw, mynetwork and others via the OTA if hooked up correctly.

Nope only the big four available in HD in Co Spgs/Pueblo area.

Could I "move" across country? Right now I live in Pueblo, CO. Could I "move" to Boston and get the Boston HD locals on my TV? The reason I ask...let's just say it involves football. Is this something I'd be able to do? I don't care about local news...I've maybe watched it twice this year. I perfer reading the news, so that wouldn't bother me one bit.

Short answer is yes!

 

[CoachGibbs]

Yeah it looks like all the HD Locals in DC are on the 61 so I would think you would be fine..

Thanks, sounds like a plan to me, just need to come up with or make up an address and get the equipment, then I can say bye to D*.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

Go with the 622 HD DVR, and get you a $25 Zenith silver sensor antenna, I pick up 3 OTA stations with it an they are 35 miles away at 89-90 percent. I also stuck one up in the attack and pick up about 6 OTA stations, some 60 miles away. OTA has the best picture quaility. Don't forget, once you change your service address (MOVE), any service calls, orders for equipment, etc will go to your new address, you can go paperless billing/auto pay, but I still get promotions, etc at my billing address so I don't think you have to. Also if you pay by the year, get a month free, we have 6 receivers and the everything pack so that saves us $130 or more a year. Thats like getting the AEP for free vs the HD Gold.