Cheapest Way to Get Dish During NFL Season *Only*?

[Lkr]

Tony Kornheiser has said on his DC radio show that once you try Red Zone you can't go back. I used to have Sunday Ticket at D*, but really can't justify that sort of outlay. Still, I think Red Zone will be good enough to keep me home from the bar, and 120+ for four months would be nice too...

Red Zone has also gotten especially good reviews on the Redskins message boards, ExtremeSkins.com.

Redzone is excellent. I have ST, but when a Packers game isn't on, I watch Red Zone

 

[DishinDinner]

I know the OP does not want a contract...but, Dish does have a way to suspend service for a period of time and then pick it back up, continuing the contract where you had left off. So if you had a two year contract and only used satellite four months a year, it'd take 6 years to run the contract out, I'm not sure of the fees to suspend service and restart it each time, but it may give you lower up front costs.

 

[rufwork]

I know the OP does not want a contract...but, Dish does have a way to suspend service for a period of time and then pick it back up, continuing the contract where you had left off. So if you had a two year contract and only used satellite four months a year, it'd take 6 years to run the contract out, I'm not sure of the fees to suspend service and restart it each time, but it may give you lower up front costs.

From what I've been told, that runs $5 a month and can only be used for 6 (?) months at a time. And if you go longer than that, you're out and have to mail the leased equipment back, which isn't cheap.

I've also had a few sellers tell me that currently there's no charge to reinstate Flex after a break. I'm a little suspicious, but the worst I've seen is a max of $25 after 5 months off from Flex.

The 6 months on, 6 off might be a better deal, at least short run, though -- that is, it'll let me run the new customer deal. Interesting thought.

 

[Mr Tony]

From what I've been told, that runs $5 a month and can only be used for 6 (?) months at a time.

correct

And if you go longer than that, you're out and have to mail the leased equipment back, which isn't cheap.

actually they just turn the system back on with what you had before and dont tell you until the bill comes

 

[rufwork]

Sum of the Great Red Zone Experiment of 2010

To wrap up on the Red Zone experiment…

I got Flex so that I didn't have to sign up for a two-year agreement. I purchased the equipment from Clint Wall at Affordable Entertainment Corp (http://ae-tx.com). He couldn't have been more helpful from start to finish, and fielded enough dumb questions via email that I doubt he made minimum wage on me.

Prices were as follows:
Description Unit price Qty Amount
-Dish 211K Receiver $99.00 1 $99.00
-Dish 1000.2 dish kit $50.00 1 $50.00
Subtotal $149.00
Shipping and handling $40.00
Total $189.00

After signing up for auto-pay, I received $75 back. So I was only out $114 for the hardware. I could also, I reasoned, make a good deal of that back selling it on eBay if I needed to bail.

Total Hardware Price: $114.

I had set up DirecTV myself years ago and tried to set up this dish. I don't know why, but I didn't get any signal. I spent a few hours one weekend setting things up on a post, then caved and finally got Brian at StarTec, a local Dish installer, to set up a quick install. I already had the cable running from the roof into the house down to the single room install. The fellow who installed did try to ask for more than was quoted, but gave me no troubles when I "reminded" him of our first price.

Hopefully most DIYers wouldn't need this cost.

Installation: $100 (optional)

Cost per month is full price for 120+ (the minimum needed for the Sports Package with Red Zone), which is $44.99. The Sports Package with Red Zone is an additional $7 a month. My taxes are running $3.12; I'm not sure if that includes a tax for the "free" HBO and Showtime for the first three months.

Monthly: $55.11

Things took a while to set up, so I missed the first month of the season, but let's pretend I got all four that I wanted.

Total this year for programming: $55.11x4 = $220.44

So all in all, I'm out:
Hardware: $114.00
Install: $100.00
Programming: $220.44
=========================
$434.44

That's not factoring in that I could sell the hardware and recoup much of the cost, nor that if I was competent, I could have installed the Dish myself. ;^)

Without install: $334.44

So, just for fun (and to make myself feel better), I'll compare prices for four months of 120+ with Red Zone against a 2-year agreement. For 12 months, you'd get programming for $29.99 and Sports for $7 = 36.99 + tax. I'll call that about $39. After month 12, you're paying what I pay. Note that I'm not adding costs like second room installs (sheesh, pricely) or DVR fees. I am taking the $7 sports package off after the NFL season for the 2-year. I'm not lowering their subscription rate from 120+. I guess you could conceivably do that? Not sure how the 2-year agreement works, whether you have to stay at the level you signed up for initially or not. I'm guessing you do.

If I've set up Excel correctly, here are the important dates…

After Month 4:
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2 year: 156.00

After Month 10 (DIYer is ahead):
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2-year: 348.00

After Month 12 (I'm still slightly behind):
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2-year: 412.00

Turning Flex back on currently runs $20, so you have to put that in for me and DIY before going into month 1 of year 2.

After Month 1 Year 2 (2-year is at full price now):
Me: 509.55
DIYer: 409.55
2-year: 467.11

After Month 5 Year 2 (I'm finally ahead to stay)
Me: 674.88
DIYer: 574.88
2-year: 680.55

After Month 12 Year 2:
Me: 674.88
DIYer: 574.88
2-year: 1017.32 (!!)

From there on out, we're sort of all in the same situation, but if I want to turn my service off, I don't have to mail my stuff back in like the 2-year guy does, who was just leasing. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get your receiver and dish back once your two years are up if you send them back in. Perhaps you essentially have to keep paying or start all the way back over. If the situation for the 2-year guy in year 3 is like year 2, above, then after year 3 I'm so far ahead I'll confidently feel like I made the right choice!

You can rightly say I'm comparing apples to oranges. I don't get HD for "free". I don't get programming 8 months out of the year. But, most importantly, I like apples.


Neat things I found out:
1.) The 211k will control your VCR. You find the code, enter it, then set up timers from within the Dish guide and *poof*, it turns your VCR on and off. No programming required for the VCR. Nothing like watching Avatar in VHS in EP, baby. Who needs a DVR?

2.) Local channels and preview channels are in HD even though I'm not paying for HD. Red Zone has been in HD, though I'm not sure if that's because the NFL Network has been a preview. We'll find out a week from Sunday.


Craptastic stuff:
1.) Every time I see the Dish Network president/CEO/whatever say that TV should be free like it was when he was a kid -- so HD is free for all Dish Network folk -- I get a little bitter. Not so fast, buddy.

2.) Dish SD on an HDTV isn't great. Not bad, and nobody's complaining, but not as good as SD multicasts from OTA.

3.) The first Dish rep tried to charge me $5 or so just to add the Sports Package, saying that I was changing my programming and that resulted in a charge. I said that I wasn't even receiving programming yet, so there really wasn't any way I was changing anything! Following the standard advice around here, I called back later and didn't get charged by the next rep. I'm not sure if ae-tx should have signed me up for Sports initially or what.

4.) The Red Zone is more speculative highlights than a true Poor Man's Sunday Ticket. Sometimes there are, what, eight to ten or so early games, and you barely see enough of them to matter. The narrative of the game's all gone. I've found myself flipping from games I don't even care about on local networks to the Red Zone and back just to get the feel for *a* game. The late games are much more enjoyable to watch on Red Zone, when it seems there are six or less going. This is the best site I've seen for checking what's on where and when: http://the506.com/sports/?p=458

I think that about sums it up. Thanks for the help, guys! :up

 

[STEELERSRULE]

Turning Flex back on currently runs $20, so you have to put that in for me and DIY before going into month 1 of year 2.

Really? I wasn't charged anything for my restarting, but then again my setup is a little different than yours. I have a DP301, and a Dish 500 pointing at satellites 110/119. I only signed up for two months prepaid(with a Green Dot MoneyPak which will no longer be able to be used by February 2011. At least according to my CSR) for America's Everything pack. I figured what the hell.

Anyway, I prepaid for 2 months at a little under $215(programming plus taxes at 6%) with the GDMP. I was not charged a $5 restart fee(this is the fee for FlexTV customers, or used to be) because the CSR told me that the restart fee is no longer applied at all. I was a little surprised by this, but did not argue.

But this was a CHORE to say the least, until I got a CSR who KNEW WHAT THE HELL FLEXTV WAS.

RUFWORK, you and others are going to run into this next year, so be prepared. Here is some things to expect when you try to restart:

1. Now you are set-up for autopay, meaning you gave them a Credit Card number, correct? I think this is a little DANGEROUS, but that is me. They have no info on me except my address/cell phone number(No SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR CC, PERIOD!), for which they mail out a paper bill, but since I pay/paid upfront for two months, it does not matter. The reason i find it a little dangerous is this: You get a CSR who has no idea what they are doing, and they wil charge your CC for the month you did not pay when you let the programming stop, and your prepaid time run-out. What I mean is that according to the CSR, your DEFAULTED ON YOUR ACCOUNT, which is not true on a FLEXTV set-up. You just chose not to pay for the upcoming month, and let it lapse, so the programming will end.

When you go to restart it next year, you will probably run into a CSR that will want to charge you: The current programming package you want+LAST YEARS NON-PAYMENT OF THE MONTH YOU LET LAPASE/END PROGRAMMING+taxes and, maybe, fees. This is INCORRECT. You will/should only have to pay the current programming you want next year+taxes and fees($5 restart maybe?), and that is it. And if you want to prepay multiple months(which I did) in advance. And that is it. Get ready. You will see.

2. Since you gave them a CC, you(and myself included when the time comes) will probably want to call in advance on the day of, or the day before your programming and ends, and tell a CSR who knows about the FLEXTV program, that you are not paying for the upcoming month, and eneding your service unti next year. But BE CAREFUL. The CSR will try to talk you into paying a $5/month dormant/suspension fee for those months your programming is not prepaid for. THIS IS NOT PART OF THE FLEXTV SETUP!! You stop it when you don't want it anymore, and restart it when you do. These are the rules under which this porgram runs, and if/when they change them, that is the way it should be. If they change them, and force FLEXTV customers to pay a $5/month dormant/account suspension fee, then I will decide not to re-up it. But they have no CC on my account in order to charge me, or a SS# to boot.

I will probably just let mine lapse/not pay, and that will be the end of it until next year. Hopefullly by then, you, myself, and othe prepaid FLEXTV customers will be able to use/access our accounts online(which we can do now), and then restart it on out own using a prepaid/reloadable VISA debit card, anot have to deal with a CSR, but I doubt it. DISH will screw that up somehow as well, or chage the rules altogether, which is their perogative. But they will most likely lose me altogether if that happened, which means nothing to them. But that is My Perogative(Bobby Brown).

But they have your CC RUFWORK, so be wary, and be careful. If it were me, I would get rid of the CC when you want the programming to end, and then just use a prepaid/reloadable VISA Debit card, with amount you are going to spend on programming already there, and use that. That is just me, but I don't trust most of the CSR nitwits, or DISH for that matter. I wanted as little involvement with DISH as I could get, and the FLEXTV set-up allows that for me. The DISHNOW! prepaid program was much better, but they did away with it, and have this now. They will soon dump this also, I guarantee it. But I will cross that bridge when that day comes.

Please feel free to post, or PM me any questions/comments/upcoming fears you want to know about prepaid FLEXTV, I will gladly explain them. But I just want you to be prepared for what may be heading in your direction.

 

[Dishman1978]

Thanks for the update.

 

[rufwork]

I've also had a few sellers tell me that currently there's no charge to reinstate Flex after a break. I'm a little suspicious, but the worst I've seen is a max of $25 after 5 months off from Flex.

Just a quick update to say that I was able to get Flex turned back on this season on without paying the restart fee. Well, that is, I was able to get Flex back on after I got past the rep that tried to get me to lease new hardware to "get the deals" and another who wanted me to pay for premium channels before he'd let me restart. Finally got Chris in the "Executive Resolution department," signed up for 120+ & the Multi-Sport package, and I'm back for just under $55 this month.

All that said, the AAA deal with DirecTV is awfully tempting. $25 a month for the first year, $40 for months 13-20, and $50 for 21-24 with Sunday Ticket for free this season was almost enough to bite. Given that many get the Ticket for $180 after getting to loyalty at DirecTV, that's $1000 for two years of Choice Xtra, real Sunday Ticket x2 seasons, and 24 continuous months of largely HD service. I just hate being tied in for 24 months. With Flex, I can switch this off after a month (and the Skins' only MNF game on ESPN) if I want and be done. But if I hadn't already gotten the 211k installed, I'd probably bite on DirecTV's deal.

I will say that I really, really like the widescreen ratio for SD ESPN and other SD channels that Dish has this year. Looks much better than the 4:3 from last year on my Emerson Black Friday Special 720p (or i or whatever it is) with two giant black columns on the sides. NFL Network and Red Zone (and other Multi-Sport package channels) are still in HD without the $10/mth fee. I do wish I could get the Multi-Sports with Dish America, but this ain't bad!

 

[rufwork]

NFL Network and Red Zone (and other Multi-Sport package channels) are still in HD without the $10/mth fee.

That's a lie. NFL Network is SD, though Red Zone is still HD. It looks like a few sports channels are also in HD.

(Sorry for new post. Can't edit my previous post any more.)

 

[rufwork]

Can we please edit our posts a little longer after posting them? NFL Channel is in HD this morning. I'm not sure why it wasn't coming in with HD yesterday. HD wasn't on the info bar, so I don't think I'm imagining this.

Okay dude, cheapest with the implication of doing it legally. Or at least in true HD.

Not sure this counts for much...

MySQL server error report:
Error:Unknown database 'mr-digital-online_ecmall'
Errno:1049
Contact Administrator find the solutions to this error.

That's why I never bank on streaming anything.

 

[osu1991]

You didnt have HD yesterday due to Dish having problems with the 129 sat and losing all the HD nationwide for about 10 hours last night

Sent from my Galaxy S using SatelliteGuys

 

[rufwork]

You didnt have HD yesterday due to Dish having problems with the 129 sat and losing all the HD nationwide for about 10 hours last night

Thanks. I saw the outage reported on the font page, but thought it was for the Western Arc or whatever, not that I know what that means exactly. That makes more sense.

 

[RaymondG@Dish Network]

From what I've been told, that runs $5 a month and can only be used for 6 (?) months at a time.

It is only $5 per month. Pause can only be used 6 months at a time in a rolling 12 month period. The Pause service is only available to qualifying accounts. Also if you are receiving any promotional credits or free previews, placing your account on pause will forfit those promotional items. The only exception to that would be HD Free for Life.

 

[Claude Greiner]

To wrap up on the Red Zone experiment…

I got Flex so that I didn't have to sign up for a two-year agreement. I purchased the equipment from Clint Wall at Affordable Entertainment Corp (http://ae-tx.com). He couldn't have been more helpful from start to finish, and fielded enough dumb questions via email that I doubt he made minimum wage on me.

Prices were as follows:
Description Unit price Qty Amount
-Dish 211K Receiver $99.00 1 $99.00
-Dish 1000.2 dish kit $50.00 1 $50.00
Subtotal $149.00
Shipping and handling $40.00
Total $189.00

After signing up for auto-pay, I received $75 back. So I was only out $114 for the hardware. I could also, I reasoned, make a good deal of that back selling it on eBay if I needed to bail.

Total Hardware Price: $114.

I had set up DirecTV myself years ago and tried to set up this dish. I don't know why, but I didn't get any signal. I spent a few hours one weekend setting things up on a post, then caved and finally got Brian at StarTec, a local Dish installer, to set up a quick install. I already had the cable running from the roof into the house down to the single room install. The fellow who installed did try to ask for more than was quoted, but gave me no troubles when I "reminded" him of our first price.

Hopefully most DIYers wouldn't need this cost.

Installation: $100 (optional)

Cost per month is full price for 120+ (the minimum needed for the Sports Package with Red Zone), which is $44.99. The Sports Package with Red Zone is an additional $7 a month. My taxes are running $3.12; I'm not sure if that includes a tax for the "free" HBO and Showtime for the first three months.

Monthly: $55.11

Things took a while to set up, so I missed the first month of the season, but let's pretend I got all four that I wanted.

Total this year for programming: $55.11x4 = $220.44

So all in all, I'm out:
Hardware: $114.00
Install: $100.00
Programming: $220.44
=========================
$434.44

That's not factoring in that I could sell the hardware and recoup much of the cost, nor that if I was competent, I could have installed the Dish myself. ;^)

Without install: $334.44

So, just for fun (and to make myself feel better), I'll compare prices for four months of 120+ with Red Zone against a 2-year agreement. For 12 months, you'd get programming for $29.99 and Sports for $7 = 36.99 + tax. I'll call that about $39. After month 12, you're paying what I pay. Note that I'm not adding costs like second room installs (sheesh, pricely) or DVR fees. I am taking the $7 sports package off after the NFL season for the 2-year. I'm not lowering their subscription rate from 120+. I guess you could conceivably do that? Not sure how the 2-year agreement works, whether you have to stay at the level you signed up for initially or not. I'm guessing you do.

If I've set up Excel correctly, here are the important dates…

After Month 4:
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2 year: 156.00

After Month 10 (DIYer is ahead):
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2-year: 348.00

After Month 12 (I'm still slightly behind):
Me: 434.44
DIYer: 334.44
2-year: 412.00

Turning Flex back on currently runs $20, so you have to put that in for me and DIY before going into month 1 of year 2.

After Month 1 Year 2 (2-year is at full price now):
Me: 509.55
DIYer: 409.55
2-year: 467.11

After Month 5 Year 2 (I'm finally ahead to stay)
Me: 674.88
DIYer: 574.88
2-year: 680.55

After Month 12 Year 2:
Me: 674.88
DIYer: 574.88
2-year: 1017.32 (!!)

From there on out, we're sort of all in the same situation, but if I want to turn my service off, I don't have to mail my stuff back in like the 2-year guy does, who was just leasing. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get your receiver and dish back once your two years are up if you send them back in. Perhaps you essentially have to keep paying or start all the way back over. If the situation for the 2-year guy in year 3 is like year 2, above, then after year 3 I'm so far ahead I'll confidently feel like I made the right choice!

You can rightly say I'm comparing apples to oranges. I don't get HD for "free". I don't get programming 8 months out of the year. But, most importantly, I like apples.


Neat things I found out:
1.) The 211k will control your VCR. You find the code, enter it, then set up timers from within the Dish guide and *poof*, it turns your VCR on and off. No programming required for the VCR. Nothing like watching Avatar in VHS in EP, baby. Who needs a DVR?

2.) Local channels and preview channels are in HD even though I'm not paying for HD. Red Zone has been in HD, though I'm not sure if that's because the NFL Network has been a preview. We'll find out a week from Sunday.


Craptastic stuff:
1.) Every time I see the Dish Network president/CEO/whatever say that TV should be free like it was when he was a kid -- so HD is free for all Dish Network folk -- I get a little bitter. Not so fast, buddy.

2.) Dish SD on an HDTV isn't great. Not bad, and nobody's complaining, but not as good as SD multicasts from OTA.

3.) The first Dish rep tried to charge me $5 or so just to add the Sports Package, saying that I was changing my programming and that resulted in a charge. I said that I wasn't even receiving programming yet, so there really wasn't any way I was changing anything! Following the standard advice around here, I called back later and didn't get charged by the next rep. I'm not sure if ae-tx should have signed me up for Sports initially or what.

4.) The Red Zone is more speculative highlights than a true Poor Man's Sunday Ticket. Sometimes there are, what, eight to ten or so early games, and you barely see enough of them to matter. The narrative of the game's all gone. I've found myself flipping from games I don't even care about on local networks to the Red Zone and back just to get the feel for *a* game. The late games are much more enjoyable to watch on Red Zone, when it seems there are six or less going. This is the best site I've seen for checking what's on where and when: NFL Map Index and National Schedule: 2010 - Everything you need to know about sports on television - the506.com

I think that about sums it up. Thanks for the help, guys! :up

They gave you $75 back?

They are loosing money on that deal if they gave you $75 back.