Dropped Dish, back to DTV

[Eric_C]

I love impulse decisions

I have been very happy with Dish and their excellent DVR. However in the end D* ended up being $24 a month cheaper for the 12 months and then $6.00 a month cheaper for the remainder.

I get SciFi HD and Speed HD which are two of our biggest channels we watch.

I'm hoping I also get more Wings/Pistons games in HD since E* cheaps out and does not pay for the HD feed. Its so annoying to hear Ken Daniels or George Blaha announce tonights game is brought to you in HD and I get to watch fuzzy vision instead.

I ordered the RF remote so my total cost of install was $134 which I'll make up in a few months. My new rate will be $72.99 a month, minus the $18.00 for 12 months. On Dish I'm at $79. Signing up for paperless billing shaves another $20 off of the install cost.

Plus I realize I'm just one customer but I do believe in speaking with your wallet and E*'s holding us up on adding those two channels I had enough with BSG starting this Friday. We are big Wings fans but now with 2 HD TV's the SD feed was crap. Before we'd go in the bedroom and watch them on our 36" SD tube TV because the SD feed looked so bad on the HD TV's. Now with both HD TV's that was a big push for us to switch.

My only loss and I'm not sure if this is a loss yet or not is the ability to record 3 things at once. I have an OTA antenna and with my 622 I could record 2 SAT HD and 1 OTA at the same time. The woman I spoke with at D* said no but that didn't make complete sense to me so we'll wait and see.

I have a Samsung 61" 1080p DLP and a 47" 1080 Westinghouse LCD that I plan on hooking up at the same time in two different rooms. Right now I have one of them component and the other HDMI but I hear I can do both of them HDMI now, is that correct?

I know I'll get the same output and thats fine.

I'm hoping D*'s HD quality really is comparable. Most E* channels are decent but a few of them are dogs when it comes to HD. We don't watch those channels much so its not the end of the world.

Install is scheduled for Friday April 4th.

 

[harshness]

My only loss and I'm not sure if this is a loss yet or not is the ability to record 3 things at once. I have an OTA antenna and with my 622 I could record 2 SAT HD and 1 OTA at the same time.

You're very likely in for a big shock when you find that OTA isn't supported on the receiver that they give you. You will also find that two channels at once is a hard ceiling.

Right now I have one of them component and the other HDMI but I hear I can do both of them HDMI now, is that correct?

No. Component can be split, but HDMI cannot. This is completely outside of DIRECTV's (or DISH's) control.

 

[Eric_C]

They told me OTA was supported....so it is not at all?

They also told me there were 2 HDMI ports on the receiver...that part doesn't matter to me since my receiver only has 2 HDMI's as it sits now and one is used for my DVD player and the other for my PS3. I planned on swapping those around and putting the DVD player on component since now we strictly use it as a SACD/DVD-A player and move the D* receiver back to HDMI.

I run a 35ft HDMI to our bedroom for the second TV.

 

[harshness]

They told me OTA was supported....so it is not at all?

I used the term "likely" because there is a very high probability that you will get a HR21 receiver which doesn't currently support OTA. DIRECTV is promising a solution in the form of an external tuner, but it isn't clear when it will become available.

They also told me there were 2 HDMI ports on the receiver.

There is one receiver, the HR21 Pro, that has two HDMI outputs, but only one can be used at a time and the second output is some newfangled "optical HDMI". The price to outright own the HR21 Pro is somewhere between $600 and $1,000 depending on whether you use the optical option or not. The HR21 Pro doesn't have OTA yet either. In any event, you were told things that weren't true of the unit that you will likely get.

Other than the OTA question, you should be fine.

 

[NutFlush920]

You may get a HR20 with the OTA tuner. Eric, call DTV and get the name and phone number of the installer they are sending to do your job. Call the installer and find out what HD DVR they will be installing. If possible request the HR20 rather then the HR21. The HR21 requires an external OTA tuner for around $50. If that is acceptable to you then it doesn't matter which one you get.

As for the tuners, plan on having two seperate feeds coming into the box. What you do with those two feeds at any given time is up to you. You can record a show while watching another, you can record two shows at one while watching one of the recordings "live", you can record two shows while watching nothing. The choice is yours.

 

[Eric_C]

Can I record two shows and watch another recording that is not one of the two I am recording?

I'll call and make sure I get a HR20...I'm not crazy about spending an extra $50 if I can avoid it.

Is there an advantage to the HR21 that outweighs the OTA issue?

 

[JAG72]

Can I record two shows and watch another recording that is not one of the two I am recording?

Yes

 

[NutFlush920]

No advantage in features. The HR21 is glossy black in color, and the HR20 is sliver. Some perfer one color to the other to match in their A/V stand.

 

[lern4483]

Eric,

Got both hr20 and 622.

In short, You will love the direc programming. On the downside the hr20\21 does not compare ( in my opinnion ) to dishes 622.

Its clunky and unfinished. Direc has a way to go to make their machines better than dish.

In any event Enjoy direc vt!!! Great programming, tons of HD and the BEST customer service!
Also they have my Ny Ranger on MSG!!!
LOVE THAT.

 

[Eric_C]

Well now that you say the 21 is black, then $50 for OTA is worth it. The lone thing I dont' like about my 622 is its silver.

 

[ScottChez]

Call and get the installer companies number. Then Call them a couple of days before the install. Also confirm with them again the day before the install when they call you do verify the install time.
Here we still can get HR20s. Many have called and requested one or the other and they get there pick. For me the installer brought one of each out.
It all depends on your market area.

They even have HR20s in stock at the best buy here.

The black sure does look a lot nicer.