DUmped DISH in favor of a Home Theatre PC

[mark069]

Just built a HTPC for under $1K that is a much better system than the DISH network and here is why.

Cheaper: HTPC costs ~ $1K up front (you can build one for as little as $400) while DISH is ~$70 a month for a comparable number of channels so in one year alone the HTPC sytem almost paid for itself.

Better HD: The HTPC sends full 1080p video to your HDTV while dish can only send 1080i - on a larger TV the difference is very noticeable.

More content: The HTPC receives lots of free content like over air HDTV, internet streamed TV and movies (i.e. HULU)but it also gives you access to Netflix, Blockbuster, Apple and other competing distributers of content.

More flexible: Since you build and design the system you can add all the bells and whistles you like - I added a gyration air remote which allows mousing in the air via on board accelerometers. This remote has all of the features of the DISH remote plus it allows for surfing the internet using a very intuitive air mouse interface.

Unencrypted content: The over the air HD content is stored on your PC as an unencrypted video file which you could burn to a blu ray disk if you wished.

When I cancelled, DISH asked me why and I felt like saying all this but I didn't want to stay on the phone for so long so I just told them I now have a Home Theatre PC that is both cheaper and better than DISH.

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Sounds like a nice system-congrats!

I believe that the satellite and cable companies are going to see much more competition in the future from Internet based content providers-and competition is good for the end user.

 

[Massmur]

You need a very fast and reliable internet connection for this. There is some extra cost for this over normal computer needs.

 

[primetimeguy]

While DISH HD bit rate and quality may be dumbed down, good like finding anything better via the internet. Hulu, Netflix, etc are compressed and bit starved more. If you are watching on a PC monitor or small TV fine, but on larger TVs it is not an option other than OTA through the PC.

1080p is a non issue because no channel exists in 1080p, only Blu-Ray and some PPV.

 

[KAB]

While DISH HD bit rate and quality may be dumbed down, good like finding anything better via the internet. Hulu, Netflix, etc are compressed and bit starved more. If you are watching on a PC monitor or small TV fine, but on larger TVs it is not an option other than OTA through the PC.

1080p is a non issue because no channel exists in 1080p, only Blu-Ray and some PPV.

:up:up:up
1K is a lot of green for so-so video.

 

[bhawley]

Please tell us about your system.

 

[digiblur]

Does Netflix offer HD streams to the PC now? Last time I watched it on the PC, it wasn't HD.

 

[bhawley]

Does Netflix offer HD streams to the PC now? Last time I watched it on the PC, it wasn't HD.

Still only sd on the PC. HD on PS3, Roku and many BD players.

 

[delta_charlie]

Hi Mark069 and the group. Are there IPTV providers that offer HD sports and news? That's what I watch the most. I have a HTPC and cable lite Internet (768 down) and find Netflex streaming to be slow and worse quality then the duplicate SD channels I get on my HD package from Dish. Yes I could upgrade my Internet but that would cost about $15 more Per month and that is almost half of my Dish HD package. There is some unique programming and channels available on IPTV ; however, until very fast Internet becomes available at lower costs I don't think it will see wide spread usage. My HTPC mostly sits unused, it does work great for Internet radio but when I want to watch HD sports or news I go with my Dish Sub or FTA setup. Later, DC

 

[digiblur]

With only 768k download I would recommend live streaming anything, SD or HD. The Netflix looks great if you have enough bandwidth...but 768 doesn't cut it for much anymore.

 

[harshness]

I'm not sure what question an HTPC answers unless it is a question of an alternative to an OTA DVR. It isn't cheaper than a PS3 or a network Blu-ray player. It doesn't provide directly for more than one TV.

To suggest that an HTPC is going to make everything magically available in 1080p is silly.

What would truly be interesting is a one-year update on how the theory panned out. Demonstrating that it was actually a good idea isn't as easy as declaring that it is as an obvious financial victory as appears to be the case here.

 

[thedamaja]

An HTPC sounds like a fun project but, it would never work for me as a Dish replacement. The picture quality and content just isn't available for the internet yet.

Shouldn't you also consider the cost of a high speed internet connection in your cost analysis?