Finally Getting Dish HD!

[RocketFoot]

I finally did it...I made the call to order DIsh HD! I am excited, but not impressed with the $20 additional cost...WOW! I hope 30 HD channels is worth $20 extra bucks.

Is the 722 out yet or will I get a 622? I'd rather have a 722 just because it is black and will look better in my rack. Also, should I get an HDMI cable to hook it up to my 42" Sony HDTV? I assume the receiver doesn't come with one.

The installer is coming Sunday...wish me luck! LOL

 

[KAB]

DIsh HD! I hope 30 HD channels is worth $20 extra bucks.

It is.

 

[lakebum431]

The 722 is not out yet so you'll get a 622. Some 622's do come with an HDMI from the installer. It just depends. If you want a good price on one for sure just go to www.monoprice.com

 

[RocketFoot]

I'll be there for the install, so maybe I can talk him into a HDMI! I can't wait...just wish it was a little more economical. Do you think the cost will go up as they add more channels to the HD line-up?

 

[stck4evr]

No, the cost should go down over the years, I don't think D* charges for HDTV,same with cable companies. Only dish, just because they have voom... $5 would be more like it... I'll switch to D* if they get more real channels next year and you don't have to pay for them $20 extra...

 

[RocketFoot]

No, the cost should go down over the years, I don't think D* charges for HDTV,same with cable companies. Only dish, just because they have voom... $5 would be more like it... I'll switch to D* if they get more real channels next year and you don't have to pay for them $20 extra...

Is Voom the HDnet movie channel? You actually get decent movies??

 

[Miner]

Rocketfoot,

Its worth the extra money for about 2 or 3 years. Then one gets use to HD and starts wondering if it is worth anything extra. Then one watches SD and remembers how much sweeter HD is and that it is worth extra. At least that is how I have felt about it. I remember switching from Dish to Directv because Dish had only 3 HD stations, then jumping back when they were equal (5 each).

Hopefully one day soon there won't be an extra HD fee. My local cableco charges for an HD box, and I believe Directv still charges extra for HD as well.

 

[technoguy]

Is Voom the HDnet movie channel? You actually get decent movies??

VOOM is a Network of variety of Channels , HD Net and HD Movies is the Networks owned by Mark Cuban.

 

[Peter Parker]

D* currently charges $9.99 a month for HD but has fewer channels right now. I am unsure of cable companies. But most taht I know of charge if not for the service then for the receiver. perhaps others have better info on that.

 

[tsduke]

$9.95 with Mediacom cable for a handful of channels.

 

[SickPup404]

A good comparison for me was the impact that the DVR had on our TV watching. Like night and day.

Now HD vs SD and I can't get over the difference there is. Love watching anything HD, but the SD stuff seems like you're watching an over compressed streaming video on your PC at full screen...

 

[kstuart]

I finally did it...I made the call to order DIsh HD! I am excited, but not impressed with the $20 additional cost...WOW! I hope 30 HD channels is worth $20 extra bucks.

Make sure you apply for $10 per month credit for 10 months. If you go to dishnetwork.com, there is a rebate form to send in with a copy of your first bill with Dish-HD on it.

 

[kstuart]

Here is a summary I wrote some weeks back of the HD channels:

- HDNET which has movies, music, original TV shows. Recently I recorded "Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live" which is an HD live concert that otherwise you can buy in DVD for $20 - but the DVD is not HD ! On June 8th, they will show the Space Shuttle Launch in HD - they show all of them.

- HDNET Movies which has HD Movies (of course) - if you don't have an HD DVD player, these channels are the only way you can see movies in better-than-DVD quality

- HD-News is a 24-hour news channel without the tabloid crap that is on Headline News these days. And, of course, it is 16x9 HD all the time.

- RaveHD is an HD music channel with concerts and music programs.

- RushHD is an Xtreme Sports channel (surfing,snowboarding,etc) in HD

- KungFuHD is Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, etc. movies in HD - far, far better quality than the fuzzy blurs they are usually shown in.

- MonstersHD is the same thing for horror movies.

- UltraHD is 24 hour fashion TV channel in HD

- WorldSportHD has team sports, like soccer from Spain.

- Discovery HD Theater has the best programming from the various Discovery channels, in HD 24 hours a day, plus some unique programming like Sunrise Earth (which is an hour program photographed at sunrise in some pristine wilderness location, with no narration, no music, and no commercials, just the HD picture and 6 channel surround sound of the wild place at sunrise)

- National Geographic HD, TNT HD and A&E HD have HD programming part of the time, the same shows as on their regular channels

- FoodTV HD and HGTV HD have 24 hour HD content, which at this point is a small subset of the shows on their regular channels (no Emeril yet).

- ESPN-HD and ESPN2-HD and NFL-TV-HD are included.

Even without DishHD, you can still buy HD PPV movies on the HD-PPV channel (clever name, eh?). If you have a good size HD TV, Casino Royale is almost like being in a movie theater (but here you can pause to go to the bathroom!)

You can get more details about the HD programming in the Forum at:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=133

PS History Channel HD is coming in the fall, and also The Weather Channel HD sometime in fall or winter. I don't know of any new sports HD channels that are planned - because all of the major sporting events are already on channels that are already in HD: ABC, CBS, ABC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN-2 and TNT. Versus has an HD channel - it's not yet on Dish, but Dish does show the NHL events from Versus-HD and if your regular package includes Versus, then you can watch the NHL-HD events. As mentioned above, WorldSportHD shows team sports from other countries, and RushHD shows individual outdoor (extreme) sports. Universal HD is a channel with HD content from USA Network, SciFi Channel and a few others owned by Universal - I am not sure whether they show the same tennis events normally found on USA. Since Sports is the biggest attraction for HD, most USA sports are already available in HD. Oh, and Dish has an NBA-HD channel but I am not sure what you have to have subscribed to, in order to get that channel - probably the NBA League Pass channel or else the NBA-TV channel. Most of the NBA is on ESPN-HD and TNT-HD anyway...oh, and 9 areas of the countries get their regional sports network in HD (Fox Sports Net, etc.)...

 

[RocketFoot]

Great write up! Thanks...

Sounds good, I am looking forward to Discovery and HDnet movies! I also watch alot of locals so I'm sure I will enjoy all the Pittsburgh local HD's...

Now, I need to burn some DVD's from my saved DVR shows on the 625 and get an HDMI cable before Sunday morning! Then I'll be all set...

 

[ptuck874]

I just got mine last week, did the dishmover and dishin it up in one, well worth it... lovin' the 622

 

[harshness]

The Weather Channel HD sometime in fall or winter.

I sincerely hope that E* doesn't waste bandwidth with TWC until they go HD sometime in 2008.

 

[RocketFoot]

It's Here!!

Install went good, Sunday! I was up and running in about 2 hours. My house wiring was all up to spec, but I did get the new Dish out on the roof. WOW, it's massive compared to the Dish 500. Everything is working great...I just gotta get my favorites set up!

I do have a question, though. The installer mentioned that I can choose to record in HD or SD...but I don't see how to do it. Any insight on this?

 

[kstuart]

I do have a question, though. The installer mentioned that I can choose to record in HD or SD...but I don't see how to do it. Any insight on this?

I think he was referring to the fact that most of the HD channels have SD equivalents.
So, for example, Showtime-East has an HD version (channel 9460) and an SD version (channel 318). Penn&Teller-BS was shown on both channels, but the show has only been produced in SD, so it saves hard drive space to record the SD version on channel 318.
ESPN and ESPN2 generally have the same programming on both SD and HD, so if you are short of disk space, you might want to check in the Guide to see if the program actually is in HD. Again, not all shows are taped in HD format, even when they air on an "HD" channel.