Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give a good story (for once on this site) from a new Dish customer who just completed an install.
Got the 522 and 811 installed yesterday. It took a month to get the 811 in, but not a problem for me. The installer was knowledgeable and easy to work with. I read the horror stories but gotta say my local retailer/installer was good to work with. Thank god for small favors. Ran my own RG6 quad (with installer help) through the attic. The attic is crawl space only, and didn’t want to chance any damage by someone other than me. Cabling runs are very close to various electrical so only way to go IMO. The installer was more than willing to terminate all cables (6 total, not just for Dish) when he learned he would not have to go into the attic. Don’t have a compression tool and this kept me from having to buy one.
My impression of the 522 is pretty good so far. Set numerous timers on both tuners and it went off without a hitch. PQ is good, as best I can tell. My HD Mits 55” is in the shop so SD Sony 36” will have to do. Did a head to head comparison to Charter cable, and Dish PQ wins hands down. That was one of the reasons to leave cable, low PQ, and no HD. I am disappointed that Dish took the cheap way out on the 2nd tuner, not providing an S-video and digital output. Only the Dual mode active is another weak spot, and future software promises don’t mean much. Overall though my impression of the 522 is pretty good.
Can’t completely evaluate the 811 yet, no HDTV. But I will join in with all others who say they have a very dark image out of the S-video. Have to adjust the set’s brightness as high as it will go just to get to the edge of being watchable. Dish has really got to get it in gear and get this corrected. It’s things like this that drive customers away. Not everyone can go with a second rx’er, and I would be mad as hell if this was the only rx’er I had. It’s the only major thing I am not happy with at this point.
Hopefully the 811 will provide quality HD (find out when the Mits comes home), and that combined with ExpressVu should make all the HD worth watching available. No offense to the Voom gang, but for me the programming just isn’t worth the expense, at least not yet. Did install a couple of spare RG6 runs, just so I can add in Voom and/or others later if the HD content proves compelling in the future.
So the pig can now starve as far as I am concerned, Dish looks so much better and is cheaper too. Combined with ExpressVu, I am paying all of 15 dollars more than I was with Charter, get the same basic lineup, plus now I get HD and have a 2-tuner DVR. Charter wanted 10 more per month just for a DVR, and no HD. If OTA was available it might be a different story, but right now I couldn’t be happier.
Got the 522 and 811 installed yesterday. It took a month to get the 811 in, but not a problem for me. The installer was knowledgeable and easy to work with. I read the horror stories but gotta say my local retailer/installer was good to work with. Thank god for small favors. Ran my own RG6 quad (with installer help) through the attic. The attic is crawl space only, and didn’t want to chance any damage by someone other than me. Cabling runs are very close to various electrical so only way to go IMO. The installer was more than willing to terminate all cables (6 total, not just for Dish) when he learned he would not have to go into the attic. Don’t have a compression tool and this kept me from having to buy one.
My impression of the 522 is pretty good so far. Set numerous timers on both tuners and it went off without a hitch. PQ is good, as best I can tell. My HD Mits 55” is in the shop so SD Sony 36” will have to do. Did a head to head comparison to Charter cable, and Dish PQ wins hands down. That was one of the reasons to leave cable, low PQ, and no HD. I am disappointed that Dish took the cheap way out on the 2nd tuner, not providing an S-video and digital output. Only the Dual mode active is another weak spot, and future software promises don’t mean much. Overall though my impression of the 522 is pretty good.
Can’t completely evaluate the 811 yet, no HDTV. But I will join in with all others who say they have a very dark image out of the S-video. Have to adjust the set’s brightness as high as it will go just to get to the edge of being watchable. Dish has really got to get it in gear and get this corrected. It’s things like this that drive customers away. Not everyone can go with a second rx’er, and I would be mad as hell if this was the only rx’er I had. It’s the only major thing I am not happy with at this point.
Hopefully the 811 will provide quality HD (find out when the Mits comes home), and that combined with ExpressVu should make all the HD worth watching available. No offense to the Voom gang, but for me the programming just isn’t worth the expense, at least not yet. Did install a couple of spare RG6 runs, just so I can add in Voom and/or others later if the HD content proves compelling in the future.
So the pig can now starve as far as I am concerned, Dish looks so much better and is cheaper too. Combined with ExpressVu, I am paying all of 15 dollars more than I was with Charter, get the same basic lineup, plus now I get HD and have a 2-tuner DVR. Charter wanted 10 more per month just for a DVR, and no HD. If OTA was available it might be a different story, but right now I couldn’t be happier.
