First-timer about to take the plunge with Dish

[Western ARChie]

Long time SoCal cable subscriber (Charter, Verizon, Frontier) about to give the "little Dish" route a try. Never had DTV or Dish, but friends have and are mostly happy. If Verizon hadn't left, I would still be on FIOS but Frontier is a nightmare (service , cust service, etc) and not worth the headache.

Tried Charter for a couple months but their HD was hit and miss, plus their boxes are 90s throwbacks including their DOS-like UI. Inexpensive for what you get, but you end up getting exactly what you pay for when factoring in quality and issues.

Now the questions:

1) In ordering DISH, do I go to dish.com or one of the authorized retailers online? I noticed the ARs offer promotions "$300 gift card + $10 off..." etc. Is this all BS bait and switch stuff? Someone please advise.

2) Like the AT250 due to all the sports included (all the Fox Regionals, FS2, CBS, NBCSN, etc) plus Starz Encore, but its tough to understand EXACTLY what you are getting with DISH or DTV? Is this confusion on purpose or am I missing something?

3) Even though I dont have any 4k TVs, should I opt for the 4k Joeys with the Hopper 3 for better picture?

The one bugaboo about Dish vs Direct is picture quality due to DTVs supposed advantage of 1920/1080 transmission. Can anyone in SoCal comment on picture quality vs FIOS, DTV or Charter?

Thanks

 

[Joe891]

Long time SoCal cable subscriber (Charter, Verizon, Frontier) about to give the "little Dish" route a try. Never had DTV or Dish, but friends have and are mostly happy. If Verizon hadn't left, I would still be on FIOS but Frontier is a nightmare (service , cust service, etc) and not worth the headache.

Tried Charter for a couple months but their HD was hit and miss, plus their boxes are 90s throwbacks including their DOS-like UI. Inexpensive for what you get, but you end up getting exactly what you pay for when factoring in quality and issues.

Now the questions:

1) In ordering DISH, do I go to dish.com or one of the authorized retailers online? I noticed the ARs offer promotions "$300 gift card + $10 off..." etc. Is this all BS bait and switch stuff? Someone please advise.

2) Like the AT250 due to all the sports included (all the Fox Regionals, FS2, CBS, NBCSN, etc) plus Starz Encore, but its tough to understand EXACTLY what you are getting with DISH or DTV? Is this confusion on purpose or am I missing something?

3) Even though I dont have any 4k TVs, should I opt for the 4k Joeys with the Hopper 3 for better picture?

The one bugaboo about Dish vs Direct is picture quality due to DTVs supposed advantage of 1920/1080 transmission. Can anyone in SoCal comment on picture quality vs FIOS, DTV or Charter?

Thanks

I was in the same boat a year ago my friend and I can tell you this first year with dish has been incredible. The hopper by far trumps what I could get for a ui compared to fios (verizon fios- we still have it in md) which is what I switched from. The DVR has great features and holds alot of content. I have the 2 year price lock which is actually great because they haven't thrown anything new at me to charge me more. I ordered thru dish.com and got all the a $200 gift card. For #2 I have the top 120+ which has the regional sports nets and I have multi sport pack so the only sports channels I don't receive are nbc and CBS. I'd say go with the hopper 3 but the 4k joey won't do much for you unless you're watching a 4k channel but since you don't have a 4k tv it won't be much use. And for #3 I'm not in socal so I'm sorry but I can't help but I can say compared to verizon fios here picture isn't really much different other than on some channels

 

[Western ARChie]

I was in the same boat a year ago my friend and I can tell you this first year with dish had been incredible. The hopper by far trumps what I could get for a ui compared to fios (verizon fios- we still have it in md) which is what I switched from. The DVR has great features and hold alot of content. I have the 2 year price lock which is actually great because they haven't thrown anything new at me to charge me more. I ordered thru dish.com and got all the a $200 gift card. For #2 I have the top 120+ which has the regional sports nets and I have multi sport pack so the only sports channels I don't receive are nbc and CBS. I'd say go with the hopper 3 but the 4k joey won't do much for you unless you're watching a 4k channel but since you don't have a 4k tv it won't be much use. And for #3 I'm not in socal so I'm sorry but I can't help but I can say compared to verizon fios here picture isn't really much different other than on some channels

Thanks for the reply.

Did you use a promotional code for the $200 gift card or was it something dish.com was offering? I see various codes from BestBuy and others that I have no Idea

 

[Joe891]

Thanks for the reply.

Did you use a promotional code for the $200 gift card or was it something dish.com was offering? I see various codes from BestBuy and others that I have no Idea

Not a problem, I'm sure many more will chime in as well.

It was something dish was offering. They gave me free premiums for 3 months as and when those were up i went to cancel em and was offered half off for all of them so I kept a few.

 

[JSheridan]

If you have a good LOCAL retailer you should call them. Generally you get much better personal service from somebody who lives in your area and is a neighbor. You also usually get a better job from retailers who will work with you and install the system the way you want it. And then you'll get personalized service after the fact from people who speak your language and who know you by your name and not just your number.

 

[Western ARChie]

If you have a good LOCAL retailer you should call them. Generally you get much better personal service from somebody who lives in your area and is a neighbor. You also usually get a better job from retailers who will work with you and install the system the way you want it. And then you'll get personalized service after the fact from people who speak your language and who know you by your name and not just your number.

The "Good" part is always the rub....Lately I've been getting mostly The Bad and The Ugly with anything I contract out without referral. My friends have DTV, for the NFL or due to ATT, so not much help there....Not many local retailers in my area anyways (surprised NOT seeing a display at Best Buy)....I thought I read a couple posts where people complained about the fact that DISH has to fix ARs work in some circumstances. Begged the question: Does DISH have actual installation people or is it all subbed out/independent contractor? I know these are probably rudimentary questions that pertain across the industry, but just thought I would ask...

 

[Joe891]

The "Good" part is always the rub....Lately I've been getting mostly The Bad and The Ugly with anything I contract out without referral. My friends have DTV, for the NFL or due to ATT, so not much help there....Not many local retailers in my area anyways (surprised NOT seeing a display at Best Buy)....I thought I read a couple posts where people complained about the fact that DISH has to fix ARs work in some circumstances. Begged the question: Does DISH have actual installation people or is it all subbed out/independent contractor? I know these are probably rudimentary questions that pertain across the industry, but just thought I would ask...

They do have actual install techs as well, when mine was set up i had a tech who actually worked for dish.

 

[Bobby]

The "Good" part is always the rub....Lately I've been getting mostly The Bad and The Ugly with anything I contract out without referral. My friends have DTV, for the NFL or due to ATT, so not much help there....Not many local retailers in my area anyways (surprised NOT seeing a display at Best Buy)....I thought I read a couple posts where people complained about the fact that DISH has to fix ARs work in some circumstances. Begged the question: Does DISH have actual installation people or is it all subbed out/independent contractor? I know these are probably rudimentary questions that pertain across the industry, but just thought I would ask...

It depends on where in California you are. I had a real Dish tech install my H3 and he was out of Petaluma. His work was excellent!

 

[stejamand]

One thing to keep in mind is if you're in the LA sports areas is that DISH does not carry the TWC sports channels (hence no Lakers or Dodgers).

 

[Western ARChie]

One thing to keep in mind is if you're in the LA sports areas is that DISH does not carry the TWC sports channels (hence no Lakers or Dodgers).

Thanks.

Never been a Dodger fan and as I've gotten older the NBA has lost its appeal. What I really want is the college sports coverage with the Fox Regionals, CBS, Pac12, etc

 

[lfp302]

With regard to #2, I think that for Fox Regionals, you get the regional for your area, not all areas.

 

[Tampa8]

2) Like the AT250 due to all the sports included (all the Fox Regionals, FS2, CBS, NBCSN, etc) plus Starz Encore, but its tough to understand EXACTLY what you are getting with DISH or DTV? Is this confusion on purpose or am I missing something?

I don't think either are trying to have confusion. In fact you can enter your zip code online and get exactly what local sports channel(s) you will get as well as exactly what locals. As for the others they are clearly listed in the channels charts for each package tier.

 

[.Andy]

I was very happy with GoDish who gave me a 100$ gift card and my friend a 100$ gift card for reffering me (97$ technically their is a stupid 3$ fee for shipping & handling). Just say no to their 50$ setup charge when they read the TOS.