Forced to switch to Dish, not happy

[dcwebman]

After having D* for 12 years, I have been forced to switch to Dish and it's a whole new world. I have always had D* in a house and for the first time I have moved to an apartment. I have 2 HDTV's and with D*, I have 2 HD DVRs, 2 standard DVRs, 1 HD receiver, and 1 standard receiver, with all owned by me except 1 HD DVR. Obviously I wasn't going to keep all that running with just 2 TV's now. I had the 2 HD DVRs hooked up to my HDTV big screen so I could get 4 HD tuners and record all in HD including an OTA HD I had inputted.

I had D* come out to install at the apartment and unfortunately they couldn't get a line of sight to the HD satellites. The apartment complex has a contract with Dish so all the apartments are wired with Dish. After watching HD, you can't go back, so I had no choice but to switch to Dish.

Being in a rush to get some TV and not having Internet access (another botched install job) to read here about the deals, I called Dish Network to get signed up. I had no problem picking the channels but got very confused at the equipment choosing. A friend of mine has an HD dual tuner DVR so great, it must be like my current ones from D*. It took me the longest time to understand that only one tuner is HD and can record in HD. What??? What's the point in having an HDTV and E* even marketing that they have the most HD channels if the best DVR you can get can only record 1 HD channel. Oh, and apparently if I put in the HD OTA, it can't even record that in HD.

Fine, give me another 622 so I can at least have 2 HD tuners to record. What? You want $499 for that??? I just am flabergasted at this whole situation.

So I ended up with a 622 and a 625 because apparently you can only have 4 tuners. I just can't believe that this is happening. So for the $94.95 I now have to pay Dish for 1 HD DVR tuner and 3 standard DVR tuners, I was paying $94 to D* for basically the same programming with 4 HD DVR tuners, 4 standard DVR tuners, 1 HD tuner, and 1 standard tuner.

The sales lady said I was unusual in wanting the HD equipment.

Please tell me I'm missing something here.
Jeff

P.S. Oh yeah, I must have the Sunday Ticket so I will now have a D* non-HD receiver just to get that too.

 

[skyviewmark]

Well, the 622 actually has 3 HD Tuners... 2 HD Satellite tuners and 1 OTA HD Tuner.. It's just the feed to TV 2 that is not HD.

 

[tsduke]

You have a major disconnect with the E* sales rep.

The 622 is capable of recording 2 sat HD's and 1 HD OTA.

You can also have more than 4 tuners, but it's above and beyond a standard install.

 

[bowens]

That CSR didn't know what she was talking about. I just got my 622, but I know you can record 3 HD programs at once. 2 from the Sat and 1 OTA.

 

[dcwebman]

Thanks for the replies. That makes me feel a little better. So basically, I don't even need TV2 on the 622 and the 3 HD tuner recordings would all be coming out TV1 to my main HDTV. Correct? If so, I think I can deal with that.

I sure wish my Internet was working yesterday as I knew I would find the answers here.

 

[bowens]

Thanks for the replies. That makes me feel a little better. So basically, I don't even need TV2 on the 622 and the 3 HD tuner recordings would all be coming out TV1 to my main HDTV. Correct? If so, I think I can deal with that.

I sure wish my Internet was working yesterday as I knew I would find the answers here.

Yes, just set the 622 to single mode and not dual mode. TV1 will have full control of all 3 tuners. Now you could also mirror that to TV2 if you need to. Of course, you wouldn't have independent viewing on TV2 in single mode. It works fine that way for me though.

 

[caam1]

Yes, you can record 2 HD programs from sat and one OTA at the same time. If you have TV2 connected you can play back 2 programs while 3 are recording, with one TV connected you can use the second sat tuner for PIP. All recordings can be played back from either output.

 

[Peter Parker]

There is a difference between TV1 and TV2 and tuner 1 and 2. We all confuse it from time to time.

 

[Kru83]

here tip. if you setup up credit card auto pay dish will waive your DVR fees on both the reciever. you will save about 12 dollar a month.

 

[Charise]

here tip. if you setup up credit card auto pay dish will waive your DVR fees on both the reciever. you will save about 12 dollar a month.

That's certainly not true in my case, where I've had cc autopay since signing with E* about 7 years ago. I have a 622 and a 721 (on which there is no DVR fee), and I pay the $5.98 DVR fee AND the $6 lease fee on the 622.

If you sign up for the DVR advantage though, you should save about $3.98/month.

 

[Van]

Well you didnt research the apartment complex in what pay to view tv service they have a contract with but do keep in mind they can not keep you from having someone elses service.

It would have been a good idea to spend some time finding a unit in the complex that would have aforded you a line of site for the direct sats you wanted, there are countless threads here that go over finding line of site.

Its also a good idea to do alot of research into a company and its services before going with them, I know you wanted to watch some tv but come on its only tv and if you have some rabbit ears those will hold you over or some dvds will until you can get set up.

This site has a plethora of valeuable information free of charge right at your fingertips and infront of your nose, I would highly recommend using it to find out more than just what the good deals are so that in the future you are able to avoid these problems.

 

[SmityWhity]

Well you didnt research the apartment complex in what pay to view tv service they have a contract with but do keep in mind they can not keep you from having someone elses service.

I can relate to that...
3000 miles away, I called and the gal said they have cable service through Qwest. Just in case, I had her fax me a site plan with the unit number so that I could make sure I had a southern view.

Lucky I did, Qwest cable is actually a dish on the roof for the 101 bird (which shorts out when the snow melts), then they give you a month to month contract with DirecTV, and lease you equipment through a Qwest equipment company.

The archives show Qwest and Dish previously having a contract, but I guess someone got angry.

 

[jegrant]

Too bad that wasn't Qwest VDSL - then you might have gotten some decent high-speed internet along with it.

Here in Indiana, our new telecom / video deregulation bill really levels the playing field. It says that no matter what kind of contract exists between a multi-channel video provider or telephone company and a housing unit (condo, apartment, etc.) that no provider can be denied access if a customer wants their services. Every provider must be given the same level of access that is given to the specially contracted provider. I think it would be a good national standard, actually. It would lead to fewer "dish on patio" situations, and more master antenna setups that can be installed out of the way and a wire run to the individual unit.

 

[navychop]

I have cc autopay (& top 250) and I'm paying the DVR fee on my leased ViP622 (also have a 508 & a 721).

 

[SmityWhity]

Too bad that wasn't Qwest VDSL - then you might have gotten some decent high-speed internet along with it.

I do have a basic phone and DSL with them. The DSL is a little expensive for the speed. However, no one else has any wiring/cabling to this place, so we're limited with Phone, DirecTV, and DSL, all provided through Qwest.

Except for a lot of the units with a S/SW view either has a DirecTV or a Dish Network antenna system. Right now, I have a Dish 1000+, SuperDish 121, and a Dish 500 w/DP Dual, all on the balcony. Will probably remove the 500, then put the SD121 on a motor and use the FSS LNBF for IA5 (97W) and AMC4 (101W) since I have LOS <61.5 through >148.

 

[dishcomm]

That CSR didn't know what she was talking about. I just got my 622, but I know you can record 3 HD programs at once. 2 from the Sat and 1 OTA.

Correct.The tuners are both HD.... "output one(TV1) is HD and output two(TV 2) is SD....There is one set of Component outputs and one HDMI output...A user can set to single mode and provided the tv has an HDMI input playback on to both conections, HD porgramming...I think I have that right...

 

[dcwebman]

Since I started this, I figured I would give an update. I won't respond to the posts about not doing enough research since that was the one requirement I had when I looked at over 20 apartment complexes. But anyway, Dish Network came out and they couldn't get a line of sight either for the HD channels. So much for them.

I had D* coming back that night to install a Ka/Ku dish just so I could get Sunday Ticket but he ended up bringing a 3 LNB dish. I wasn't going to let him leave until he had a signal because I had accepted to go back to my old non-HD days. After a very tough time of even getting just a line of sight for that and trying to remain within the apartment guidelines of staying within the porch balcony, he finally did get the signal and after checking the TV, surprisingly there was an HD signal too for the non-locals, weaker than the other satellites of course. So with that and my OTA picking up HD locals, I'm a happy camper back solely with D*.

Thanks for enlightening me about Dish though because now I can talk with experience about it to my friend who has E*.

 

[Van]

Since I started this, I figured I would give an update. I won't respond to the posts about not doing enough research since that was the one requirement I had when I looked at over 20 apartment complexes. But anyway, Dish Network came out and they couldn't get a line of sight either for the HD channels. So much for them.

Thanks for enlightening me about Dish though because now I can talk with experience about it to my friend who has E*.

Hmmm well somewhere your research found a pothole and fell in but that happens doesnt it? Its nice to see that you may indead get some hd, Im in the process of trying to work out my own issues with hd and being 60 - 70 miles out from the dma. Read through the site more, there is alot more information than what you have gleaned from this thread, its always good to learn more.

 

[Derwin0]

Since I started this, I figured I would give an update. I won't respond to the posts about not doing enough research since that was the one requirement I had when I looked at over 20 apartment complexes. But anyway, Dish Network came out and they couldn't get a line of sight either for the HD channels. So much for them.

Have you given any thought about going the Canadian route? You might have line of site, and they also have Sunday Ticket.

 

[dcwebman]

Hmmm well somewhere your research found a pothole and fell in but that happens doesnt it?

Unfortunately the pothole is when you look at a complex and they only have a few apartments that meet your needs, but there are still tenants living in there so you have to wait for them to move out. You can't go into the apartment and do an install to see if it will work or not. The direction was fine for everything because I knew which way it needed to be. The problem was my 3rd floor apartment building's eaves blocked the sight of the particular satellites. When I found out that the installs wouldn't worked, I even told them to find me another apartment, but being almost full there wasn't anything with the same direction needed. Oh well, it worked out somewhat in the end.

Have you given any thought about going the Canadian route? You might have line of site, and they also have Sunday Ticket.

Now that's something I'll have to research as I haven't heard of that one.