I switched from E* to D* after being a sub with E* since 1996. I kept asking myself all day Saturday, "Why did I wait so long"?
It started with the installer for D*. With E* I lost two days work waiting on installers that never came to fix what they had screwed up when they installed us from our move into the new house. When they finally did show up, you couldn't tell them from some guys on the street. They pulled up in an unmarked van that dripped oil all over my new driveway. They said my new line was bad, but never checked it. They just pulled a new RG6 which caused me to dig up my newly growing grass and do a sidewalk bore.
The D* installer, who incidentally worked for MASTEC, pulls up ON TIME in a D* marked van and he is in uniform! We discuss dish placement and I mention the supposedly bad RG6 and how I really don't want to dig up my yard again. He pulls out his meter and what do you know? The line isn't bad after all. He puts on some new F fittings, cleans up E*'s mess, ties off the RG6 and mounts the dish. Then you know what he did? He actually grounded it, at the dish and at the house. He even mounted the grounding block to the house and tied off the cables making a neat, clean job. By the way, it was raining Saturday and this guy worked right on. He even cleaned up the small bits of cable that he cut to make up his fittings.
He then pulls out a brand new R15 and sets it up. He calls for my programming and D*'s locals came on right away, not like E*'s where you have to wait for 25 minutes and call several times for them to hit the receiver before they work.
As for the R15, it's a model 500. I ran it from 1100 to 2400 nonstop. I recorded two movies at once, recorded while I was sleeping, watched a show and recorded at the same time. This receiver hasn't missed a lick and I have had zero problems. The only thing I have noticed is a brief lag between pushing the guide button and the guide actually responding. I am very pleased with this receiver.
Picture quality I know is subjective, but on my 35"Mitsubishi, D* is equal to if not better than E*. I do like D*'s guide layout and info much better than E*'s and I even have channels that I did not have with E*, like OLN. Even the dish is much smaller than E*'s monster Super Dish.
The only thing that made yesterday even better was watching D* and cancelling E*at the same time. Strange how E* offered to upgrade me for free or they would give me two DVR's for the price of one long-time customer upgrade of $50. I said, "You don't understand. I am watching D* right now". Her voice dropped and she said she was sorry, but that she would note my account and waive the $25 fee for returning customers should I wish to come back. I told her that was another reason I had left. Why would you want to charge a returning customer that wants to spend money with you a fee? Just because you can is not a good reason.
Anyway, I am very pleased with D* and the R15. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. :up
It started with the installer for D*. With E* I lost two days work waiting on installers that never came to fix what they had screwed up when they installed us from our move into the new house. When they finally did show up, you couldn't tell them from some guys on the street. They pulled up in an unmarked van that dripped oil all over my new driveway. They said my new line was bad, but never checked it. They just pulled a new RG6 which caused me to dig up my newly growing grass and do a sidewalk bore.
The D* installer, who incidentally worked for MASTEC, pulls up ON TIME in a D* marked van and he is in uniform! We discuss dish placement and I mention the supposedly bad RG6 and how I really don't want to dig up my yard again. He pulls out his meter and what do you know? The line isn't bad after all. He puts on some new F fittings, cleans up E*'s mess, ties off the RG6 and mounts the dish. Then you know what he did? He actually grounded it, at the dish and at the house. He even mounted the grounding block to the house and tied off the cables making a neat, clean job. By the way, it was raining Saturday and this guy worked right on. He even cleaned up the small bits of cable that he cut to make up his fittings.
He then pulls out a brand new R15 and sets it up. He calls for my programming and D*'s locals came on right away, not like E*'s where you have to wait for 25 minutes and call several times for them to hit the receiver before they work.
As for the R15, it's a model 500. I ran it from 1100 to 2400 nonstop. I recorded two movies at once, recorded while I was sleeping, watched a show and recorded at the same time. This receiver hasn't missed a lick and I have had zero problems. The only thing I have noticed is a brief lag between pushing the guide button and the guide actually responding. I am very pleased with this receiver.
Picture quality I know is subjective, but on my 35"Mitsubishi, D* is equal to if not better than E*. I do like D*'s guide layout and info much better than E*'s and I even have channels that I did not have with E*, like OLN. Even the dish is much smaller than E*'s monster Super Dish.
The only thing that made yesterday even better was watching D* and cancelling E*at the same time. Strange how E* offered to upgrade me for free or they would give me two DVR's for the price of one long-time customer upgrade of $50. I said, "You don't understand. I am watching D* right now". Her voice dropped and she said she was sorry, but that she would note my account and waive the $25 fee for returning customers should I wish to come back. I told her that was another reason I had left. Why would you want to charge a returning customer that wants to spend money with you a fee? Just because you can is not a good reason.
Anyway, I am very pleased with D* and the R15. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. :up
