It has nothing to do with having one HDTV. If you are an Eastern arc market, Dish would have installed a VIP HD receiver even if the only TV was SD.
HD service incompatible with SD receivers?
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It has nothing to do with having one HDTV. If you are an Eastern arc market, Dish would have installed a VIP HD receiver even if the only TV was SD.
Well I think I am going to pursue a 222 since I can find them for roughly the same price as the 211s but I get an extra tuner. I'm not worried about the DVR aspect, especially because I am going to use my PC as one of the TVs and I think I can use that as a DVR system, correct? Also, DISH won't charge me anything for activating another receiver will they? I am reading some threads where it seems like there will be a monthly fee even if buying my own unit, which doesn't make sense to me.
Yes, and watch out for those extra receiver fees! Your most expensive receiver will be free, but additional receivers cost $7/tuner + $3 if a DVR, regardless of ownership status. The 222 will be $14/mo. The 211 is only $7/mo.
You outsmarted yourself. If you had requested the additional receivers when you subscribed, DISH would have likely given them to you for free. It isn't really fair to whine about DISH Network and their policies when you screwed yourself out of a virgin deal.
As long as you aren't expecting to record HD content, a computer (w/suitable software and hardware) will work okay as a DVR. If you were expecting to record HD content, it is far from painless and not entirely reliable.
You are buying addition possible viewing places so your usage of a licensed product increases, thus the extra charge. For two tv's a VIP 722 would work as it has a second tunable output (no locals.. only dish). That's what I use for 4 tvs. One main HDTV, and 3 TV's, only one gets used at the same time with the HDTV, all get SD feeds along with a mixed (via a backwards splitter) OFF air signal. I have DISH on CH21 on the second output, and pick up 16-1, 16-2, 21 (dish), 22,28,31-1,31-2,31-3,31-4,38-1,38-2,43-1,43-2,43-3,43-4,44-1,44-2,44-3,56-1,56-2,56-3,64-1,64-2,64-3 and the dvr. I receiver charge and one dvr charge per month. Would I like to toss more receivers on this? Sure, but the monthy charge I do not need so this works. I am using CH21 as it spits with a cleaner ANALOG view, than the default ch 60 does.
I'm in the same DMA as you.
I'm in the same DMA as you.
Um, yah, well when I priced it out on their website, they were definitely not free...$14 for a 2nd (including the "free" 722 they provided) dual tuner...so I think I'll be !$%@##*!$^@%& pissed off about it all I want. So what the heck is the advantage of buying/owning your own equipment?
The only advantage of buying is to avoid term commitments - you will pay the monthly receiver fee regardless. If you are already under a commitment, then your probably as well off with a leased unit.
Also...
Did the installer already run cables from the dish to your other locations? You cannot just buy a $5 "signal splitter" and plug into the second/third/etc receivers. Up to three receivers and you essentially need a run directly from the 1000.4 Dish for each receiver. More than three and it gets more complicated, requiring a special switch.
Bobby said:
And you can sell it to recoup some of your costs when you leave (as opposed to having to pay to ship leased receivers back to dish).
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then its "included" and not extraThe house previously had cabling run throughout it and the installer dead-headed one extra cable from dish. I think what Barry was referring to was splitting the decoded/duplexed signal from the receiver. You shouldn't need a special switch after it has already been duplexed(?). So I am clear, though, are you saying each receiver needs a dedicated feed from the dish? You can't simply split the feed prior to the duplexing?
Anyway, my final feeling on my original quest is :rant: It really seems like they have way too much freedom on what they can charge. Isn't it enough I am paying for their service once? Essentially, just because I have multiple TVs/rooms in my house, they can add surcharges until the cows come home, effectively increasing the service fee for the exact same service if I only had one TV. You can't tell me it costs them any more money to have additional receivers on their system when all they have to do is "activate" them with the push of a button or click of the mouse. That'd be like a store that sells a TV (or any other example you like) but saying there is an additional charge for you to turn it, to access certain channels, or to connect external components, etc. If Obama is back for another term maybe we can convince him these guys need some more oversight...I'll be first in line for that job!
As I said, you outsmarted yourself and you have only your own ignorance and invalid assumptions to blame. Full service pay TV providers charge monthly fees for everything and then some. Whether it is a CableCard for your owned cable box or a additional receiver/mirroring fee from a satellite company you're going to pay a fee on owned equipment. With cable, the price may be reduced but with DISH Network and DIRECTV, the price is the same either way.
You can be pissed if you want, but please don't blame anyone else.
You're right about one thing, I was ignorant for assuming there would be fairness in this market/industry, but that still doesn't make it right, just, or even logical. But you are wrong about another...I wasn't blaming anyone, just expressing my disdain for the unfairness of the policy of charging extra for the illusion of an upgraded or enhanced service, i.e. swindle, i.e. con.
its not a swindle or a con..It is what it is..just read the contract before you sign anything...(like you would read a used car contract).
The existing cabling is probably useless for a second receiver.
If this extra cable is where you need the extra receiver and runs all the way back up to the Dish, then it is probably OK.
Correct. Each RECIEVER needs a dedicated run from the dish.
He was talking about feeding the "TV2/Home Distibution" output of the receiver back into the household cabling. This is fine and you can split that as much as you want.
Dish uses "separators" for dividing/managing sat signals. Not the same as splitters.
You would find using a DVR to be far easier than setting up that PC to act as one. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt - and burned it.
Dish has capital investment in those extra receivers you're leasing, so of course they charge more. People that use more rightfully pay more.
If the business is open about fees for extra boxes, and has pretty much always been that way, your lack of that knowledge does not make it a swindle or a con. That is the way the business operates. Ain't nuthin free.
You would find using a DVR to be far easier than setting up that PC to act as one. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt - and burned it.
Dish has capital investment in those extra receivers you're leasing, so of course they charge more. People that use more rightfully pay more.
If the business is open about fees for extra boxes, and has pretty much always been that way, your lack of that knowledge does not make it a swindle or a con. That is the way the business operates. Ain't nuthin free.
Ok, I may be being naive here, but have you tried contacting Dish and telling them that you only got the one receiver when you started your service, but you would like to add some now. Maybe they would give you the same deal on them that you would have gotten when you started. You may have to pay to have a tech come and hook them up, but then you wouldn't have to buy them and be out of pocket and trying to figure out how to get them all hooked up by your self. Just a thought. You never know until you ask.
I did not see this mentioned, but how many people live in the house? if two or less, or you don't mind all watching the same things, it might be a much more fun project to look at extending the signal from the existing receiver to the rest of the TVs. If you can only be in one room of your house at a time, doesn't make much sense to pay for TV to be in all the rooms.
