Long DISH customer, changing to DIRECTV probably

[Tampa8]

Since you don't mind losing several national HD channels, and don't mind spending $16 more a month, I would say you should switch if it gives you exactly what you want.

I guess what I am not understanding, (and I'm not trying to be smart, if there is something really special I am missing I apologize) I have a 612 in the living room and a 612 in the bedroom. If I want to watch something I was watching in the living room, but now in the bedroom there are two options. Have the bedroom receiver on the same channel you are watch in the living room, when you go to the bedroom you will be able to rewind back to wherever you were when you left to go to the bedroom.
Second option, record the show in the bedroom also.....It also gives me 6 tuners to record from. (four sat tuners) and also, very important, should one DVR not work for some reason, I have the other one. My wife was waiting for the season ending Desperate Housewifes last season and the living room power strip died, so no recording when she got home from work. But, I had recorded it upstairs also because she might watch upstairs, so no problem....

BTW - and this includes me .... is that we do in the bedroom now, watch TV?

 

[Bobby]

At my age, yes!!!

 

[kurtdh]

If it'll cost you $16 more per month, why not just lease another hd dvr from dish? The extra fees for doing that should be about the same.

Because that won't enable me to record a show in the living room and finish watching it in the bedroom. If I had a second hd dvr in the bedroom, I would need to create a second timer on that dvr...that's what I'm trying to avoid.

 

[kurtdh]

Since you don't mind losing several national HD channels, and don't mind spending $16 more a month, I would say you should switch if it gives you exactly what you want.

I guess what I am not understanding, (and I'm not trying to be smart, if there is something really special I am missing I apologize) I have a 612 in the living room and a 612 in the bedroom. If I want to watch something I was watching in the living room, but now in the bedroom there are two options. Have the bedroom receiver on the same channel you are watch in the living room, when you go to the bedroom you will be able to rewind back to wherever you were when you left to go to the bedroom.
Second option, record the show in the bedroom also.....It also gives me 6 tuners to record from. (four sat tuners) and also, very important, should one DVR not work for some reason, I have the other one. My wife was waiting for the season ending Desperate Housewifes last season and the living room power strip died, so no recording when she got home from work. But, I had recorded it upstairs also because she might watch upstairs, so no problem....

BTW - and this includes me .... is that we do in the bedroom now, watch TV?

I always thought it would be a hassle to duplicate all my timers. I find myself constantly on my dvr deleting timers, adjusting timers from new episodes to all episodes, and vice versa. It would seem a complete pain in the butt to repeat the process in the bedroom every time I change something in the living room.

Is it really not that big of a deal? Seems kind of stressful having to match your timers perfectly from one dvr to another...

 

[Mr Tony]

so just to verify you have only one receiver right now? Technically it wouldnt be $16 more. It would be $10
you already pay a $6 DVR fee with Dish, right? The "$16" you quote is for the HD, DVR fee and the multi-room viewing. But since you already pay $6 for a DVR fee it would only be a $10 charge

 

[Dah-Henny]

I wonder, with all of the changes taking place, if it's possible to have a central EHD (E*btw) connected to a USB hub, and connected to more than one receiver? I know it's not practical with archiving, but with 211's?

 

[mdavej]

What do you mean when you say "1 applies if the second room is a receiver (H2x for example), not a DVR (HR2x)" Also, what do you mean when you say you like having "watchable SD.."

You can't pause live tv if room 2 doesn't have a DVR. But there is a work-around that's been pointed out a couple of times already (record, then chase). You can pause live tv if room 2 does have a DVR. I don't know if you plan to get a DVR or just a receiver for room 2, so I told you how MRV live pause works in both cases.

"Watchable SD" means I can watch Dish SD (Standard Definition 480i) without my eyes bleeding because it's MPEG4 (on the eastern arc) and much less compressed than DirecTV's MPEG2. DirecTV SD is horrendous (unwatchable). You'll be watching a lot more SD on DirecTV since they are missing a lot of HD channels.

 

[kurtdh]

You can't pause live tv if room 2 doesn't have a DVR. But there is a work-around that's been pointed out a couple of times already (record, then chase). You can pause live tv if room 2 does have a DVR. I don't know if you plan to get a DVR or just a receiver for room 2, so I told you how MRV live pause works in both cases.

"Watchable SD" means I can watch Dish SD (Standard Definition 480i) without my eyes bleeding because it's MPEG4 (on the eastern arc) and much less compressed than DirecTV's MPEG2. DirecTV SD is horrendous (unwatchable). You'll be watching a lot more SD on DirecTV since they are missing a lot of HD channels.

It was my understanding that DirecTV had transitioned to MPEG4? More details? I watch a lot of SD either way, so if it's that much worse on DirecTV...that could be a huge reason to stick with Dish.

 

[mdram]

"Watchable SD" means I can watch Dish SD (Standard Definition 480i) without my eyes bleeding because it's MPEG4 (on the eastern arc) and much less compressed than DirecTV's MPEG2. DirecTV SD is horrendous (unwatchable). You'll be watching a lot more SD on DirecTV since they are missing a lot of HD channels.

i beg to differ, i find almost no diff in the 2 sd, and i dont miss any of the national hd channels, but thats my viewing habits.

 

[lparsons21]

It was my understanding that DirecTV had transitioned to MPEG4? More details? I watch a lot of SD either way, so if it's that much worse on DirecTV...that could be a huge reason to stick with Dish.

Lots of people, including many DirecTV customers on this and the 'other' site, have made many negative comments about the quality of D*'s SD channels. I'm in the group that thinks that E* has much better SD. But if you have a friend that has D*, go take a look and let your eyes be your guide.

 

[osu1991]

Confused by what you're telling me here. Are you saying I should run an HDMI cable from my receiver in the living room to the TV in my bedroom? I'd have to run it through walls, and it would be maybe 50-60 feet. If this was possible, what would this enable me to do? I'm not a very advanced DISH user, so speak to me like I'm a 6 year old

That is exactly what he is saying. Many of us do this. All of the outputs on the dish receiver are live at the same time.
So if you can fish an hdmi cable through your walls/attic/crawl space to the bedroom tv, then you could connect your living room tv via the component outputs of the 722 and the bedroom tv via the hdmi output of the 722 and put the receiver in single mode and then you will be able to watch HD content on both tv's at the same time and both tv1 and tv2 remotes will control the receiver.

 

[BearcatScott]

Here is an easier way to extend HDMI from one spot to another. This is great when finishing a basement or when building a house and install the cables before putting up the dry wall.

Amazon.com: (Price/Piece)CablesToBuy™ HDMI Extender by CAT - 5e - 6 w - Tx + Rx (30m 1080p): Electronics

 

[KAB]

Here is an easier way to extend HDMI from one spot to another. This is great when finishing a basement or when building a house and install the cables before putting up the dry wall.

Amazon.com: (Price/Piece)CablesToBuy™ HDMI Extender by CAT - 5e - 6 w - Tx + Rx (30m 1080p): Electronics

Much cheaper option:

For only $15.54 each when QTY 50+ purchased - HDMI over CAT5E / CAT6 Extender Wall Plate (Pair) - Single Port (1P) - White (Rev. 1.2) | HDMI Wall Plates

 

[osu1991]

Yep. I didn't want to complicate matters, but I use the cat5E/6 for my secondary runs too. I already had the cat 5E/6 ran so it was pretty simple for me to send HD to the other room with the wall plates.

 

[mdavej]

DirecTV has transitioned most if not all HD to MPEG4. All their SD is still MPEG2. On a big screen (over 40") it looks terrible. On a small screen it's not so bad. Looks like there are lots of opinions out there, so best to see for yourself. The facts are it's about 250 lines of resolution, low color depth, very soft looking, lots of macro blocking and mosquitoing. Naturally SD is pretty soft by definition, but I see very little of those other problems on Dish SD on the eastern arc. This is coming from a former long time DirecTV sub.

Since you have Dish SD today, you can see for yourself very easily. Just turn on an SD channel and rub Vaseline on your glasses, then you'll see DirecTV SD.

 

[dwarren2]

Another option is an hdmi splitter and then a long hdmi cable to the bedroom tv. If the OP is using a home theater receiver, using component and audio cables would only give stereo sound, not 5.1. With a splitter, bot tv's would have 5.1 surround sound capabilities.

Don't know anything about this site, except they have what I described.
High Powered HDMI Splitters 1080p
This would be a 1 time cost of around $100 or so rather than a continuing $16/mo.

In single mode, your TV2 remote will also control TV1 output. If in dual mode, he would need an Wireless IR remote (available at Radio Shack) to use the TV1 remote in the bedroom unless he already has a UHF remote for TV1. He could then use the TV2 output to view Dish on a 3rd set.

 

[old corps]

That is exactly what he is saying. Many of us do this. All of the outputs on the dish receiver are live at the same time.
So if you can fish an hdmi cable through your walls/attic/crawl space to the bedroom tv, then you could connect your living room tv via the component outputs of the 722 and the bedroom tv via the hdmi output of the 722 and put the receiver in single mode and then you will be able to watch HD content on both tv's at the same time and both tv1 and tv2 remotes will control the receiver.

I've had both my 622 and 722 connected like this for years. For your cable needs, (either cat5/6 & HDMI adapters or all HDMI) get 'em from monoprice.com as posted by KAB. Great prices, fast shipping and great customer service!

Ed

 

[Dishman1978]

How sure are you of #1? I talked with DirecTV, and they swear the second room has the capability to pause live TV...

And regarding #3, which DVR functions are you talking about?

And Dish CSR's know every aspect of Dish system too!!! "oh yeah with HD programming you get HD in all locations!"

Which is technically true, but yet totally wrong, you maybe able to see the HD programming, but it sure as heck ain't in HD!

 

[Tampa8]

While I have Dish and love it, I always tell people there are reasons to get Direct TV instead. Premium sports, and if you are in NY and want MSG and YES.
I say that, because you don't see me posting and bashing Direct TV. They would be my second choice for sure. But let me tell you, I have seen Direct SD and my friend's houses and it sucks big time compared to Dish. (One of the History channels -because it isn't available in HD on Direct) If your TV is of any real size, you will notice the difference.

Also, if you are not going to have a DVR in the second room, not being able to pause unless you record in the living room seems to me to be less than what you are looking for, so if the cost to have a second DVR is more than you thought, don't forget to add that into the equation... I think Dish dual output DVR's need an update to produce two HD outputs, I certainly agree on that. Though, the EHD system Dish uses is fantastic, I love being able to record programs upstairs then just bring them downstairs to watch or to archive. And I have an external antenna and make use of the OTA recording also. If whole home use is your most important feature, Direct TV certainly does have it, Dish does not, at least in the same way.

 

[kurtdh]

So first step is to run cat6 through my walls to my bedroom. Second step is to get that adapter kit from monoprice, and that will allow me to run hdmi from my receiver in the living room through the cat6 to my tv via hdmi in my bedroom?

So then, when running in single mode..both tv's will be doing the same thing? So if I watch a prerecorded show in my bedroom, it will also show up in the living room?

When in single mode, does it screw up timers you previously set, so only one tuner can record at a time?