Question about Jumping to the other side

[satjay]

Hello all, I am currently a Directv subcriber thinking about moving over to Dish network, some of the channel offerings and price have me intrested. I have no major issues with DTV, but I am not going to subscribe to "sunday Ticket" next year, so dish and the HD offerings have some appeal to me.

I do have a couple questions:

1. If I went with the all HD package, I am guessing I would have to also subscribe to a non HD package as well as I dont think Fox sports is included?? correct

2. For those of you that are subcribing to only HD packages, I guess I have to print out the regular packages? but are or do you feel you are missing out on channels that have not moved to HD, from what I see most channels that I would watch are covered.

3. The DVR, many rave about the Dish DVR in comparsion to the Directv DVR,The few times I have used my parents Dish DVR I find that the Direct tv seems more user friendly?? Is this something that after using a dish one version after a while I will see its just as user firendly??

4. The HD offerings and choice seem good to me and I move to more shows/movies from NFL package, this would be a big move as I am not a provider jumper.....For those of you that have it, do you see a bright continuing HD/Programming future

Thanks for any input as I mull this over over the holidays

 

[HDRoberts]

1. No, some of the HD only packs include your RSN (assuming that's what you mean by "Fox sports"). Also, you either sub to a regular pack with HD added on for $10 (same as DirecTV), or get an HD only pack. You cant add an SD pack (exception a la carte, I think) to HD only packs.

2. I have the legacy HD absolute pack. I miss a few channels, namely Comedy Central, Spike, and E!. But I think it's worth the savings. The new Turbo packs (bronze, silver and gold) are the same as the America's Top (AT) 100, AT200, and AT250 (receptively) with only the HD channels from those packs. It's up to you if you think you will miss channels. Lineup is here: DISH Network - 1.888.825.2557

3. In my opinion, yes. Just takes some getting used to. I;ve hatted all the time I've had to use DirecTV equipment. Most who use both find Dish stuff superior, both in interface and function.

4. Doesn't seem to me Dish or DirecTV is in a hurry to add more national HD. With D12, DirecTV will have a slight bandwidth edge, but not that huge of one. We are likely to see a few launched before the end of the year. At Dish, new HD is always coming "soon", which seems to some to be forever. DirecTV probably has a better chance of adding programming faster, if Dish has what you want already, you should be OK (although they have been known to yank stuff in programming disputes with content providers)

 

[UNOmar]

I've only had dish for a couple of months and am still relatively new to the forum, but here's what I know.

1. Your RSN's (fox sports) are included with the HD package. They aren't 24/7 broadcasts, but most sporting events are shown in HD. Along with the HD channel you also get the SD channel so you won't miss anything.

2. Personally I miss Comedy Central, FX, E! (only for talk soup though), and Spike. There are rumors of new programming coming this Monday so hopefully some of those will be addressed.

3. I've never used a DTV dvr so I can't comment on it, but I find Dish's very easy to use.

4. I've only had it a short while and am relatively new to the sat world so maybe someone else can comment on this better.

FYI - I have the Turbo HD Gold package and pay $5/mo extra for the locals.

-UNOmar

 

[satjay]

Thanks for the input thus far!!

 

[dfergie]

3. The DVR, many rave about the Dish DVR in comparsion to the Directv DVR,The few times I have used my parted Dish DVR I find that the Direct tv seems more user friendly?? Is this something that after using a dish one version after a while I will see its just as user firendly??

Apples and oranges...I'm more used to the Dish Dvr remote and like the EHDD options much better, but with the beta testing going on with Directv dvr's and receivers they have a lot of options...

4. The HD offerings and choice seem good to me and I move to more shows/movies from NFL package, this would be a big move as I am not a provider jumper.....For those of you that have it, do you see a bright continuing HD/Programming future

Haven't subbed to ST myself in several years, right now Dish does have much better premium selections... the SHO / TMC HD packages on Directv have more limited programming(duplicates) than the Dish HD HBO/Max packages and EncoreHD...

 

[scottbakertemp]

1. I do not get Fox sports with HD absolute. I believe it's available with other packs though.
2. I occasionally miss the other channels when I here about some event that's playing that I can't watch. The savings is well worth it though.
3. I tried using my brother in law's direct TV box over Thanksgiving and was not impressed. However I'm sure most people could get used to either one. They both pal in comparison to tivo or various pc solutions.
4. I think the HD offerings are close now but Dish will always be the one following.

If you don't ever care about all the cool thinks that are coming on direct TV - online scheduling (already out), media center tuners, tivo integration and you just care about the price then dish network is probably the better choice. If you do go with dish you'll need to be really patient when it comes to them adding any channels or features. They'll do both of those things but they'll wait A LOT longer than direct.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I will agree with what HDRoberts said, his views and answers match what I would have typed (and with less typos!)

 

[satjay]

Thanks again, with the future not only with HD but more important, from some of my reading, looks like they have had some major subscriber loss. I am guessing its safe to assume that they will contiue to be around.

I do like the fact they they add movie channels to there packages!

 

[lb311]

I just "simplified" from Comcast to Dish Turbo HD Bronze and now am saving about $60/month. The HD channels (with locals) have been just fine for me. I've also got an Apple TV, so am starting to get more and more shows that way. The only channels I've missed so far are Comedy Central and CSPAN, but both offer internet streaming, so I just hook my laptop up to my TV and problem solved (although, I do hope both get to Dish HD someday "soon").

The 722 DVR is great. It takes a few more clicks to do stuff in some areas, but has some shortcuts in others (really love the 30-sec jump forward feature!).

Also like it's OTA tuner and it's ability to integrate into the program guide/fav lists, etc.

Finally, the no extra cost TV2 output (that doesn't require a sep box and sep. monthly fee) is nice "icing on the cake" and perfect for porting all the HD Sat, OTA, and DVR content from the living room upstairs to the bedroom TV.

So, go for it!

 

[FitzAusTex]

As far as who makes you wait longer for new HD - D* or E* - it was E* who had more national HD than D* for quite some time. Until Sept/Oct '07, when D10 went online, D* had like 8 HD channels (of which at least one [TNT] had to taken offline on Sundays to make room for ST). So, D* had more HD from Sept/Oct '07 till May '08, when E* added quite a few, and again more were added by E* on 8/1.

There are many D* folks complaining about the lack of new National HD that they were expecting (maybe incorrectly) when D11 came online.

I love my vip622, and I tried to like the D* boxes over Thanksgiving visiting family, but it was a no-go again this year.

 

[satjay]

With the "Two Tuners" would one HD box work for two HD TV's (one in the main room and another in aonther room) or would I need Two boxes since I have Two HD TV's. I would like one DVR

Also the on demand content...More Specific Childrens content, DTV is not the greatest, but the Child content is a life saver!!! any on dish network

 

[HDRoberts]

With the "Two Tuners" would one HD box work for two HD TV's (one in the main room and another in aonther room) or would I need Two boxes since I have Two HD TV's. I would like one DVR

Also the on demand content...More Specific Childrens content, DTV is not the greatest, but the Child content is a life saver!!! any on dish network

Two HDTVs from one box isn't possible at this time. Dish's next big box, the 922, is rumored to have this capability (we may find out at CES next month), but it is still a ways away. A 722 (DVR) or a 222 (non-DVR) does one HDTV and one SDTV, using a NTSC modulated signal diplexed on the satellite wire. Dish also has the 211, wich runs one HDTV. It can even be modded to be a single tuner DVR with the addition of an external hard drive, as well as a one time fee. The 722 can also be put in single mode, which enables picture in picture, which works great with it's dual live buffers.

I don't think there is too much on demand children's content, but I don;t have kids, so I don't pay close attention to such things. Most I see around here just make sure to DVR a buch of shows on the many kids oriented networks (although their aren't too many on the HD Only side yet). One note: Sprout, ont of my friends with kids favorite channels for their toddler, is not on Dish.