Question about switching Sat providers

[dfstone]

I am with the other little dish satellite provider and considering switching. My main complaint with the other company is the lack of upgrade options and attitude from customer service. I want to go HDTV and will probably spring for the 4 dish HD DVR package. I have 2 HDTVs now and have been watching ota and would like more content.

I have read a lot of posts here regarding the coming MPEG4 upgrades... My questions are:

If I get the HD-DVR now and the other 3 standard receivers do we know what the charge will be to upgrade when the new HD-DVR receiver is available in 2006?

I am not clear on the rollout plan for other markets besides Detroit - is that going to start before end of 2005? I am in Dallas and that is my primary interest.

Apologies in advance if I missed this info in other threads.

Doug Stone

 

[Hogarth]

If I get the HD-DVR now and the other 3 standard receivers do we know what the charge will be to upgrade when the new HD-DVR receiver is available in 2006?

Not definitively. Latest rumor is a $49.99 upgrade fee. D* has a long history of providing either free, or nominal cost, upgrades to it's customers, when new equipment is required to get their programming. I'd be surprised if it's more than $50 for the hardware itself -- although I could see them also requiring professional installation for another $48.

If you're not comfortable with forking over $100, hold off. There's just not enough HD programming to merit feeling much discomfort at this point.

I am not clear on the rollout plan for other markets besides Detroit - is that going to start before end of 2005? I am in Dallas and that is my primary interest.

Neither are we. D* has repeatedly stated "Top 12 markets before the end of 2005", but repeated delays of the launch of Spaceway 2 made them reluctant.

However, the fact that they're now rolling out to Detroit makes me think they'll roll out to the markets they have specified certainly before, say, end of February 2006. Depends heavily on how smooth Detroit goes, I'd assume.

H