Should I stay with E* hd or move to D*

[HDwonderer]

I have come to a cross road AGAIN! After moving from Voom at E* so I could still maintain my HD programing I now have to make a new decision. As we know D* is moving forward with their new sats and HD programing this year. If they go though with all their moves as planed D* is going to BLOW E* out of the water. If I upgrade to the 622DVR receivers with E* I will need to commit to a new 18m contract.

My question is will E* add many HD's this year or next. Unless I missed it I see no new sats going up which keeps E*'s bandwith limited.

Help

HDwonder

 

[mikfort51]

Go ahead and swith, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

 

[Peter Parker]

I don't think that anyone can give youa good answer. D* has announced a very ambitious rollout but we have no idea if they can deliver or what E* will do in response.


but why do it now when the new channels on D* are months away? I would wait and enjoy what E* has now and then when you know what the alternative is decide then.

 

[shanewalker]

The D* service might be everything they're promising in, I don't know, maybe 18 months or so...

So I'd say do the 622 upgrade, enjoy the best HD content array/DVR combo that's available NOW and for the near-term, and see what actually happens, versus the PR hype--THEN make your decision based on the 'facts on the ground'.

 

[Poke]

Well talking to folks who were long time Direct Customers all said the same thing. That they wished that they had came over to Dish a long time ago over Direct. It seems Direct having more issues with their New HDDVR and seems they are playing catch up to Dish to add more HD Channels which right now they have only 12-15 to Dish 30-34. So overall to me it would be a step back wards for anyone to go to Direct.

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

Yes, many posts about all sort of issues with their new DVR. They area in 2nd place now.


Their are not that many stations broadcasting HD content yet, so how in the he!! are they going to have 1500.


1475 versions of locals in HD and 25 channels of other stuff ?

 

[cebbigh]

I'd suggest staying with Dish for now and take a wait/see approach. Dish has the superior DVR and they do offer more HD currently. I'd be very pleased DTV pulls off what they are claiming with the 100 channels. But there are still a lot of ifs involved. And if they do pull it off Dish will need to match to be competitive. A lot is going to play out in the next 18 months.

 

[Poke]

Yeah I agree! Direct need to be more specific on what kind of channel's it will be. My guess most of them will be locals due to there are more of them to add than national channels of hd. Direct like throwing big #'s around but the numbers most time never add up. NO one can add National Channels of HD until that Network gets their HD Version up an running. Once that happens anyone can get them. Again though its how things are worded when it should be more clearer. Kind of why Direct got in trouble with their Jessica Simpson ad due to Time Warren called them out on it. Right now we will all see in the near future who add's what so forth. But for now at least Dish is not opening their mouths and throwing numbers and making claims on HD Channels that aren't even up and running yet. Again right now it's a wait and see game.

 

[stuckingoo]

I for one am bummed Extra Innings will no longer be carried by Dish and I just signed my agreement in October.

 

[grendyl]

Since the DVR will be free and there is no contract needed anymore, IMO it makes sense to sign up for E* now then switch if D* gets better. I have used the HR20 at my friends house and the 30-second 'slip' gets so annoying that if there is even a 6 month lag between directv's offerings and echostar's response, it would be worth keeping E* IMO.

 

[DAVEGTESTR]

I for one am bummed Extra Innings will no longer be carried by Dish and I just signed my agreement in October.

Nothing has been announced yet on this...but I for one will not pleased if D* gets EI HD and E* doesn't. I am getting E* HD/622 installed on the 24th. And they already have my $199 for the 622 too... However I am going to be checking out NatlGeoHD/VOOM/HDNet.

 

[Super Dave]

If I read correctly EI will happen in 2009. Sign with DTV and they lock you up for 2 years. I switched 6 months ago and couldn't be happier, and I have 1 year left on a commitment and don't feel I will miss out on anything during that period. If anything FIOS will be in town and I will look at them before I lock into DTV for 2 years and their new pricing policy. Dish has HD now, and I love it, should have switched sooner so I could join the complain club that I have seen everything twice.

 

[Dish VIP]

Yeah I agree! Direct need to be more specific on what kind of channel's it will be. My guess most of them will be locals due to there are more of them to add than national channels of hd. Direct like throwing big #'s around but the numbers most time never add up. NO one can add National Channels of HD until that Network gets their HD Version up an running. Once that happens anyone can get them. Again though its how things are worded when it should be more clearer. Kind of why Direct got in trouble with their Jessica Simpson ad due to Time Warren called them out on it. Right now we will all see in the near future who add's what so forth. But for now at least Dish is not opening their mouths and throwing numbers and making claims on HD Channels that aren't even up and running yet. Again right now it's a wait and see game.

This is what DirecTV has announced:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=948332&highlight=

This is what Dish Network has announced:

<empty>

Dish Network claims they don't like to brag. Me thinks they have nothing to brag about.

If sports are your thing, don't look to Echostar. I don't think Charlie Ergen knows the difference between a restrictor plate and home plate if his recent comments about HD RSNs are any clue. ("Not much content")

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

They can't broadcast them if they are not available in HD, and the ability to deliver 1500 is much different than delivering !

 

[Dish VIP]

They can't broadcast them if they are not available in HD, and the ability to deliver 1500 is much different than delivering !

We are talking signed contracts here. Many of the new HD channels will premier on DirecTV.

 

[Jeff_R]

Directv will have the capacity for 100 national HD channels, but that number of channels won't be there for some time to come. They have made some announcements, confirmed by some content providers, but not enough to bridge the gap. At the least, you've got about 7-8 months before Directv starts to add channels, then the channels have to be available for them. There just aren't enough channels for them to get there. Dish still has capacity for several channels, and could make some room for others, so it's not that big of a deal right now.

Based on what I've heard about the new Directv DVR, I'd be happy to sit with E* for some time before I even considered switching...

 

[cebbigh]

This is what DirecTV has announced:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=948332&highlight=

This is what Dish Network has announced:

<empty>

Dish Network claims they don't like to brag. Me thinks they have nothing to brag about.

If sports are your thing, don't look to Echostar. I don't think Charlie Ergen knows the difference between a restrictor plate and home plate if his recent comments about HD RSNs are any clue. ("Not much content")

It's good to see some of the channels that are upcoming. I'm not going to get too excited about DTV signing agreements "in principle." I can't imagine that any agreements will be exclusive to DTV. It really is good marketing on their part. But on a national scale Dish will be compelled to offer equal programing. Competition!

 

[Dish VIP]

If you were USA network would you sign with Echostar? 1 bird going up this year and no backup except what is up there already. Not to mention a long track record of Charlie fighting with providers and breaking the law.

Or would you sign with DirecTV? 2 birds going up and a terrestial backup as well as up there.

Some say "They can't broadcast them if they are not available in HD" On the flip side one could say "they will be available in HD when someone can broadcast them."

 

[miff]

the big question for me is, once the new sats are up, will the begin to broadcast the channels in full rez with enough bandwith

 

[ArtWIS]

the big question for me is, once the new sats are up, will the begin to broadcast the channels in full rez with enough bandwith

I'm sure everybody hopes that D* will do full rez and plenty of bandwidth with the new birds. They should have plenty of space to do so and if they do there's no way E* can matchup to D* as far as HD numbers or quality.