Should I switch DISH???

[radionews]

Should I switch to DISH???

I put a post on the Directv Forum about me switching from Directv to Dish to save on the equipment costs to upgrade D* to get locals and a DVR. A lot of Dish bashing on that forum......thoughts from Dish customers??? Looking at the package with the DVR 625. I have no interest in HD at this point or in the next coupld of years......your thoughts please!

 

[jollygrunt]

I too have no current interest in HDTV so I signed up for a 4-room install through SBC and got a 522 and two 311's installed last Friday. I'd read all the good & bad stories about the 522 on the various DBS forums beforehand, so I was kinda leary about it, but since it's on lease, I decided to take a chance. So far, it's been great. I've only had a couple of instances of the audio sync problem during playback of the 1st program I'd DVR'd on the 522. Since then, however, I've had no other issues with the 522 to speak of.

FYI: The 625 is similar to the 522, but with VOD capabilities.

 

[boba]

I too have no current interest in HDTV so I signed up for a 4-room install through SBC and got a 522 and two 311's installed last Friday. I'd read all the good & bad stories about the 522 on the various DBS forums beforehand, so I was kinda leary about it, but since it's on lease, I decided to take a chance. So far, it's been great. I've only had a couple of instances of the audio sync problem during playback of the 1st program I'd DVR'd on the 522. Since then, however, I've had no other issues with the 522 to speak of.

FYI: The 625 is similar to the 522, but with VOD capabilities.

That is a GREAT RECOMMENDATION for a 522/625. Had it less than a week and already seen the bugs. Remember this receiver has been out about 18 months and still has bugs.

 

[BFG]

No interest in HD?!? I think I'm gonna cry

Go to walmart and pick up the HDTV they have their for less than $500, it's actually a pretty nice TV also.

 

[radionews]

Ok Ok.....HD Tv, what is the deal....better picture quaility? I haven't paid much attention as I thought HD tv's were really really expensive

 

[BFG]

better picture, widescreen format, add a surround system and you'll get dolby digital surround also.

 

[OoTLink]

the "No interest in HD" works great if you have SD TVs and don't want to put money into an HD one I mean honestly, without v0om, what's the point?

I say pick the company that has the best deal for what you want. Try not to fall for any contracts, and if the company has lousy service tell them to take their dishes and cram them where the sun doesn't shine. We got dishnet only because they had the cheapest service for 4 TVs, and we don't watch a heck of a lot of TV so it doesn't really matter how many channels there are as long as 1. The news is on, 2. We get Mama's Family on TBS (because it's funny), and 3. -- we paid extra to have the 'distant' superstations so we could watch the jeffersons *eg* Too bad they come on at such odd times!

Really though ,these are pretty large companies.. Personally I'm not a big fan of DirecTV simply because they're owned by News Corp, but that might not be a problem for you... it probably wouldn't be a problem for me but it surely wasn't a plus

 

[kbohip]

I put a post on the Directv Forum about me switching from Directv to Dish to save on the equipment costs to upgrade D* to get locals and a DVR. A lot of Dish bashing on that forum......thoughts from Dish customers??? Looking at the package with the DVR 625. I have no interest in HD at this point or in the next coupld of years......your thoughts please!

Well as I told you in your other thread I've been a Dish Network subscriber for over 7 years...until yesterday. If you think Directv is expensive to upgrade with as a current customer you haven't seen anything yet. As a current Dish sub they want $149 for a 522. This is to lease, not to own.

The 522 is also a VERY buggy receiver, but then you don't want to hear that. You just want cheap. Dish is cheaper (by $50) for a DVR than Directv. Where Dish will get you is if you ever want to upgrade. For a long time they wouldn't even let current subs get a 522. We were stuck with the old single tuner DVR's.

Seriously before you get a 522 read through all these negative 522 posts on this forum. I read them and figured people were just exaggerating their problems. I've now had my 522 for a month and have had almost all of the same problems. My parent's, sister, and her in-laws all have Directivo's and have had no problems.

 

[GaryPen]

You should also understand that Dish charges a $5 DVR fee PER UNIT, not per account as does DirecTV. That is $60 per year per add'l DVR.

Also, you cannot add and remove programming via their website. You can add it. But, if you want to drop programming, you have to call a CSR, and you are charged $5 to drop programming!

That stuff can add up. It's not all about upfront cost.

You also get more channels with TC vs. AT120 at the same price point. (Not counting shopping, gaming, public interest, and such. Dish leads in that department.)

 

[OoTLink]

Yeah I'm learning dish has so many "gotchas" it gets on my nerves.. thankfully we only have 2 dual receiver units, so we pay $5 a month extra, so we're still in the cheap there (directv charges $54 in a similar situation since they have no dual boxes AND they charge per each one >_<), then again their package is more like the 120 channel package *shrug* At that I'd probably go back to comcrap and dig the no box oldschool cable as long as we still had SDTVs. Ironically, their "buy back" attempts have been just as pathetic as Dish Net's trying to grab Voom customers by offering some petty thing.. worse if you've already been a customer of theirs lol.

If you only have 1 or 2 TVs I suppose that'd be nice to be on DTV

 

[jdpeet]

Much prefer Directv over Dish Network

Switched from Directv to Dish when I bought my Hitachi 46F510 HDTV. Got the 522 Dish receiver along with a dual line SD receiver for two secondary TV's. LOTS of problems. EVERYDAY for two months my wife said "I hate Dish TV". EVERYDAY. My kids stopped using the secondary TV's and I was the butt of jokes EVERYDAY. Some probs:
-The 522 would sometimes just show a portion of the picture; like the very left of a picture...somebody's shoulder...
-The 522 would frequently lock up and I would have to get behind the system to unplug to power cycle.
-It took LOTS of playing around to get the 522 to work with my ReplayTV unit.
-The secondary units go into standby (to save Dish Network satellite rental, they buy their signal from DirectTV) and the ReplayTV or VCR can't wake up the receiver when it begins recording. You end up recording "standby" for an hour. "Gets boring after the first two or three shows..."
-We had Rf remote conflicts, which could be common to other systems, but just inflamed the situation.
-Tried to get the over-air HDTV signal stable using a roof antenna and even purchased the highly rated Zenith fin antenna, but still had LOTS of signal/picture/station loss. Recorded a lot of blank pictures, etc.

Went back to DirectV with the RCA DTC210 and the installers just sat and stared at the picture with their mouths open saying they never saw a picture like that before. Watched the Masters in HDTV and had the urge to spray some floral scent to cap off the experience of the incredibly real picture we were getting from this setup
Never lost the over ain HDTV signal yet except for a couple seconds during a storm the other night.
That's using the RGB connection too. Gonna try the HDVI today.

But now I'm trying to my ReplayTV to work with the DTC210. Always something, when you've got this many toys.

 

[SimpleSimon]

... so we could watch the jeffersons *eg* Too bad they come on at such odd times!

Can you spell "DVR" (or Tivo)?

 

[GaryPen]

Are the Jeffersons EG different from the regular Jeffersons? Is that like Extra Grade or something?

 

[GaryPen]

jdpeet - Your experiences echo exactly, so many who have done the same. It's eerie.

 

[OoTLink]

Are the Jeffersons EG different from the regular Jeffersons? Is that like Extra Grade or something?

Sorry, I meant evil grin.. stupid abbreviations I use, my apologies!

Be nice if we could set aside $2k for one of those nice samsung DLPs *drool*

 

[reddice]

Had Dish and we were stupid to drop them for DirecTV. We hated DirecTV the year we had it. The channels were organized a mess. Too many blank channels. PPV's in the 100's. I hated the Tivo. It was the worst reciever I have ever used and I will never want to go back to it again. I just cannot understand the hipe and how they think it is so great. It was slow, buggy (the frequent b&w picture was driving me crazy and made me want to throw it out the window) and did I mention slow.

Anyway when we decided to go back to Dish I did not want to get a 522 after hearing about so many problems. We decided to get 510 receivers since I use to use the 508 and loved it compaired to the nightmare Tivo junk. We have the Everything Pack which if it was up to me we would have T180 but my family wants the EP, so we don't pay any DVR fees. We are glad we are back with Dish and the DirecTV was a bad experience.

 

[Curtis0620]

How many times must you do this?

 

[TheForce]

reddice-
When I read your post, I just couldn't believe my eyes. But then I saw where you're from. It made perfect sense.
Better never move out of Brooklyn, you'll really miss all the garbage in the streets!

 

[Tony S]

Curtis0620 and Don Landis, what is your problem? Are you saying that if someone doesn't agree with your opinion that they can't post? The reply that reddice posted was on topic. However, your two posts add nothing to this thread.

Believe it or not, there are people that do not like Tivo.

 

[Curtis0620]

Do a search and see how many times he posts the same thing over and over and over.