Some Interesting Dish Info

[primetimeguy]

If customers pay, dish will find new fees - it makes good business sense for them. They also try to figure out the maximum fee they can charge such that the most people will pay it. Dish learns based on what we do with our wallets. It is useful to look at the bigger picture when we make a decision to pay or not pay these fees.

I agree with this fully, and to me they are doing nothing more than what most successful businesses do, trying to generate new income streams. I see no problem charging fees for new features and having the option to choose if I want them or not. I want more channels, so charge me a fee to upgrade. I want a DVR, so charge me a fee above and beyond a standard box. I want more storage, I'll pay a fee for this option. If I don't want any of these options, I won't pay for them and I'll have a much cheaper bill each month.

As for the $40 fee for more storage space, I don't see how I'm paying for it 3 times like you mentioned. I pay a DVR fee for having the option to record programming. I don't want to use the extra space on the internal drive so no fee for me. But I will pay the add-on storage fee. So in my eyes I'm paying a one time fee of $40 for unlimited storage.

Nothing in life is free.

Now would I have rather seem them not charge a fee, sure. But they need to make money to be successful and continue to develop new hardware, software and ways to get us more high quality channels. So I'll pay the fee.

And everyone has the right to their opinion around here, I think I just needed to vent because 90% of the comments about the add-on storage seem to be complaints about price. I'm happy it has finally arrived and have two 500gb harddrives ready come August 15th.

Nothing in life is free.

 

[Smith P.]

Ahh yes the old P Smith Black Helicopter Routine.

Wish I have one ! Black Hawk ! Man...

 

[Smith P.]

<skip>
because 90% of the comments about the add-on storage seem to be complaints about price.
<skip>

Ah, can't stand in minority ! Wanna stay in conformity.

 

[gary s]

I will probably pay for this service.

While I would probably record more movies with it, I do not like watching movies or television shows over and over. Usually watch once and delete which is what I would probably do, for the most part, even with the extra storage.

What I would find it extremely usefull for is recording and saving concerts off of Rave and also MTVHD (or MHD, whatever it's called) when it's added to watch and listen to whenever I feel like it.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Do you have some insight into the ViP211 getting NBR as a result of adding an external drive?

IF you enable the hard drive option on the 211 from DISH when it is available , you should get the same menus and software as the 622 minus the extra sat tuner. You will also get the dvr fee too. THis has been talked about in different threads . I have no CONCRETE proof that it will be as I described but I also have no reason to believe that it won't be as I described.

 

[jacmyoung]

This is how I look at it, since they charge a $39.99 fee, it is an officially supported feature, users can blame it all on E* if they have issues and expect E* to fix them, that compared to the similar features with D* and cable that are not sactioned by the providers therefore you are on your own, anything goes wrong it is not their fault.

If you look at it this way, it basically comes down to whether you think the one time $39.99 is worth such an insurance policy. Or it is just a different business model.

I think most people will consider this insurance cost fair, in fact I believe E* may be taking more risk and be surprised how much work they have to do to earn this fee, since the users rightfully will demand a perfect service or else.

Question, if I want both of my 622s activated, do I have to pay $79.89? If so that would be unfair

 

[yaz96]

No one time only for the $40 fee.

If a customer leaves Dish then they can no longer watch or access the moves they stored on the external hard drives.

What if you leave DISH for awhile, then come back, can you use the hard drives you previously recorded with your new 622?

 

[yaz96]

I can't stand all of the people complaining about the cost. If you don't like it, switch providers, it's that simple. They are a business and need to make money and there will continue to be more fees and increases in fees over time. Would you be happy if your salary stayed the same year after year? Just as you want more money, so does Dish.

So where are all these fees going?

Why is my DISH stock still in the red??

 

[RVD420]

Atleast Dish is allowing people to use their own external HDD, and not buying a Dishnetwork brand HDD.

Dish could have went the route of only Dishnetwork HDDs will work, and cost you 5 times as much as a drive off the shelf at Compusa.

Instead Dish is saying give us $40 and use whatever external HDD you want.

 

[yaz96]

This is how I look at it, since they charge a $39.99 fee, it is an officially supported feature, users can blame it all on E* if they have issues and expect E* to fix them.

If you look at it this way, it basically comes down to whether you think the one time $39.99 is worth such an insurance policy.

HA! HA!

Ask any of us original DishPlayer (7100/7200) owners whether you can expect DISH to fix any issues, OR any of the current 622 owners/lessees who have HDMI or OTA problems??

Insurance? Not a good term to use with DISH, I'm afraid.

 

[andrews777]

Ahh yes the old P Smith Black Helicopter Routine.

While I question P Smith, the black helicopters were finally found to be real....

Brad

 

[primetimeguy]

Why is my DISH stock still in the red??

Because you bought at the wrong time.

 

[tigerfan33]

IF you enable the hard drive option on the 211 from DISH when it is available , you should get the same menus and software as the 622 minus the extra sat tuner. You will also get the dvr fee too. THis has been talked about in different threads . I have no CONCRETE proof that it will be as I described but I also have no reason to believe that it won't be as I described.

I agree. For people who think that there would be no monthly fee for the added dvr on the 211 are in for a fall. I have been going back and forth about getting another 622 instead. I can get one for $149 with the 18 month contract or wait for the 211 harddrive to be activated. To me there is not much difference so I went with another 622.

 

[glen242]

I will pay the $40 because I WANT IT!

Some of the people are moaning about the fee when they have multi thousands tied up in their home theater system. Does not sound like, to me, a one time $40 fee, would keep food from their table or clothes from their kids' back.

Pay the fee, don't pay the fee, or move on.

I know whining is allowed in the forums, but objectively, you wouldn't have Dish and you high end gear if you were on food stamps.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch" .. Milton Friedman (sp)

 

[navychop]

Question, if I want both of my 622s activated, do I have to pay $79.89? If so that would be unfair

It's PER ACCOUNT. Not per ViP.

And on another note- I made a nice profit on my Dish stock, and sold it. Buy low, sell high.

 

[jacmyoung]

HA! HA!

Ask any of us original DishPlayer (7100/7200) owners whether you can expect DISH to fix any issues, OR any of the current 622 owners/lessees who have HDMI or OTA problems??

Insurance? Not a good term to use with DISH, I'm afraid.

Probably not a good term to use with any provider. I knew some one will say this. I was one of the Dishplayer owners, mine simply did not last long enough in the food chain for me to care about any issues, it worked fine for the short time. Of course if you are serious then whether E* charges $39.99 or not is irrelevant because in your mind the USB will be full of bugs and never will work right.

navychop, thanks for the info.

 

[Hall]

What if you leave DISH for awhile, then come back, can you use the hard drives you previously recorded with your new 622?

You start over. Why is that hard to guess ? When you leave Dish, any and all benefits are thrown out and you start over.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

While I'm not thrilled by the price and feel that E* is taking advantage, again, of their best customers, it isn't as bad as I feared it might be. I thought they might charge a $10-$15 enabling fee and then $2/month for continuing service/support. Over 3 years that would have been $82-$87.

While E* might rightfully assume that their HD DVR customers are willing to spend more for programming and services, I sometimes wonder why they stick it to them as much as they do. With a lot of these customers already paying $100+/mon for programming, and with many of them having gotten stuck on this year's pricing change on the AEP + HD costs (getting a $10/month increase). Why shaft them again so soon?

E* seemingly has adopted a pricing strategy that attempts to shield their lowest paying customers from price increases, while milking their highest paying customers for all they can get. What's the most we can get out of these people again? Well our surveys indicate it is $40, so the charge is $40.

So we've seen higher than average monthly increases, we've seen pricing strategies on multiple HD DVRs that drive customers to the AEP tier, we've seen the recent decision to push subs from the MPEG2 HD Pack/VOOM to MPEG4 at $20/month (when they could have simply allowed them to go to MPEG4 with their grandfathered HD plan), and now we see the $40 external drive enabling fee.

Pretty consistent pattern of milking their upper tier.

 

[waltinvt]

So you're going to trust Dish to control your archieving and $40 to boot?

Unless I've missed something (and it's possible since I only skimmed the last 10 pages of this thread), many of you are so confident with your relationship with Dish than you're willing to pay $40 for the privilege of giving them complete control of your program archive..........forever?

Fast forward 3 years from now and your 500 hour HD video collection is hanging in the balance as Charlie decides he wants to triple DVR fees or add a monthly ext HDD enabling fee or whatever.

As long as whatever you archive remains encrypted, Charlie's got you by the balls and the longer it goes on, the tighter he can squeeze.

I hope I'm wrong but that's the way I see it.

 

[long_time_DNC]

Here's how I look at it Walt:

At some point early next year, the hi-def dvd war should have a clear winner. At that point, I can decide which way I want to go.

I enjoy HD movies and programming, but I don't live/die by it (or lack thereof), so if E* decides to get really greedy and impose a monthly fee or whatever for ext HDD support, then I can dump it and get some movies in HD (whichever format prevails) and I'm not choaking or screaming.

I too am hoping it doesn't go that way with E*, but if it does, at least there are options...