subscription question about HD

[Dee_Ann]

Hi guys,

I've never had Dish before so this will be all new for me.

I now OWN a VIP211k system that I purchased privately from another SGUS member.
I have the dishes installed and tested. I get 110/119/129 with crazy strong signals so there is no installation to be done. Everything is installed and functioning just fine. I can see the info channels, NASA, free previews, etc. I also see the channel that congratulates me for having a dish pointed at 129 west.

I have a brand new 2tb disk installed on it for DVR.

But here's my problem.

I want to subscribe but I do not want the discounted rate. I want to skip the credit check and I do not want to sign a 2 year contract.
I want to pay month by month, manually. I absolutely will not agree to auto-billing / auto-pay.: I want to just start out paying the full $70 a month for America's Top 250 package, I don't care about the discount for one year.
I do not at all want the three months of free HBO/Showtime/etc channels. I do NOT want them. I don't want Blockbuster or sling thing or internet or anything else. Just TV.
I do want HD channels. I see they talk about "Free HD for life" but then in small print it says requires 24 month contract and auto-pay.:
I also want the DVR function. I understand that there is a one time $40 fee to activate that and I'm fine with that.

How can I get the HD channels without a contract?

I do not ever enter into contracts with anyone for anything, ever. Everything I own is paid for in full and I pay my cell and home phone bills monthly without contracts.

Please tell me there is a way for people such as myself who do not trust corporations and wish to pay manually month by month.
Auto-billing/pay is a 1000% sure fire way to get ripped off. If they won't work with me I'll just take the whole thing and pitch it in the trash.

Thanks..

 

[MattG@DISH]

You can sign up for an activation only account, which gets you the package you want, with no contract (no freebies included with these types of accounts). There is a one time $40 fee to activate the EHD services on the 211. For HD programming, you can pay the normal $10 a month, or you have the option of paying a one-time $99 fee to get HD Free for Life (no autopay or commitment required)

Officially, we only support up to a 1TB EHD for the 411/211/211k receivers, but I know members have reported that 2TB have worked for them.

 

[Dee_Ann]

You can sign up for an activation only account, which gets you the package you want, with no contract. There is a one time $40 fee to activate the EHD services on the 211. For HD programming, you can pay the normal $10 a month, or you have the option of paying a one-time $99 fee to get HD Free for Life (no autopay or commitment required)

Um, $99 for free HD? That sounds a little tricky there.. : But, oh well....

I am totally cool with the $40 for the DVR fee though..

I wonder however if I can say, pay the $70 a month for AT250 plus $10 a month for HD, totaling around $80 a month (I'm sure there will be all sorts of shady fees and taxes like they do on my cell phone, home phone and internet bills.
But anyway, I'm wondering if I can go with that for a few months then a little down the road I can call up and pay the $99 for the 'FREE' HD lifetime deal?

I just put out a bunch of money getting things installed and I still have to spend more money to buy a speaker system for my screen tomorrow so I don't really want to pony up this unexpected extra $100 this month. Next month I could probably do that. I'm on a fixed income so I have to be very careful with my finances.

Ya'll probably think I'm a kook but I just don't trust anyone. I've been ripped off and taken advantage off one too many times. I've had identity theft, I've had my bank accounts jacked, I've had my credit cards jacked, paypal, Ebay, you name it. Every single year someone finds a way to rip me off. The phone company used to rip me off massively as well as the electric company. I gave AT&T the finger and I read my own electric meter now. I won't let them install one of those digital meters that reads itself. The electric company hasn't ripped me off in 14 years. AT&T can go to blazes.. They'll never get the chance to rip me off ever again. I'll go to my grave before I'll do business with them.


Anyway, thank you for the info, you have set my mind at ease. I'll be contacting someone soon to activate, I hope to do it either Thursday or Friday.. I'm excited to be a Dish customer!

 

[MattG@DISH]

There are no hidden fees that I have not explained (well... taxes if applicable), only the $69.99 for the AT250, and $10 for HD services (until you add HDFFL). If you had a DVR receiver, it would be $6 a month, but even with an EHD on the 211k, you do not have to pay that, just the one time $40 .

Welcome to the family, and please let us know what other questions you may have!

 

[3HaloODST]

Um, $99 for free HD?

Yep. In about 10 months it would indeed be free.

 

[Dee_Ann]

There are no hidden fees that I have not explained (well... taxes if applicable), only the $69.99 for the AT250, and $10 for HD services (until you add HDFFL). If you had a DVR receiver, it would be $6 a month, but even with an EHD on the 211k, you do not have to pay that, just the one time $40 .

Welcome to the family, and please let us know what other questions you may have!

I've been a self taught (well, with a LOT of help) FTA'r for several years. The guys in the FTA forums have taught me well.
I put all of these dishes in by myself with the exception of the C-band dishes, I had to pay a guy to plant the poles, I couldn't dig holes that big or make that much cement! It was over a ton of cement for the two poles.






Since I took those photos, I converted three of the largest ku dishes to circular for Dish Network.

I have a 1m dish aimed at 110w, a .96m dish aimed at 119w and a 1.2m dish aimed at 129w.
Needless to say, rain fade won't be an issue for me. I checked all the signals on all the transponders the other day during heavy rain and the guys were impressed by the strength of them even during the rain.
The clear sky signals are insanely high.. I do need to tweak my dish on 129 though but that's no big deal at all.

I'm still keeping my FTA stuff though, my favorite channel of all, MeTV isn't on Dish Network. I watch that channel a LOT.
So I'll be jumping back and forth between the two systems. With the DVR I can really have the best of both worlds.



Thanks again!

 

[dfergie]

Dee_Ann when you are ready just contact Matt or any of the DIRT team and they will get you going.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee_Ann when you are ready just contact Matt or any of the DIRT team and they will get you going.

Thank you, I will certainly do that and soon.
I'm just waiting for my monthly allowance to arrive, should be sometime late Wednesday or Thursday. I'm hoping I can activate either Thursday or Friday at the latest..

Over the weekend I saw a little of the free preview HD, something about antique cars. The image quality was stunning though the content was extremely boring.
Our local OTA channels broadcast pseudo HD. It's almost always letterboxed 4:3 stuff except the evening news and a few daytime shows.
In a few months I'm planning on buying a 60" or larger LED-LCD TV for my bedroom. HD is gonna look GOOOOOOOD on that thing!

 

[Tampa8]

Um, $99 for free HD? That sounds a little tricky there.. : But, oh well....

It is free from a monthly charge for everyone, it's also free from any charge but you asked for a way to still get it free from a monthly charge and not have to follow what makes it free to get, autopay and paperless billing. I'm just pointing out it may not be fair to complain dish is offering it for free, then ask if there is a way to get it free every month forever but not follow their rules. You got a way out of it.

You mentioned Blockbuster with other items, I'm just wondering if you see that the BB package is $10 for 20 channels, many movie channels, some entertainment channels mostly all in HD. The other things that come with it is great if you want it, but you don't have to use it such as free movie rentals etc.... I just wasn't sure you realized the biggest part of the package is the 20 channels, not the renting etc.....

 

[dare2be]

"sling thing"...that cracked me up.

 

[Tampa8]

There are other people who do not want autopay so that is not all that unusual. Depending on if it's just something you don't do, not that you refuse to have a debit card, there is a way around it sort of. If you just have a debit card dedicated to only paying for Dish. Manually deposit the amount of the Dish bill each month, with no real other amount of money in there. That way you are on auto pay, avoid paying the $99, and Dish can't take more than the amount of the bill. There are several banks that have free from any fee Debit cards even with no balance on the card, if you have a savings account. Just a thought.....

 

[Mr Tony]

How can I get the HD channels without a contract?

Dee
You could also go with one of the "metal" Packages like Dish America, Silver or Gold. Those are mainly HD only packages which wouldnt require any extra to get HD. Dish does throw in some SD channels but its mainly the religious/shopping/Public interest channels. They also are priced a little bit less than the AT packages (but again most of the SD channels arent in those packages)

Dish America has alot of the "general interest" (ie: mainstream) channels like History, Lifetime, A&E. The only drawback of the "Metal" packages is there are some HD channels that are not in any of them. I know TruTV comes to ind and I think someone else mentioned BBC America.

I now OWN a VIP211k system that I purchased privately from another SGUS member.

gee I wonder who you got it from (that big thread in the classifieds might be a dead giveaway)

(I'm sure there will be all sorts of shady fees and taxes like they do on my cell phone, home phone and internet bills.

sales tax...thats it. As example when I had Welcome Pack my bill was 16.03 (14.99 for the package and 6.875% Minnesota Sales Tax)

side note...I thought all you wanted to do was get History Channel back when it left free to air?

 

[Cold Irons]

Um, $99 for free HD?

Keep in mind that $10/month will cover that $99 really quick; if you are going to have Dish with HD for longer than 10 months, just bite the bullet up front.

 

[Dee_Ann]

It is free from a monthly charge for everyone, it's also free from any charge but you asked for a way to still get it free from a monthly charge and not have to follow what makes it free to get, autopay and paperless billing. I'm just pointing out it may not be fair to complain dish is offering it for free, then ask if there is a way to get it free every month forever but not follow their rules. You got a way out of it.

Well when you put it that way...

You mentioned Blockbuster with other items, I'm just wondering if you see that the BB package is $10 for 20 channels, many movie channels, some entertainment channels mostly all in HD. The other things that come with it is great if you want it, but you don't have to use it such as free movie rentals etc.... I just wasn't sure you realized the biggest part of the package is the 20 channels, not the renting etc.....

Well my goal is to get the AT250. I'm not a movie watcher, I can't sit still that long without interruptions. I don't even own a DVD player. I had one but it broke in less than six months, just out of it's 3 month warranty. That was 7 or 8 years ago and I can't be bothered to replace it and send more of my hard to come by money to China for a repeat piece of junk. So renting movies on disks is not ever going to happen for me. Watching any movies is pretty much never going to happen in my house.

I want to keep my monthly bill as low as possible. I am on a fixed income. I can afford more channels but it would take away from other things, like food, gas, etc... The price of gas is about to go insanely high and that will in turn drive the cost of ~everything else~ insanely high as well. Food, clothes, utilities, everything.

 

[Dee_Ann]

There are other people who do not want autopay so that is not all that unusual. Depending on if it's just something you don't do, not that you refuse to have a debit card, there is a way around it sort of. If you just have a debit card dedicated to only paying for Dish. Manually deposit the amount of the Dish bill each month, with no real other amount of money in there. That way you are on auto pay, avoid paying the $99, and Dish can't take more than the amount of the bill. There are several banks that have free from any fee Debit cards even with no balance on the card, if you have a savings account. Just a thought.....

I do something like that for making internet purchases. The card has no overdraft options so if someone tries to hit me, the money won't be there and it's just instantly declined rather than handing money over to them then hitting me for overdraft fees then spending 6 months fighting Visa to prove I was ripped off.

But the thing is, I don't sign agreements or enter contracts, with anyone. I don't cede power over my financial future to corporations. I reserve the right to terminate the relationship on MY terms and I retain control over the situation.
I can't be held over a financial barrel by anyone. If they try to get tricky with me I can pull the plug and give them the finger. I don't need this, I can totally live without it and I will not allow any person or entity to put me in a bind over something so trivial as TV.

Yes, I'm eccentric. No, I don't march to the beat of the same drummer as everyone else.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee
You could also go with one of the "metal" Packages like Dish America, Silver or Gold. Those are mainly HD only packages which wouldnt require any extra to get HD. Dish does throw in some SD channels but its mainly the religious/shopping/Public interest channels. They also are priced a little bit less than the AT packages (but again most of the SD channels arent in those packages)

Dish America has alot of the "general interest" (ie: mainstream) channels like History, Lifetime, A&E. The only drawback of the "Metal" packages is there are some HD channels that are not in any of them. I know TruTV comes to ind and I think someone else mentioned BBC America.


gee I wonder who you got it from (that big thread in the classifieds might be a dead giveaway)


sales tax...thats it. As example when I had Welcome Pack my bill was 16.03 (14.99 for the package and 6.875% Minnesota Sales Tax)

side note...I thought all you wanted to do was get History Channel back when it left free to air?

Well, I hadn't considered the "metal" packages. It took me a minute to figure that out. I'll look them over today, I still have a day or two before I'm ready to activate.

Fees.. Ah.. A real sore point for me. It is good to hear that it's tax only. This simplifies it. I'm so used to having $10+ in snaky fees added to my phone and internet bills for instance that I couldn't envision it any other way.
I can figure my tax and see that my monthly bill for the AT250 will run me like $75.76 a month. I like to know ahead so I can plan ahead..

History? Weeeeeeell.......... That was part of what pushed me in this direction. Then when I saw what other channels are available I figured "Go for it!" I can afford it so why not?

Keep in mind that $10/month will cover that $99 really quick; if you are going to have Dish with HD for longer than 10 months, just bite the bullet up front.

Point well taken. I will likely do this next month, if they will allow me to upgrade after the initial sign up. I wasn't aware of the $99 for free lifetime HD deal so I didn't plan for it in this month's budget.
I was taken back by another surprise. The screen on my desk where 98% of my TV watching will happen at is a PC computer screen with HDMI and not a TV set. It was designed to be a computer screen only and never a TV.
It's volume control can not be controlled by ANY remote control, it does not have remote control ability at all. It's supposed to be used on a PC where you would use the mouse and the PC volume controls to raise/lower/mute the volume.

The VIP211k sound is a fixed level and it's remote does not control it in any way. For instance, I have an Openbox S10 and it's remote controls it's volume output and muting independently of the screen it's connected to.

So what I have to do now is to purchase a speaker system that I can plug into the screen that is IR remote controllable. Walmart sells a "sound bar" (will cost me near $100) that has an IR remote control. I can program the VIP211k remote to control this sound bar addon so that my HDMI PC screen will operate very much like a TV set. The reason I have a PC screen is that I have a home theater PC with FTA and ATSC tuners in it. I watch TV on it. The screen is a really, really nice, brand new 24" LED-LCD so I'm not about to replace it. I have a 3-way HDMI switch so I can go back and forth between my PC, my Openbox S10 tuner and the new VIP211k tuner. I also have a "One in, Four Out" HDMI splitter that sends to my bedroom, kitchen and living room. The other rooms are normal TV screens so I don't have any problems with them. But having to buy this sound bar addon was unexpected and is unavoidable.
To start up initially I am assuming I will have to pony up $75 for the first month, $40 for the DVR disk, $10 for the HD channels and Walmart is going to get $95 from me for the sound bar. That's $220 right there. I can't go $330 all at once, I hadn't expected this or budgeted for it. Next month it will cost me like almost $175 for the monthly bill and the HDFFL fee. After that though my monthly bill will level off to about $75 and I'll be just fine with that.

The last few months I've been pushing the limits on my budget leaving me nothing extra to carry over to the next month.



That said, for this time I'll just pay the $10 for my first month and if they will let me do it, I'll do the $99 next month.

 

[Tampa8]

But the thing is, I don't sign agreements or enter contracts, with anyone. I don't cede power over my financial future to corporations. I reserve the right to terminate the relationship on MY terms and I retain control over the situation.
I can't be held over a financial barrel by anyone. If they try to get tricky with me I can pull the plug and give them the finger. I don't need this, I can totally live without it and I will not allow any person or entity to put me in a bind over something so trivial as TV.

Yes, I'm eccentric. No, I don't march to the beat of the same drummer as everyone else.

I may not feel as strongly as you about it, but in no way do I think that is eccentric. I can understand your feelings on it!

 

[Corrado]

The Dish HD is so addicting, I rarely watch anything SD anymore unless it's on Me-TV. With my 211K and OTA connected the EPG even covers the subchannels even though only from the antenna. It makes the DVR even more useful.

 

[Jim S.]

Dee,

You ought to be able to find a set of computer speakers for a LOT cheaper than a soundbar. If they have 1/8" phono jacks instead of RCA jacks, adapters for that ought to still be available at a decent Radio Shack, or probably cheaper online from non-branded sources if you can wait for the mail. Actually, if I remember rightly, I found a cable with one 1/8" plug and two RCA plugs for a few dollars at Big Lots a few months ago.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee,

You ought to be able to find a set of computer speakers for a LOT cheaper than a soundbar. If they have 1/8" phono jacks instead of RCA jacks, adapters for that ought to still be available at a decent Radio Shack, or probably cheaper online from non-branded sources if you can wait for the mail. Actually, if I remember rightly, I found a cable with one 1/8" plug and two RCA plugs for a few dollars at Big Lots a few months ago.

Well the key issue is, it MUST be remote control enabled. PC speakers are typically controlled by manually turning a knob (or using a PC mouse).
The speaker will plug into my ASUS PC screen. It is HDMI so it does sound too, it has dinky little dime sized speakers in it that sound terrible. It is NOT remote controllable.
The only way to adjust the volume is to use the very hard to see, very hard to operate push buttons. It has no mute option. It wasn't really meant to be used as a TV screen as I am doing with it.
It has a green speaker jack on the back. I plugged a pair of much larger PC speakers into that jack. The sound is very acceptable this way.
Currently, I watch TV on this screen via my Home Theater PC, the app called My Theater allows me to view satellite TV from my Hauppage DVB-S2 and ATSC tuners in the PC.
The tuners come with their own IR remote controls and as I sit here watching TV I can mute/raise/lower the volume with the Hauppage remote. Works great.

But because the VIP211k does not allow you to mute/raise/lower the volume of it's output, I have to do that on the viewing device, not the tuning device.
Dish assumed that everyone would connect a normal TV to their tuner. And in those cases, their design works just fine. I'm betting that 99.99999999% of people use normal TV sets on their tuners and not 'dumb', featureless PC screens like I do.

The sound bar I'm getting has an IR remote control. It will plug into the PC screen, disabling it's internal speakers. I can take it's dinky little toy IR remote and train my DN remote to replace it.
So when I am watching TV on the PC screen and I press the volume or mute buttons the DN remote will operate the sound bar just as if it were normal TV speakers.

I can't put a regular TV screen on my desk because this screen does triple duty as a PC screen from my home theater, a screen for my Openbox tuner and a screen for my DN tuner.
It's also brand spanking new. I bought a matched pair of 24" LED-LCD screens in December to replace ancient old PC screens. One screen is for my internet PC and the one right next to it is my TV watching screen.



Anyway...

So the good news is, my finances are good to go now. I don't have time to deal with it today though. I have to get ready for meditation tonight but on my way home I'm going to stop by Walmart and buy the soundbar and put some $$ on the debit card. In the morning I'll contact one of the DIRT folks and get things rolling. I should be watching TV tomorrow.
I am considering the Blockbuster option but most of the channels they say you get, I've never heard of before. So I need to research them and see if they are any good or not.
I don't want to pay $10 a month for a bunch of "action" channels (guy stuff).. I have no use for those sort of channels. The DVD rentals are useless to me as well as the games. The only channel I recognized was Encore. I saw one that is named Retro something so that might be a cool channel. MAYBE. I'll research them tonight when I get home.

So, as Shelby Stanga would say, "HERE WE GO!!!!!"