Switching to Dish Network

[Fobulous]

We are about to switch from Time Warner formerly Comcast to Dish because my wife's parents are coming from China, and the chinese programming (29.99/month from Dish) is needed or else they'll go crazy here.

Anyway, which is the best route to get the best deal?

i googled and here is the link

»www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=A···&spell=1

As you can see, there are tons of web sites out there for dish network, i assume that these are all resellers?

What i want is this:

HD channels, i know that i will PROBABLY get the HD Gold but i'm not sure how PQ are with these HD Channels, so we'll see.

Chinese Programming: $30/month, i guess i can cancel this package once my parents-in-law leave, as i just can't stand Chinese TV. I assume that i can add/delete packages from dish's website easily??

HD DVR: i know it's a one time $200 upgrade fee and $5/month? Also i understand that local channels are included with this as well?

Possibly HBO & Showtime $23/month

So in all, i'm looking at $110/month, which is not bad considering how many channels i'm getting.

HBO & Showtime is very tentative as i might not have enough time to watch all these things!

Anyway, if i do get HBO i'll get one HD channels with HBO correct? and how is the quality of the HD DVR?

and lastly, should i just order straight from dishnetwork's site?

TIA!!!

 

[JAG72]

If you are happy with your current setup then you could always look into a FTA system to receive the Chinese stations.

 

[sonnyboy11]

We are about to switch from Time Warner formerly Comcast to Dish because my wife's parents are coming from China, and the chinese programming (29.99/month from Dish) is needed or else they'll go crazy here.

Anyway, which is the best route to get the best deal?

i googled and here is the link

»www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=A···&spell=1

As you can see, there are tons of web sites out there for dish network, i assume that these are all resellers?

What i want is this:

HD channels, i know that i will PROBABLY get the HD Gold but i'm not sure how PQ are with these HD Channels, so we'll see.

Chinese Programming: $30/month, i guess i can cancel this package once my parents-in-law leave, as i just can't stand Chinese TV. I assume that i can add/delete packages from dish's website easily??

HD DVR: i know it's a one time $200 upgrade fee and $5/month? Also i understand that local channels are included with this as well?

Possibly HBO & Showtime $23/month

So in all, i'm looking at $110/month, which is not bad considering how many channels i'm getting.

HBO & Showtime is very tentative as i might not have enough time to watch all these things!

Anyway, if i do get HBO i'll get one HD channels with HBO correct? and how is the quality of the HD DVR?

and lastly, should i just order straight from dishnetwork's site?

TIA!!!

A couple of things.

First, local channels are an extra $5 a month. You don't need the Dish locals if you get good OTA through an antenna (the 622 does a good job with OTA, imo) but if you don't get the Dish locals then your OTA channel guide will not show you what's on. Instead, everything will just say "Digital Service" on the OTA menu. The downside to that is all of your DVR timers have to be set up manually to start and end at a given time. I just pay the extra $5.

You are correct about the $5 DVR per month DVR fee, however if you get Platinum that fee is waived.

PQ for HD channels varies. I think it ranges from ok to very good. Probably the worst channel is TNTHD but that's because they stretch the hell out of everything. NBA is ok on that channel though. The best is probably HBOHD. That channel always looks good, imo. Some of the new MPEG-4 channels struggle a bit too, but that seems to be getting corrected of late. My personal favorite HD channel is National Geographic HD. It looks good and I love the content.

The 622 is a very good receiver. It has its flaws (everyone mainly gripes about the software updates Dish puts out), but it is easily the best receiver Dish has made and has a ton of features. You can read a good comparison of the Dish and DirecTV HD receivers here-

http://reviews.cnet.com/DirecTV_HR20...-32065196.html

I have always ordered directly through Dish by calling them. Never had any problems.

 

[snathanb]

If you are happy with your current setup then you could always look into a FTA system to receive the Chinese stations.

That's exactly what I was going to say... all the Chinese in my neighborhood use FTA, mostly pointed at IA5.