Thinking about switching to DISH. I have questions.

[g33kinp1nk]

My boyfriend and I are thinking about switching to Dish after a nice costumer service salesman came to our home yesterday and offered us packaged deals. Our concerns though, are the fiber optic internet quality through century link, and we also heard from friends that the quality of the HD channels are sub-par and not very clear.

I'm not sure if they have their settings all correct and whatnot, but would like to know if anyone else has had issues with these? Ultimately, those 2 things would hinder our decision.

Even though we're paying more through Comcast right now than what DISH would charge us, we want quality over cost, and so far everything has been fine with Comcast the past few months.

Thanks for any opinions or advice you have to offer.

 

[RichManitoba]

I switched from cable to satellite 6 years ago and will never go back. I've compared an over the air signal from a local channel, to the DISH picture, and I cannot tell the difference. I'm no where near as tech-savvy as most on this board, but I'm sure my opinion is very similar to most!

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!, not sure on your IP but Dish has pretty good HD quality and a wide selection of HD channels to choose from especially premiums.

 

[navychop]

Sadly, a LOT of people never hook up or set up their equipment for true HD. They should check that their receiver is set to output 720 or 1080, and that they are using HDMI or component (Red Blue Green) cables.

You need to consider how many TVs you want to hook up, which are HD or SD, and what programming package fits you best, from both providers. There is a Hopper system coming out in about a month from Dish that uses coax in a manner similar to cable TV that might be suitable for you. Of course, there are current receivers that might work well too.

I think Fios fiber to the home is the highest quality as far as PQ goes. If your Comcast has fiber to the home it might be just as good. If it's fiber to the neighborhood and coax into your home, I suspect (but do not know) that the PQ might be about the same as Dish or lower. I am very happy with Dish HD PQ on both my sets (55" & 61"). I have two home theater systems. I came from Cox Cable. No comparison.

I think besides cost, the real driver is which programming do you want? I'm sure the lineups are different. And is having the ability, as part of Dish, to have Blockbuster discs by mail and download, of value to you. For an extra $10 per month, you get, oh, 10-12 channels, plus Blockbuster. It used to be called Platinum, is now called Blockbuster Movie Pass. I pay the $10 for the channels and don't use the discs by mail. But I might. I've downloaded one (chargeable) movie in the last 6 months. Others use this feature a lot. The user interface is terrible, but I understand that improvements are coming, especially in the Hopper system.

 

[g33kinp1nk]

Thank you all, this is exactly the information I was looking for. The hopper definitely sounds like something we'd like to have, but I'm sure that device would up the package price since its new technology and may also have a few kinks to work out, being that it's new. Hmm, decisions decisions.

 

[Scherrman]

The price is suppose to be very competitive. If you can wait until Feb. 16th we should know a lot more about pricing.

 

[TG2]

Don't forget to check back in at the DishSupport site ... (posts there, and congratulations for finding Sat Guys, its a great place when you need it).

Also keep in mind that if they are delivering via fiber ... that unless its dish's fiber muxes, and then using *dish's* receivers, you could be getting a transcoded signal .. and at that point, it could be decent or could be the cause of what your friends have said for PQ.

 

[dwarren2]

To read up on the Hopper/Joey, follow this thread.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/275880-dish-hopper-spec-sheets.html