Those of you who have switched from Dish to D*

[mlb]

The HD selection is pretty close right now... I did just sign up however.

2 HD-DVRs ($199 up front cost for the 2nd)
2 SD receivers with a plan to upgrade 1 of the SD receivers to HD when I get another HDTV in the next several months

The CSR said that he couldn't actually place the order for the AM21's for my 2 HD-DVRs, but added a note for the tech to bring them out and I assume charge me later. Should I call back and have someone add that to my order and pay the $100?

Anyway, costs:

$65 for NFL ST the first 4 months (no charge for my plan)

$121 for the Premiere package after the 1st 4 months, that includes the $10 HD and $6 DVR fee

$12 per month credit (12 months) for Showtime

 

[mlb]

On a side note, I have to laugh about my 1st call this evening. The CSR tried to tell me that the HD-DVR could send HD signals to the rest of their receivers hence my 2nd HDTV would not need a HD-DVR. I questioned him over and over knowing he was wrong, trying to get him to look up his info to realize what he was saying was wrong. Finally I told him I knew another person who had it installed and didn't get any kind of system installed like he was explaining. He went to his supervisor and came back to say "I feel like a jackass." Then while looking up something else he hung up on me (I'm guessing he felt dumb and I was trying to get free AM21s so he hung up on me, but who knows).

I called back and talked to someone who had a better idea of what he was talking about (outside of the AM21).

 

[rad]

Well, they were sort of right. All outputs on the HR20/21 are active so if you have a long HDMI or component cables you run the 2nd TV. It would be limited to viewing the same program that's on TV1 but it is possible.

 

[gdodd12]

Does DirectTV not have a dual tuner DVR? You have to have one tuner per tv?

 

[mlb]

Does DirectTV not have a dual tuner DVR? You have to have one tuner per tv?

It is dual tuner, but they don't output to a 2nd TV like Dish.

 

[Rey]

It is dual tuner, but they don't output to a 2nd TV like Dish.

you can output to a second or third tv. you just can't watch something different on each tv

 

[mlb]

That is what I meant, Rey.

Are the controllers RF or IR? That is another issue as trying to change a channel in another room could be a problem

 

[gdodd12]

you can output to a second or third tv. you just can't watch something different on each tv

Bah. That sucks. So its not really a dual tuner.

 

[rad]

Bah. That sucks. So its not really a dual tuner.

Actually it's a quad tuner (two DBS and two ATSC with a AM21) but it only outputs one TV output, so it's not a dual output box like E*'s. However the Multi Room Viewing option is down the road which will use your homes ethernet network to allow you to view content recorded on on DVR on another in HD if that's what the source was recorded in.

 

[gdodd12]

Actually it's a quad tuner (two DBS and two ATSC with a AM21) but it only outputs one TV output, so it's not a dual output box like E*'s. However the Multi Room Viewing option is down the road which will use your homes ethernet network to allow you to view content recorded on on DVR on another in HD if that's what the source was recorded in.

Why don't they just build their tuners like Dish's? That way your house wouldn't need to be wired with Cat6 cable. Or you wouldn't need to worry about a wireless network in your house. There are way more people that don't have houses wired with cat6 or have home wireless networks, than do. I just want one box that will connect to an HDTV and an SD tv that I can record and watch seperate things on either tv.

 

[Rey]

That is what I meant, Rey.

Are the controllers RF or IR? That is another issue as trying to change a channel in another room could be a problem

RF

 

[Rey]

Actually it's a quad tuner (two DBS and two ATSC with a AM21) but it only outputs one TV output, so it's not a dual output box like E*'s. However the Multi Room Viewing option is down the road which will use your homes ethernet network to allow you to view content recorded on on DVR on another in HD if that's what the source was recorded in.

exactly. you can also record two things at once while downloading another. so actually you're recording 3 things at once while playing back a recording. not bad!

 

[gdodd12]

exactly. you can also record two things at once while downloading another. so actually you're recording 3 things at once while playing back a recording. not bad!

The problem is that you can't watch those shows on other tv's. Its nice that you can record two things at once, but if you can only watch them on one tv, that is kind of limiting, IMO.

 

[Rey]

The problem is that you can't watch those shows on other tv's. Its nice that you can record two things at once, but if you can only watch them on one tv, that is kind of limiting, IMO.

yes but like rad said this will change soon enough with a new networking feature.

 

[rad]

The problem is that you can't watch those shows on other tv's. Its nice that you can record two things at once, but if you can only watch them on one tv, that is kind of limiting, IMO.

And the E* TV2 solution is limiting if you want that content to be in HD, all you can get is NTSC over coax, not a standard for high quality content if TV2 is a HDTV. That's where the D* MVR solution will really be nice, watch content recorded on on DVR on another in HD. All we need now is for D* to get the thing out there, they're close, you can watch DVR content on a PC and the DVR can watch content from the PC, just need to the two DVR's to talk to each other now.

 

[gdodd12]

yes but like rad said this will change soon enough with a new networking feature.

And my point was that the networking solution isn't solution for a lot of people. Most people's houses aren't wired with cat6 in every room.

 

[gdodd12]

And the E* TV2 solution is limiting if you want that content to be in HD, all you can get is NTSC over coax, not a standard for high quality content if TV2 is a HDTV. That's where the D* MVR solution will really be nice, watch content recorded on on DVR on another in HD. All we need now is for D* to get the thing out there, they're close, you can watch DVR content on a PC and the DVR can watch content from the PC, just need to the two DVR's to talk to each other now.

Yes, if you have two HDTV's hookup with dish, one won't get HD feed on the second one.. But most people don't have two, so that is kind of moot. But you can record HD content on the 2nd tuner and watch it on the main HDTV, as well, you can record SD content on the HD tuner and watch it on the second SDTV. Not to mention the fact that Direct forces you to buy another receiver instead of just one.

My point is that there is a better solution than a home networking one. The bulk of people don't have home networks and don't have cat6 running throughout their house. Are there wireless ethernet cards built into the tuners?

 

[rad]

And my point was that the networking solution isn't solution for a lot of people. Most people's houses aren't wired with cat6 in every room.

And the E* solution isn't for people that don't have coax run from the E* STB to the 2nd room. BTW, you can use powerline adapters that D* sells, don't need cat 6. Cat 5 also works and on the latest CE D* added support for a Linksys wireless adapter.

 

[gdodd12]

And the E* solution isn't for people that don't have coax run from the E* STB to the 2nd room. BTW, you can use powerline adapters that D* sells, don't need cat 6. Cat 5 also works and on the latest CE D* added support for a Linksys wireless adapter.

You know the number of people that have coax is MUCH larger than the number of people that have houses fully wired with cat5 or cat6.

Powerline adapter?

Cat6 and cat5 are basically the same thing. Most people don't have ethernet connections throughout their house. It just seems like and odd solution considering how much extra stuff it takes. Extra stuff that the majority of people don't have. CE?

Just seems like an awful lot of extra crap is all. You need a high speed internet connection, a wireless router, wireless adapters on each box, most likely range extenders for the wireless components unless you are in a small 1 bedroom apt. I just can't believe there isn't an easier way.

 

[rad]

Cat6 and cat5 are basically the same thing. Most people don't have ethernet connections throughout their house. It just seems like and odd solution considering how much extra stuff it takes. Extra stuff that the majority of people don't have. CE?

Just seems like an awful lot of extra crap is all. You need a high speed internet connection, a wireless router, wireless adapters on each box, most likely range extenders for the wireless components unless you are in a small 1 bedroom apt. I just can't believe there isn't an easier way.

If you're not using Video on Demand you don't need an internet connection (BTW E* has the same requirement for their VoD service).

Yea, as I said most folks aren't wired with cat5/6 to each room from a central spot. That's the same as most folks don't have a coax run from their living room to their bed room so they can use the TV2 solution either. At least with D*'s MVR solution you can use wireless or their powerline adapters if you don't have a wired network in place already.

And as I mentioned, you'll be able to watch HD content in HD on the other sets, E*'s solution can't do that. As HDTV's end up in more and more rooms (I have 4 at the moment) people are going to watch to watch content in HD, not SD.