cameron119 said:D* actually packs 2 HD channels on one QPSK transponder. I'll look up the numbers in a bit...but I seem to recall that D* actually transmits HD at 1-2Mbps less than Voom. This pretty much invalidates the quality/quantity argument. Voom has more capacity/transponder, their channels are at a higher bitrate, and there is simply more to choose from on Voom.
E* places 2 HD channels on an 8PSK transponder. That puts E's HD's at about 19.x Mbps. Naturally they're going to have to start putting 3/transponder before too long if they intend to be "the HD leader (Bullsh!t)"
Voom currently has the highest capacity transponders (50 or so Mbps). Thus, when E* moves to 3/8PSK transponder, Voom will be the bitrate champ of all three major DBS providers.
you can argue what it looks like on paper, but when that's all said and done, I can switch my D* DHD on, and can clearly see it looks better than VOOM's DHD channel. I think that's what counts here.