Was about to leave DISH for Direct. I'm not sure after doing more research.

[Ozma]

THIS IS ALSO POSTED IN THE DIRECT FORUM. LOOKING FOR A REALITY CHECK.

I've had DISH for two years. Installation is 4 VIP722's with OTA.

I'm seriously considering a switch because it looks like DISH runs about $25 a month higher than Direct and I'm tired of the 722's (which always suck power) being 24 x 7 hot plates.

I've put more time into this that I planned. Since there is a 2 year contract with non-trivial cancellation penalties and no obvious way to test drive the Direct end user experience I find myself feeling some pressure to not screw the pooch on this decision.

Here's what I've found so far....

Direct...

• + HR24 actually powers off and isn't an ongoing heat generator/ power draw.
• + Multi room DVR is pretty nifty. I'd get 4 HR24's and have a little peer-to-peer DVR network.
• + Cost (theoretically) should be lower.
• - AM21 requires channel to be in guide to get it, some channels missing (that we currently record).
• - Guide does not show three hours of programming on a screen.
• - Cannot record 3 streams at a time (722 does two Satellite streams plus OTA simultaneously).
• - New two year contract with cancellation penalties.
• - Have to let Direct "pull" from credit card to get cost savings.
• ? Not sure if I'll have any discount issues by buying from a local retailer/installer.
• - No BBC America HD (my wife loves this channel).
• - Many reports of HR24 being noticeably slower to tune channels that VIP722.
• - No grouping support for recorded shows.

DISH.....

• - More expensive per month.
• - VIP722's always on. Have had to install auxiliary cooling on each to keep them from frying (probably paying a higher power bill).
• - No multi room DVR.
• + OTA support brings in every channel for which there is a signal (no guide tie-in).
• + Guide shows a three hour window on a channel.
• + More than acceptable tuning speed.
• + Supports 2 satellite streams + OTA stream simultaneously.
• + Can "group" recorded shows (folders).
• + The current installation works fine.
• + They're not touching my credit card.

From what I've encountered so far it's a toss up on 1-800-BADEXPERIENCE for both DISH and Direct, the "phone company" experience.

Thoughts?

 

[TheKrell]

My initial shock and awe is your 4 (count them FOUR) 722 receivers. This is costing you $17X3=$51/mo in extra receiver fees. If you could get by with 3 Solo 612's, they cost $10X3=$30/mo, for a $21/mo savings right there.

Are you also paying $10/mo for HD due to the credit card thing?

 

[mfoster711]

...and I'm tired of the 722's (which always suck power) being 24 x 7 hot plates.

[*]+ HR24 actually powers off and isn't an ongoing heat generator/ power draw.

[*]- VIP722's always on. Have had to install auxiliary cooling on each to keep them from frying (probably paying a higher power bill).

What are you talking about? I do not understand.

 

[Ozma]

A large negative when starting off with DISH was their bizarre reluctance to lease me as many DVR's as I wanted (Direct has no such issue). I have 4 HD TV's. I wanted to be able to handle two HD streams per TV. In 2009 the only option I had for doing this was buying two DVR's. I went with the 722 because, at the time, there were a lot of negative posts on the 612 plus the 722 offers a larger hard disk. The DVR fees (what a crock) were lower at that time.

Frankly I'm disgusted with both satellite companies and hope to see, when cheap bandwidth crosses the 100 megabit mark, the current pay TV players becoming the Tower records of the near future.

My initial shock and awe is your 4 (count them FOUR) 722 receivers. This is costing you $17X3=$51/mo in extra receiver fees. If you could get by with 3 Solo 612's, they cost $10X3=$30/mo, for a $21/mo savings right there.

Are you also paying $10/mo for HD due to the credit card thing?

 

[dfergie]

With the HD GUI that is in testing the HR series compares favorably with the ViP series in speed ... (have both) the Directv dvrs are constantly buffering so not sure on the power consumption, you leave it on a channel on standby and can back up on that channel, where you cannot with the ViP series...

 

[Tampa8]

Add me to the wonderment of four 722 receivers. That's the source of the higher cost, not the programming and not for the first two or maybe even three receivers if they are not all 722's.
But really, if you are that offended by the "722's (which always suck power) being 24 x 7 hot plates" then you probably don't want to go to Dish. Going to a Vip612, which is less per month still is on 24hrs. And if you need that many 722's I'm guessing a 211K is out of the question.

Frankly I'm disgusted with both satellite companies and hope to see, when cheap bandwidth crosses the 100 megabit mark, the current pay TV players becoming the Tower records of the near future.

Don't hold your breath on that one, as posted by many the exact opposite is happening. I got my revised user agreement about a month ago and sure enough, they can throttle down if I go over certain limits a certain number of times.... Others are simply charging more when you go over first, then throttle down.

 

[Ozma]

The 722 "power off" doesn't really power off or go into a suspend mode. It continues to run pretty much at full steam. It draws around 50 watts even in "off" mode. If you go to the diagnostics menu and look for counters you can find the temperatures.

Look at this thread....

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...age-622-722-temperature-thread-yours-hot.html

More than a few "greens" and the Energy Star people are not happy about this. You may notice that Direct promotes their DVR's as being Energy Star compliant They actually power off.

What are you talking about? I do not understand.

 

[Tampa8]

The 722 "power off" doesn't really power off or go into a suspend mode. It continues to run pretty much at full steam. It draws around 50 watts even in "off" mode.

That is indeed correct. There are ways around that, but not all that convenient.

 

[Ozma]

This is interesting. Short of pulling the plug or hacking the hardware/software what methods exist?

That is indeed correct. There are ways around that, but not all that convenient.

 

[boba]

Please do us a favor and go with DIRECTV, then your bellyaching will be in a different forum and you will still be bellyaching.

 

[Tampa8]

This is interesting. Short of pulling the plug or hacking the hardware/software what methods exist?

Timer, or on an outlet that is switched so at least it is easy to turn on and off... I originally had mine on a timer because they run better getting a hard reset than the "update" every day. Then I realized unless I am recording something overnight why have them on. One stays on so that I know I can set a late DVR timer without worrying about forgetting it will turn off overnight, but the other two go off for several hours.

 

[TG2]

What doesn't make sense is that the Directv receivers can come back up and have buffered the last channel it was on... without using power? How is *THAT* possible?

And with the Dish Receivers.. I wouldn't be as pissed about the power, but they *dont* buffer! That means that the energy used in "standby" is 99% wasted for that 1% of its update needs. Sits there 99% of the "standby" time looking for updates to the program guide, triggered updates for firmware etc.. things that could be done at timed intervals instead, and not wasting full power

 

[RandallA]

Here you can find the power consumption for the HR-24 and the H25 receivers. They don't turn off but they sure don't use as much as Dish's receivers.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/set_top_boxes_prod_list.pdf

 

[whatchel1]

Biggest factor that I see is this: No BBC America HD (my wife loves this channel). You willing to justify leaving dish for 2 yrs with her missing the channel. I know w/ my X dying would have been simpler. If you can hold out for a little long you might like the XIP multi-room system. Look at that possibility.

 

[3HaloODST]

Hell what I don't get is, if the receivers are gonna consume almost just as much power when they are "powered on" as when they are "off," then why don't they just keep buffering while they're off? At least make "use" of the "wasted" power... Also don't understand why they don't buffer the last channel while watching a recording... Nor do I get why the buffer has to reset every time a signal (be it OTA or Sat) is lost...

 

[rapidturtle]

Why would one have 4 722's? There are many other receiver options, which would lower your bill over $20 per month. You really need 4 dual tuner DVR's?

 

[Yespage]

I recently did a Kill-a-watt test on my stuff at home. I thought there was a marked difference between standby and in operation for the 722k. I'll need to check my numbers.

 

[empiretc]

I recently did a Kill-a-watt test on my stuff at home. I thought there was a marked difference between standby and in operation for the 722k. I'll need to check my numbers.

very interested in seeing what you find

 

[mdavej]

The 722 "power off" doesn't really power off or go into a suspend mode. It continues to run pretty much at full steam. It draws around 50 watts even in "off" mode.

Dish boxes are definitely power hogs, even in standby, which stinks. But DirecTV boxes never power off either. Their power consumption is the same whether they're on or off.

In any case, the power cost pales in comparison to your extra receiver fees. If you really need 8 tuners, DirecTV will be much less. But those aren't independent tuners like they are on Dish. So the real question is how many TV's do you have. With DirecTV, each TV must have a box. So if you're driving 8 TVs with those 4 722s, then you'll need 8 DirecTV boxes, eating up any savings you'd counted on. The upfront equipment cost is going to be pretty hefty too. And not only do you lose BBCA HD, but about 30 other HD channels as well as unlimited discs by mail (starting next week if you have/get Dish Platinum for $10).

Also, DirecTV's new HD GUI will not have a 3 hr x 7 channel view. It will remain the same as it is today.

 

[Scherrman]

I love TV but having 4 722 recveivers makes no sense unless you had a family of 8. If having 4 HDTVs was the reason then why not just run a lon HDMI or component cable to the second HDTV. Seems a little overkill if you ask me.