What kind of deals are out there for SBC customers

[jollygrunt]

Well DSL requires a yearly contract for the "best" pricing as does Cingular so I'd expect some type of contractual obligation in order to get the mediaportal and all the services.

I've already got local, long distance, Cingular, DSL and now DISH with SBC so I'm ready for the MP. I'm just hoping that there'll be some kind of expedited, and easy, upgrade path for those of us that have DISH service with SBC and the "Total Connections" bundle.

 

[fenwah]

The thing about a $10 lease fee for the Media Portal is that it will really be $25 with the HD Pack and Dish Bogus DVR Fee. Comcast charges $10 for the HD DVR which includes their HD Pack and no bogus DVR fee.

Perhaps SBC will have a contract requirement instead. After all, you will need both SBC Dish AND SBC DSL. They might even require SBC phone service, as well. Or, at least offer the Media Portal free to those who have those services. It would be an excellent incentive to bundle their services. (I already have SBC local, long distance, and DSL. I will be switching to Cingular from overpriced Sprint in August, and SBC Dish when the MP is released.)

I am also wondering if they will not implement the Dish Bogus DVR Fee on the Media Portal, as it is not actually a Dish receiver.

Don't forget, though, that most SBC Dish users receive a $5 discount each month due to bundling services. I have SBC DSL, local and long distance, and Dish Network.

I am very curious about this new box. Did you notice that it was both MPEG 2 and 4 compliant? Wow...what a great idea...build a HD DVR box that plans for the future.

 

[jollygrunt]

I was wondering what would happen with my 522 once DISH upgrades to mpeg4. I guess this mediaportal is the answer.

 

[sdsumann]

I am in the same boat I have total connections, dsl, dish, unified communications the whole nine yards. I just want this box hurry up and release it. It seems strange that we have not heard anything about it since January. If they were going to release it shortly you would think it would be in production, or at least someone saw the final box.

If this box comes out i would consider switching to cingular so that I could program my dvr from my cell (when that comes out) ha. None the less I need more information. Price will be a major consideration I would hate to see this "for new customers only".

 

[jollygrunt]

... Price will be a major consideration I would hate to see this "for new customers only".

That would sooo p*** me off.

 

[GaryPen]

That's why I'm not signing up UNTIL they release it. I'm taking no chances. Plus, Comcast in my area is pretty good, with a great 2-tuner HD DVR, so I won't be doing so bad while I wait.

 

[KDRE]

From having 2Wire's homeportal for my DSL, I'd think this equipment will work pretty well. they usually put out quality products

 

[Senor Bildo]

I wrote SBC today asking them when the 2Wire MediaPortal would be released and here is the response I got.

Greetings,

Thank you for your recent email.

I do apologize for the confusion, however at this time there has not
been a release date for this new product. We are still in the works of
getting the entire system together. We will have bill inserts and
information on our website when we are finally able to start offering this
to our customers.

 

[sdsumann]

i got a similar message from sbc. But I am more concerned with the big picture as far as when its coming out. If they are runing into problems with dish or with content providers or whatever tell us. But when Scott saw it at CES he commented that it was far from beta almost ready for primetime. With that said I would think 4-6 months should be enough time to work out minor bugs.

The big question is who haulted the process? Did dish step in, content providers? Or is Sbc just making sure there are 0 bugs in it?

 

[GaryPen]

The big question is who haulted the process? Did dish step in, content providers? Or is Sbc just making sure there are 0 bugs in it?

It could be Dish throwing a monkey in the wrench. Charlie may be having second thoughts about his partnering with SBC. He probably never thought they would go as far as they are with satellite HW and a competing fiber dielivery system. SBC has even officially stated that they consider SBC Dish cuctomers to be THEIR customers, not Dish's!

It could also be SBC applying actual QA to their HW before release. For a Dush customer, this is unheard of, I know. But, it sure is refreshing. It'll be a nice change to get a new Dish-capable receiver that works as advertised. It'll also be nice to have accurate guide info, add'l content, home media network, and all of the other features not currently available, or just plain poorly implimented with Dish HW.

 

[kevink]

This is probably a good enough reason to wait. I've been planning to go back to Dish (or via SBC) soon, as you may be able to tell from a few recent posts

But the remote access programming is a nice little feature that seems nice.

The only downside I see checking the specifications (another downside may be price, which is unknown at this time) is it apparently doesn't support 2 SD TVs. TV1 must be HD, TV2 is SD. I don't have a HD TV (yet), and probably wasn't planning to buy one until my TV dies.

 

[Mainstreet]

Just FYI, you can sign up for SBC|DISH through regular DISH Network retailers. This way you have the option of having a local point of contact for your satellite needs.

The deal is the same.

 

[GaryPen]

You get bonus rewards by signing up directly with SBC through their website. Since a "relationship" with a local Dish retailer means absolutely squat to me, I'll take the add'l bonus, and go through SBC directly.

Also, many retailers add their own term commitment to Dish's, and even to the no commitment DHA plan. That is pure BS. I don't need it.