DISH is on a mission

If it wasn't for still having TiVo for the time being at DirecTV and being grandfathered on networks, I would switch to DishNetwork. They have great programming, and the equipment is not that bad. Not TiVo, but better than DirecTV DVR.

Of course, if DirecTV puts out a reasonable HD DVR with MPEG4, they'll be able to add lots of HD eventually. Dish is just beating them by a year or so.

 

Now that I am fresh out of my commitment with DTV I will have to look at this offer. I want HD and the means to time shift it, but I am not jumping yet I still would like to see what Comcast and TiVo come up with. NGHD is a great addition, but my concern with all of these HD channels is how much content they actually have. Reading Dish Forums it is always the same complaint, yes they offer the most channels, but one can only watch the same programs over and over so many times. It does seem Dish is making a point to add channels as soon as they can, while Comcast and DTV drag their feet.

 

are there any 'objective' comparisons out there of the dish dvr vs tivo? Everyone has something that's important to them of course so which is 'better' is purely subjective.

I have more than enough OTA HD to watch that I'm not concerned about anything else at this point. But always like to plan for down the road.

 

I just officially left D* for Dish. Had d* for 6 years or so with two HR10's since available and SD units (DVR80). I have had the Vip622 for a month now.

The Vip622 is not a Tivo. I find myself struggling to get where I want to be sometimes(menus). But IMHO this inconvenience is easily forgotten with ~30 HD channels. No one will like all of them but I think anyone would like a handful. Yes, only one OTA tuner in the Vip622 sucks so I got two. A series 3 for OTA would be handy now.

Things like guide speed were never important to me but the Vip622 is much faster. No equivalent of folders(not like that matters). PQ is the same or better. Having to only run one cable per DVR was a nice surprise too(splitter at the box). No regrets so far.

 

How can it split at the box? Doesn't Dish have the same multiswitch issues with a single cable that DirecTV has?

 

It requires "Dish Pro Plus" dish/multiswitch equipment and a compatible receiver.... though there's devices to get to split the signal externally to feed older receivers.

 

May be a bad comparison, but its like a built in stacker. Have the DISH1000 which has 2 outputs but supports 4 tuners. So hopefully I won't have to be adding more cable anytime soon. Some other nice things are PIP and the ever controversial "recording time remaining".

Biggest negative is Dish doesn't seem as self-upgradable wrt to the HDD. One of my HR10 was running dual 300GB. Not much I can find to do with Dish. They are coming out with USB storage so maybe that will get the ball rolling when they ask big $$$ for a USB drive kit and <$100 HDD

 

1 OTA tuner bites. I have 2 hdtivos specifically to record 4 ota for some conflicts. And until dtv has locals in just as solid as my ota, i can tell i'd be disappointed in the dish unit.

 

1 OTA tuner would be a deal breaker for me...

 

Yes, as I said 1 OTA tuner sucks. Lets move on.......... The unit can record on all 3 tuners at once so the one OTA tuner is always freed up.

Honestly, I don't know which channels are MPEG-4 vs 2. I've found conflicting info. Of the new channels, I've only checked out Starz HD for any length of time and it looks fine. Nat Geo is looks fine too right now. I think it just depends on the show. I have no idea their % of HD vs upconverted SD. It seems a bit early to judge the new channels

 

is their hbo hd just as blocky as dtvs? Just watched a hd movie and i never see that kind of blocking on ota. it's during scene changes and fast movement

 

WOW! This is exactly my dilema and what brought me here tonight.
I have been with DTV for about 4 years and as expected am very familiar with it and have nothing bad to say about it. Except I do not care for XM radio channels. I do not currently have the HD plan, although I did in the past, but found it not to be worth the cost for 3 channels worth watching occasionally airing HD programming. I have two DTivo boxes with 2 tuners in each.
With all of the "bundle savings" currently offered through AT&T and Dish Network, my wife and I have been contemplating switching. I would get the new HD DVR that controls 2 TV's along with the HD package. The kicker is we were told by a couple of CSR's that there is NO upgrade fee for the HD DVR box. Unlike the $299 charge listed on Dish's site.
I would be glad to get some HD content as well as the Sirius music channels which I enjoy greatly everyday in my car. BUT and this is my hangup; I lose DIY network and the National Geographic channel. Not to mention the slick Tivo interface. I am really torn. I love my DTV & equipment, but this deal seems great. What do you think? And on Dish's site is says the HGTV and Nat Geo HD (though not in silver pack) are available. Also unfortunately the Indianapolis locals are not there yet.
Lastly, are your local channels the actual channel it is? i.e ch 13 NBC is 13 on the box or do you have to type in the 4 digit dish number like 7236? Sorry so long.

 

Some clarification for those of you wondering about availability of hd programming and mpeg 4, with DTV at least.

The new HD-DVR is slated to come out summer of '06, probably in either late july or august. It'll have the mpeg-4 capability, but won't be based on the TiVo software. Menus and use will be comparable to the R15 dvr.

As far as HD programming, DTV may have a smaller number of HD channels right now, but when you consider that DTV recently launched 2 new satellites to take over transmission of it's HD programming, and the conversion taking place to MPEG 4, by late 2007 DTV should easily have the largest selection of HD channels worldwide.

 

With all due respect, when I bought my HD Tivo last year I was told by two different DTV CSR's that there would be over 50 channels of non-network HDTV programming available by June 30, 2006, and over 150 channels of non-network HDTV programming by the end of 2006. At the time I thought it was ludricrous, because I couldn't imagine that there would be that many HD channels available to broadcast by the end of 2006, but I was assured by the DTV employees that there would be.

I'm disappointed in the meager offerings of HD programming that D* has, so I cancelled the HD portion of my package some time ago. If and when D* gets more offerings, I will consider reactivating the HD service. But to me, the promises of D* for future HD programming is nothing but an empty sales pitch which hurts credibility.

Based on the assertive tone of your statement, I assume you work for D*. If so, there's no need to "preach to the choir"... I would guess that most folks who are here have heard that D* would have the best HD package available in the future many times before. Until D actually delivers, its just speculative hogwash.

 

Question: the national HD cable channels that DirecTV will someday launch in MPEG4. Are those on those two sats you need a 5-lnb dish for, or are they on one of the main three?

 

D* still has my business until someone else provides the NFL Season Ticket and the YES network (Yes-HD as well). 29 HD channels is tempting though...

 

All if the national HD channels are currently transmitted in MPEG-2 format on the main three birds. AFAWK, there are no plans to move these in the forseeable future. People, there isn't even a HD DVR that will handle MPEG-4 yet, so there's no reason to think that anything will change drastically for at least a couple of years.

D* will use the HD locals as leverage to get people to use their new HD DVR until such a point where supply outstrips demand (at least 2-3 years is my guess) before they would even think of moving the national HD channels anywhere.