Dish TV

[cj]

I am considering switching from cable (charter) to Dish TV and I have a few questions...since my house is already wired for cable the only new cable would be from the dish on my roof to a new cable box in the house?? Also I have 4 tv's in my home but only one cable box, the other tv's are hooked up to a cable connection on the back of the tv..( no cable box) but I can still watch tv, albeit limited channels. Will I still be able to watch tv without a cable box? I will have a DVR supplied by the dish provider, but only on one tv.

Thanks, cj

[notbob]

Have you conisder having a lobotomy. Probably more entertaining.

[Gordon Shumway]

Have you thought of asking these questions to Dish?????

[Frank]

a.o-s.comcast guys would probably give an opinion. I'm surprised that dish does not have an ng.

[Metspitzer]

Usenet doesn't have one but there is one at Dslreports.com

Dslreports has some pretty useful forums for broadband and satellite.

[Robert]

The latest DISH receiver has an input for regular broadcast TV in addition to the input from the satellite dish. Consequently, for no additional money, you can get the broadcast channels in your area AND their subchannels, which DISH doesn't provide with their satellite link...... You need a regular, old style TV antenna to do this. You will need a DISH receiver for each TV set, which acts like the monitor, tho you can use a channel splitter and split a single DISH receiver output to several TV sets, but you will only have one remote for each receiver used.

DISH remotes are now infrared, instead of RF, so you can't go "thru walls" and use a remote in bedroom 2 to control the receiver which may be located elsewhere. However, there are "infrared to RF" links available for around $50, which will allow you to do the "thru wall" operation, and they are very easy to add. I don't know whether your existing cables are acceptable for DISH, but if they have to be changed, they can be taped and pulled --- lots easier than drilling new holes --- and in any case, the new DISH installation is free, or was a year ago......

[bob haller]

a wealth of info on dish and direct tv..

dish is about to have a big increase on their DVR fees again:(

I dropped dish and went to comcast triple play when dish raised my extra receiver fees from 6 dollars to 17 bucks per month

I bouht a tivo with lifetime service and a cablecard and am very happy......

[generic]

I wouldn't give one cent of my money to that crooked company (Dish). Just my opinion!

[Ed Pawlowski]

You will need a box for each TV. You may want to consider DirecTV too. In fact, if you got that way I can give you my account number and we both save $100.

I do save a few bucks with DirecTV and it has more HD channels and more of the ones I watch. They have a new DVR that can record 5 shows at once and you can watch them on any TV in the house.

IMO, they are all over priced, but I've been very happy with DTV for a few years now. Our cable company really sucked.

[bob haller]

Years ago I was a dish supporter and loved how charlie reinvented TV. I was a dealer, and even attended a satellite launch as a VIP, got to meet jim & Charlie:)

But then charlie turned over day to day operations to the suits:( who increased costs all around.... for better profits.

For instance much higher DVR, extra receiver fees, and since they kinda force you to RENT your equiptement they make you PAY to return leased equiptement.... 25 nbucks at last report, if you refuse to pay for the return they will charge you hundreds for non return and ruin your credit...

Plus when your signing up for service and agreeing to a CONTRACT they wouldnt warn you costs are going up in as little as 2 days. Yet they hold you to the contract:(

They have become customer unfriendly and years ago if you had troubles Dish would give you a credit on your bill... Thats ended when the suits took over...

[dadiOH]

What everybody else said *PLUS* be prepared for *no* TV when it rains or snows south of you even if it isn't nearby.

[Frank]

I've heard their internet sucks too.

Things heating up around here.

I have access to Comcast cable with triple play and also have phone lines on FIOS.

FIOS rep was actually knocking at door while I was reading this thread yesterday. I brushed him off but later he came back down the street while I was doing yard work and I talked to him.

Of course the beauty of FIOS is a single optical cable to each house and Comcast splits signals so when everybody comes home in the evening internet will slow down. He also mentioned that Google is getting into the business and will also used fiber optics.

Competition is good. My neighbor across the street switches back and forth from FIOS to Comcast taking special offers and switching when they expire.

[Jon Danniken]

And that, right there, is why I will never give a dime to those bastards.

Jon

[willshak]

I would read the below site before suggesting DTV. I was thinking about it to replace my cable co. until I checked the below, and now I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. YMMV!!!

[krw]

I've had both Dish and DTV recently. Of the two (no cable available), DTV is definitely the better system. They have better hardware and it's far more reliable with fewer "oddities". The Dish hardware really sucks. That said, I'd probably switch to cable if I had the option.

[Robert Macy]

we're on Directv, very glad during those 'negotatiation' times. Seems that the favorite stations of the customers were removed for over two

- three months while Dish talked with the suppliers. I'd be livid over that one.

Watch out for satellite suppliers, they have their marketing priroities backwards: New customers? What do you want we'll supply it for free for ummmm Old customers? We'll raise rates on this and that, but not by much so you don't notice. If they're not carefful they're going to end up with a lot of abandoned equipment out there.

Plus, I still can't get what I want! I was spoiled that used to receive over 66 channels for free on rabbit ears. Including Korean broadcasting and films. Great treat if you haven't seen that genre.

One positive note, the DVD HD they supply is incredible. fast forward, hit play, and there is a small amount of step back to start where you meant, not where you hit play. We simply record everything, then fast forward through the 33% overhead of commercials.

[Art Todesco]

I'll stick to answering your question. I have Dish and have the older

722 DVR. It has 2 tuners. I use one at the main watching location for HD on a 47" flatscreen via an HDMI connection. The other tuner is for whatever ... remote watching, recording to DVR. There is an RF output which I've connected to all the other TVs (non HD) in the house through splitters and/or amps. For 'remote' use, the 2nd remote(s) are RF so that they work anywhere in the house. We have one of these RF remotes near each TV. There are only 2 of us in the house, so it works ok for us. You do, however, have to be aware of what the tuners are doing, i.e. if the DVR is recording 2 programs, you are basically out of luck watching a 3rd program live. You can be recording 2 shows on the DVR and simultaneously watching 2 other shows, previously recorded on the DVR, or even 'chase watch' a show while it is recording. But, as I said, only 2 shows streaming over the satellite at one time. In addition Dish offers some shows to be streamed from the Internet to you computer, etc. Now, if you use their Hopper unit (read, more $$$), you can do much more. It is a nice product, but for us, not worth the money ... you can, from the way I understand it, get full HD at up to 4 locations and there is even a function that allows you to watch certain programs with automatically skipped commercials.

[generic]

Same here.... They have these (annoying) commercials on TV, where they state that you cna get all these things for $29.99 per month. That dont sound like such a bad deal, because some people pay more than that just for the internet. But that's just a scam to sucker people into signing their contract. From someone who I know, who actually got their service, that $29.99 is just the service. There are other costs that they dont mention, which are required to use their service. But it dont end there. That $29.99 is just the introductory price. After a certain amount of time, the price almost triples. And since they got you locked into a contract, you have little choice but to pay it, or pay extreme penalties. The person I mentioned ended up paying close to $100 per month after the introduction.

Personally, I wont deal with ANY companies that require contracts for services such as this. That includes TV, internet, and cellphone. I use prepaid cellphone, internet paid per month, and my tv signal comes from my roof antenna.

[frag]

cj wrote in news:TCdet.5414$ [e-mail]:

Friends of mine have Dish. They have 3 TVs and each one needs a box and each is wired.

[trader4]

Oh wow, what a truly evil company. They have introductory rates that are lower for the first year..... After that they go up. Who would have thunk that?

Let's see, if I triple it, that makes it $90 a month. That's about $25 less than I'm paying for cable and internet......

Typically, no contract is required unless you want to take advantage of the special rates. For example, I have no contract with my cable company for TV or internet. If you're a new customer and you want the discounted rate, then you have to keep the service for a year. If you don't you pay the difference. I can quit at any time with no penalty. Same with most cell phone companies. If you want to use your own phone or buy one of theirs at full price, you can do so. If you want a $250 phone for FREE, or a $300 one for just $50, then yes, the contract for that is that you have to keep the service for 2 years. If you don't then you have to pay the difference. Geez... what do you expect?