Help - Digital TV Provider Questions

[kingofgrills]

Hey all,

I've been a subscriber of Dish HD for a few years, but I'm seriously considering a provider change. Dish is in a contract dispute with our local ABC affiliate, so I've been without the station for about a month now. Dish also doesn't carry the sports network the Blazers are on, so I'm missing about half the games each season. I could live without the Blazers the last couple of years, but losing ABC was the last straw.

I was looking closely at bundling cable, internet, and phone service through Comcast or trying Verizon Fios bundling for all three. The plus side with Comcast is that I would pick up the Blazers (not on Fios), but that's not the determining factor for me.

Here's the situation. With Dish, I've had two HDTVs and three SDTVs to control. I've done it with two Dish HD DVRs, using the primary tuner of each on an HDTV, with the secondary SD tuner on each of the SDTVs (the third SDTV is a guest bedroom TV that's mirrored off one of the SDTV tuners).

Given my TV setup, how many tuner boxes will I need with Comcast or with FIOS? I'm really hoping I can replace my 2 Dish DVR dual tuner boxes with 2 comparable boxes from Comcast or FIOS. A Comcast sales rep stopped by the house the other day, and his shaky answer was that each TV needed its own box, even though the boxes had dual tuners. Is this correct?

I would like to keep two HD DVR boxes that can power my whole system. Comcast charges $9.95 a month per HD DVR box, so I'd obviously rather have charges on two tuner boxes instead of 4. By the way, if it makes a difference, my house is network wired for computer, HD satellite, and HD cable. Distribution between rooms won't be a problem. I'll need a new cable modem and wireless router though, since my current gear is leased from Qwest. At this stage would it be better to lease monthly or buy?

Please let me know about the tuner situation, internet performance between the two, and any thoughts on overall service.

I greatly appreciate your help with this one. I'm at my wit's end.