Dish Network

[SHines-IT]

We are dropping Comcast in a couple of weeks and jumping onto Dish Network. We are going to get the Turbo HD Silver with local. For sure going to have HD DVR in the living and my room (Excited I am the oldest and don't have cable, the little ones do ). But we also have 3 other TV's in the house. I was wondering, like with Comcrap... Can we run those TV's with out a box , to save on money or is Satellite different? Now, I am going to have an standard box that will run two of those TV's since it's at no extra charge. But that leaves one of the kids out of commission. My stepdad said his kids have to have cable, if I am getting cable (They had it all along, why couldn't I, blah ). Oh well, glad we are dropping Comcast at least... I am also check for a new ISP, may try and drop them for my ISP if possible... Not looking so good...

[GoYanks]

So what's the question?

With a box in each room, the kids or whomever can change the channel to whatever station they want.

However, if you want what's being played on the living room tv on one or two of those tv's, then you can connect a cable to those televisions that will echo the same television show.

[SHines-IT]

Originally Posted by GoYanks

So what's the question?

With a box in each room, the kids or whomever can change the channel to whatever station they want.

However, if you want what's being played on the living room tv on one or two of those tv's, then you can connect a cable to those televisions that will echo the same television show.

Actually we have 5 TV's.

Living Room: Toshiba 65" DLP 1080P (Plain to hook up with HD-DVR)
Guest House/My Room: Sylvania 26" 720p LCD Cheapy. Will be replaced with an 1080P LCD/PLASMA in a few months (HD-DVR)
Parents Room: RCA 55" Standard (Standard Box)
Kids Room 1: Samsung 20?" 1080i LCD (Connected to that same Standard Box)
Kids Room 2: Some standard CRT, that IDK how to get a connection for yet?

[Uniquely]

I have DirecTV and it is MUCH better than the Mediacom cable I used to have. The PQ and AQ is better. You do need a box for each tv, unless you want to split the AV outputs from one box and run it to multiple tv's...... but then those tv's would have to watch the same shows.

[Zvi]

I have Dish VIP 722 box and that I'm pretty sure can do 2 TVs

[NJ_RAMS_FAN]

Originally Posted by Zvi

I have Dish VIP 722 box and that I'm pretty sure can do 2 TVs

yea, you can do this but you definetely need a box in each tv. The box guides the dish where to point to a different satellite for the channel requested. <-- My understanding. unlike cable that all the channels run through the cable at once.

and in some places, HD channels aren't available because the HD satellite is on a orbital location that the Dish can't read or point to.

[Beta Man]

I have dish network and love it.... but I don't have the HD package

[kiskiboy97]

I have Dish Network and hate it. They have been a nightmare for 18 months. It took them well over a month to install, then they showed up and forget half the equipment they were supposed to bring and couldn't come back for another 3 weeks. Then they installed it so poorly that every time the wind blew (NOT an exaggeration) it went out of alignment until we didn't even get a signal (literally). The repair guy said he was shocked the dish wasn't dangling from the side of the house by the wire, and their own employee said we should get rid of them for that. On top of that every single bill was wrong, and we had to call every month to get it straightened out. All of our complaints, from customer service to the CEO@echostar address, have gone unanswered. We're getting DirecTV in a few weeks...can't wait.

Hope your experience is better.

[klac]

Is FiOS available for you?

[SHines-IT]

Originally Posted by klac

Is FiOS available for you?

Trust me I want them, lol. I type my address in and it does now show up, I will have to call later. But every time I checked randomly through out the year, Comcast was our only provider. I really don't want DSL either. I know that Standard box will support two TV's, at least that's what it says on there site.

[pacificvibes]

Originally Posted by SHines-IT

Trust me I want them, lol. I type my address in and it does now show up, I will have to call later. But every time I checked randomly through out the year, Comcast was our only provider. I really don't want DSL either. I know that Standard box will support two TV's, at least that's what it says on there site.

Oh man I had FiOS and it is the best...

[NJ_RAMS_FAN]

Originally Posted by SHines-IT

Trust me I want them, lol. I type my address in and it does now show up, I will have to call later. But every time I checked randomly through out the year, Comcast was our only provider. I really don't want DSL either. I know that Standard box will support two TV's, at least that's what it says on there site.

I feel you man.. I'm waiting for them to show up here..

[sfmarine]

Directv>Dish Network

[Galley]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Directv>Dish Network

What he said.

[blujacket]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Directv>Dish Network

Maybe slight edge in programming at the moment, but far behind Dish on equipment. Directs dvr's suck.

[SHines-IT]

Originally Posted by blujacket

Maybe slight edge in programming at the moment, but far behind Dish on equipment. Directs dvr's suck.

Biggest reason why I selected Dish, they have the programs I want in HD on the Silver. There's a few we will miss, but they shell come to HD in time. Should HD by February 17th I would think. But with Dish I can't seem to get them to throw in an an extra standard box... Atleast with Direct, I could get them to throw in a box for EVERY TV.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by melsbluespecv

yea, you can do this but you definetely need a box in each tv. The box guides the dish where to point to a different satellite for the channel requested. <-- My understanding.

I'm getting Dish installed on Wednesday, and have been through the setup both online & with two different reps; this is incorrect.

First, unlike the giant bowl dishes of the 80's, the current satellite dishes are stationary. I know this to be true, because there was one on my house when I bought it, and I went up there to remove it & use the hardware to mount my digital OTA antenna last summer. No electricity to power any motor that would be required for movement.

Second, the ViP722/ViP622/ViP222 all control two sets, completely independent of each other. They have dual tuners - one HD (only the 722 & 622 (DVR units) are 1080p - the 222 is 1080i max) and one SD downconverting. They have two remotes - one IR & one UHF, so you set the box up at the main TV & use the IR remote, and control the secondary tv with the UHF remote (works thru walls).

This is perfect for me, as I have two HD sets (one 1080p, one 1080i) and three SD sets. I'll mirror one SD set to another so I can still just run the two receivers. I didn't actually want the DVR, but got it for the 1080p set because it was the only way to get 1080p. Bonus for me - I've been running the digital antenna to get all of my local channels in HD since last summer, and it works great in my area...but I've had to use an A/B switch to do it with cable...not anymore. Dish's receivers will take my antenna as an input to give me my local channels without the use of an A/B switch...and I'm assuming with the use of their program guide (but we'll see on that part).

[xtop]

Originally Posted by blujacket

Maybe slight edge in programming at the moment, but far behind Dish on equipment. Directs dvr's suck.

sounds about right. and with the 922 launching, not picking dish would be silly..

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=80263

[Blu Man]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Directv>Dish Network

I have directv and I love it. However it is a little expencive........

[Dexter Morgan]

Originally Posted by xneox

I'm getting Dish installed on Wednesday, and have been through the setup both online & with two different reps; this is incorrect.

First, unlike the giant bowl dishes of the 80's, the current satellite dishes are stationary. I know this to be true, because there was one on my house when I bought it, and I went up there to remove it & use the hardware to mount my digital OTA antenna last summer. No electricity to power any motor that would be required for movement.

Second, the ViP722/ViP622/ViP222 all control two sets, completely independent of each other. They have dual tuners - one HD (only the 722 & 622 (DVR units) are 1080p - the 222 is 1080i max) and one SD downconverting. They have two remotes - one IR & one UHF, so you set the box up at the main TV & use the IR remote, and control the secondary tv with the UHF remote (works thru walls).

This is perfect for me, as I have two HD sets (one 1080p, one 1080i) and three SD sets. I'll mirror one SD set to another so I can still just run the two receivers. I didn't actually want the DVR, but got it for the 1080p set because it was the only way to get 1080p. Bonus for me - I've been running the digital antenna to get all of my local channels in HD since last summer, and it works great in my area...but I've had to use an A/B switch to do it with cable...not anymore. Dish's receivers will take my antenna as an input to give me my local channels without the use of an A/B switch...and I'm assuming with the use of their program guide (but we'll see on that part).

You are right about the HD boxes. I have had the ViP722 for a little over a year now, and it is a great satellite box. I switched over from DirecTV, and going from DirecTV's absolutely horrible DVR to the 722, it was like trading in a Ford Pinto for an Aston Martin. The 722 can handle 1080p, but don't really count on seeing much 1080p programming though. The only thing I have seen that's 1080p is their Video On Demand, which is actually pretty awesome, albeit a little pricey.

The service with Dish has been fantastic, and I only think we lost signal once or twice during one of our Nor'easter snow storms. Signal interruption did occur more often with the DirecTV box.

Customer service and price were our major reasons for switching over to Dish. Switching from our Tivo box that crapped the bed to their generic DVR was an absolute nightmare. They were completely unwilling to help, and gave us such a hassle about everything. That DVR was seriously one of the worst pieces of equipment I have ever used. The Dish customer reps we have spoken to have been nothing but helpful, and it seemed like they sincerely wanted to help us, and we didn't feel like we were harassing someone.

We also ended up getting a better service (same HD room setup in two rooms w/ the 722, plus a non-HD box for another TV) for about $15 less a month, or one extra blu-ray I can afford to buy/month.

The one bright side with DirecTV was that it had a better channel lineup IMO. One serious gripe I have with the Dish service is that they DO NOT HAVE THE YES NETWORK. Probably not a big deal to most, but it is a huge issue for me. Other slight differences are music channels - Dish has Sirius versus XM for DirecTV. DirecTV has NFL Sunday Ticket, whereas Dish has NHL and NBA league passes. There were a few others that we lost during the switch, but I can't think of any off the to of my head. Heck, they might've even added them by now.

All things considered, I am glad I went with Dish.

$.02