Looking into Satalite

Currently we have our TV and Internet through our phone company. We get 2 TV feeds and 1.5m Internet for $64.00 per month. We want to add 2 additional feeds and it costs another $25 for a total of $89 per month. The issue here is the feeds are only 480. If I cancel the TV, my Internet will be $30 per month leaving about $59 for the 4 TV feeds.

I called Direct TV and they said that all of their boxes output 1080 and the first one would be HD broadcasts. After the first year discount expires, it costs $68 for one TV and then another $5 per additional TV. That would total $83. So $83 - $59 = $24 more per month.

Now dish says that they will give me 1 HD and 3 standard boxes for $60 per month. The outputs are component which are 720(?) and co-ax. They want a 24 month contract. This sounds like the way to go.

We ended up getting a 23" LCD for my daughter and a 65" rear projector for the living room and my mother-in-law is moving in and she has a 32" LCD.
I understand the differences between 480, 720, & 1080 but I have a few questions:

1 - If a station sends a 480 signal to the network and they then send the signal to me and comes out of the box in a HDMI to the 1080 TV, is the picture any better than receiving the 480 connecting to the 1080 with s-video and then having the TV upconvert?

2- The secondary TVs would be connected with co-ax. One would be the 23" LCD. How would the picture quality look compared to the current set up? The other would be an older CRT. Any issues here?

3 - Do all the TVs have to have a digital tuner?

4 - I have heard horror stories about both Direct and Dish networks. Should I even mess with them? What should I look out for?

Re: Looking into Satalite

I would look into this thread for starters:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...practices.html

Re: Looking into Satalite

Yea... I read that. Is Dish any different? I used them about 8 years ago with out any issues.

Re: Looking into Satalite

The component outputs of the Dish receiver will carry 1080 as well if the receiver outputs it. Check the number of tuners on the Dish HR DVR. Some are 1 HD and 1 SD. Others only have a single ATSC tuner.

1. It should look better because it is using the highest quality connections. But be prepared that SD signals over satellite aren't that good.
2. RF connections are the worst possible. Quality will be dependent on the incoming signal quality, your cable quality, distance between TV and receiver and the quality of the TV.
3. No. TV's connected via HDMI, component, s-video and composite do not need any tuner at all. The ones connected via RF will need an NTSC tuner.
4. A. Installers are a crap shoot. I had to realign my dish after a small storm rolled through. Turns out that all of the bolts weren't snugged down. B. If you need more cable run, they will take the easiest way. Punching through an outside wall is standard practice. If you want to run cables inside the interior walls either do it yourself or be prepared to pay $100+ per drop. C. I have been a D* customer since the mid '90's with a year and a week with E*. That was the worst year of TV I have ever experienced.

-Robert

Re: Looking into Satalite

I read the original post but none of the replies. It just tells me to save the documentation. I got the same letter. It's filed away in my DirecTV section of the file cabinet. If I get an offer over the phone I ask them to record it.

-Robert

Re: Looking into Satalite

So, after listening to my wife complain about how our current TV signal looks like crap on our new 60" HD TV for 6 days, I made the decision to go with DishNetwork. It wasn't that I didn't agree with her, it was the dreading of having to deal with the Dish boneheads that made me wait. It amazes me that a company with such incompetents can stay in business let alone prosper. This is what it took just to get a monthly price:

1. I called Dish but the operator could not answer my "technical questions" posted above. For someone selling the equipment, I thought they would be common questions that they would be asked.
2. Visited the local RS store. The guy was helpful, but he did not know whether the secondary TV was 16:9 or not. He also tried to call Dish to get pricing, but had no luck.
3. I went home an called Dish. Being as I kept my phone number when I moved into my new house, she kept treating me as a return customer. I had not used Dish in over 6 years and the old antenna is still mounted on my old house. Each time I told her what I was interested in, she put me on hold while she looked it up. The last time I timed it and hung up after 2 minutes.
4. I wrote down what my equipment is and the packages I am looking for and e-mailed them. That was 4 days ago and I still haven't received a reply.
5. I went back to RS with a different salesman. He still did not know the pricing, but I let him deal with Dish on the phone. After just under an hour, I signed up.

I was surprised that they could do the install the next day being as it was a Sunday, and it went well. I needed 2 HDMI cables and a extra remote. I probably could have gotten them cheaper elsewhere, but I am busy with holiday guests and just wanted to get everything working. He did a great job with the install, but I was surprised that I wrote the check out to him and not a company.

We start watching TV. The HD channels look great and everyone is happy with the picture. Then my wife notices that some of her favorite channels are missing. They are in the top 200 package and we only had the top 100. I call to upgrade and everything goes smoothly. I even commented that this was the first intelligent person that I have dealt with. The monthly price was $10 higher than what I was quoted in the store, but he told me that if I hook the receivers up to the phone line or internet, I get a $5 discount per receiver. I start making up the CAT5 cables and running wires to make the connections.

Then after about an hour, my daughter is telling me that she can't find any channels. I thought she was having troubles with the remote/channel guide. Then my wife tells me the same thing from the other TV.

I call back Dish, and get another dingbat. After unsuccessfully trying to explain what the issue is, I ask her what my monthly price is. She says $21. I ask what for and she says the leasing of the receivers - no video packages. They were going to charge for the 2 receivers with no video. I guess that intelligent person was not so intelligent after all.

I went down each item I wanted one at a time and each time she would put me on hold while she looked into it. Then she would tell me that they could do it and put me on hold while she made the changes. When we got to the $5 discount per receiver, she said that there wasn't any. I told her that I just spent the last 3 hours wiring it all up based on what the other guy said. After about another hour call I think I have it all straightened out. If I hear "I am sorry for the inconvenience sir, I will be happy to help you straighten this out" one more time, I can not be held responsible for my actions.

Finally I have 4 TV feeds and two are HD. I have the top 200 package and their entry HD channel package. Cinamax for $0.01 per month for the first 12 months. Total is $61 per month plus tax. That is only $1.00 more than my previous provider, but I have many more channels including HD and 16:9 instead of the 4:3. Everybody is happy now and hopefully I won't have to call Dish again.

Re: Looking into Satalite

A question, Dave. How does their HD look?

I'm signing up for Dish...but only getting their HD service. That's one of the things that attracted me to their service (the ability to get HD-only). I found I wasn't watching much SD programming on my cable service. I've heard HD over satellite is much better than cable (or do I have that wrong?).

Re: Looking into Satalite

The HD looks GREAT. This is my 1st 1080 display and am very impressed. I have 18 days off work for the holidays and a zillion things to do, but all I want to do is watch my free Cinamax and HBO while it lasts. When I had Dish before I never had any troubles once things were going. I am hoping that my 1st bill is right, then I won't have to deal with them anymore. I will just enjoy the shows.

Re: Looking into Satalite

It depends entirely on your local cable company. At least with the two cable companies what you see in one city will be the exact same quality somewhere else. Quality via cable varies by company, city, neighborhood and even house since the physical cable can cause issues.

-Robert

Re: Looking into Satalite

Well I received my first Dish bill. Surprise... Surprise it is wrong. Came in at $10 too much. They did not give the discount for having the phone line hooked up. I guess I will have to spend another 1/2 hour on the phone with them tonight while I enjoy a HD show.

Re: Looking into Satalite

We have been noticing on some stations that the voice sound is not synced with the actors mouth movements. It is on all 4 tvs so I think it is a Dish issue. Anyone else have this issue?

Re: Looking into Satalite

Dave:

I haven't seen that yet...but we've only had our Dish Network hooked up for a few days.

The one thing that ticked me off immediately was that only two of our six or seven local channels is being turned around in high-def. ALL are broadcasting in high-def and the cable company is carrying them ALL in high-def. I asked the installer about that and he said, "They're working on it." I plan to call DISH and complain because their flyers made it clearly seem like I was paying the extra dough each month for ALL my locals in HD.

Among the network programming I currently cannot view in HD is CBS & Fox. That means the SuperBowl and 24 and Survivor (whenever the next season begins) and many other shows (including Fox Baseball) in SD. Grrr.

====================

So far, though, the HD quality seems pretty darn good. I'm having trouble learning the ins & outs of the DVR (just because I've been using a different one for so long). Occasional glitches in reception but too few for me to really take note of.

Re: Looking into Satalite

Another weird thing is...I signed up for the smallest HD only package and also have a bunch of SD channels included. Nothing great/major. But they're there. I'm curious what my first bill is going to look like. The installer confirmed that I was only supposed to have the HD package and local stations.

I called the toll free number because some of the DVR functionality wasn't there right away. A half-hour phone call fixed that up...and I even asked the person I was talking to about the extra channels. She said that customers DO get some SD channels with the HD packages. Go figure.

I'm not complaining, mind you...it just doesn't say that ANYWHERE in their printed material.

Re: Looking into Satalite

I've been with Dish for 3-4 years now and I guess I'm lucky I haven't had to deal with them on the phone yet. I'm getting ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the main PBS stations in HD. The smaller PBS and the other locals are in SD only. In my opinion, football really shines in HD. Excellent surround effects, too.

Sorry to hear of the problems you two (especially Dave!) are having with Dish. Hopefully things will smooth out. Before Dish I was with Directv for 6 years. Their customer service is supposed to be great but I never had to deal with them either. Everything worked as planned.