Holy Crap...Satellite TV costs! (1 Viewer)

[CRyan]

Wow. Been a while since I did satellite. It's not cheap to get the HD and/or DVR equipment even as a new subscriber.

I mean DishNetwork is bordering on the absurd for their HD DVR unit. In order to get their HD/DVR unit you have to pay a $250 upgrade LEASE fee. Thats right, you have to pay 250 bucks for the privelage to pay a $10 a month fee to lease this bad-boy. Not buy it - but lease it. When you quit, you have to turn it in and you do not get this money back. What the Hell?

And DirecTV, you have to pay $550 to own their HD/DVR unit. At least you own it but good grief.

I guess I will be happy paying $9.99 monthly for my cable HD/DVR unit with no upfront costs.

I would think satellite would not put such big cost hurdles into becoming a subscriber. Oh well.

Anyone else think that is rediculous?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

That's only for HD. And, that's one reason why I am waiting.

In my area for equivalent SD programming packages, Comcast is $65 a month, and the Dish is $55 a month. But the Dish price includes a DVR, cable doesn't.

 

[Robert_J]

A few years ago, the DirecTV DVR was over $300. They are giving them away now. Ten years ago when I got my first satellite system, it was $750 for a single receiver and dish. Installation was extra. You can get 6 receivers, install and discounted service for a few months all for free now. HD DVR's are new and will be priced accordingly. I jumped on the HD DirecTivo deal back in August on a misprinted Best Buy coupon. Got it for $350. A year ago they were selling for more than their $1,000 MSRP.

Comparing them to the leased cable DVRs, you get what you pay for. Compare the interface and compare the features. I was willing to pay extra for a Tivo interface.

-Robert

 

[Jeremy Little]

At least with a DBS all the channels are digital. The picture quality on the analog portion of our local Cox service is appalling and unfortunately that is where most of the channels people watch are.

 

[CRyan]

I certainly understand that prices will come down and hence why I wait as well. I guess it was the Dish "deal" of $250 upfront for a lease. That just freaked me out when I saw it. Very strange to me and their interface is not too much better than what I get on cable.

Now Tivo I understand, but still think most would balk at $550 for a better interface. Granted I cannot search shows by name but I can do that online and still find what I want to record more than a week ahead. Pretty easy to me.

To go with DirecTV, it would take me nearly 2 years to break even from going to satellite based on my current cable costs with "similar" equipment.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

The equipment costs are rather high so I am not suprised at this - even if I am disappointed.

I went with the $25/month basic cable service that included a HD PVR from my cable company for my HD feed. I also could not stomach the Dish price - and only 1 network channel.

So it's cable for HD and Dish for everything else.

 

[Shane Martin]

That's why I went with a cable bundle(phone, internet and digital cable). Much cheaper plus if the box gets outdated, they give me another or I can request another. Meanwhile D* has to hook me into another contract to reup.

For now unless cable falls very far behind in HD channels, I'll stay. I know Dish offers more but I didn't see much on those channels I'd watch. I want HD net but not that bad.

 

[Philip Hamm]

If you can, get an antenna, especially if you like sports. Local HDTV is fantastic.

 

[CRyan]

I had no problem 5 years ago fronting $600 for the DishNetwork HD box. It was the only game in town and I wanted HD. But now with the options that are almost everywhere, I cannot justify the additional cost.

And actually that is another point. I do get HD locals with my cable and they are fantastic. There is a give and take with both products (cable vs satellite). I guess for me personally, I have to give to much and get too little for satellite at this moment.

My wife and I are currently looking at all "extra" expenses (TV, internet, phone services) as our contracts are up now after two years moving into our house. So we are looking into all options. I was hoping to see a good deal with satellite so I was suprised by what I found.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Directv offers lower prices to existing customers. If you sign up for the SD service, you can get your dvr for free. You can either use an antenna or a non dvr hd receiver at the outset at a very reasonable price. Wait a couple months, then call D* and tell them that you want an HD dvr but are dismayed by the price. If that doesn't get you a good deal, quote them the rates for cable hd dvrs in your area.

2 months ago I got a SD dvr for free, $99 plus a $100 rebate. They installed it for free and provided the multiswitch I needed to accommodate the second tuner. Then, I called back and got the HD dvr for $299, plus a 100 rebate, plus programming credits worth $60, for a net of $140. I sold my non-dvr HD tuner to a friend for $125 and could have gotten more as they were going for about $150-175 on ebay.

So, my hd dvr and a sd dvr were nearly free, tho I had to deal with rebates. The deal I got has mostly expired but they are there if you look. As Robert indicated there are other ways to get it cheap. You just have to be patient and alert.

 

[JodyP]

Check out vmcsatelite.com. Free DVR's, Free HD Receivers etc... I ran across their banner ad on the HT Forum home page. Looks like a great deal to me. I will be moving in to our new house in about a month and plan on checking it out. If anyone has any experience with this comany please advise.