Need advice for HD upgrade (Dish or Dtv) (1 Viewer)

[davenportbuzz]

I have DirecTV (and like it). I'm about to upgrade to HD. I have a chance to bundle services (phone, internet, satellite) into one package to save money and doing that means I switch to DISH. I'm open to that, but frankly, I don't think I'll save a whole lot of dough (with an HD package). I'm not sure which to choose and once I upgrade to HD I want to have made the best decision.

I'm not familiar with DISH, but I'm learning. Here's my 3-room set up and what I want when I upgrade (for either service)...

1) Living room will upgrade to an HD DVR (currently a standard regular deck). Here I have an HDTV in here.

2) Bedroom #1 is an analog DVR and can remain, although I might as well upgrade to an HD DVR because one day the TV in there will be HD. Is it possible to use an HD DVR with an analog TV for now? If so, I'm all about having the capability there when we tap into it later.

3) Bedroom #2 is a standard receiver so I'd upgrade to a reg HD deck (doesn't need to be DVR, although I haven't made up my mind yet).

Staying with Dtv seems pretty simple, in terms of what I'd need but switching to DISH changes things because I understand you can use ONE receiver for two rooms. In that case, I'd probably get ONE HD-DVR for the living room and bedroom #1, and then get a regular HD deck (or HD DVR) for bedroom #2 (so just two decks, as opposed to three with Dtv, which saves 6 bucks a month there). Let me also just add that I can get HD locals through my OTA antenna (even though both carry them in HD here in Los Angeles).

I have questions about using just one deck for two rooms. Is the signal good enough to run between two rooms? And obviously, I assume they're rigged so one isn't duplicating what the other is showing, because of the splitter, correct? Any first hand experience with the multiple room receivers would also be greatly appreciated. Are they buggy or reliable??

SO, do I stay with Dtv (and pay a bit more) or take the DISH plunge? What impressions do you have of DISH HD, as opposed to Dtv HD (without causing a flame war)? And let me also say I'm in no huge rush for tons of HD channels. I know that Dtv has more now which is great but if I chose DISH I'd be content to wait for them to catch up. I'm sure they will in the near future. The two things I want the MOST in my service are the best HD picture possible and fewest problems overall with the service. I'm also a fan of the horror genre so I watch Chiller on dtv, which will soon be in HD. If I went with DISH, I'd definitely want to watch the Monsters HD channel.

Anyway, that's my situation. Thanks a lot!

 

[VicB]

Dish HD Receiver only covers 2 T.V.'s - you could run an over the air antenna to your HD set for the third. The other option is to run HDMI cables to another TV but they would be watching the same video signal as the other TV.

 

[bashton]

One comment about 1 receiver driving two tvs -- what I've always heard and don't know if it's 'true' is that the satellite installers don't recommend splitting the signal. In the two houses where I've installed DirecTV, I've used home runs to each receiver. Picture has always looked good to me, but I've never really tested it.

 

[bashton]

What I'd ask is whether you've considered cable (Comcast for me here in San Jose, CA) or something more leading edge like AT&T U-verse. (I'm a DirecTV person, so the AT&T Yahoo! bundle w/Dish has never interested me that much).

I'm looking at some secondary, non-HD, non-digital rooms (kids room, garage, etc.) so there is some appeal to an old-fashioned cable install that says just plug a cable into the wall.

What I'm really intrigued by is U-verse, it's a fiber solution, from my friendly neighborhood telco and DSL provider.

Wondering if anyone is using a solution like that (hopefully I didn't reply to the wrong forum)


Brett

 

[WilliamB]

My vote is DirecTV