Jephree

I was doing some research regarding HD capability with DishNetwork and was surprised to see how expensive it was. Some of their receivers run up to $1k. Anyone know more about this topic, mainly where, or if receivers are much cheaper and available for DishNetwork? My TV is HD Ready and I think all I need is the receiver. Right?

brandon11983

Yeah, and others are FREE. Look at the model 811 receiver. The receiver also has an ASTC tuner built in too, so you can pull HD content through your antenna as well. With a credit card, and a 1 year contract, you can get the 811 for free.

If your TV is HD ready, all you need is the receiver.

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Jephree

When you say that you can pull HD content through your antenna, are you referring to the satellite. If not, I'm confused. If the system is being run off a satellite, how does a separate antenna affect the satellite signal to the receiver?

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shakran

think local broadcast stations

Jephree

I know that when I had DirecTV we had to get the dual-head satellite in order to receive local stations. However, the way our Dish Network is set up is one satellite (single head) per receiver.

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brandon11983

Ok, first off, since it sounds to me like you are an existing customer to Dish, you can do an 811 upgrade for $199.

I am not referring to locals via satellite. To my knowledge, no one broadcasts HD locals via satellite.

The best way to get locals with satellite is through an off air (big ass rooftop) antenna. Sure, you'll pay what may or may not seem like a moderate up front cost for the antenna, but you'll save yourself $5 a month for the rest of your life. Plus you can receive HD broadcasts with the antenna and decode them with the ASTC tuner in the 811. Just subscribing to the HD package with Dish, you'll have access to 4 HD channels. You can get HBO and Showtime in HD if you subscribe to the packages. Add an off air antenna to the satellite system, and you'll have your normal local channels, plus be able to decode whatever digital or HD broadcasts they may put out. In my market, for example, all of our locals (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, WB, and PBS) all have off air HD broadcasts.

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Jephree

Well, plain and simple. Yes, I am an existing member to DishNetwork so if I upgrade to the 811 receiver for $199, what do I get? The 4 channels + HBO and Showtime? I would love to get ESPNHD!

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brandon11983

You would get ESPN HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, and Discovery HD Theater. You can get HBO and Showtime in HD if you subscribe to the HBO and Showtime packages.

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Jephree

Nice, I'm thinking of going through with this. So, only the 811 $199 receiver and no MRC?

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brandon11983

What the hell is MRC?

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Jephree

monthly recurring charge for HD service

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brandon11983

Oh, yeah. You have to take the HD Package at $9.99/mo. for a year. You also have to do credit card autopay or pay a one time $25 service charge on your bill.

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Jephree

i guess DirecTV has a better deal. Oh well, I guess it's still worth it. Until I upgrade to an HDTV (integrated). thanks for the info brandon11983

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brandon11983

DirecTV does NOT have a better deal. Trust me, I'm a retailer for both Dish and DirecTV. DirecTV HD receivers will run you upwards of $499.

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Jephree

Is there a better seller (other than DishNetwork) to get an 811 receiver?

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brandon11983

No.

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Jephree

According to my buddy, all he has to pay is the $5/mo. for the HD service through DirecTV. He also said the receiver was no charge? How can this be? I know he's not lying? Is there some hidden charges he's gonna be hit w/, or is this true?

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miko

I just got rid of my satellite system when upgrading to an HD tv and went with digital cable instead because the HD package is much cheaper. I get 2 hbo's, 2 showtimes, abc, fox, a couple other affiliates, discovery, and a couple others. I'm loving it so far. I sit in front of the discovery channel with my jaw on the floor with drool coming out...and I'm learning at the same time!

Jephree

How much is the HD package w/ your digital cable service provider? Also, what else do you need (receiver, etc.) in order to receive the HD service, and if so how much? The reason I ask is that if the HD service will be cheaper (overall) with TimeWarner (my local cable provider) as it is w/ yours, mabye I'll just cancel my DishNetwork service.

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miko

Mine is Time Warner too. Check out their website, it lists all the packages. I haven't gotten my first bill yet so i don't have a final price but i think it's around $65 for 3 rooms. The main tv has the HD receiver and the others are regular digi-receivers. The same package (non-HD) from satellite was costing me around $90. Same channels. They give you all the equipment so you don't need anything other than a HD ready tv. THe only thing that sucked is I had PVR with dishnetwork so now i had to go out and actually buy a Tivo box plus the service. I went crazy for two weeks without tivo and had to break down and buy it. Once you have it, you can't do without.

Jephree

When switching from DishNetwork Satellite to TimeWarner Digital Cable/HD service, will we lose any channels (local, HBO's, Showtime's, Cinemax's, etc.)?

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miko

Again, check the web to compare the cable channels with the dish channels. I lost two things which i'm bummed about. The Speed Channel on my cable network is part of a sports package i don't have. And with dish, we paid for the other local channels across the country like west coast and east coast affiliates. I don't have that option with cable. Everything else seems kosher.

Oh, and the programming line-up on the movie channels may different slightly from dish....hard to tell.

brandon11983

Your buddy is full of shit. DirecTV's HD package is $10.99/mo. Link.

Not the same channels. Dish Network is 100% digital, every channel, all the time. Digital cable is about 50% digital. Plus, their digital boxes are more per month than satellite receivers. If you had 4 receivers on the biggest package on Dish, your bill would be $92.99/mo. I'm 99% certain you can't get that much for that price on digital cable. If they could, they wouldn't have to raise their prices as often as they do, and they wouldn't be losing customers as much as they are. Our market just got locals and our local cable company (Insight) is in deep shit.

Please don't make the biggest mistake of your television life by doing this. Me the purist couldn't stand relying on cable (shared medium) to deliver something like high defintion content. I'd much rather go with a satellite that I and only I am using.

Here is my solution to address the issues of both quality of service and cost effectiveness: keep your Dish, and put up a good (Channel Master or Winegard) off air antenna. If you want, you can get 60 100% digital channels, and 4 HD channels on Dish for $34.99 a month. In Cali, you should also be able to get all of your local networks in digital or HD through your antenna. In my market, for example, a customer can have access to 10 HD channels for only $34.99 a month with Dish and an antenna.

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miko

All I'm saying is the digi cable with HDtv is much cheaper than dish network was for HDtv. The bills don't lie. Plus I'm getting another discount for also having Roadrunner service. And HDTV thru satellite may be better....but my jaw is on the floor watching it thru cable. Once the prices drop or even out more, I may go back to satellite.

Jephree

First off, LoL, I don't think a GOOD buddy of mine would lie to me about what he's getting charged for the HD service. That's funny.
And second, maybe our rates for the HD service out here in Cali are different than they are out in the, "Midwest yo!" B.

I know that my buddy was using the HU card for the standard receiver/satellite combo (non-HD) and had the programmer w/out subscribing to DirecTV's service (you love it huh B?) So I'm assuming he decided to sign up w/ DirecTV and got a new customer offer, etc. Well, I'm gonna see him today.

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iktoweya

HD rates dont change they are nationwide do you know if maybe he is on like a hella long contract or something or maybe he chose a package that was large enough to waive the HD fee? i know when people buy americas top 150 and up with Dish they get some minor fees waived.

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brandon11983

This is partially true, if a customer takes Everything Pack, then they can get the usual $4.98 monthly DVR fee waived. I'm not up too much on DirecTV, as we don't sell that much of it, but I don't think that they would waive a $10.99 monthy charge.

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Jephree

Clarified: he was paying $5 for monthly service prior to subscribing to the HD service. After adding his HD service he was charge an additional $5, so it's $10.99/mo. like you were saying B. I guess he misunderstood my question initially.

ANYHOW, I guess I'll be using DishNetwork's HD service.

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brandon11983

Ok then, thanks for the clarification. Hope all is going well in Dish HD land.

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jvwgtr

Thanks for posting the info, brandon11983.
I'm a Dish customer with a big-ass HD monitor, but no content.
I was debating about whether or not to buy a separate off-air tuner, or upgrade my DishNetwork receiver.

Am I understanding that I would have to commit to a year of an HD package to get the upgrade?
Also, does this require an additional dish? I was thinking that I read that somewhere on the site.

brandon11983

Get the 811 receiver from Dish. It has an off air tuner built in. You do have to take the HD programming package for a year, and it does not require an additional dish. Dish just migrated all of the HD content to the 110* and 119* orbital locations, so customers with Dish 500 systems will only need one dish.

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jvwgtr

Sweet! Thanks! I'm glad I waited a little bit. It's going to be hard to wait any longer!