Am I understanding what Charlie wants me to do?

[sugarbluff]

I have been a Dish customer for 5 years loyally subscribing to the AT150, various movie and PPV packages. I have a 6000, 4000, and 1000 rcvrs, with Dish 500. So in looking through the posts here, if I want to be an HDTV customer in the future, I will need to purchase a superdish (when available) and replace my two older recievers and possibly my obsoleted 6000?

As much as I would like to have the sports packages that D* has that I patiently hoped and waited for E* to get, I have never considered going to D* since there was the perceived wasted outlay of cash to replace my receivers.

Is this Charlie's clear signal to me that I should now leave through he door marked "EXIT" and proceed over to DirectTV?

[Cyclone]

You only have to change to SuperDish if you make the switch to HD. I'm curious why you have a 6000 if you're not a HD customer already. Still even if you get SuperDish, the 6000 and likely the 4000 will support it. I don't know about the 1000, but a cheap 111 or 311 might replace it.

There have been hints that the SuperDish will have an upgrade package where existing customers can save some $$$ for installation.

So unless you expect the FCC to take all of the 110/119 TPs from D* and give them to E*, I don't see how you'd expect E* to offer more channels without something like a SuperDish upgrade. There is a finite amount of TPs at each slot. If you want more, then you have to pay for it.

[Jerry G]

I believe so. Some have already left Dish. I'm very close to doing so. In addition to paying for new equipment (Superdish, 921, etc), which I can understand, there is additional equipment I will need to buy that will be strictly for temporary usage because of the way Charlie is handling this who HD fiasco. I figure I'll have to spend about $500 extra on equipment and service that would be completely unnecessary if Charlie would have handled this differently. I rather give than money to DirecTV than to Charlie.

[jerryez]

I have a 6000 with HD and I am not paying big bucks to get the superdish. I already paid for the two modules to get OTA HD and Dish HD. I will switch first.

[wmayo]

I have a 6000 with HD and I am not paying big bucks to get the superdish. I already paid for the two modules to get OTA HD and Dish HD. I will switch first.

It may be a good thing that DirecTV is test market offering an HD receiver package for $99 with dish and installation! It puts pressure on E* to not come out with an outragious package where one will have to pay, say $200 for the superdish, and $299 for the 811, plus year commitment to at least AT150 and perhaps forced autopay. The D* deal sends a much better signal to potential HD customers than E*'s "HD people have already outlayed big costs and won't mind coughing up the money we want for our systems" type message.

Direct keeps upping the ante. Won't matter is E* is setting up for a few more HD channels if they gouge the customer too much. But hang on, perhaps we'll see a surprising package and setup offered in the September HD-themed chat.

[jerryez]

I will wait, but the package better be good, because I will pay big money to D before I will be gouged for big money by E. I believe that most HD viewers can afford the money, they just will not be taken advantage of.

[Sparkman87]

Cyclone,

I reread Sugarbluffs post and saw nowhere that he said that he is not a current HD customer, only stating what he would have to do to remain an HD customer after the Superdish is out. And I have read that only open TV capable receivers will work with the Superdish.

I am in the same boat that he is in and I'm torn with what to do as well. If I leave I lose supers & grandfathered distants. Plus, I just won a 42" plasma, so now I have 2 HD's. Think I'm going to convert my Express Vu to HD for one & stick with DISH for the other for now. If Superdish is too big of a cost, will start looking to Direct.

[Cyclone]

I had glanced back at this sentence "if I want to be an HDTV customer in the future" and took it the wrong context. The Tech chat did state the 6000 would definitely work with SuperDish.

Oh, Congratulations on the Plasma.

[GreyGhost00]

I will wait, but the package better be good, because I will pay big money to D before I will be gouged for big money by E. I believe that most HD viewers can afford the money, they just will not be taken advantage of.
I don't have any current E* HD equipment and none of my boxes will support the SuperDish, so I'm out cash either way.
That pretty much levels the playing field as far as I'm concerned. If I have to lay out cash anyway, do I wait and give it to Charlie, or fork over the cash to D* to have HD now and superior equipment (receivers)?

Charlie's strategy of branding all equipment as E* has probably saved him money, but I think I'm just about fed up with limited choices, buggy firmware and empty promises.

I keep hearing the promise of things to come, but I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that Charlie's miserly attitude will keep him behind D*. E* should have been doing their positioning during the merger debacle, instead they basically stood pat. Now with NewsCorp acquiring D*, they've lost their head start. Anything that Charlie does now will likely be reacted to in short order by D*.

I was one of the most ardent E* supporters for many years, but that has changed in the last 18 months.

[ride525]

I was just about to switch to Directv from DISH since D* has HD hardware (receivers and 3LNB dish) and more HD stations.

I decided to wait and see what Charlier will say on September 8. But it better be good, and soon. Last Chat he did say current subscribers wouldn't have to pay full price for SuperDish. I would like to see both SuperDish and 811 subsidized some for those that switch. After all, most will be subscribing to new HD pak.

Jeff

[cicijay]

... I have never considered going to D* since there was the perceived wasted outlay of cash to replace my receivers...

I agree!!!

That is the part that I think Dish underestimated. All existing customers who want HDTV must start all over and must evaluate the cost of doing so.

From what I can tell, it will be much more expensive to stay with E*. Not only could a new receiver be needed, you will need a new dish and if you want limited PVR functionality you will be paying a monthly surcharge and don't forget about the extended warranty on the PVR.

One other point, none of this stuff exists yet! Stay tuned for another chat, again.

Having said all that, pending any more surprises on the September Chat, I will stay with E*.

I plan on trashing my 501 PVR (my 3rd one that sounds like an airplane) and going with the 811 receiver and either going with the JVC DVHS via firewire and/or building a HTPC and waiting for software that will allow me to firewire into the HTPC. I've had a HDTV capable projector for almost a year and have been waiting for the 921 since that time. I didn't want to waste money on an HTPC and then have it replaced with the 921.

If there hadn't been a DVR fee I would have spent all that money on the 921. I had the DishPlayer and switched to the 501 since it didn't have the monthly fee. I always felt like I was renting the DishPlayer.

I am happy with E* and appreciate everything thy are doing to help the consumer but I guess they won't be getting the money I have set aside. I have been a long time E* customer and have upgrade receivers 4 times but this time I must make sure the money I spend will be for the long haul.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I was upset over this entire Dish HD fiasco.

I still am a bit.

But I must state that I am going to wait it out. I believe that everyone who waits it out will be very happy after the september 8th Charlie Chat. :)

I also look forward to bringing you more HD news and info later on in the month of September. :D

[Jerry G]

But I must state that I am going to wait it out. I believe that everyone who waits it out will be very happy after the september 8th Charlie Chat. :)

I also look forward to bringing you more HD news and info later on in the month of September. :D

This is confusing me. I thought we were going to get the answers and information we need in the Sept 8 chat. But it appears that there will be more info you will bring us later in September. So the chat will NOT give us all that we need to know. Sounds like another setup for a big disappointment.

[Mike123abc]

I was upset over this entire Dish HD fiasco.

I still am a bit.



I would not call it a fiasco. Maybe a rumor fiasco, but as far as I have seen it has not come out from E* any promises or missed dates.

While all the internet people have been screaming that DirecTV has HDTV now (HDnet, HDmovies and ESPN-HD), and we have not heard anything out of Dish.

It is not like E* has been ignoring the problem... they have put 2 new satellites into position (well at least one new one used, but will be replaced by a new one). After paying the major $$ for them, I do not expect them to sit idle long.

All these people griping them out and jumping to DirecTV should be asking DirecTV what are their plans for HD! That is a far more interesting question since there has been no plans announce except maybe if you count the overcompression option where they squeeze more on their existing satellites.

What has been announced now is that dish is going to go from 50 CONUS transponders to 114 and DirecTV is going to be stuck at 46. Now of course DirecTV will have about 30 more spots for locals to help add a bunch of new markets, but Dish has already ordered a new spot beam satellite. Even if Dish uses 30 of the CONUS beams for LIL to balance with DirecTV they will still have a 74 to 34 CONUS advantage. We have not even talked about the wing satellites.

[Bowtieman]

Long time customer of E*. Will wait until the September Charlie Chat to see if anything is happening for the first of October as stated in the last chat. If I see more procrastination on E*'s part I will probably make the change to D*. Not what I really want to do but it sounds like the Superdish and HD PVr's are going to be quite expensive and to date no package for the loyal dish customers has been announced. That is why I will wait. To see if it is forthcoming.

E* needs to realize that for every E* customer that goes to D* that it doesn't just lose that customer but all their family, friends, and work acquaintances. It then becomes a snowball effect with those people and so on.

I am aware that every business needs new customers but they should take care of their loyal present customers with similar packages and enticements as the new customers.

[BobMurdoch]

Once again, everyone is jumping the gun becuase the information has not been released on their expected timetable.

No one knows what the Superdish upgrades will cost. Due to the Must Carry legislation, many of us SHOULD be able to get help paying for the upgrades or they will be facing more FCC trouble from the second tier local broadcasters.

No pricing has been established. The squashed takeover attempt set them back. I'm amazed they were able to get all this together THIS fast given their notorious development times.

Everyone take a breath. Those of you who paid for the 6000 upgrade SIS get screwed, but let's see what they do to make it right before we assemble the guillotine.........

Remember D* is going to have a severe bandwidth problem in the future if a lot of new HD channels come online so another 30 days is not a long time to reserve judgement. I really DO believe that October will see the clouds part on the uncertainties......

IF Charlie does intend to get all of us to foot the bill then his churn numbers will shoot up (or no one will upgrade), so the doomsayers may still be right, but it's only the 3rd inning in the HD ballgame so it's a little early to call the game over for E* at this point.

[GreyGhost00]

Once again, everyone is jumping the gun becuase the information has not been released on their expected timetable.
Who's timetable? - Scott was on here last month and was told by E* that we'd all be pleased with the Chat and that it would answer a lot of our questions. Did that happen?

No one knows what the Superdish upgrades will cost. Due to the Must Carry legislation, many of us SHOULD be able to get help paying for the upgrades or they will be facing more FCC trouble from the second tier local broadcasters.

No pricing has been established. The squashed takeover attempt set them back. I'm amazed they were able to get all this together THIS fast given their notorious development times.
Are you really implying that Dish had NO fallback plan if the merger wasn't approved? If so, that speaks volumes as to how E* is run - I wouldn't be too confident in a company where that was the case. The writing was on the wall for the merger soon after it was announced.

C'mon - pricing has been established at this point. if the receivers and SuperDish are to be released in Oct., then Dish knows how much it costs to manufacture them because they're already being built ! This can be released now, they are just choosing not to. What's that they say about bad news?

Everyone take a breath. Those of you who paid for the 6000 upgrade SIS get screwed, but let's see what they do to make it right before we assemble the guillotine.........
The problem is that we've been saying 'let's see what they do' for months now, with no tangible signs of progress.

Remember D* is going to have a severe bandwidth problem in the future if a lot of new HD channels come online so another 30 days is not a long time to reserve judgement. I really DO believe that October will see the clouds part on the uncertainties......
Anything Dish does now will be met in short order by D*. E* is the one playing catchup right now. I don't know if they can regain the edge - if recent actions are any indication ...

IF Charlie does intend to get all of us to foot the bill then his churn numbers will shoot up (or no one will upgrade), so the doomsayers may still be right, but it's only the 3rd inning in the HD ballgame so it's a little early to call the game over for E* at this point.
Well if the Tech Chat is any indication, that's exactly what he expects. I hope I'm wrong.

[Bowtieman]

I hope your wrong too GreyGhost00.

I don't want to leave E* but unless I hear some good news that announces a definite deadline for Superdish and the PVR's. Along with a nice package deal for all the subs out there waiting patiently for something rock solid to come out of Charlie and the gangs mouths in the September Charlie chat. I will.