Considering canceling DISH. What to do with DVR content in 722k unit

[coli1875]

Hi all,

I've been a DISH customer for 3 years now. My setup is just a 722k, Americas 200, HD and 4 premium channels. I'm considering switching to AT&T Uverse since they just got in the neighborhood and are offering very good deals since I already have their phone and DSL service.

They're offering me their top tier package with two HD DVRs so the bundle will cost me around $50 less for more channels, an additional HD DVR and twice the Internet bandwidth speed. They're also offering one month trial and no cancellation fee if I decide to leave.

My experience with Dish has being mixed... In three years the 722/722k had to be replaced three times, ie, I'm using a third unit now (leased). On the first one I lost all the content because the cust serv rep didn't tell me that what was failing was the internal HD so I didn't attached an EHD to save it. Of course when the new 722 arrived the internal HD content was unrecoverable. BTW: It's stupid DISH doesn't offer a backup solution for their units if they already allow an EHD, I guess it's probably a copyright issue instead of a technical one but it's stupid not to offer it. Moving the content to an EHD is not backup, it's just moving.... The EHD will fail at some point too, is just a matter of time.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions before I make a decision to either keep or switch to AT&T Uverse after they install it:

1) If I decide to switch after the trial period, is there a way to move the content out of the DVR and at least put it in a PC ??. I read here people have copied the content from one EHD to another using DishARC or Ghost but I was wondering if anything can be done so I don't loose the content on the EHD which is all HD movies I've recorded.

2) Is there an option to put my DISH account in "suspend" mode ?? ie, pay a really minimum fee ($10 or less) and keep my account "in the system" in case I decide to go back ?? I remember seen one post here about doing something similar but can't find it now. If I can do this I'll consider doing it for a while.

3) I already read here about the quality of the better quality of DirecTV HD vs Uverse but didn't find many references about DISH HD vs Uverse. Also, it looks like their DVR functions are not too good, even basic things like pausing live TV or going back is not too good. Any one care to comment ??

Thanks.

[RasputinAXP]

There's nothing you can do about the data on the EHD. It's only usable with a device on the account that recorded it.

If you're out of contract, you can put your account on Suspend for a cheap price.

Paul's probably around and willing to give you his opinion of U-Verse.

[BattleZone]

You can search for "uverse" here and get plenty of real user opinions of Uverse. The quick version is: it has some major limitations that most folks here would never want to put up with, but may be a decent solution for singles/couples whose TV needs are few. The main issues being: low picture quality, a limit of 4 total TV streams, with most areas limited to 2 HD and 2 SD streams, and the tiny size of the hard drive, which isn't replacable or expandable, on the ONE DVR you are allowed.

A good 15-20% of my company's workload is reconnecting customers who have canceled Uverse, usually after a having it for a very short period of time. Few folks understand the limitations until after it is installed, and then they can't switch back to satellite fast enough. I guess folks with cable may not find the limitations as unlivable, but it is instructive to note that AT&T's Uverse growth has nearly ground to a halt after serious growth the first 18 or so months it was available, and churn is very high.

The Internet service is pretty good, though.

[MysteryMan]

There's nothing you can do about the data on the EHD. It's only usable with a device on the account that recorded it.

If you're out of contract, you can put your account on Suspend for a cheap price.

Paul's probably around and willing to give you his opinion of U-Verse.

DISH charges a fee for suspending your account? Now that's nickel & diming! I had to suspend My DirecTV account while I was waiting for the closing on my new home. Didn't charge me anything. Used their Movers Connection for my new home. Again, no charge.

[Stewart Vernon]

Also worth mentioning about U-Verse... your internet AND TV are using the same bandwidth...

So, when you are watching or recording an HD stream via U-Verse, that is a bunch of download bandwidth you can't be using.

IF you are recording two HD streams at the same time, then your internet download doesn't have much left for it OR the video becomes choppy (I'm not sure how they allocate when you try to use everything at once).

I'm happy with my U-verse internet + phone service... but would not want the limitations of the TV service.

You might save a little money, but if you watch much TV at all I have a suspicion you will quickly regret making the change. You'd be better off dropping to a lower tier on Dish and saving money but keeping the better quality equipment and video quality.

[coldsteel]

Dish offers $5 a month for Pause, for up to 6 months.

[3HaloODST]

I had U-verse TV for 7 months, and while for me it was cheaper for the first 6 months due to promotional discounts, it ended up costing me more than DISH after the promos ended. I also couldn't stand the single 320GB (small) DVR (Now I have 2 ViP 722k's at 500 GB a piece plus a 1TB EHD plus I can get more EHD's.) Couldn't stand the 2HD limit, couldn't stand the 4TV limit, couldn't stand the HD PQ (it's more like watching an "HD" YouTube video,) couldn't stand the slow boxes, just couldn't wait to get back to DISH. I also hated that watching TV slowed down my Internet speed. So I dropped U-verse TV, kept U-verse Internet, and now I'm back with DISH to where I can record 4HD without slowing down my 24/3 Internet :) . PQ is much better on DISH as well.

[paja]

I dumped U-verse a few months back. Had it for about 18 months. The biggest drawback for me was the 2 HD streams. There are some areas getiing more streams now, but where I live it's 2 only. I have 3 HD sets so that made it extremely tough. The HD PQ with U was not as good as DISH or Comcast XFinity, which is what I have now.

They recently lost the Hallmark channels, which my wife enjoys. They don't have MLB Net which I wanted. U has potential, but is not ready for prime time-IMHO.

[CABill]

Dish offers $5 a month for Pause, for up to 6 months.
At one time, it was an additional $5 if there were leased receivers. Do you know if that is still in effect for Pause?

[coli1875]

Thanks all for sharing your experiences with Uverse. It looks like I'll be keeping DISH anyway based on all the comments... although I might use the fact that Uverse is giving me a good deal to renegotiate with DISH and get a better deal.

Since it's free the first month I'll test it anyway to see how many simultaneous HD streams I can get. I'll also make sure the installer doesn't mess up my DISH installation as happened to some others that posted here in the forum.

I still wonder about the content inside the DISH DVR and if there is a way to move it out to a Home Theater PC somehow without doing the whole reconversion thing in real time and consequently lost of HD quality , ie, digital to analog back to digital. Not to mention the huge amount of time it'll take.

[paja]

Thanks all for sharing your experiences with Uverse. It looks like I'll be keeping DISH anyway based on all the comments... although I might use the fact that Uverse is giving me a good deal to renegotiate with DISH and get a better deal.

Since it's free the first month I'll test it anyway to see how many simultaneous HD streams I can get. I'll also make sure the installer doesn't mess up my DISH installation as happened to some others that posted here in the forum.

I still wonder about the content inside the DISH DVR and if there is a way to move it out to a Home Theater PC somehow without doing the whole reconversion thing in real time and consequently lost of HD quality , ie, digital to analog back to digital. Not to mention the huge amount of time it'll take.

That is one good thing about U-No Commitment,No Early Termination fees.

[SaltiDawg]

...No Early Termination fees.
Fios is also that way.

[BattleZone]

That is one good thing about U-No Commitment,No Early Termination fees.

That isn't entirely the case. Read the contract carefully.

[tcatdbs]

You can copy content to PC using DishArc/Linux, but can't do anything with it there other than copy it back to a Dish receiver. You'd think by now "someone" would have figured out how to turn those files into mpeg4 files...

[Michael P]

Play them back in real time and record them to a DVD. I know it's SD, but it's better than nothing. I did that a few times when one of my 10 my 921's were being replaced. I was fortunate that when they got "sick" enough to be replaced the internal HD still was playable.

[wreck]

I tried the "1 month free" with U-Verse (w/ free installation). I had no intentions of keeping it as I was still under contract with Dish (and made that clear to the UVerse Rep). Bottom line -- the Fiber Optics greatly improved my internet (got to keep the new modem) and now my house is wired for Uverse for the future.