[jci-joe]

I currenly have the Skyangel lifetime subscription so I have no monthly bill with Dish. My current receiver is an 811 and it would be nice to have the programming on more than on TV. I am considering buying a 942 off Ebay and was wondering if anyone else has this scenereo. My questions are:

1. I do not need the PVR so is there anyway to have a 942 and not use the PVR and save the $5.99 per month?

2. With the 942, will I get hit with a non-hd fee? I heard that Dish will no longer sell HD programming with this receiver.

3. I am considering early in 07 to move to the Top 60 package since my cable deal is almost ending. I would go with the 622 but it appears that if I don't buy their HD package, I will get hit with a non-HD fee. I only have a 22" HD LCD and have no desire for the Dish HD programming outside of ESPN and I would choose to live with ESPN standard. I currenly get all my OTA in HD with great signal. That is enough for right now.

4. If I deactivate my 811 reciever from Dish, will it still work to receive over the air HD? I would still keep it connected to the SW64.

 

[garys]

If you are only wanting to use the receiver in the HD outputs and not getting any HD programing from Dish and have no need for a DVR, I would stay with the current setup with your 811. Otherwise you are spending money for the receiver and adding fees for things you do not want or are going to be using. Not sure if the ota will work on a deactived 811.

 

[Michael P]

If you add any receiver to your lifetime Sky Angel account E* will charge you an additional receiver fee. There is also the DVR fee which cannot be waived (to my knowledge). There is no HD enabling fee on the older (MPEG2) HD receivers so you are safe from that fee.

You can get around the additional receiver fee if you remove the 811 from your account and use the 2nd tuner on the 942 (as long as you keep a phone line connected) - but you will still have the DVR fee on that model. For no DVR fee you need an 508 or older DVR (the DVR fees began with the model 510, iirc).

 

[jci-joe]

Based on Dish's price increase, I am most likely going to keep my 811 and buy a 508 from Ebay. I want to stay around $40 per month because that is all TV should cost (my opinion). This will get me 6 OTA HD channels, I get Fox news with SA and the kids are happy with their channels.

My calucations are:

$29.99 Top 60 (100)
$5.00 additional reciever
$0.00 DVR fee (since it is a 508)
$5.99 Locals (so I can PVR them)

Am I missing any other fees other than tax?

 

[CABill]

Locals are $5.99 without a DishFAMILY, AT60, ... package, but drop to $5 if you pay monthly for AT60. The annual AT60 is $330, but then locals go back to $5.99. That lets you squeak by under $40 at $39.99 (dunno about your tax - I have none).

$29.99 AT60
$5 Locals
$5 Addl Rec on 508
$0 DVR fee

But if you were to replace the 811 with a 942, you'd have

$29.99 AT60
$5 Locals
$5.98 DVR fee
$0 Addl Rec
$40.97 Total

You said "I do not need the PVR", but I think you were just mistaken. The 942 would let you record the OTA HD (but you couldn't subscribe to DISH HD packages) and has a lot more recording space than a 508.

The 508 would probably be easier to come by, costs less to purchase, but you'd get more than $.98 in benefit each month IMO.

 

[jci-joe]

My only concern about the 942 models is that there have been alot of complaints about reliability. Any thoughts on the 508 vs. the 942 with regards to longevity? I know my 811 goes out alot especially if I leave it on an OTA local.