[l8er]

I have had a VIP922 for almost two years and have really enjoyed it. The fan died in the first one I had after a year and it was replaced by Dish with a new VIP922. I stuck an external fan on the new VIP922 so it wouldn't die like the first one if the internal fan quit.

All of my promos were ending this month, so I switched to DirecTV this weekend.

I never had the chance to do a side by side comparison in the past, but the very knowledgeable installer left the Dish system installed and ran new cabling for the DirecTV system.

Picture Quality: side by side comparison on my Sony KDS-60A2000, using ESPN, CNN and HBO as the source, there was very little difference in the picture. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the two are different - and I prefer DirecTV's picture quality, but it's a subtle difference between the two.

Audio Quality: side by side comparison on my Sony KDS-60A2000 and a couple of external speakers powered by a small amplifier. The difference here was night and day - the Dish audio sounded thin with not much separation compared to the DirecTV audio.

I was surprised. Subtle difference in picture quality, knock your socks off difference in audio quality.

The VIP922 feeds the Sony via HDMI, and two other wide screen TV's via coax - not high def, but wide screen, it has worked with the cabling that was already installed here and has been adequate.

The HR24 is the "whole home DVR". There is a small (H25-100) receiver at each of the other two HDTV's so all three have access to live HD programming for the first time.

And you can play a recorded program from the HR24 at the main TV or either of the other two TV's.

You can also set up recordings from all three TV's, although the actual recording takes place on the main HR24.

I'll pull the plug on Dish this week but I must say it's been a good run with Dish. Quite a few promos and no commitment.

Two year commitment with DirecTV but ALL of the equipment was free, as was the installation of the DirecTV dish.

Take care y'all!

 

[scorpion43]

so you are a promotions chaser :eek2:

 

[l8er]

so you are a promotions chaser :eek2:

I've been unemployed for 17 months so I'm chasing the lowest prices for everything we have or do.

 

[P Smith]

Umm, did you compare to HR34 actually ?

 

[l8er]

Umm, did you compare to HR34 actually ?

No, actually HR24-100. It's what the label on the receiver says.

The DirecTV whole home DVR setup is light years above and beyond the VIP922. Although the Hopper and Joey may come close.

 

[P Smith]

Initially I thought you got five tuners HR34 ...

 

[Jhon69]

No, actually HR24-100. It's what the label on the receiver says.

The DirecTV whole home DVR setup is light years above and beyond the VIP922. Although the The Hopper and The Jimmy may come close.

It's Hopper&Joey?

That can actually beat the HR34 because of PTAT,for 3 hours every night it can record 7 programs at one time(while watching a prerecorded program).:eek2:

And when you combine the 922 with the MT2(Dual Over The Air Tuners Module) along with the builtin Sling and the other features, it's nothing short of WOW! at least to me it is.

 

[lparsons21]

When I switched I noticed some of the same you did. Picture quality different, not necessarily better and it is subtle. But the audio is much better with D*.

But you really can't compare the whole home parts of the HR24 to the Vip922 since the 922 was never a whole home HD solution and wasn't meant to be.

Rumors are strong that the Dish Hopper/Joey will start shipping by the middle of March, so we should start seeing some comparisons from actual users shortly after that, especially if some existing users here get them.