[itsybitsyspider]

Newbie here, so please be kind!

We have had satellite for 10 years now. Started with Dish Network and were with them for 4-5 years. Then, sadly our trees grew too tall (50' oaks) and we couldn't get the signal. We could site the DirecTV ones, though, so switched over and have been on autopilot since then. Had a single receiver, wired to two tvs (same signal on both) since we had just one main one and the bedroom and only rarely had a conflict.

So, now we are moving and have a choice again. I spent a few hours going through both websites and I am completely confused now.

Can someone point me to a summary of the differences in billing, recievers, etc.?

I see references to "leasing" the receiver in both place. Previously we just bought the reciever that had the features we wanted and went on our merry way.

What are the charges for DVRs? How do those work with multiple rooms? Are there still charges for multiple rooms? I really did try to find this on their websites, but I can't seem to get a clear picture of what I would be paying.

Our new house will have a TV in the family room and one in the finished basement. Eventually the basement will be the "nicer" system, hopefully HD, but not for at least a year or two. We have kids now, so two separate signals would be nice at times.

One last thought - we will most likely have AT&T for phone and DSL, so we would have access to their packages. They look like they are slightly cheaper, but again, without knowing all the extra charges, I can't be sure.

TIA!!

 

[RAD]

Here's a link to a thread that compares the D* and E* HD DVR's if that helps, http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=95242&highlight=622.

Yes, both companies now 'lease' their receivers which lowers the upfront charge. For D* you can still purchase receivers but IIRC the HD DVR is like $700 vs. the $199 upfront lease charge but either way you'll see pay the $4.99 lease/mirroring charge for all receivers past the first.

Both companies charge a DVR fee, D* is $5.99 and includes all DVR's on the account (fee wrapped into the month charge for any DVR package programming package), E* charges per DVR in the house.

D* doesn't have any receivers that allow you to indepentantly run two TV's, you need a receiver for each TV. E* does, the 2nd TV connects via coax back to the receiver. But AFAIK on the E* STB's, if you run the box in the 2TV mode you loose some functionality on TV1 and the TV2 connection isn't HD but SD only.

For the AT&T/E*/DSL bundling, you might want to see what current users of that feature say, at one time I now folks were unhappy since if E* came out with some special deals the AT&T bundle folks couldn't get them.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[rustynails]

I was in your situation. I had E but the trees grew in the way. I switched to D and I must say their programming and picture quality is better than E. Having said that, I do not like their DVR, the HR21. It does not have the functionality of E's VIP 722. People say that I will get used to it but I've had it for 2 months and still miss my 722. There are rumors of DLB and something better than DLB coming to D but who knows!

 

[itsybitsyspider]

Thank you for the info.

How hard is it to upgrade to HD later?

I was thinking of just getting the stardard package/ DVR receiver now and in a couple years, when we have the equipment, upgrading. Is it a big deal with either one?

So, taking the HD out of it for the moment, with DirecTV, the package we are getting now is Total Choice Plus, now called Choice Extra. That would be $62.99/month for one DVR, which would only cover one room (or duplicate programming on a second TV, but does it have a UHF remote?) For two tvs with different programming - $67.98 for one DVR and one standard receiver. Is there a reason to go with some of the other brand receivers such as Phillips, Sony, etc.?

Dish Network, we could get the Top 250 with DVR for $59.99/mo. That includes one DVR receiver that can service two TVs.

Am I missing anything?

 

[RAD]

For DirecTV, you'll need to get the 5LNB dish in order to receive HD channels. Normally if you upgrade your STB's to HD they make that part of the install, so then the rest is just swap boxes. But you'll then be starting the commitment over again. A plus for the HR2X HD DVR's is that you can then use the Video on Demand feature and the Media Share feature (watch JPEG's and listen to MP3's from your computer). Unless they give you a R22 SD DVR (they've only have been supposed to be going to locations that get their SD locals via the Ka/MPEG4 satelites) the regular R15/R16 SD DVR's can't do that.

 

[hdtvfan0001]

I've found this site to have an interesting comparison....

http://www.13donuts.com/sat-tv.html

 

[kal915]

I've found this site to have an interesting comparison....

http://www.13donuts.com/sat-tv.html

Except this comparison is way out of date

 

[bobnielsen]

You can keep your Total Choice Plus, which is a few dollars cheaper than Choice Extra, with the same content. Your total would then be $54.99 + $5.99 (DVR fee) + $4.99 (additional receiver) = $65.97 (possibly less with ATT bundling). All of the current receivers have the Directv brand, but are made by several different manufacturers. All of the DVRs have remotes which will work in either IR or RF mode.