[BattleZone]

Yesterday, a Dish technician came and did the mandatory HD receiver swap with their HD set upstairs.

By this, I assume you mean the tech swapped out an old 811 for a new 211.

Unfortunately, he did not have a ViP 722 in his van.

It wouldn't have mattered; you'd have needed a work order for him to give you the receiver.

He said that they can send a ViP 722 in the mail and we can just swap out the connections (though we would be using HDMI to connect to the HD set) without having to have an appointment. Is this true and do y'all recommend?

Since they already have a dual-tuner receiver (625) and an HD dish setup, Dish will allow them to do the upgrade themselves. Other than the TV1 connection (you'll want to use HDMI or component for that), you just disconnect the cables from the 625 and move them over to the 722. I recommend setting the new receiver on top of the old one and moving one cable at a time, as they probably aren't labeled, and if you get them mixed up, you'll probably need to pay for a service call to get it straightened out.

Also, I am a DirecTV sub and they have a lot of deals they give for upgrades that are not prominently mentioned. Does Dish do the same? What is the best deal we can get for an upgrade. On the phone, the CSR said to upgrade it would cost a $75 one time fee plus an extra $10 a month in programming.

Like DirecTV, Dish is going to base their upgrade offer on the customer's history. Aside from nationally-advertised promotions, upgrade options are going to vary from customer to customer, depending if they are already in a commitment, the time since their last upgrade, payment history, etc. The only way to know is for them to call Dish and ask.

 

[BattleZone]

1. I would recommend them getting the 722, even if they have to pay a little more. It's worth it, as the 722 is a little more stable, has a larger hard drive, and offers the interactive channels in HD. Also, most of the 622s currently available are refurbs.

2. If they aren't currently paying for an HD package right now, there will be a $7/month "HD equipment" fee for having an HD receiver without HD programming. The "base" HD add-on package is $10/month, and the "HD Everything" package is $20/month. Obviously, you at least want to go with the base HD package, as it's only $3 more per month than having no HD at all.