[Rob O]

Ok, so I have not been on this board in a few years since i switched to Comcast. I found this board very helpful when i had Dish, so I am hoping someone will be willing to help me out. I used to really like Dish but left to get, what was then, a better way for me to get my HD. I've been getting really frustrated with Comcast due to the high cost, and have been seeing the ads for TurboHD.

Now, I really only ever watch HD on Comcast so an all HD service without any of the SD stuff is really appealing to me (not to mention the much lower cost when compared to what I pay Comcast every month).

I have 3 hdtv's and one old fashioned one that I want to hook up. It looks like I want a 722 and then two 211's. I priced it all up with TurboHD Gold DishDVR Advantage Package and it comes up to $64 - WOW! Here's the part where i need help, I have a few questions.

How is the picture quality? Back when I swithced to Comcast there was a whole HD lite discussion going on. Does Dish still provide an HD "lite" signal?

Will I need more than one dish in Massachusetts to get the local and national HD feeds? This could kill it for me, I'm only willing to look at one dish on my roof.

Are there any problems with the 722 or 211 receivers? I don't remeber the DVR box I had before, but I loved it. I still curse the Comcast DVR.

Dish told me that the current pricing is good until Jan 2009 for the TurboHD packages. Does that just mean they are going to raise prices next year?

How is the VOD?

Anyone have any pros/cons for TurboHD?

Sorry for the long post, but I really don't want to commit for two years and then find that I regret switching back. I really did like Dish, so I would love to come back.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated (Jim Long are you still here?)

 

[faiello]

I just switched from Comcast to Dish about 3 weeks ago, I think the HD is just as good as Comcast. I have a 722 and a 222, I am having problems with the 222 but not sure if the 211 has the same problems. The 722 is great and you can hook up your SD TV to the 722 second tuner. I have Turbo HD Gold, Platinum, and Locals and paying much less than Comcast. Also getting Cinemax .01 for a year and Starz and HBO free for 3 months, and I also got Turbo HD Platinum free for 3 months only paying $56.99 right now.

 

[puckwithahalo]

as a returning customer, you would have to go to one of the AT packages (unless the last time with E* your account was under someone else's SSN). existing and returning customer's will be eligible for TurboHD packages in Feb

 

[BobaBird]

Another reason you may want to wait is that Boston (assuming that's your market) is not yet on the list of Eastern Arc areas to get the single Dish 1000.4. If you sign back on now you'll have 2 dishes.

 

[Rob O]

Ok thats great information guys! I knew coming here would help clear things up for me.

Anyone else have any input on pros/cons?

If the TurboHD packages are becoming available to existing dish customers in Feb, does that mean the package prices right now are promotional and will be going up?

 

[bnewt]

I just upgraded to HD last weekend. Now I have nothing to compare except ota HD, but I am very impressed with most everything that I have seen on my lcd. Sure wished that I had this during the Olympics

 

[faiello]

Rob O, if you want Turbo HD you can get it, if you have the right CRS you can use a different telephone number and create a new account as a new customer thats what I did, I was a Dish customer 4 years ago. If the first CSR says no call again and again till you find one who will. Good luck

 

[James Long]

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated (Jim Long are you still here?)

I'm still here. It looks like you've received better thoughts than I could come up with on the topic.

 

[Rob O]

Another reason you may want to wait is that Boston (assuming that's your market) is not yet on the list of Eastern Arc areas to get the single Dish 1000.4. If you sign back on now you'll have 2 dishes.

Does anyone have any idea if the Boston market will be put on the list of Eastern Arc areas and this single dish will be available, if ever? Right now 2 dishes on the roof means no Dish for me.

 

[BobaBird]

I consider it very likely but have no idea when. It's only been a few weeks since the 1000.4 was made available in 21 initial markets (marked as (EA) on Dish HD Locals). The next round has not been announced, and there may or may not be a PR for each group of additions to the list.

 

[DishSatUser]

as a returning customer, you would have to go to one of the AT packages (unless the last time with E* your account was under someone else's SSN). existing and returning customer's will be eligible for TurboHD packages in Feb

As in "Independance Day", that is ... not entirely.... accurate.

I was a returning Dish Network customer when I returned from DirecTV. I do believe this is evaluated on a case by case basis.

1. How long a time you were away from Dish.

2. What type of Dish customer you were (had a DishPlayer 7100 for years before it died and switched when the upgrade options stank, especially in regards to how I'd felt about the service provided to DishPlayer 7100/7200 owners).

3. Reasons you'd left and reasons you'd come back.

In any case, I've TurboHD Gold without any AT packages. I was charged a $50.00 upgrade fee, but received all the new gear, dishes and packages. So it simply worked out as if I didn't receive the first $50.00 credit they provide new customers. Not a show stopper.

So to the original poster, you'll have to see when you deal with the CSR. When ordering online, you'll be notified if you are not eligable as a returning customer and to contact a CSR.

Now per your other questions:

How is the picture quality? Back when I swithced to Comcast there was a whole HD lite discussion going on. Does Dish still provide an HD "lite" signal?

The Picture quality from my ViP 722 is excellent, I don't have a 222 so I'll stick to just the 722 results. Have neighbors using Comcast and the same HDTV, so I had a chance to observe. It may be that I also adjusted my set and they left theirs at the default, but the PQ, colors and contrast appear better on my set with the 722 and the channels I watch. However, Comcast does provide different PQ from region to region, so I don't know if that applies in any way to your existing Comcast.

As from what I understand, HD "lite" is the additional compression and downconverting to a subset of 1080i. This still happens, but I suspect that all "carriers" do this to provide enough space for the number of channels they need to provide and compete. The one difference, but will be joined by DirecTV at some point, is 1080P Video-on-Demand pay per view movies. Currently these are in promotion for $2.99 and have been evaluated to be close to Blu-Ray quality (tainted in the evaluation due to aspect chaning from OAR to 16:9) If that is of any value is questionable as only two movies have been offered in this format to date (I am Legend, 10,000 BC).

However, on the regular national and local HD channels, I'm more than satisfied with the results.

Will I need more than one dish in Massachusetts to get the local and national HD feeds? This could kill it for me, I'm only willing to look at one dish on my roof.

As a new customer, or returning customer needing all new gear, you may be in a DMA that qualifies for Eastern Arc. This 1000.4 dish gets all three SATs in EA on a single dish. When working with the CSR, stress the single dish need and even drop that you'd heard about EA. This is where online ordering doesn't help you as you cannot select the dishs that will be provided to you.

Are there any problems with the 722 or 211 receivers? I don't remeber the DVR box I had before, but I loved it. I still curse the Comcast DVR.

It is safe to say that "currently" there isn't anything on the market to rival the quality and stability of the ViP 722 HD DVR.

Dish told me that the current pricing is good until Jan 2009 for the TurboHD packages. Does that just mean they are going to raise prices next year?

Sure! How much? No one knows for sure, but it follows their trend. They typically release their prices every two years and garantee them for that length. They'll then up them a buck or two and then garantee those for another two years. So it's a two year cycle. Technically TurboHD hasn't been out that long, but I suspect they are simply tying it to the same time as all other increases to simplify when increases occur. Will it increase, likely, how much?

Regardless, it'll still be cheaper than the competition. When switching from SD DirecTV to TurboHD on Dish with locals, I still save $10.00 a month to the previous billing I had.

How is the VOD?

Pretty good actually! At least with the 1080P VOD on 501 that I've purchased to see what the excitement was about. Best PPV quality I've ever seen on any service. So far with the promotional pricing, the 1080P content has also been the cheapest. I also used the "DishONLINE" service a couple times. This is different in that a significant library is available for rental, but it's downloaded over the internet. As long as I make the choice the day before, it's ready the next day (about 12hours for a full length movie on my 768Kbps link).

Anyone have any pros/cons for TurboHD?

Primarily we (my spouse and I) selected the TurboHD package for the "All HD" selection at a lower cost. So the pros would be, you are paying just for the HD channels you want. Cons would be, less channels that the AT package and no music channels. Yeah, I liked some of them.

However, that's about it really. Other cons would be for exisiting customers on an active account, they can't upgrade to these packages until next Feb.

According to the link posted above Boston has been on 61.5 since April 08. Wonder what's the hold up on EA? I'd chat with the CSR as it may be available as a new/returning subscriber.

 

[Rob O]

According to the link posted above Boston has been on 61.5 since April 08. Wonder what's the hold up on EA? I'd chat with the CSR as it may be available as a new/returning subscriber.

Thanks for the reply. I think I will have another chat with a CSR to see if I can get some info on whether or not I might be able to get an EA dish installed. I've been away from Dish for a few years now. If they knew what I was paying Comcast every month I'm pretty sure they'd be eager to get me signed back up (I won't tell them that I liked Dish better!). I'll repost with any info I get.

 

[thenamesash]

Thanks for the reply. I think I will have another chat with a CSR to see if I can get some info on whether or not I might be able to get an EA dish installed. I've been away from Dish for a few years now. If they knew what I was paying Comcast every month I'm pretty sure they'd be eager to get me signed back up (I won't tell them that I liked Dish better!). I'll repost with any info I get.

I canned Comcast on the 11th when Dish installed Eastern Arc 1000.4 dish. I, like you, pretty much never watched the SD channels - just Noggin and Nick for the kids. I am in Vermont. They still need to better tune my dish for a little bit higher signals and are coming back next week to do so. The Dish signal vs. Comcast is simply not comparable. On a 720p Panasonic 50" plasma, the Dish signal is much clearer, no ghosting, no pixellating. Comcast recently added more HD content, but to do it increased their compression. I also have OTA for my locals and I'd say that the Dish signal is even better than that on most of the channels. I have Turbo HD silver + platinum with a 612 DVR and 222 dual tuner. The total cost is $56/mo. You might want to look at the turbo silver vs/ gold, it seemed to me that you got better channels by going to silver and adding the platium. Here's another piece of info you might not know. I ended up keeping Comcast for Internet since there is unfortunately no other real competition here as DSL is horrible where I am due to the distance from the central office. Anyway, Comcast has a lower tier internet which is 768kbps down/ 384kbps up. It's $24.95 IF you are a cable customer. So what I did is get the basic cable for $9.55/mo and then got the $24.95 rate. Adding in the $3 modem lease fee it's $37.50/mo before taxes. And I see no problems with this lower internet speed as I was never getting close to their 6Mbps with their high speed service. I suppose if you do a lot of file transfers you might see a difference. So I am now paying ~$100 vs. $150 for way better HD content + picture quality and a little slower internet.