[Mthrboard]

After trying and failing several times to get Dish to give me the monthly service credits they promised me when I subscribed, I've decided to cancel my E* subscription and subscribe to D* instead. I was going to go through a local vendor who offered me the same deal I see online ($59.99/mo for 12 months with Starz, Showtime and DVR service included, with a free DVR receiver after rebate), but in today's Best Buy ad, I see that they're offering a free 15" LCD TV with a new D* subscription. Unfortunately, the fine print doesn't say anything about what package you get from D*, how much the equipment costs, or anything else like that. If I subscribe there, can I still get the same deal on the service and equipment? Do they do the install for free, or would they provide me the dish so I can install it myself? I tried calling my local store to get these answers directly, but no one wants to answer the phone (probably all busy playing with their Wii's). I guess I don't really need a 15" LCD TV, but if I can get that, and get the same deal on the service and equipment, I can't see a reason why I shouldn't go there.

 

[Blitz68]

You usually get a 4 room install for free which includes one SD DVR and 3 SD recievers, install and dish.

 

[harsh]

As you might guess, most of us here haven't just subscribed through a storefront.

The display (I'm betting it isn't a fully functional TV) is a carrot. Everything else is probably the same as if you had gone through D*.

 

[Newshawk]

You should be able to get any of the national offers that are available now.

I just checked the Best Buy online flier, and it is indeed an Insignia 15" 4:3 LCD monitor; however, with it being included with a D* system, ther's really no need for a built-in tuner, is there?

Link to the page: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7661933&st=%237661933&type=product&id=1134701298432

 

[Mthrboard]

You should be able to get any of the national offers that are available now.

I just checked the Best Buy online flier, and it is indeed an Insignia 15" 4:3 LCD monitor; however, with it being included with a D* system, ther's really no need for a built-in tuner, is there?

The tuner may not be necessary for the D* system, but I plan on using sending RF out on the DVR in the living room to the rest of the TVs in my house, so I can watch recorded programs in the bedroom or the family room downstairs. Plus, I'm working on building a media server, so I can back up my DVD collection and watch that on any TV as well, via an RF modulator. Anyway, I'm on my way to Best Buy now, and hopefully I'll return with a new TV and D* receivers.

 

[jpl]

I got my DTV (4 1/2 years ago) from Blockbuster. Yes, the video rental place. Since Blockbuster did the PPV for DTV at the time (don't know if they still do), there were some storefronts that were authorized DTV dealers. The equipment choices I had were limited (they only offered a single type of receiver), but that was fine with me. I got all the deals that DTV was offering at the time (something like $50 for two receivers, plus free standard installation -- they arranged for everything -- they even called DTV for me to schedule the install, and a dish was included). My only beef with the install was that the installer charged me a bit extra for having to go into my crawlspace.

Anyway, I'm not sure how it operates now, but if it's the same as it was back then, then you should get the deal that DTV is offering, in addition to whatever deal BB is offering. We got the same type of arrangement - all the stuff that DTV was offering, plus 52 free movie rentals (1/wk for a year) from Blockbuster.