Dish Network questions

[T2K]

Howdy. My 78 year old Dad has had Dish Network satellite service for several years. I bought him a 1080P flat screen TV and went over to hook er up yesterday. He has a model 311 dish receiver with S-video being the highest quality video output available on the receiver. I used that and got a 480i signal on most channels that I checked. I am thinking about upgrading his equipment so I called Dish Network and told the rep that I was interested in buying a receiver only and not interested in upgrading the service, HD for example. I told the guy I was looking for a receiver with component outputs for 720P or better resolution.

He said I could buy a VIP 211 receiver and use that without upgrading service and would receive 1080P signals.

My questions are these:

does the guy know what the heck he's talking about?

would I have to upgrade Dad's several year old single LNB dish?

I'm simply looking for better than 480i resolution. Short of that a HD TV is a waste of money for the signal he's receiving now. Heck, I have analog cable and I get 1080i.

Any and all commentary appreciated.

Keith

[BerserkNitro]

The best way to get a better signal is to get the 211 and upgrade the service so you get HD programing...You can upgrade the box and get the the hdmi/component connections it should help the picture a bit..But i dont think your going to get a 1080p signal.....Unless you have HD programing added....I know when i watch a non HD channel i cant stand watching it anymore.....But with HD its great! and iam pretty sure you have to change the LNB too but dont quote me on that.....Maybe someone else can chimm in on this issue too..

[Arky]

To recieve a higher resolution signal I believe the lnb would have to be changed. I have the vip 622 & love it.

These guys can answer your ? link

[mark1101]

I have Dish and went through all that too. You will need a whole new dish, not just an LNB. The HD satellite (129) is lower in the sky then the SD satellites (110/119). There is a single Dish that can get to all 3. That is what I suggest. Otherwise no HD channels. They may try and install a second dish to accomplish just getting to the HD satellite. Then you will have 2 dishes. I would reject that and get a single dish that does it all.

Also, I think ESPN is the only 720P progamming, and Dish now has some 1080P PPV movies. But, everything else in HD is 1080i or lower.

A 1080P TV really doesn't buy you very much since the programming is simply not there. If you play games or watch Blue Ray DVDs that's another story. But I always say that a good 720P TV is a good bargain for just watching TV (right now) whether it is cable or satellite.

[jwatson364]

i have dish network too, but i have the 722 box with hdmi output....

also, make sure he has the hd package offered from dish too, i do and i love them!!!

hope that was helpful!!!

[Cal Blacksmith]

We have had dish for about 9 years now and have never owned a box. We lease the boxs (2) with the service and this has worked out great. Over the years we have upgraded boxes 4 times, had DVRs replaced when they had problems, upgraded our standard service to HD for free (hardware, we still had to pay extra to get the HD content) and have had the dish reaimed for free. You might want to think about going the lease option, in the long run it was less expensive for us YMMV

[billybob]

Glad to hear lease works. Like a no-hassle plan.

[billybob]

I have Dish and went through all that too. You will need a whole new dish, not just an LNB. The HD satellite (129) is lower in the sky then the SD satellites (110/119). There is a single Dish that can get to all 3. That is what I suggest. Otherwise no HD channels. They may try and install a second dish to accomplish just getting to the HD satellite. Then you will have 2 dishes. I would reject that and get a single dish that does it all.

Also, I think ESPN is the only 720P progamming, and Dish now has some 1080P PPV movies. But, everything else in HD is 1080i or lower.

A 1080P TV really doesn't buy you very much since the programming is simply not there. If you play games or watch Blue Ray DVDs that's another story. But I always say that a good 720P TV is a good bargain for just watching TV (right now) whether it is cable or satellite.

Good info: IMHO

The 1000 Dish is configured for the 129.

If no obstructions the multi-look angle dish should go in.

If want to, could contact local dealers to compare W/DISH rates for install/setup. Some local dealers give better customer service.

[T2K]

Thanks for all the responses. It is nice to be able to get fast accurate feedback here.

I started to buy my Dad a new TV several months ago. Because I didn't know what he would think of LCD TV's I mentioned that I was thinking about buying one for him. He said ' I've seen those things, I don't even like them. Don't buy me a TV! '. So I didn't. He came over to my house Thanksgiving. We ate all we could eat and watched a little NFL football. He asked lots of questions about my TV. I showed him the 37" LCD on the wall in my bedroom. He said 'that's about the size I need'. ;>) The next day was black friday so I got out and bought him a TV and a stand. I carried them to his house with a bow stuck on the box. I set up the stand and hooked up the TV. I told him that if he thought the 40" was too big or he just didn't like it I would take it back home. He said 'ARE YOU CRAZY'. The laugh was worth all the trouble.

I think I'll try an OTA HD antenna since he's high on a hill and gets good local reception and work on improving the satellite service in a couple of months.

Thanks again for your responses, and the link.

Keith

[billybob]

If your dad has an existing uhf/vhf antenna now in acceptable shape just plug and play with

rg-6 coaxial cable. Keep cable length as short as practical.

All existing older OTA's are HD ready. If good reception now on the hill should expect acceptable results with a little tweaking now.

UHF the primary carrier.

[mark1101]

You should be able to find some 1080P programming OTA. OTA can be excellent.

[Guest " "]

The tech support department , different than the sales department, has the most accurate info. Sorry to say this, but depending when you call, you could be speaking to a nice southern peach, or you could be talking to someone in india reading different screens based on your key words. The india shops tele-support anything. After speaking to you about Dishnetwork, the next call could be about anything.

The LNBF question is a good point. In most cases, when they come out to install the reciever, it's the services rep's problem to up grade anything needed to make the new reciever work. LNBF's and switches have compatibility matrix's. If your rig needs alot of upgrades, sub contracted installers will often claim that there is no line of sight if the cost of the hard ware they have to commit exceeds the install rate Dish will pay.

Best bet is to speak to dish tech support and insist that a dish employee come out to do the install.

[Arky]

You're right fritz. Tech support is good but on the sales side i'd ask for a level 2 person.

[T2K]

The guy I talked to at Dish was Tech Support and I had given him my Dad's info so that he would know what service/equipment Dad has. One question I have is that would the same receiver give better video quality if it was equiped with Component or HDMI outputs rather than the coaxial and S-Video outputs that the 311 receiver has. IOW, is the video quality limited by the output connection?

I went over this afternoon and hooked up a Toshiba XD-E500 DVD player using HDMI. The upscaler gave a great picture. I paid $89.95 for it and a couple of bucks for the cable from Monoprice. Dad has some movies he wants to watch and others that he now wants to rewatch. I didn't watch enough to make a judgment about the player but the picture was great.

Thanks again for the comments.

Keith

[Guest " "]

"One question I have is that would the same receiver give better video
quality if it was equiped with Component or HDMI outputs rather than
the coaxial and S-Video outputs that the 311 receiver has. IOW, is the
video quality limited by the output connection? "

If you use the same quality cable for the S-video, the answer from my experience is no.

Cable quality is the issue here. Using the out of the box coax and then switching to good grade s-video has less picture color saturation and bleed thru.

Moving from out of the box s-video, to good grade componet or HDMI, will have the same effect.

But if your cables were intially of good quality, it's questionable that you will see a difference.

Good quality cables which are properly seperated (signal on one side, power on the other) results in good normal resolution pictures.

The componet or HDMI circutry does not upscale resolution.

[billybob]

If the Dish employee finds a no-line-of-sight for all sats NLOS, then call an experienced/reputable DISH dealer/tech/installer, that specializes on getting the system in.

You want the latest Dish equipment LNBF/dish compatable with their satellite offerings = The 1000 Dish with integrated switches, without the outboard "legacy" equipment/parts/switches, such as with the "SuperDish".

Dish Tech support is good with some reading from a screen, and others just know it. We are talking about

Englewood,

Colorado tech-support