Rsoxfan Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I was wondering if anyone on here is using the Dish Network with an hd package? And if so what are your thoughts on it? I'm thinking about switching from Comcast to the dish but I would like to get some feedback before I make the leap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 We have been using Dish Network for over a year now, with the HD package. We love it. We had cable prior to getting Dish Network and there is no comparison even without the HD package. Also, prior to Hurricane Katrina we had DishNetwork installed in two rooms, even though you could get four rooms with free installation. After Katrina, I called DishNetwork because I needed to more rooms equipped with satellite. Because we were in the "devastated area" they installed the other two rooms at no additional charge. (Saved us about $150.00) They also waived two months of our charges at the same time and we didn't even request a waiver. I think the decision to go with Dish Network is the best thing you could do. The HD package is unbeatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I've been using Dish for 10 years or so though haven't gone HD yet. Very satisfied. If it rains I lose the signal for +/- 3 minutes. Annoying but a necessary evil I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 I've been using Dish for 10 years or so though haven't gone HD yet. Very satisfied. If it rains I lose the signal for +/- 3 minutes. Annoying but a necessary evil I suppose. Dish Network's HD package, Voom, is worth the money, IMO. You might want to try it out Arky. A lot of good concerts.[] One thing, don't call DishNetwork at night, hardly anyone speaks English. And...sometimes you have to "operator shop" with them, they must have a high turnover rate. Once our service was established everything went smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Here is a thread from one year ago, where members were giving their pros and cons: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/635436.aspx It's not so much discussing HD issues, but general service experiences with both Dish and DirecTV.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsoxfan Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 I would hate to get it and have dropouts all the time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 I would hate to get it and have dropouts all the time... We don't have "dropouts" all the time. Actually our "drop out" time with DishNetwork has been less than we had with cable. In the case of light rain there is not a problem. Generally we lose +/- 3 minutes in the case of "severe thunderstorms". The signal comes right back and your good to go. When the weather is bad enough to lose the signal, we probably shouldn't have the televisions on anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I would hate to get it and have dropouts all the time... I have had DishNetwork since 1996, and have only rarely experienced signal loss. During those few times the weather was formidable, with blackened skys coupled with heavy heavy rain and extremely high winds. The trick to maintaining signal continuity is to locate your dish in an area that provides a clear unobstructed signal path, while at the same time, providing the dish cover or blockage from direct wind. I had my dish located on the side of one of my chimneys. It's positioned down low near a valley in the roof. The installer wanted to slap it onto the side of my house where it was easiest for him to route his cables, but I insisted on the chimney closest the valley. I do believe that has been my saving grace, because my neighbor who also has DN, loses his signal more frequently than I. With regards to their high definition, I would assume that the quality is as good as the competition (I dunno for sure because I haven't tried another H.D. service). Assuming this to be true, I would recommend selecting the HD service provider that has the largest H.D. channel selection for the price. Good luck with whom ever you go with, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it regardless of the provider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I've been using Dish for 10 years or so though haven't gone HD yet. Very satisfied. If it rains I lose the signal for +/- 3 minutes. Annoying but a necessary evil I suppose. Dish Network's HD package, Voom, is worth the money, IMO. You might want to try it out Arky. A lot of good concerts.[] One thing, don't call DishNetwork at night, hardly anyone speaks English. And...sometimes you have to "operator shop" with them, they must have a high turnover rate. Once our service was established everything went smoothly. I have a plasma being delivered Tuesday so i'll upgrade to HD shortly. I have an old (18yrs) Toshiba rptv that just won't die & I have been holding out. How is the sound quality on the concerts? I guess DD 5.1 at best. JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I took one year off from DISH (10 years experience) about 4 years ago due to a cable promotion. Picture was horrible on cable. If you have allot of trees like I do get a really good technician to install. If things are clear you can do a self install if you are up to it. I am watching Allison Krauss and Union Station in HD with DD 5.1. Even though it is not my kind of music these guys are hot and fun to watch as well. I prefer old movies in HD rather than HBO or Showtime in conventional video resolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardP Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I would hate to get it and have dropouts all the time... As others have said, only in severe thunderstorms will you lose the signal, and typically only for a few minutes (although in a handful of times, over my 10 years, it has taken up to 30 minutes to come back; that may have been reduced by more satellites up there). In your location snow may be an issue; accumulation on the dish itself will block the signal. Either you need to have the dish where you can reach it to clear it off, or install a dish "warmer" to melt off any snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 I've been using Dish for 10 years or so though haven't gone HD yet. Very satisfied. If it rains I lose the signal for +/- 3 minutes. Annoying but a necessary evil I suppose. Dish Network's HD package, Voom, is worth the money, IMO. You might want to try it out Arky. A lot of good concerts.[] One thing, don't call DishNetwork at night, hardly anyone speaks English. And...sometimes you have to "operator shop" with them, they must have a high turnover rate. Once our service was established everything went smoothly. I have a plasma being delivered Tuesday so i'll upgrade to HD shortly. I have an old (18yrs) Toshiba rptv that just won't die & I have been holding out. How is the sound quality on the concerts? I guess DD 5.1 at best. JT I will have to ask dtel if they come in at 6.0, not sure about that one. I'm usually busy in the house, when the tv is on, so I know what's on, but not necessarily how it's coming through.[*-)] I do know the quality of the picture with satellite is soooooo much better than with cable. And I do know some really good concerts come on. A lot of concerts that we haven't had time to track down on dvd. You won't be sorry, HD is unbelievable. One channel is like a "screen saver". Nothing but video of salt water aquariums. It is awesome. If I am not mistaken DishNetwork offers the largest selection of HD. At least they did a couple of months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsoxfan Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 They do have a pretty good selection of hd content. Even at an entry level hd package there's more hd than a mid level comcast hd package...Sill trying to talk my significant other into it..I figured the food network in hd would do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 They do have a pretty good selection of hd content. Even at an entry level hd package there's more hd than a mid level comcast hd package...Sill trying to talk my significant other into it..I figured the food network in hd would do it... The Food Network is terrific. Everyone in the house (all nine of us) love it. My six year old grandson loves to watch Food Network. We do have the Voom package I would suggest you guys try it. I am not a big fan of television. I actually only watch a few selected programs, however I can attest to the picture quality and the programming available. I can also emphatically state the service we have received from DishNetwork is excellent. My primary interest is listening to music, so I am familiar with the programming related to that. We also have Sirius radio and are very pleased with the programming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 I would hate to get it and have dropouts all the time... I've had Dish for almost 10 years....I only get drop outs during severe pitch black sky storms...maybe 5 times during the last 10 years. The better job you do at aiming the dish, the less you are likely to get drop outs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 We've had Dish for a few years and have been well satisfied with the standard-def programs and performance. We upgraded to the HD package early this year, and have been pleased with the quality, but after nine months or so, I've noticed there just isn't that much on that I care to see that I haven't already seen. Another thing that irks me is that so much of the programming on the NFL-HD and National Geographic HD channels is not in high definition! I realize it's relatively early in the game, and that it will take quite a while for the pipeline to fill up with available HD shows, but still it's frustrating. After all, we're paying a premium for the HD pack. Seems to me everything on it should actually be "HD". Still, good programs in good quality high definition are a sight to behold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 The reason I picked dish is because they had the most HD, A total of 16 channels not including HBO or Showtime HD, our local channels are not HD. Direct tv had local channels and 2 or 3 others in Hd. Our local cable, Charter has local channels and 2 or 3 others in Hd. Unless it had changed in the last year Dish network had the best deal and the price was very close to Direct TV, cable was more then either sat company here. Check your local cable company and see what they offer, then compare to both sat companies, go with the best deal ? It is sad that it's almost 2007 and there are still very few Hd channels, and the 3 companies can't seem to share the HD local channels. When we switched to sat we still had the cable connected to the TV. I could switch back and forth with the same channel on sat and cable and the picture on sat was much better ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted November 19, 2006 Moderators Share Posted November 19, 2006 I've been using Dish for 10 years or so though haven't gone HD yet. Very satisfied. If it rains I lose the signal for +/- 3 minutes. Annoying but a necessary evil I suppose. Dish Network's HD package, Voom, is worth the money, IMO. You might want to try it out Arky. A lot of good concerts.[] One thing, don't call DishNetwork at night, hardly anyone speaks English. And...sometimes you have to "operator shop" with them, they must have a high turnover rate. Once our service was established everything went smoothly. I have a plasma being delivered Tuesday so i'll upgrade to HD shortly. I have an old (18yrs) Toshiba rptv that just won't die & I have been holding out. How is the sound quality on the concerts? I guess DD 5.1 at best. JT The sound quality is very close to a DVD, It is 5.1, never really looked to see if it is ever 6.1. Watching John Mayer right now on Rave, on HDNET Sunday night they have some music specials, STYX is playing " one with everything" is the name of the concert from 8 to 10 pm. Robert Plant is on Rave next for an hour show, seen part of it last week, good show, probably look for the DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Thanks dtel, sounds interesting. BTW Page & Plant Unledded is awesome. JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Robin Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 We have had Dish for a couple of years now: Not HD yet they want too much to upgrade the equipment. Had a terrible time with the install I had to hook it up correctly myself to get both rooms working. The unit I have is just one box that has 2 recievers in it, with a UHF remote for the 2nd TV. The big problem now is that Dish is in a law suit with Tivo over copyright infrigment for the DVR. Direct TV pays for the use Dish does not. They have appealed to a higher court for now but if they lose they will have to disable the DVR function. I have been thinking real hard about switching to Direct TV to get the HD package and not have to worry about the DVR feature anymore. Sure do like the DVR and the wife use's it all the time with no problems. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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