# Dish HD vs. Cable HD



## gweempose (Jun 11, 2006)

I have been a happy E* customer for several years, and I am thinking about upgrading to the 622. I am currently using a 522 to record all my SD shows and a Motorola DCT-6412 (Comcast) for local HD. I would love to eliminate cable altogether, but before I go ahead with the upgrade I have a few questions:

1) How does the 622's picture quality on HD locals compare with what I'm currently getting from cable? Do some HD stations (HBO, Voom, etc.) look better than others?

2) Is the 622 still buggy, or have they worked out most of the kinks? My 522 has been pretty much solid as a rock. If the 622 performs as well, I'll be one happy camper.


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## bruce2621 (May 30, 2006)

I can't compare the 622 with cable, since I don't have cable, but I can say that the 622 is one fantastic receiver with a ton of bells and whistles. I've only had mine a week, but it's far better than any other E* receiver I've ever owned. As far as picture quality between stations, I don't think there is much difference, though the quality of what is being shown will obviously make some shows appear better than others, for instance if a movie with a washed out print is being broadcast, it won't look fantastic, but it will look a whole lot better than the equivalent in SD. That much I know because I still have my SD receiver in my theater room and flip back and forth to demonstrate the differences to guests.


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## DP1 (Sep 16, 2002)

Well here in Denver the Local HD channels dont look as good on Dish as they do on Comcast. Not saying the difference is huge but I think Dish is still trying to get everything dialed in. Comcast is basically the same as OTA. I was using both a 6412 and a 622 until recently when I finally cancelled cable.

I just use the OTA tuner in the 622 rather than the Dish Locals except when I have no choice like in the case of recording conflicts. Then I just base it on which particular channels I'm dealing with since the quality on the Dish ones varies by channel.

KUSA (NBC) for example is the worst of the bunch so thats one where whether I'm watching live or making a recording, "has" to be done via OTA.


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## gweempose (Jun 11, 2006)

DP1 said:


> I was using both a 6412 and a 622 until recently when I finally canceled cable.


How does the 622 compare to the 6412? Personally, I find the 6412 to be extremely aggravating. It tends to lockup for no reason and has all sorts of annoying little quirks. By comaprison, the 522 has been an absolute dream. I wouldn't go so far as to say I like the 522 nearly as much as my ReplayTV, but it definitely blows the 6412 away in terms of ease of use and reliability.


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## keng52 (Oct 18, 2003)

I recently switched from Dish to Adelphia and Dish was much better. I can hardly tell its in HD on Adelphia.


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## DP1 (Sep 16, 2002)

gweempose said:


> How does the 622 compare to the 6412? Personally, I find the 6412 to be extremely aggravating. It tends to lockup for no reason and has all sorts of annoying little quirks. By comaprison, the 522 has been an absolute dream. I wouldn't go so far as to say I like the 522 nearly as much as my ReplayTV, but it definitely blows the 6412 away in terms of ease of use and reliability.


Well by in large my 6412 worked pretty good for the longest time.. but I was never really a "power user" either. But due to newer software upgrades or just my imagination, the few times most recently that I'd use it when I wasnt using the 622, it was annoying.

Mind you I left Comcast purely over HD content available (or lack thereof in my area), but it didnt hurt my feelings at all when I gave them back the 6412 and cancelled service.

Course my previous Dish receivers from before I switched to Comcast were like 4700's and 6000's (skipped the whole 811/921/942 HD receiver era) so suffice it to say I think the 622 is pretty slick compared to those.


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## srickard (May 11, 2005)

I recently had FIOS TV installed with Motorola QIP6416 DVR. I have had Dish since 1997. I have a 942 DVR. Here are my initial obseravions on relative quality between Dish and FIOS.

*SD picture quality *- FIOS wins hands down.

*HDTV picture quality *- both DISH and FIOS are excelent. HDTV locals are better off-the-air but not by much.

*HDTV selection *- I give the edge to FIOS but that is my personal preference. FIOS has about 25 HD channels, similar to Dish.

*DVR* - The Dish 942 is a much superior DVR.

*Program Guide *- advantage to Dish.

*Remote* - I use a Harmony 880 for both and it is great.

*Monthly cost *- My FIOS plan is similar to my dish America's Everthing + Voom pack but it is $30 a month less expensive. My upfront costs for equipment was zero.

After being a loyal Dish customer for all these years I switched to FIOS because of cost and its very high bandwidth for future HD. (Actually, I have placed a hold on my Dish account for $5 per month in case I have buyer's remorse in a couple of months.)

FIOS is a Verizon product with fibre optic all the way to my house. It includes Internet, phone, and TV on the pipe.

Steve


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