# Is Dish HD really worth the price?



## cablewithaview (Jul 22, 2007)

I've been thinking going to Dish HD after a hiatus for a few years now. What is your over all view of the pricing and programming?


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## JeffChap (Feb 10, 2007)

99% of the content I watch is HD. Definitely worth it to me.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

HD is deffinately worth the price no matter who your provider is. Check to see who offers the programming you like in HD. It does vary greatly between companies.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

cablewithaview said:


> I've been thinking going to Dish HD after a hiatus for a few years now. What is your over all view of the pricing and programming?


HD is great.

Dish has very competitive pricing, particularly for bad economic times.

Depending upon *your* preferences Dish has

ALL the programming you could need and want
OR the programming you need but not everything you want
OR none of the programming you need.
Every provider can be described similarly. Fortunately there are options for every taste.

You didn't mention it, but Dish does have some great equipment - equipment I complain about here - but great equipment nonetheless.

Oh, and did I mention, HD is great! But no broadcast or cable TV offers quality higher than 1080i/720p, so if you're used to BluRay on a 108" plasma forget watching TV.


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

I know a lot has been said about Dish picture quality vs DirecTV but I was at my Sister/Brother in law's house over the holidays and their picture quality with DirecTV left a lot to be desired, with an HR21. And their TV is almost identical to mine, same Panasonic Viera class, theirs could be a bit smaller, but not by a lot. I would have had to mess with their config and look behind the media cabinet to be sure everything was setup and wired correctly, so it might just be that, but things looked much grainer than they do on my VIP722. So this is not fanboy evidence for Dish, I just found it interesting after how I have heard so much about the Dish PQ vs DirecTV


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## 356B (Oct 11, 2008)

I've been with Dish for years, best equipment, best programming, best HD, and best pricing.....service on the other hand is nominal, much like Direct or any other cable/whatever supplier.......and to be clear I have no financial affiliation with Dish.....except I pay them.....


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## cclement (Mar 22, 2004)

I gladly pay for the HD programming. I went to my in-laws last week, they have a Dish SD receiver (301, I think) hooked up to their 37 HD LCD and I thought it looked terrible, but they don't mind it. There's no way I could sit and watch TV like that.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

cablewithaview said:


> I've been thinking going to Dish HD after a hiatus for a few years now. What is your over all view of the pricing and programming?


Dish is best for HD bar non.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

cclement said:


> I gladly pay for the HD programming. I went to my in-laws last week, they have a Dish SD receiver (301, I think) hooked up to their 37 HD LCD and I thought it looked terrible, but they don't mind it. There's no way I could sit and watch TV like that.


What a waste! No offense to your inlaws. I try to avoid SD channels, but TCM has many great movies.


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## cablewithaview (Jul 22, 2007)

Is Dish offering HD only programming?


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

cablewithaview said:


> Is Dish offering HD only programming?


Yes the Turbo packages are still available, just not advertised.


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

phrelin said:


> HD is great.
> 
> Dish has very competitive pricing, particularly for bad economic times.
> 
> ...


What a crock. They dont offer a ton of sports programming I want. Nice try though.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

They offer all the HD Sports programming I want at a price I want to pay!

Thank you Dish Network, your the best!


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## CoolGui (Feb 9, 2006)

joshjr said:


> What a crock. They dont offer a ton of sports programming I want. Nice try though.


I think you missed the point of what he was saying...


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## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

CoolGui said:


> I think you missed the point of what he was saying...


Actually he didnt really hit me in any of this.

Depending upon your preferences Dish has
ALL the programming you could need and want 
OR the programming you need but not everything you want 
OR none of the programming you need.

They dont have all the programming I want, They dont have anywhere near all the programming I need or want, and they do have some of the programming I need so miss on all sections. My response would be that they have part of what I want but not alot of what I need.


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## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

coldsteel said:


> Yes the Turbo packages are still available, just not advertised.


Do we know what channels are in these packages?

I had the HD bronze way back when but when FXHD came out it was in silver and it required you have the corresponding SD silver package in order to get it so I switched(but later dumped all HD and went to dish family to save money). Any chance it's in the HD only package now?


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

cablewithaview said:


> I've been thinking going to Dish HD after a hiatus for a few years now. What is your over all view of the pricing and programming?


I like hd better than SD content. Who wouldn't?


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

archer75 said:


> Do we know what channels are in these packages?
> 
> I had the HD bronze way back when but when FXHD came out it was in silver and it required you have the corresponding SD silver package in order to get it so I switched(but later dumped all HD and went to dish family to save money). Any chance it's in the HD only package now?


Take the HD listings online for the addons. Drop FOX News, MTV, Nick and VH1 from Bronze, BET, FX, MSNBC and Speed (Maybe NBATV also) from Silver and Fox Business from Gold, and forget the Platinum HD channels too.


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## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

coldsteel said:


> Take the HD listings online for the addons. Drop FOX News, MTV, Nick and VH1 from Bronze, BET, FX, MSNBC and Speed (Maybe NBATV also) from Silver and Fox Business from Gold, and forget the Platinum HD channels too.


Any idea what the prices are?


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

archer75 said:


> Any idea what the prices are?


$30/$40/$50 for Bronze/Silver/Gold, before locals.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

coldsteel said:


> Take the HD listings online for the addons. Drop FOX News, MTV, Nick and VH1 from Bronze, BET, FX, MSNBC and Speed (Maybe NBATV also) from Silver and Fox Business from Gold, and forget the Platinum HD channels too.


I have Platinum HD for HDMOVIES. The rest are kind of strange.


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

Paul Secic said:


> I have Platinum HD for HDMOVIES. The rest are kind of strange.


Platinum's included in the Bronze/Silver/Gold add-ons, and not available to be added to Turbo anymore.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

joshjr said:


> Actually he didnt really hit me in any of this.
> 
> Depending upon your preferences Dish has
> ALL the programming you could need and want
> ...


Just trying to keep my post short while making a point that I guess I didn't make clear when I said: "Every provider can be described similarly. Fortunately there are options for every taste." What I meant was if Dish doesn't meet your needs in their myriad of options, you have other options as DirecTV or cable or Fios or somebody might have just what you want.


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## Beardedbosn (Dec 9, 2002)

I have Turbo HD silver and at one time had FX HD. Getting ready for some of their shows returning; "Damages" on 1/25 as an example, I realized that FX is no longer there. Now I have to find out what package I need to change too, some great shows on FX anyone ready for more "Rescue Me"??:sure:


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

Beardedbosn said:


> I have Turbo HD silver and at one time had FX HD. Getting ready for some of their shows returning; "Damages" on 1/25 as an example, I realized that FX is no longer there. Now I have to find out what package I need to change too, some great shows on FX anyone ready for more "Rescue Me"??:sure:


For FX HD, you need the Classic Silver 200 with Silver HD, an $8 increase. Out of curiosity, do you happen to get NBA TV (402) in HD currently?


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## Beardedbosn (Dec 9, 2002)

coldsteel said:


> For FX HD, you need the Classic Silver 200 with Silver HD, an $8 increase. Out of curiosity, do you happen to get NBA TV (402) in HD currently?


Yes, I do get NBA TV with the TurboHD Silver Package. The interesting thing is that when I originally switch from Classic 200 with HD to the Turbo HD I did it once FX was added to the package. Somewhere along the line FX was removed. Are you getting FXHD?? When I look at my All Channel Guide FX shows up as only SD. Chris


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

Due to contract issues, Dish can't yet offer FX, Fox News and Fox Business on the Turbo HD packs, because some Fox-owned channels are not yet in HD. Same issue with the guys that own MTV, Nick and VH1 (Viacom?).


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

fwampler said:


> I like hd better than SD content. Who wouldn't?


Me?.


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## dakeeney (Aug 30, 2004)

I'm impressed with the PQ of the hd channels. One more question...I'm fairly new to Dish and I thought I read somewhere that Dish is launching a new sat
in March. Any truth to that?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

true


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## samsmith (Oct 31, 2009)

cablewithaview said:


> I've been thinking going to Dish HD after a hiatus for a few years now. What is your over all view of the pricing and programming?


Much better than D* for me!!


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

dakeeney said:


> I'm impressed with the PQ of the hd channels. One more question...I'm fairly new to Dish and I thought I read somewhere that Dish is launching a new sat
> in March. Any truth to that?


Echostar XV is planned for the end of the year as well.


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## Dario33 (Dec 15, 2008)

HD is definitely worth it for me. I recently upgraded to Classic Silver to get FX HD. THe only non-HD channels I watch are AMC, TCM and The CW.


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## inazsully (Oct 3, 2006)

Dario33 said:


> HD is definitely worth it for me. I recently upgraded to Classic Silver to get FX HD. THe only non-HD channels I watch are AMC, TCM and CW.
> 
> CW HD is fantastic. Smallville, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries.


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## cablewithaview (Jul 22, 2007)

Added a poll to the discussion.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

joshjr said:


> What a crock. They dont offer a ton of sports programming I want. Nice try though.


They offer enough, and I don't have to spend an extra $200 to $400 more for each sports season. The idea of $300 for the NFL Sunday Ticket, and then an extra $100 to see it in HD(advertised price and price last yr online, for new users) Some have no problem spending money that way, and as a Diehard football fan, as much as I would love to have the I just can't do it, way to much money, to end up having to suffer through owning a HR2X DVR.

To the OP, not sure if you can do it this late, but Polls which show how people voted are great.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

inazsully said:


> Dario33 said:
> 
> 
> > HD is definitely worth it for me. I recently upgraded to Classic Silver to get FX HD. THe only non-HD channels I watch are AMC, TCM and CW.
> ...


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

UM, YES !


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

The only way I can see to make Dish HD a better experience is to give their ViP HDDVRs 2-120 live buffers just like their Dish 625.

Dish you had the perfect pattern for a HDDVR right in front of you(Dish 625) why did you change it? bad move.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> The only way I can see to make Dish HD a better experience is to give their ViP HDDVRs 2-120 live buffers just like their Dish 625.
> 
> Dish you had the perfect pattern for a HDDVR right in front of you(Dish 625) why did you change it? bad move.


Did they really change it? Or is HD content require more space to buffer so they had to have 2(with OTA 3-4) 60 minute buffers, as a standard as creating a HD buffer with a seperate SD buffer would be pretty hard to do, and the resources set aside for buffering 2 hrs of HD content times 2 to 4 buffers would be very expensive.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

Shades228 said:


> HD is deffinately worth the price no matter who your provider is. Check to see who offers the programming you like in HD. It does vary greatly between companies.


Dish has the best HD from what I've seen.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Jhon69 said:


> Dish you had the perfect pattern for a HDDVR right in front of you(Dish 625) why did you change it? bad move.


Remember that the 625 is juggling SD and the ViP DVRs are doing it in HD. There's a fairly significant difference there.

Having different intervals for different content is just too much to explain.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

harsh said:


> Remember that the 625 is juggling SD and the ViP DVRs are doing it in HD. There's a fairly significant difference there.
> 
> Having different intervals for different content is just too much to explain.


Well hopefully maybe Dish will consider giving the VIPs at least 2 -90 minutes?(like DirecTV's HR2xs and R22s,2-120 minute live buffers would be better though).


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Jhon69 said:


> Well hopefully maybe Dish will consider giving the VIPs at least 2 -90 minutes?(like DirecTV's HR2xs and R22s,2-120 minute live buffers would be better though).


What are the chances that you're going to want to roll back 60 minutes or more on anything?

If you need the option, you can certainly record it (assuming your buffers aren't consuming too much storage).


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

harsh said:


> What are the chances that you're going to want to roll back 60 minutes or more on anything?
> 
> If you need the option, you can certainly record it (assuming your buffers aren't consuming too much storage).


I do it alot(go back more than 60 minutes on my live buffers) I guess when you have it you use it,if you don't have it you have a record it.

I would just like to see an increase in the VIP's live buffers(like my Dish 625 has) because then to me the VIPs would be even more better that DirecTV's HR2xs 
and R22s.

As it is right now D* does not have any DVR to match Dish's 625,larger live buffers would do the same for the VIPs.


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