# Would you add an External Hard Drive if EHD activation were free?



## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

(Inspired by discusson in the $39.99 External HD Activation Fee - Just say 'no' thread.)

If you have said "no" to the EHD fee, would you add an EHD to you receiver if that fee were no longer required?

(If you would pay, or already have, the poll does not apply to you. Discussion is still allowed )


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## rtk (Apr 15, 2007)

I didn't vote as I have already activated and I'm glad to see Dish make USB EHD usage a reality. While no poll is ever perfect its reasonable to also consider that the price being asked for by dish is somewhat random and IMHO too high. Would additional people sign up if the EHD activation charge was only 9.99, 19.99 or 29.99? I really don't know. Like everyone else, I paid the 39.95 by by choice because I wanted the extra storage option and there was no one holding a gun to my head. That being said, I still believe the current EHD activation fee is too high.


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## CABill (Mar 20, 2005)

There are a lot of things I would do if there were no fee involved. Until EHD is available for my 942, it doesn't matter much if there is or isn't a fee! Where is the Yes choice that doesn't say "but I would not pay a fee"?


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

I started to add "Yes - but $40 is too much" but backed out of it thinking it would keep the poll more pure or focused. I wanted to get some sense of how much churn prevention Dish is giving up by having a price at all.

Dish reportedly already did a survey to help them set the price. Maybe we could do our own to determine at what point we open our wallets. For those of us who've identified what we are, the rest is just negotiation. 

rtk - agree with all your points
CABill - there may be things for which I would pay a fee if there were no consequences !Devil_lol


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## tedb3rd (Feb 2, 2006)

One time fee for $40? *Yes*--and I did. If it were much more (or if they had a monthly fee), I would have not paid.

Also--I think they should change the slogan from, "Plug-and-Play" to "Plug-and-*PAY*." ( - :


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I know that last year during prime time season ,I had trouble keeping any space on my hard drive using my 622. With all the new shows and regular series tv I could barely keep any movies recorded because they ate up all of my hard drive ,especially if they were hd . Now with the 722 with 55 hours in hd and over 330 hours in sd and the 500gb external hard drive ,I have no more space problems. I can archive all movies to the external hard drive and keep the series tv on my 722 hard drive. I don't feel like I have to rush to watch shows to make room for more hd shows or series tv. On my second dvr I use the external hard drive to archive the adult movies that we watch time to time. THis keeps the internal hard drive free for series tv and decorating shows my wife likes to watch. So I did pay the external hard drive fee and I bought two seagate external hard drives : 500 gb & 250 gb each.


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## rocky01 (Mar 20, 2005)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> I know that last year during prime time season ,I had trouble keeping any space on my hard drive using my 622. With all the new shows and regular series tv I could barely keep any movies recorded because they ate up all of my hard drive ,especially if they were hd . Now with the 722 with 55 hours in hd and over 330 hours in sd and the 500gb external hard drive ,I have no more space problems. I can archive all movies to the external hard drive and keep the series tv on my 722 hard drive. I don't feel like I have to rush to watch shows to make room for more hd shows or series tv. On my second dvr I use the external hard drive to archive the adult movies that we watch time to time. THis keeps the internal hard drive free for series tv and decorating shows my wife likes to watch. So I did pay the external hard drive fee and I bought two seagate external hard drives : 500 gb & 250 gb each.


Good reasons for sure Mike, no question it's useful. But as soon as I heard $40 I instantly became aggravated. :soapbox:

I thought if I listened to ppl on the forum that I would come around. I'm still waiting for that to happen. 
I'm really not campaigning in any way and I'm actually happy for everyone that is at peace with the mickey slipped on us though. I'd like to have the same attititude, it just seems to me an unwarranted move on part of Dish against loyal customer base.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I can relate to feeling burned by DISH. I felt that way when they jacked the price of AEP by $5.00 and eliminated the $5.00 discount for having AEP+ hd pack making my price increase last year $10.00. I got over it. IF you want the external hard drive support now you will pay it . You could wait and see if they go down on the price ,if you don't want it right now. THe price for the 622 dropped quite considerably since last year. I can get one installed for $49.00 now and when it premiered it was over $499.00. But in the end DISH is going to do what it wants to do on this issue. I don't agree with most of the extra fees DISH charges and I think they can be quite greedy at times. THey have become just like the cable companies they once lampooned with all their invented fees. BUt in the end I have been with them since 1/18/97 and I have had in the past and have again Directv for one channel that my wife wants; the 101 Passions. I still perfer DISH over Directv and I think I always will . But if Directv ever puts out a better product and picture quality, I could be persuaded to switch. But their lease prices are way to high compared to the FREE price DISH charges for new subs.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Couldn't vote because my option wasn't available. Of course I would sign up for the EHD activation if it was free - I wouldn't have anything to lose and it wouldn't cost me anything (I wouldn't even have to buy an EHD until I decided that I needed it). But I may still activate for the fee if I decide I need it/want it enough to justify the cost. So my vote is: "Yes I would activate it if it was free, but I may activate it later even if it's not free".


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## grog (Jul 3, 2007)

My vote is also:
"Yes I would activate it if it was free, but I _*will*_ activate it later even if it's not free".

*Side Note*
If the three copy limit was gone I would pay for the feature right now. With two VIP622's I see the limit as a problem right now for me.

Now if they also had support for playing DVD's using external USB DVD drive I would pay for the feature right now. With the "RF distribution" on the VIP622/VIP722 it would nice feature to have.


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## Kricket (Nov 18, 2005)

im of the camp: "i want it - but i dont think i should have to pay" - i mean, if there was another piece of hardware i needed to buy in order to get it to work, then of course an additional fee would seem to be appropriate

in this instance - i already paid for my 622 - it already has the usb port ready - in essence, were paying another $40 to get our existing hardware to function properly

who knows - in the end, i might just pay for it - but thatll be because im forced to for the extra hard drive space...


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## ChicoJeff (Jul 11, 2007)

I do not plan on adding an external drive. To me it's like getting a bigger garage - you will just end up with a bigger pile of stuff.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

After 3 days, 80% of those saying No (64/80) have done so because there is a fee at all.

When I made this poll, I debated and second-guessed myself, ultimately leaving out some choices suggested earlier in the thread (should have done a pre-poll poll). Is there interest in having a second take, with the added options of "I paid or will pay $40" and "I would but $40 is too much"?


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## PeteSJCA (Jan 5, 2005)

Has anyone talked Dish out of paying the $39 fee?...... I just upgraded from a 942 to a 722 and bought an external HD, i'm going to tell them that at the time i ordered the 722 there was no mention of a few to activate this feature...


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## Paradox-sj (Dec 15, 2004)

I had 3 $10.00 off cupon that I never used that expire at the end of the year....so....I would if it cost 9.99......and it did....so i did....


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## brettbolt (Feb 22, 2006)

PeteSJCA said:


> Has anyone talked Dish out of paying the $39 fee?...... I just upgraded from a 942 to a 722 and bought an external HD, i'm going to tell them that at the time i ordered the 722 there was no mention of a few to activate this feature...


That will be a challenge. I'm interested in finding out how it goes, so please report back to us what they said.


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## brettbolt (Feb 22, 2006)

BobaBird said:


> After 3 days, 80% of those saying No (64/80) have done so because there is a fee at all.
> 
> When I made this poll, I debated and second-guessed myself, ultimately leaving out some choices suggested earlier in the thread (should have done a pre-poll poll). Is there interest in having a second take, with the added options of "I paid or will pay $40" and "I would but $40 is too much"?


Yes, I'm interested. I'd like to know what percentage of people here have or will pay the $40.

However, my guess is that the percentage who paid/will pay is probably higher in this forum than the average 622 user.


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## HDlover (Jul 28, 2006)

No choice for not being a beta tester even if it is free! The hard drive costs money and you, like other users, might lose your recordings due to bugs. BTW, Comcast's firewire to D-VHS is free and can be watched even when you don't have Comcast anymore. Dish is not doing us any favors!


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

What would have been a great idea - Dish offers the EHD enabling for free to the first 1000 accounts to sign up - with the stipulation that they should consider themselves beta-testers. Dish gets debugging assistance, the 'early adopters' get a freebie (but knowing that the early version may lose recordings, are advised not to move anything really important to them), and the rest of us get a better product in the end! After the 1000 sign up, there would be a short period to address bugs and then a general release for the rest of us.

Of course then there would be people complaining about somebody getting it for free when they now have to pay!


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

BobaBird, if you could add all our 'No's from long discussion/battle at SG just after pre-announce, you'll see higher %%.


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

I would have signed up for free. I did sign up fr $39.99. I would have signed up for $199. The ability to archive unlimited recordings is the best idea implemented since DVR's came out. I still can't believe the volume of whining over this.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

patmurphey said:


> I would have signed up for free. I did sign up fr $39.99. I would have signed up for $199. The ability to archive unlimited recordings is the best idea implemented since DVR's came out. I still can't believe the volume of whining over this.


And even if it had been free there still would have been whining (trust me they would have found something)! But this is definitely the most I've seen about any issue here in a long time!!!:girlscrea


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

BobaBird said:


> After 3 days, 80% of those saying No (64/80) have done so because there is a fee at all.
> 
> When I made this poll, I debated and second-guessed myself, ultimately leaving out some choices suggested earlier in the thread (should have done a pre-poll poll). Is there interest in having a second take, with the added options of "I paid or will pay $40" and "I would but $40 is too much"?


Would be interesting to re-run this poll with those options and also perhaps a I would add the feature at 29.99, 19.99 and 9.99. See where peoples maximum pain point it.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

P Smith said:


> BobaBird, if you could add all our 'No's from long discussion/battle at SG just after pre-announce, you'll see higher %%.


Yeah, but some No's turn to Yes when the feature actually becomes a reality and people actually have a need for it. Better to do a poll after the fact when it is in the field and available.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

Ron Barry said:


> Would be interesting to re-run this poll with those options and also perhaps a I would add the feature at 29.99, 19.99 and 9.99. See where peoples maximum pain point it.


That would be a good gauge - you could see where people would have signed up for it immediately - not that it would change anything but it would be interesting.

Nice to see the puppy back, Ron! Liked the bird but your little dog is sooooo cute!


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

103 votes, 80.6% of those saying "No" will not pay.

That number is flapping in the breeze without the number saying "Yes" to relate it to, so take 2 is on the way. The "$40 is too much" option will be broken into pain points for Ron, but not until it's released.


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## dld542004 (Jun 18, 2006)

BobaBird said:


> 103 votes, 80.6% of those saying "No" will not pay.
> 
> That number is flapping in the breeze without the number saying "Yes" to relate it to, so take 2 is on the way. The "$40 is too much" option will be broken into pain points for Ron, but not until it's released.


The question: Would you add EHD if it were free?

Answer: DUH!!!


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

:grin:


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## GregLee (Dec 28, 2005)

I did add an EHD a year ago, and EHD activation was free --- on Time Warner Cable. Why don't you guys have a poll on whether Dish should charge a monthly fee, say $5, for using an EHD?


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## TomH (Jun 11, 2005)

My vote wasn't on the list "Yes but I would also pay $40 for it".


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

Go to Will you pay for EHD activation? If not, why? (Take III) for that option along with a few others that were suggested to make this poll more meaningful. (Take 2 had no poll attached, so we have Take III)


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## PeteSJCA (Jan 5, 2005)

Success! I was able to get Dish to waive the activation fee for the EHD. It took two phone calls, one to their regular 800 number, and the second to their 888 number for activation, but after explaining that I thought $39 was outragous and that I had been a customer for almost 10 years, (and being put on hold for 20+ minutes) a supervisor activated my receiver for no charge.


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## dbconsultant (Sep 13, 2005)

GregLee said:


> I did add an EHD a year ago, and EHD activation was free --- on Time Warner Cable. Why don't you guys have a poll on whether Dish should charge a monthly fee, say $5, for using an EHD?


People are complaining about the one-time $39.99 fee - they would have absolute hissies over having to pay $60 per year!!!!! And Dish would probably have a lot less takers with an on-going fee as well.


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## brettbolt (Feb 22, 2006)

PeteSJCA said:


> Success! I was able to get Dish to waive the activation fee for the EHD. It took two phone calls, one to their regular 800 number, and the second to their 888 number for activation, but after explaining that I thought $39 was outragous and that I had been a customer for almost 10 years, (and being put on hold for 20+ minutes) a supervisor activated my receiver for no charge.


Thats great news.

I have also been a customer for 10 years. Recently I changed a channel package and without me even having to say anything they said they were going to waive the normal $5 fee for changing.

Rather than wait on hold for 20 minutes, I think I'll write them a letter. I'm hoping that they come to the realization that the $40 fee is really not in their best interest for the long-term.

It's also likely that they'll charge $40 while they can and get the early adopters. Then when that dies off they'll probably reduce or eliminate it to help increase customer retention.

Anyway, congratulations on your moral victory! If you are like me, it was not that you did not have the $40, but that it just didn't seem fair. And I go out of my way to not support unfair charges.


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## ssmith10pn (Jul 6, 2005)

I paid it yesterday and am very happy so far.

When they have it so you can connect a Hard Drive to a 211 I will be ecstatic!


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## Jason F (Sep 12, 2007)

I was on the phone today and the first sales rep I talked to (was looking in to upgrading from a 522 to a 722) noted my account to waive the $40 activation fee when I called back to sign up ( I told him I couldn't commit to it right then- I was getting numbers to bring back to the wife to get the OK)

I called back later, and through some haggling got the price of the 722 down to $179 (from $229) instead. I didn't even go near the EHD fee because at this point I don't even have a drive to put shows on....

It would be nice if there was a way to transfer the library on my 522 to the new 722, but oh well. Thankfully I own the 522 so I can just use it to watch the archived shows over the next few weeks and phase it out.


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## jrb531 (May 29, 2004)

Jason F said:


> I was on the phone today and the first sales rep I talked to (was looking in to upgrading from a 522 to a 722) noted my account to waive the $40 activation fee when I called back to sign up ( I told him I couldn't commit to it right then- I was getting numbers to bring back to the wife to get the OK)
> 
> I called back later, and through some haggling got the price of the 722 down to $179 (from $229) instead. I didn't even go near the EHD fee because at this point I don't even have a drive to put shows on....
> 
> It would be nice if there was a way to transfer the library on my 522 to the new 722, but oh well. Thankfully I own the 522 so I can just use it to watch the archived shows over the next few weeks and phase it out.


Can I ask a question? Was the $179 for the 722 a straight fee or will you be getting the $100 in monthly credits? I ask because Dish has offered me a second 622 for $149 - $100 in credits = $49 installed. Of course I'd rather have the larger 722 HD but not if it's going to cost me $179 (or more) instead of $49.

Thanks

-JB

P.S. I wonder how many people would add a second DVR if Dish has an account DVR fee instead of $6 per DVR. They would still get the extra $6 rental. I know I'd get one but I'm not willing to pay $12. I'm talking more about 2nd or 3rd TV's that are not the primaries and do not always get used. I already have a 622 on my main and use it all the time and my basement set has a 501 that I would love to replace. Do not want to consider HD until all my sets can view it and I'm addicted to DVR's


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