# Dish making it impossible to switch to them



## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

I am a DirecTV customer who was strongly considering the switch to Dish for the receivers. I just called Dish and they are making it really hard for me to switch to them. I want to have HD and DVR on the 4 TVs in my house, and the only way to do it with Dish is to pay $1,650 ($549 x 3) to buy three VIP722's (they will give me one for free). DirecTV will give me one HR20 free, two for $99 each, and I can get the last at Costco for $229. Dish actually costs slightly more per month, even after the $5 per month lease on the DirecTV equipment (although this is immaterial) . I do not understand why Dish makes it so hard to have HD DVR functionality on more than one TV. I would think the best / highest monthly fee customers are the ones who would also want multiple HD receivers.

Does anyone know any way around this?


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

You only need 2 vip722's. One box can feed 2 tv's


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## Steve H (May 15, 2006)

juan ellitinez said:


> You only need 2 vip722's. One box can feed 2 tv's


but won't two of them be in SD, it would be that wasy with 2 622's.


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## peano (Feb 1, 2004)

Component and HDMI are both active concurrently so you can watch HD on two HDTVs at the same time (same channel only - at least on my 622s).


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

If you can afford 4 HDTV's, you can afford $1600 to do what you want. Although, if DVR is not a requirement on all receivers, you could use the VIP211 single tuner HDTV receivers and signifcantly cut that cost.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

mongo said:


> I am a DirecTV customer who was strongly considering the switch to Dish for the receivers. I just called Dish and they are making it really hard for me to switch to them. I want to have HD and DVR on the 4 TVs in my house, and the only way to do it with Dish is to pay $1,650 ($549 x 3) to buy three VIP722's (they will give me one for free). DirecTV will give me one HR20 free, two for $99 each, and I can get the last at Costco for $229. Dish actually costs slightly more per month, even after the $5 per month lease on the DirecTV equipment (although this is immaterial) . I do not understand why Dish makes it so hard to have HD DVR functionality on more than one TV. I would think the best / highest monthly fee customers are the ones who would also want multiple HD receivers.
> 
> Does anyone know any way around this?


Dish appears cheaper than Directv on paper for hardware and channel lineups but in reality if you want lots of HD channels and HD dvr's Directv is quite a bit cheaper. That's why I switched from Dish. Sharing a box in 2 rooms severely limits HD access and recording ability. Dish has more HD content but charges high tier levels to get it all. In 3 weeks Directv will have more HD content than Dish and all on a $10 monthly HD fee. Granted the 622 has a few features that the HR20 doesn't have, but unless you really like the Voom channels content Directv is the clear choice for those that need lots of HD dvr's. I have 6 @$100 each. Time Warner and Verizon FIOS won't lease much hardware either.


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

kikkenit2 said:


> Dish appears cheaper than Directv on paper for hardware and channel lineups but in reality if you want lots of HD channels and HD dvr's Directv is quite a bit cheaper. That's why I switched from Dish. Sharing a box in 2 rooms severely limits HD access and recording ability. Dish has more HD content but charges high tier levels to get it all. In 3 weeks Directv will have more HD content than Dish and all on a $10 monthly HD fee. Granted the 622 has a few features that the HR20 doesn't have, but unless you really like the Voom channels content Directv is the clear choice for those that need lots of HD dvr's. I have 6 @$100 each. Time Warner and Verizon FIOS won't lease much hardware either.


 D*'s HD is also going to go by tiers..Don't kid yourself onto thinking that it wont. If you get the SD version u will get the HD version just like dish


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

juan ellitinez said:


> D*'s HD is also going to go by tiers..Don't kid yourself onto thinking that it wont. If you get the SD version u will get the HD version just like dish


I agree at some point D* will tier the cost of their HD but all the threads over there are reporting all for one price for now. That is really a moot point for me and most sat subs as almost everybody that has lots of dvr's also has the Premier or AEP lineup that gets everything and waives the dvr fees. Surprisingly the OP even stated he wasn't concerned about the programming costs. I think both charge about $110 per month.


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## ssmith10pn (Jul 6, 2005)

> In 3 weeks Directv will have more HD content than Dish and all on a $10 monthly HD fee.


So can I mark that down on my calender?


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

Yeah why don't you mark that down. Along w/ they aren't gonna charge more once they get more HD. :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

scooper said:


> If you can afford 4 HDTV's, you can afford $1600 to do what you want. Although, if DVR is not a requirement on all receivers, you could use the VIP211 single tuner HDTV receivers and signifcantly cut that cost.


Scooper,

I can afford the extra $1,600, but the differences are not significant enough (to me) to make that investment. Their price for this is WAY out of whack with their direct competitor, DirecTV.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

DIfferent business model. Nobody is "forcing" you to change - maybe D* is "better" for you with what you want.


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

scooper said:


> DIfferent business model. Nobody is "forcing" you to change - maybe D* is "better" for you with what you want.


How is it a different business model? They are two companies who sell the same thing in direct competition with each other. Prices and services are very similar, except in this case, where there is a significant disparity that effects what I believe are the customers they will earn the most off of. I am a business owner and if I find out that there is a core service of mine for which my price is 300% higher for the best customers, I want to know about it and find a way to be more competitive.

As far as nobody forcing me to change, thank you Captain Obvious. I am not sure why you are defensive about this. I am not slamming any person or service, just reflecting my observations about my own situation.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

I would agree that different business “model” might not be the right term… I would call it a different business philosophy. While D is willing to wait a few years to recover their customer acquisition expenses, E isn’t willing to do so. We’ll only know which business “model” is correct years from now.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

You are in a VERY small minority which might not be significant enough to be dealt with.

You want 4 HD PVR's for the deeply discounted lease prices that Dish has. You want to pay $600 for equipment that costs $1600 and would probably take a great deal of time to amortize. You might cost more than you are worth.

Email [email protected] and explain exactly what you want and what level of service you are willing to pay for.

You might get a positive response.


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## archer75 (Oct 13, 2006)

If you need 4 HD DVR's and watch different channels on each at the same time you watch way too much tv.

You can get 2 and watch 2 different channels at once on 4 TV's, all in HD. Or you can watch HD on two and SD on the other two all on different channels. 

Do all 4 really need to be a DVR?

The dish receivers do offer more than the direct tv receiver. Bigger hard drive. The ability to control two TV's independently from one receiver. With an antenna you can record 3 shows at once.


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## ssmith10pn (Jul 6, 2005)

Tell your cable company you want 4 HD DVRs and let me know how that goes. :lol: 
Charter has to put you on a waiting list for one!


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## jayerndl (Aug 4, 2007)

I have a similar situation. I was considering a switch from Directv to Dish. I wanted to get (2) HD DVRs and they wouldn't do it at any price. I was told I would have to go buy the 2nd unit from a retailer for $700. In this day and age I don't think 2 HD DVRs is way out of the mainstream especially if you are trying to reach HDTV owners. I'm kinda on the fence now trying to decide whether to keep Directv or switch to Dish or Comast (w/ HD Tivo). Dish is definitely not making it easy to switch.

Jay


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

jayerndl said:


> I have a similar situation. I was considering a switch from Directv to Dish. I wanted to get (2) HD DVRs and they wouldn't do it at any price. I was told I would have to go buy the 2nd unit from a retailer for $700. In this day and age I don't think 2 HD DVRs is way out of the mainstream especially if you are trying to reach HDTV owners. I'm kinda on the fence now trying to decide whether to keep Directv or switch to Dish or Comast (w/ HD Tivo). Dish is definitely not making it easy to switch.
> 
> Jay


CSR's on E* phones are not given latitude to help you in that way. Contact [email protected] they can help where the ID 10 T's can't.


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## mongo (Jan 21, 2004)

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys. I will give it a try.


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## ubankit (Jan 7, 2005)

mongo said:


> I am a DirecTV customer who was strongly considering the switch to Dish for the receivers. I just called Dish and they are making it really hard for me to switch to them. I want to have HD and DVR on the 4 TVs in my house, and the only way to do it with Dish is to pay $1,650 ($549 x 3) to buy three VIP722's (they will give me one for free). DirecTV will give me one HR20 free, two for $99 each, and I can get the last at Costco for $229. Dish actually costs slightly more per month, even after the $5 per month lease on the DirecTV equipment (although this is immaterial) . I do not understand why Dish makes it so hard to have HD DVR functionality on more than one TV. I would think the best / highest monthly fee customers are the ones who would also want multiple HD receivers.
> 
> Does anyone know any way around this?


Are the HR20's that *D will "give" you gonna be leased or will you own them? Since *E will only "give" you one for free (which would have to be returned to them if/when you leave), the other 3 622's you would actually own and quite possibly would have some residual value (sell them on Ebay, etc.). I don't know about *D's offers (I subscribe to *E) but the difference between leasing and owning makes a direct comparison of costs somewhat skewed.


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## jacmyoung (Sep 9, 2006)

mongo said:


> I am a DirecTV customer ... DirecTV will give me one HR20 free, two for $99 each, and I can get the last at Costco for $229. ...?


Well I am a Dish Network sub, currently have two 622s but wanted a third 622, E* would not lease me another 622, I had to buy one for $549 and a new switch ($110?) for someone to install it. I even told them if they leased me the third 622, I would upgrade to AEP (the DVR fees will be waived) but still a no go.

I called DirecTV to find out if they could do better, I was told the first HDDVR for $199 (after $100 rebate), and 3 additional HDDVRs would be $299 each. Since D* does not have TV2 option I will need at least 4 HDDVRs. Not only that I could only order two HDDVRs first, after installation order two more and have someone install those, which makes things even more complicated.

How did you get multiple HDDVRs for $99 each? As far as Costco HDDVR, I thought you have to be a new customer to get that?

BTW, isn't the HR20 the old Tivo type HDDVR? If so it would not be able to see any new HD channels, am I correct?


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

jacmyoung said:


> Well I am a Dish Network sub, currently have two 622s but wanted a third 622, E* would not lease me another 622, I had to buy one for $549 and a new switch ($110?) for someone to install it. I even told them if they leased me the third 622, I would upgrade to AEP (the DVR fees will be waived) but still a no go.
> 
> I called DirecTV to find out if they could do better, I was told the first HDDVR for $199 (after $100 rebate), and 3 additional HDDVRs would be $299 each. Since D* does not have TV2 option I will need at least 4 HDDVRs. Not only that I could only order two HDDVRs first, after installation order two more and have someone install those, which makes things even more complicated.


I am leasing 5 HR20's and acquired them about once a month. D* installed them for free every time. If you want more than 2 up front you will have to buy them for about $700 each. I prefer to lease these days.



> How did you get multiple HDDVRs for $99 each? As far as Costco HDDVR, I thought you have to be a new customer to get that?


Longtime subscribers get the best deals. I have only been there 1 year and still sweettalked them into good deals. A Costco HR20 is a lease and scheduling install will take forever. You don't have to be a new subscriber though. Generally best to deal directly with D* for hardware.



> BTW, isn't the HR20 the old Tivo type HDDVR? If so it would not be able to see any new HD channels, am I correct?


You are wrong. The HR10 is the D* HD tivo. The HR20 is the only DVR that will get the new HD with mpeg4 compression. It has no tivo or dual live buffer. It uses an interface that is actually pretty similar to the VIP622. It doesn't need a phone line to activate either. It works pretty sweet nowadays. It's almost as good as the 622.

In 2 weeks when D* turns on the new satellite the main difference is E* has 15 HD voom channels and D* has more sports in HD although it can get pricey. I hope this helps.


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## dld542004 (Jun 18, 2006)

Sounds like directTV is for you.


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## jacmyoung (Sep 9, 2006)

kikkenit2 said:


> I am leasing 5 HR20's and acquired them about once a month. D* installed them for free every time. If you want more than 2 up front you will have to buy them for about $700 each. I prefer to lease these days.
> 
> Longtime subscribers get the best deals. I have only been there 1 year and still sweettalked them into good deals. A Costco HR20 is a lease and scheduling install will take forever. You don't have to be a new subscriber though. Generally best to deal directly with D* for hardware.
> 
> ...


I want to know how you sweet-talk them through So the only way is to get the first HR20, then try to lease more (one at a time) after the service is on for awhile.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

jacmyoung said:


> I want to know how you sweet-talk them through So the only way is to get the first HR20, then try to lease more (one at a time) after the service is on for awhile.


There is a long thread in these forums on what the current deals are. That will help some. You can usually lease at least 2 and maybe 3 right off the bat. Tell them Dish treats you good and you want them to match etc. I got mine early enough that I had major problems and got credits for the pain. I also needed 5 to make getting NFLST/Superfan worthwhile. I record all the games that are broadcast in HD. I pay for the protection plan and go to those people as soon as they answer. Time Warner and Verizon just became available in my area and were offering lower prices than D*. I just keep using these things for leverage. The most important method was letting them know I was an avid reader of this site and knew about some good deals others were getting. I found one csr that hangs out here too and he gave me all kinds of credit. Be patient and friendly. Good Luck.


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## eddieras (Aug 31, 2007)

i too am looking to switch from directv

- what are my chances of getting a 722 and a 622? i'll get the AEP, locals, and nhl centre ice -- do i have a shot at this- just how flexible are they at dish?


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

A 722 for FREE and if you want a second dvr you can buy one at either dishdepot.com or dishstore.org. OR you could get a 211 and wait till December and they will offer external hard drive support that will effectively turn the 211 into a single sat tuner dvr. It might even record ota and one satellite at the same time but we don't know yet till they send the software. The external hard drive could then be used on the 722 so you wouldn't lose the shows or the use of the external hard drive. Once the year is up you can upgrade the 211 for another 622 or 722 receiver by lease deals or "dish n up" .


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