# Directtv customer with upgrade question for my Dishnetwork mom



## wipeout (Jul 15, 2003)

My mom has one SD receiver at her house. She runs the main tv via s-video and a bedroom receiver via co-ax. She lives alone so this is sufficient. I called Dish customer care last night and got very confusing information so I thought I would come here where I'll get the real story.

If she were to upgrade this receiver to one HD reciever do they have any free upgrade promo's going? What I would like her to be able to get is an even swap for her sd unit with no upfront cost and free installation of the new dish she would require (I assume she needs a superdish or whatever they are calling it these days to get all available programming). Also, since this would be her only unit I would like her to not have to pay a monthly fee for the hardware (lease fee/mirroring fee). Also I don't want her to be required to get any HD package, she is in the Philly market so the local HD stations are good enough. 

Where I'm going with this is I want her to be able to enjoy local HD with no out of pocket costs and no increase to her monthly payment. OTA is not an option.

How close can I get to achieving my goal?


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

wipeout said:


> My mom has one SD receiver at her house. She runs the main tv via s-video and a bedroom receiver via co-ax. She lives alone so this is sufficient. I called Dish customer care last night and got very confusing information so I thought I would come here where I'll get the real story.
> 
> If she were to upgrade this receiver to one HD reciever do they have any free upgrade promo's going? What I would like her to be able to get is an even swap for her sd unit with no upfront cost and free installation of the new dish she would require (I assume she needs a superdish or whatever they are calling it these days to get all available programming). Also, since this would be her only unit I would like her to not have to pay a monthly fee for the hardware (lease fee/mirroring fee). Also I don't want her to be required to get any HD package, she is in the Philly market so the local HD stations are good enough.
> 
> ...


I assume she has a 322 (only way I know to control two SD sets with one receiver). There is no HD equivalent to that, yet, so to control one HD and one SD, she would need to either add a 211 for HD, or replace the 322 with a 622 DVR.

You would have to buy the HD receiver to avoid going to a metallic package. You can only get the free satellite dish upgrade via the metallic package. You won't need a new dish if you're not going metallic, anyway. You won't pay a lease fee, but you'll pay a DVR charge and an HD enabling fee, even if you buy your own equipment.

If all she wants is OTA HD and SD, have her get a Dish 381 receiver. Since she'll have to keep her current receiver for the SD set, there'll still be an additional receiver fee.


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## wipeout (Jul 15, 2003)

She has a 301 I believe. This enables her to watch the same programming on both tv's which is sufficient. I called the Winback dept. They offered to waive any upfront fee for the hd unit and different dish but still have to pay $6 lease fee and $6 hd enable fee. Too much extra per month just so she can watch the major networks in hd. 

Perhaps if I buy a Dish hd unit myself then there is no lease fee. Also we should not have to swap out the dish because she doesn't need it to see any of the hd pak channels. Since she would just be putting her sd unit into storage then no mirror fee either. I just don't like this hd enable fee, seems like they penalize ya for not taking one of there hd paks. 

Ahh, looks like she may just have to stick with what she has got.


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## wipeout (Jul 15, 2003)

381 will not cut it because we do not want to be bothered with an antenna.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

wipeout said:


> 381 will not cut it because we do not want to be bothered with an antenna.


Fine.


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## Wagon Man (Jul 5, 2006)

wipeout said:


> 381 will not cut it because we do not want to be bothered with an antenna.[/QUOT]
> 
> What's wrong with antenna? Especially your objectives is to recieve HD channels, don't want to subscribe HD package & donlt want to pay extra monthly fees.
> 
> ...


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Mikey said:


> I assume she has a 322 (only way I know to control two SD sets with one receiver).


Perhaps a 5xx series DVR (RF remote).

The ViP222 would be a possibility if it existed. The ViP211 lacks an RF remote.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

wipeout said:


> Where I'm going with this is I want her to be able to enjoy local HD with no out of pocket costs and no increase to her monthly payment. OTA is not an option.
> 
> How close can I get to achieving my goal?


Dish Network (and any other company that stays in business) has been highly resistant to giving away products and services. We all wish the best for our mothers, but to Dish, they are just another subscriber who is expected to pay the standard prices and fees.

Cable may offer what you are looking for, but they'll probably choke on the monthly price. They would almost certainly require two receivers if any premium content is desired in the sleeping chambers.


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

Cable might be a good choice, they usually pass the local channels in HD with basic cable so that all you need is a QAM tuner. If the tv is a recent model it might have QAM built in.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

kb7oeb said:


> Cable might be a good choice, they usually pass the local channels in HD with basic cable so that all you need is a QAM tuner. If the tv is a recent model it might have QAM built in.


If your TV supports cablecard, it probably supports QAM for basic digital content.


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