# Why DISH?



## hounddog (Sep 3, 2005)

OK, this is probably not the right place to ask this, so I apologize in advanced. I have been a DISH customer for about 8 years and have gone through 3 receivers. I currently subscribe to America's Everything Pack. I love the recording capabilities of my 501 receiver. I am ready to take the plunge and drop a few thousand on a HDTV, either plasma or DLP. The problem is the cost of the 942. After spending over $3000 on a television, I don't relish the idea of spending another $700 on the 942, and then another $20 or more a month for HD programming (on top of the $87/month for my current programming). My question is two fold--

1-is there a way for pre-existing customers to get the 942 for less (don't laugh--I know that only new customers usually get the good deals)

2-why should I not become a new DirectTV customer and get their HD DVR and free rooms for $500? 

Thank you.


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## igleaner (Aug 22, 2002)

With the steadily increasing problems being reported on the 942, and Dish's history of not being very good at resolving buggy software, it might be better from a technical point of view to go with Direct TV. 

It's no fun to spend a lot of money on hardware just to find out later about all the software glitches. 

I would look for the most stable reliable product for the best Home Theater experience, and I don't believe Dish has it. I just upgraded from the 921 to the 942 at considerable expense and now have more problems than I did with the old receiver.

Don't consider cost alone. I compare this situation to buying a fine sports car. You can't buy a Porsche and use cheap gas. The loss of performance will far outweigh the small savings in fuel costs and ruin the entire driving experience.


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

I know I wouldn't, that don't even have that great of a deal for new customers either, you can get a DVR from Dish but no HD on the receiver. After going through 4 811s in a little over a year I finally said enough and placed a call to my local Cable company. I get everything I am getting now, for $5 bucks more but I will have DVR which I do not currently have and On-Demand which is simply incredible I was over a freinds house and was blown away. I sent an email to Dish giving them a chance to resolve this before the cable comes out but I am not holding my breath. Nice way they treat their customers Dish does. I have been on for over 6 years with no type of decent upgrade (other than the ones I paid for) currently spend $118 a month in programming and the earliest they can send out a tech is the 24th of October. Pathetic.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

hounddog said:


> ...-
> 
> 1-is there a way for pre-existing customers to get the 942 for less (don't laugh--I know that only new customers usually get the good deals)
> 
> 2-why should I not become a new DirectTV customer and get their HD DVR and free rooms for $500?


Re #2, It's your call. 

Re #1, at least make an attmpt to get Dish to allow you to lease the 942 with a $250 up-front payment. I have been a Dish customer for six years and had two 508's in service thru the first of this month. We added a *leased* 942 on the 1st and it has been bug-free so far.


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## Bichon (Jun 5, 2003)

hounddog said:


> 1-is there a way for pre-existing customers to get the 942 for less (don't laugh--I know that only new customers usually get the good deals)
> 
> 2-why should I not become a new DirectTV customer and get their HD DVR and free rooms for $500?
> 
> Thank you.


1. A handful of people have gotten the CEO office to grant an exception and offer them the lease deal on the 942 for $250. Long time customers who've not received subsidized hardware recently are probably the most likely to be successful.

2. DirecTV does not deliver full resolution HDTV. They reduce horizontal resolution from 1980 pixels down to 1280 pixels before compression to save on bandwidth. The readers of AVSforum have dubbed this "HD lite"

Also, DirecTV doesn't off the Voom channels.


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## zephyr (Jun 25, 2005)

1. I was not able to get the lease deal. It is frustrating that the opprtunity is offered unevenly. I did purchase the 942 for $600 plus $15 for a DPP twin LNB and self-installed (very easy).

2. Except for a relatively minor issue with OTA tuning, the 942 has worked flawlessly (knock wood). I have not perceived that DirecTV's HD PVR is any better or more trouble-free.


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## hounddog (Sep 3, 2005)

SaltiDawg said:


> Re #2, It's your call.
> 
> Re #1, at least make an attmpt to get Dish to allow you to lease the 942 with a $250 up-front payment. I have been a Dish customer for six years and had two 508's in service thru the first of this month. We added a *leased* 942 on the 1st and it has been bug-free so far.


With all of the bugs, I am really surprised that DISH even released the 942 (competition, I guess). If you don't mind, how much is the lease price? If it is reasonable, I guess that I wouldn't mind leasing it, but not a purchase at $700. Also, I have the Superdish. Would I need any new hardware? And how much more is the HD package? Thank you for your time.


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## igleaner (Aug 22, 2002)

Initially, the 942 was quite good. It's only with the recent software release that many of the bugs appeared.

If Dish does allow you to lease, which they usually only do for new customers, then you have to pay an upfront bribe of $250 for the privilege of paying a monthly rental fee.

It's probably better to own it outright. Then it will have value on Ebay whenever you choose to upgrade in the future. With Dish's upfront cost, you're bound to take a beating financially.

Incidentally, the HD package is an additional $10 per month. The DVR fee is an additional $5 per month. The local guide data is an additional $5 per month. And the box rental fee is an additional $5 per month.

Gotta love those fees.


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## auburn2 (Sep 8, 2005)

I think the first thing you should do is threaten to quit. If that doesn't work cancle and reapply as follows:

You have to use a different phone number (work, cell phone, etc.), and a different first name. I know people who have used the wife's name, children's name and their middle name. Just to be safe I would change your address a little bit too (if you live on 15 Summer St. tell them 15 Summer St. SE, or 15 Sumer St or something close enough the mail will still get there)

I know three people who did this over the summer and all of them got the new customer lease deal which was being offered at that time ($150 for 942 plus two other receivers). 

If you really want to get sneaky don't even go through dish, call one of the commercial guys Dish is paying to sign people up. You still have to use a different phone number though because your old phone number will be on a "bad boy" list.

I would not go D* for HDTV, their HD is terrible compared to E*. If you want HD I would go with cable or E*. Unlike others here, I have had no problems with my 942.


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

by Local Guide data do you mean the OTA? Is is not included as in the 811???


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

Ghostwriter said:


> by Local Guide data do you mean the OTA? Is is not included as in the 811???


No. :nono:


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

Sorry but could you please claify local guide?


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## kalimans (Sep 13, 2005)

i switched to comcast and i am very happy i did . i pay 49.99 for six months and get hbo and showtime and stars in hd. i pay 9.99 for renting the comcast dvr reciever plus i also got a comcast cable card ,which they charge 24.99 for installation and no rental fee.you get all local channels, inhd 1 and inhd2 plus espn and tnt discovery channel hd and comcast sports hd.why waste all that moneybuying dish or direct tv dvr, when you could use it to pay for a whole year of programming with comcast,and the best part is you also get internet for the same 49.99
i called direct tv and asked them if they could match this offer and they said no. i have to more months by then hopefully direct tv will have much more new hd channels
or dishnetwork then if comcast does not give us new hd channels then i would 
consider swithing provider.until then i am enyoing my dvr witch records all hd programming.
l :lol: :lol:


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