Dish Network: Get a PVR/DVR absolutely free

[airmax]

I score on the deal, i have the america 50 and call the CSR. well, I sign for 2 years and I already have the credit card auto pay, so i don't need to pay anything for it. and they will come over to install it next Tuesday

 

[NogginBoink]

This is quite tempting. Any idea how long it will last?

I'm currently waiting any HDTV announcements that will be made this month before making any decisions.

 

[aperry]

I already have a 721 (dual tuner), so I think I'll stick with that... Don't know how I ever watched TV without it!

This is a good deal for those without DVR capability though!

 

[ICR5]

For those who are still wondering what is all the rave about the Super Dish.. here's some info with all the new toys Dish has in the works,, including a lowered priced HDTV IRD that will replace the current 6000 and cost way less too.

Linky

also, look at this Proposed Triplesat Dish and Directv if the merger is 100% complete

 

[LordAthens]

For those that are lost on the Superdish, here is the press release for it;

http://www.hd.net/2003-prarchive/2003-05-01-01.html

Basically, what it boils down to is being able to receive all of Dish network's programming over a "giant" dish (it's the size of a Primestar dish, for those who have seen them). Currently, to receive "standard" programming, as well as international, you have to have 2 mini18's, one pointed at 110\119 and one at 61.5 degrees. (Echostar currently runs 5 orbital slots, 61.5 West, 110 West, 119 West, 148 West and 157 West).

The new Superdish will remove the problem of 2 dishes, as well as giving access to a much broader array of HD channel. It should also be noted that the new SuperDish will be using a mix of DBS service, as well as the much lower power KU FSS service, and because of the FSS service is one reason why they are having to use a larger dish.. Think C-Band

There are also currently 2 versions of the SuperDish, The International LNB pack and the Local \ HD LNB pack. International picks up 110, 119 and 121 while the HD \ Local pack picks up 105, 110 and 119..

It's not really made the "old" stuff obsolete, as much as it has confused a bunch of things. New receivers don't work with old dishes, new switches don't work on old dishes, old switches don't work on new dishes, etc etc.

And if you're an exsisting Dish sub, it doesn't really matter much, as they don't have an upgrade program in place yet. The only people getting the SuperDishes are new subs who get their locals off of the 105 bird.

Bah. I just wish I had the room to put up a 5 beam 4.5 meter C-Band. Grab a few "special" receivers and a FTA receiver and your in business.

 

[LordAthens]

And ICR5 beat me. doh.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Originally posted by: Dominionion
I'm Sooooo confused!!

Why do I have to pay the extra 'Video-On-Demand' monthly fee? Would I have to pay that fee if I bought a TiVo? If not, then isn't the TiVo cheaper over time?

The tivo video-on-demand fee is $10/month. The fee is because the companies that put all the R&D into the DVR's want to make a return on their investment.

 

[ThaGrandCow]

Originally posted by: jennej

Originally posted by: ThaGrandCowStarting tuesday I believe it was we started offering a DVR 510 (100 hours recording time) for customers that had been with the company for over a year.

Hi everyone, my first post...

I signed up for Dish last December...not quite a year yet. :frown: Saw this deal on the web site yesterday and called today. The CSR told me that it'd be $99 for a 2 year contract since I haven't been a customer for 1 year yet. Now, don't get me wrong, $99 is a good deal for a DVR..but FREE is of course better! And I don't want to sign a 2 year contract at any rate. One year I'd be okay with, but 2 years seems like such a long time.

Any suggestions for people in the same situation?

JH

Yeah... wait till december (the deal will still be around) and then sign the 1 year contract and pay $99.

 

[loudmouth]

this deal is suck big time. where were you guys when dish was giving the 501/508 without this darn 5.00/month fee. This is not a deal and Dish. I'd move to DTV which offers a real DVR. The 501/508/510 are all have the same s/w but dish feels the need to charge 5.00/month for the 510.

 

[aperry]

Originally posted by: ICR5also, look at this Proposed Triplesat Dish and Directv if the merger is 100% complete

Cool picture, but to the best of my knowledge, the merger is kaput. We could get into a huge discussion here as to whether it was a good idea or not, but I think it is dead. I have heard that Rupert Murdoch (of Fox fame) is trying to acquire DirecTV now...

 

[orion7144]

Originally posted by: loudmouth
this deal is suck big time. where were you guys when dish was giving the 501/508 without this darn 5.00/month fee. This is not a deal and Dish. I'd move to DTV which offers a real DVR. The 501/508/510 are all have the same s/w but dish feels the need to charge 5.00/month for the 510.

Wow a comment that matches your nic.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: orion7144

Originally posted by: loudmouth
this deal is suck big time. where were you guys when dish was giving the 501/508 without this darn 5.00/month fee. This is not a deal and Dish. I'd move to DTV which offers a real DVR. The 501/508/510 are all have the same s/w but dish feels the need to charge 5.00/month for the 510.

Wow a comment that matches your nic.

He's right to complain. The $5 charge for the newer equipment that offers zero functionality improvement is a legitimate complaint. On top of this you can pay the same $5 and get a DirectTivo with dual tuners and MUCH better software. And the Dish fee is per reciever, get two 510's and you will pay an extra $10 a month, whereas if you get two directTivo's you will only pay the single $5 a month fee because it's per account not per reciever. And like Dish if you pick the top package DirectTivo waives the $5 fee.

Dish had an advantage when their DVR was free, but now that they charge the fee the DTivo is a MUCH better deal.

 

[rich644]

I currently have two Dish Network PVRs and do not pay a monthy fee.

If I were to switch to the newer dish PVRs (free or not) I would be socked with an additional $10 PVR fee (extra $120yr)

The problem I have with this plan is not the fee per se, but the Dish PVR is nowhere near as advanced as the TIVO units offered by Direct TV. Which is $5.00/month, offers dual tuners, a more advanced and modern interface,and allows multiple receivers per household without additional PVR fees. Currently, I beleive Direct TV is offering specials on TIVO units from $49 & $99 per receiver for new and existing customers respectively.

I am not trying to bash Dish, but they are starting to fall behind on their technology, and the historical price advantage which they used to have over Direct TV, has all but evaporated.

I'm very close to switching over to Direct, depending on how Dish plans on handling the SuperDish switchover with me.(i.e. if they expect me to pay for new LNBs and switches)

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: rameshms
question. can I watch one program and record another simultaneously ?

you can watch a previosly recorded show while it's recording another one though. that's how I generally watch tv....no commercials.

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: rich644
I currently have two Dish Network PVRs and do not pay a monthy fee.

If I were to switch to the newer dish PVRs (free or not) I would be socked with an additional $10 PVR fee (extra $120yr)

The problem I have with this plan is not the fee per se, but the Dish PVR is nowhere near as advanced as the TIVO units offered by Direct TV. Which is $5.00/month, offers dual tuners, a more advanced and modern interface,and allows multiple receivers per household without additional PVR fees. Currently, I beleive Direct TV is offering specials on TIVO units from $49 & $99 per receiver for new and existing customers respectively.

I am not trying to bash Dish, but they are starting to fall behind on their technology, and the historical price advantage which they used to have over Direct TV, has all but evaporated.

I'm very close to switching over to Direct, depending on how Dish plans on handling the SuperDish switchover with me.(i.e. if they expect me to pay for new LNBs and switches)

I'm in your same boat exactly. I've been a pretty satisfied Dish customer but some of the DTV deals are hard to pass up.

 

[fustercluck]

Are these things on par with Tivo? Good Quality? Can you delete stuff you've recorded already to free up space? Sorry, just wanna learn the basics, i've been looking for something like this for a while.

 

[fustercluck]

OK, ready to get in on this deal. So i should be able to get a DVR installed for free, correct? I've had Dish Network for over 4 years. Who do i call up?...What do i say?

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: jacktackle
Are these things on par with Tivo? Good Quality? Can you delete stuff you've recorded already to free up space? Sorry, just wanna learn the basics, i've been looking for something like this for a while.

The quality is fine, and yes, you can certainly delete stuff to free up space. The software is not Tivo quality, though. It doesn't handle conflicts very well. For example, you have it set to record Friends at 8:00 every Thursday. But there's a rerun one week, and you want to record something else that week. Really your only option is to delete your weekly timer to create your one-time timer. That kinda sucks. Also, it isn't smart enough to adjust...your regular 30 minute episode is a special hour episode this week, but you're only going to get the first 30 minutes.

However, it's a pretty good system overall. I've been very happy with mine, but with 3 room DirecTivo systems (1 DTivo, 2 other receivers) being offered for $69, I'm very tempted to switch off of Dish and go with DTV/DTivo.

 

[LordThing]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: jacktackle
Are these things on par with Tivo? Good Quality? Can you delete stuff you've recorded already to free up space? Sorry, just wanna learn the basics, i've been looking for something like this for a while.

The quality is fine, and yes, you can certainly delete stuff to free up space. The software is not Tivo quality, though. It doesn't handle conflicts very well. For example, you have it set to record Friends at 8:00 every Thursday. But there's a rerun one week, and you want to record something else that week. Really your only option is to delete your weekly timer to create your one-time timer. That kinda sucks. Also, it isn't smart enough to adjust...your regular 30 minute episode is a special hour episode this week, but you're only going to get the first 30 minutes.

However, it's a pretty good system overall. I've been very happy with mine, but with 3 room DirecTivo systems (1 DTivo, 2 other receivers) being offered for $69, I'm very tempted to switch off of Dish and go with DTV/DTivo.

Where is the $69 deal? I look at DTV's site and it's 99 + 14 shipping. Who knows, maybe I will be switching from Dish to DTV once the superdish stuff comes out and they try to screw me. I also don't pay for my PVR, but have had to have it replace twice in the last year because of HD failures.

 

[BooGiMaN]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster

Originally posted by: jacktackle
Are these things on par with Tivo? Good Quality? Can you delete stuff you've recorded already to free up space? Sorry, just wanna learn the basics, i've been looking for something like this for a while.

The quality is fine, and yes, you can certainly delete stuff to free up space. The software is not Tivo quality, though. It doesn't handle conflicts very well. For example, you have it set to record Friends at 8:00 every Thursday. But there's a rerun one week, and you want to record something else that week. Really your only option is to delete your weekly timer to create your one-time timer. That kinda sucks. Also, it isn't smart enough to adjust...your regular 30 minute episode is a special hour episode this week, but you're only going to get the first 30 minutes.

However, it's a pretty good system overall. I've been very happy with mine, but with 3 room DirecTivo systems (1 DTivo, 2 other receivers) being offered for $69, I'm very tempted to switch off of Dish and go with DTV/DTivo.

if i recall correctly on my 721 it records the incoming feed without compression so the playback quality is the same as live

i love my 721 its great

 

[SearchMaster]

Where is the $69 deal? I look at DTV's site and it's 99 + 14 shipping. Who knows, maybe I will be switching from Dish to DTV once the superdish stuff comes out and they try to screw me. I also don't pay for my PVR, but have had to have it replace twice in the last year because of HD failures.

Expert satellite has been running these specials lately for $69, including the tri-LNB (which I think allows for HDTV upgrades later, but I'm not an expert).

 

[fustercluck]

Alrighty, so i just call up dish (1800 333 dish) and ask for the deal? Or how do i go about it?

 

[airmax]

i already get installed today, everything is cool. the whole thing get done in 30 minutes. if people not sure how to get on the deal, go to the www.dishnetwork.com. and they have the PVR deal list. Although they didn't mention about the free if you commit for 2 years, just ask the CSR, they know about (at least the one I talk to)

the unit has a maxtor 120GB drive insides, and on the system, it says it can hold up to 100hours of recording on it, and it has optical dolby digital out on the back.

 

[MagicBoy]

If there are any of you out there that are ready to make the change from Dish to DirecTV, I'll be more than happy to help.

Check out my Anandtech thread at: [referral link deleted by AnandTech Moderator]
or click on my sig for more details.

The America Top 150 with Dish is more or less equivalent to the Total Choice Plus with DirecTV. Total Choice Plus runs at $39.99 with locals.
You will still get charged $5 per month per additional receiver and a $5 a month Tivo fee as well as a 1 year commitment requirement.. If you subscribe to the Total Choice Premier Plan ($87.99) the Tivo fee is waived. The DirecTivos are dual tuner and they do allow you to record two shows at the same time while watching a previously recorded third show (or watch one while recording another).

I actually switched from Dish to DirecTV in August and have never looked back.

Let me know if you have any questions: magicdeals@bellsouth.net

 

[SearchMaster]

Originally posted by: MagicBoy
If there are any of you out there that are ready to make the change from Dish to DirecTV, I'll be more than happy to help.

Check out my Anandtech thread at: [referral link deleted by AnandTech Moderator]
or click on my sig for more details.

The America Top 150 with Dish is more or less equivalent to the Total Choice Plus with DirecTV. Total Choice Plus runs at $39.99 with locals.
You will still get charged $5 per month per additional receiver and a $5 a month Tivo fee as well as a 1 year commitment requirement.. If you subscribe to the Total Choice Premier Plan ($87.99) the Tivo fee is waived. The DirecTivos are dual tuner and they do allow you to record two shows at the same time while watching a previously recorded third show (or watch one while recording another).

I actually switched from Dish to DirecTV in August and have never looked back.

I'm close to making the switch. So if I pick the TCP with locals, and a 3 room package with DTivo, my monthly cost will be $39.99+$5PVR+$5rcv1+$5rcv2 = $54.99, right MagicBoy? And finally, what exactly is the contract I'm entering....if possible, I would like to get the 3 room package then deactivate one of the receivers until my boys get a little bit older.

What is the advantage of the 3LNB dish...is it the future upgrade to HDTV without replacing the dish?