POLL: Need some advice on a HD provider

[Arkitech]

I'm trying to decide what provider to go with for HD programming. I currently have Dishnet but I'm pretty sure that I'll end up dumping them in favor of something better and cheaper. For some odd reason they don't cater to their customers well. I have 3 TVs with sat. receivers one of them is also a pvr. I wanted to upgrade one of the receivers to a HD pvr and the other 2 receivers to dual tuner pvrs. I was told that I would have to purchase a HD pvr (999.99) or either rent a non pvr HD receiver (Dish 811). I was also told that I could'nt have more than 2 pvrs and I could'nt have a dual tuner pvr as they are only giving them out to new customers. So basically almost everything I wanted I could'nt get, which is really bad business considering that other providers are giving their customers exactly the things that I was requesting. Another drawback is I don't think satellite providers have firewire ports on their HD receivers.


Here's the list of things I want from a provider, based on the list who should I go with:

1 - 3 pvrs (at least 1 or 2 HD capable)
2 - The ability to use the firewire or similar port on the HD receivers (for capping/archiving purposes)
3 - Dual tuner pvrs (flexible on this one)
4 - Reasonable price

Since my wife and I are basically at home on the weekends and evenings I usually prefer cable or sat. packages that include all movie channels, so that's a factor in my decision.

I currently have Comcast internet now, anyone know if I could get a discount if I added additional Comcast services?

 

[Kishan]

digital cable is cheap, but u have to buy new tivo units/lower channels are in analog here, don't know about your area.

 

[Crucial]

Jesus how much tv can 2 people watch? WTF do you need 3 dual tuner pvrs for? I have one and it is good enough for a 4 person family. There have been a few occasions(like 2) that a show couldn't be recorded so I gave up one. Lifes to short to worry about a tv show that much.

As for the ability to use firewire to copy shows, I don't know of any that allow this. I would think it would be difficult to find a provider that would allow this. I do not know everything there is to know though so I could be and probably am wrong.

 

[Arkitech]

Originally posted by: Crucial
Jesus how much tv can 2 people watch? WTF do you need 3 dual tuner pvrs for? I have one and it is good enough for a 4 person family. There have been a few occasions(like 2) that a show couldn't be recorded so I gave up one. Lifes to short to worry about a tv show that much.

As for the ability to use firewire to copy shows, I don't know of any that allow this. I would think it would be difficult to find a provider that would allow this. I do not know everything there is to know though so I could be and probably am wrong.

lmao

Its not as bad as it sounds, my wife loves home improvement shows and lifetime movies so that's an automatic need for at least 2 pvrs. If I ever have to sit thru a chick flick I might jump thru a window, besides I gotta be able to tape my cartoons and scifi stuff The third pvr will be for capping movies and dramas.

On the firewire issue I'm pretty sure its possible to capture some stations but I think it largely depends on the area.

 

[Arkitech]

up

 

[Amused]

The only HD PVR I know of is a HD DirecTivo unit for DirecTV. It sells for $999.99

Anyone know of any other HD PVRs?

 

[Amused]

Anyhow, I'm a DirecTV user and I have to say if I was doing this fresh, I would try Voom > Cable > Dish > DirecTV... in that order.

DirecTV has over-compressed their HD channels and the picture quality is not what it should be.

But if you want HD PVR, DirecTV is the only one I know of offering that.

 

[Dulanic]

Ya the HD DirecTivo rules too, you could do that, and 2 non-HD DircTivo.... Your cost would be $1000 for the HD Tivo, $49 for each DirecTivo, and you would need a antenna to get local HD. The bonus is its $5 for tivo... even if you have 3. You would also need a 5x8 multiswitch to hook up all these receivers... which would be around $100.

DirecTV also plans to launch more sattalites over the next 4 years, quite a few actually, they will beable to support a ton of HD in the next coming years.

 

[rancidcrabtree]

Originally posted by: Amused
The only HD PVR I know of is a HD DirecTivo unit for DirecTV. It sells for $999.99

Anyone know of any other HD PVRs?

Dish 921

Moto 6208

SA 8000HD which I have two of on TW Cable.


kev

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Dulanic
Ya the HD DirecTivo rules too, you could do that, and 2 non-HD DircTivo.... Your cost would be $1000 for the HD Tivo, $49 for each DirecTivo, and you would need a antenna to get local HD. The bonus is its $5 for tivo... even if you have 3. You would also need a 5x8 multiswitch to hook up all these receivers... which would be around $100.

DirecTV also plans to launch more sattalites over the next 4 years, quite a few actually, they will beable to support a ton of HD in the next coming years.

I just moved and was charged nothing for two 8 way multi switches. Maybe that was under their moving plan, though.

Remember this: All Tivo boxes need TWO lines coming from the dish. Because Tivos have dual recievers.

As for DirecTV putting up new birds... that's all fine and dandy. But it doesn't address their compression issues. The fact is, their history of expansion and compression is this: Expanded bandwidth ALWAYS means more content, NOT less compression. Once a new low (or high, as it may be) in compression is reached, it NEVER is restored. This is PAINfully obvious with their SD channels. If you've watched DirecTV since they started, you'll notice the quality of their pictiure has degraded steadily... and never improved. It gets progressively worse each time they add new markets for local channels.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: kevgray

Originally posted by: Amused
The only HD PVR I know of is a HD DirecTivo unit for DirecTV. It sells for $999.99

Anyone know of any other HD PVRs?

Dish 921

Moto 6208

SA 8000HD which I have two of on TW Cable.


kev

What are the costs of those?

TW has a true HD PVR that can record and play back 1080i?

 

[Crucial]

yep the TW HD PVR is the SA8000HD. They just released it last month in Milwaukee. It has component outs and can dispaly 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i. It also has a dvi output but it's not enabled in my area yet. I love it. I miss the Tivo interface but being able to record HD content is so nice. The box is like $8 a month.

 

[Arkitech]

up

 

[nsafreak]

Sad truth is that if you want to be on the leading edge of technology you're going to have to pay for it. While cable does have an HD DVR I do not believe it is a dual tuner unit like the ones from DirecTV & Dish. Personally I have only seen firewire ports enabled on the standalone boxes from the cable systems I do not believe the DVRs have that port active or available. For what you want to do the best option would be DirecTV but you are still looking at paying a grand bare minimum.