[zielin]

i'm sick of the damn picture quality and lack of HD. So it is time for dish. True, i'll only get one for HD channel (but i need my sg-1).. but the avg pic quality should be worth it...


anyone have any suggestions where i can get a good package deal for a dish 6000 w/ all the goodies? or is it better to get a stand-alone unit and get dtv dishs from raido shack.


i'll looking for a online option.


.... or am i wrong and should stick with dtv?


thanks

 

[Juan]

Dont expect a night a day difference in the picture quality.

 

[HDCblGuy]

Ahhh! You're scaring me I am about to switch from Comcast Cable to DirecTV and from what I have read the difference in picture quality from Cable to DBS is very nice. Now I am hearing people complaining about DirecTV and Dish picture quality. I guess until everyone here at AVS gets together and create their own Satellite/Cable service , we should be happy with what we get. I am right though, Satellite TV has a better picture than cable?



HDCblGuy

 

[zielin]

i'm really just doing it for the showtimeHD... but i need more than that to blow $500+ on

 

[HDCblGuy]

I would stick with DirecTV. Right now DirecTV has HDNet and HBO-HD (I don't believe DTV has PPV-HD), while Dish has HBO-HD, SHO-HD, and PPV-HD. It seems more likely that DirecTV would get SHO-HD than Dish would get HDNet. It's a matter of personal preference: A little bit of movies and sports in HD or a good amount of movies in HD.


HDCblGuy

 

[roddie]

Quote:

while Dish has HBO-HD, SHO-HD, and PPV-HD.

You forgot CBS-HD To *me*, that makes the difference, but only because I'm less of a sports fan (except for hockey) than I am of regular programming. That's why I picked Dish in the first place. The single point of contact for hardware issues is a plus also, but you're right that it's mostly a matter of personal preference.


Roddie

 

[Savageone79]

Yes and don't forget Dish has a full time demo channel

That makes Dish having 5 HD channels where as Directv only has 2. Also while dish may be unlikely to add HDNET I bet they add some HD Sports network soon as well as ABCHD is probably going to happen soon too.. then it will be 7 to 2 in favor of dish.

 

[bl4scott]

Wasn't there a tread awhile back that said Showtime was going to discontinue Stargate and move it to the Si-Fi channel?


Showtime HD - I thought most of the programs were upconverts anyways??


I agree, need more to invest $500 more bucks. And I'd have to pass it through the HOUSE (wife)..hehe, that would go over well..

 

[NoelAV]

..because soon they will be one company. I believe Dish is buying DirecTv. I read this on one of the AV newswire sites. If I can find it I will post url.

NAV

 

[kelliot]

I've got both. I get 110,119 an 148 on my Dish 6000 and 110 and 119 on my Dish 5000 (no HD), and 101 and 119 on my DTC100. I use the RCA elliptical Dish with two splitters and a SW21 and a SW42. If I go HD in the bedroom, I just need another SW21. The switch arrangement is tricky. Of all the possible hookups through the SW21 and SW42 only one actually works.


I also found that I need an in-line amp to the bedroom. I have a long contorted RG59 run that needs a boost. Contrary to published reports on this forum the SW42 works fine through the amp since it works on the DC pass through.


I have kept minimal DirecTV and have the "I Like $9" subscription for Dish and have dropped all but minimal cable. Quality is pretty much the same as DirecTV and better than cable.

I get HBO-HD, SHO-HD, CBS-HD and HDNET as well as PPV-HD. I'm praying for another HD network a la ABC on Dish.


I read on the Business Wire that GM is getting close to announcing a winner to the Echostar/Murdoch shootout. I hope its Dish, although my guess is that they'll have to agree to must carry within X years to get through anti-trust.

 

[zielin]

erp!? showtime might be giving up sg-1? damnit. sci-fi has very low pic quality (or atleast from the dtv feed).




well, i ordered my dish setup. $429 w/ dish et al. and $9month for basic service.


-Z

 

[RScogland]

When doing these comparisons, keep in mind what is actually useful rather than what the numbers say. I find it funny that someone in this thread said that they *bet* that DishNetwork will get a HD sports channel and they combine that with another channel that they *bet* will be available on DishNetwork bringing the score to 7 channels to 2 in favor of DishNetwork. Lets break that down ... you cant count a channel that doesnt exist or isnt carried, so right away it is 5-2. There is only so much of a demo loop that the human mind can take before freeking out so it is 4-2 (unless you are Dustin Hoffman in Rainman). While I agree that it is better to have HD-PPV than to not have it, few people really consider PPV to be a channel ... especially when they really only show 2-3 movies per month, plus a huge chunk of people never consider ordering PPV movies, so for the majority of people that pushes the score down to 3-2. If you cant get CBS-HD via antenna AND you qualify for it on DishNetwork, that is a HUGE plus. However, the majority of people either CAN get it OTA or CANT qualify from DishNetwork, so for those people the score goes down to 2-2. Assuming you need to choose between D* and E* it just becomes a matter of preference. Both have HBO-HD so ask yourself if you want Showtime-HD or HDnet? If you want more variety, take HDnet because it has sports, special events, and documentaries. If you need a few more movies above what HBO-HD has, then maybe Showtime-HD does make sence. Unless D* and E* merge, HDnet wont be on DishNetwork for at least 2-3 years. Dispite their track record, there is a better chance that DirecTV will get Showtime-HD and a HD network (CBS/ABC) in that timeframe ... especially with the new satellite going up soon. I'd say that if funds allow, you should either get ALL the providers ... C-Band, DirecTV, DishNetwork, OTA, and anything else that you can legally get. Otherwise, make the choice(s) that make the most sence to your tastes. Hopefully midway thru 2002 D* and E* will have taken care of all the "must carry" issues so they can BOTH concentrate on providing more HDTV!

 

[DevoX]

I just installed my Dish 6000 about five days ago. I immediately went to channel 9443 to view the HD demo. I had HDTV via cable in my old town (before I moved out here) and there was never a demo channel.


Anyway, after a while I got tired of watching that damn turtle lay eggs so I decided to turn on CNN.


Immidiately I noticed a huge difference in quality between Dish and digital cable. Dish is soooo much better than the digital cable I had in my old city. It's a night and day difference, IMO. Even when watching Dish via s-video or composite NTSC, using the TV's internal doubler, it looks great!


Digital cable was always really artifacted, lots of MPEG compression, it was distracting. Dish, on the other hand, has artifacts but they are much more difficult to find and it's not distracting in the least.


Anyway, I watch everything via 1080i on component now and it looks great. Blows cable away!


However, CBS-HD and HBO-HD look the same on Dish as they did on my old cable provider (minus the wavey lines at the top of the screen caused by the HDD-200 decoder).


Too bad there wont be any Superbowl worth watching this year. But that's a whole other thread.


-- Robert

 

[Kipp Jones]

Quote:

Originally posted by RScogland When doing these comparisons, keep in mind what is actually useful rather than what the numbers say. I find it funny that someone in this thread said that they *bet* that DishNetwork will get a HD sports channel and they combine that with another channel that they *bet* will be available on DishNetwork bringing the score to 7 channels to 2 in favor of DishNetwork. Lets break that down ... you cant count a channel that doesnt exist or isnt carried, so right away it is 5-2. There is only so much of a demo loop that the human mind can take before freeking out so it is 4-2 (unless you are Dustin Hoffman in Rainman). While I agree that it is better to have HD-PPV than to not have it, few people really consider PPV to be a channel ... especially when they really only show 2-3 movies per month, plus a huge chunk of people never consider ordering PPV movies, so for the majority of people that pushes the score down to 3-2. If you cant get CBS-HD via antenna AND you qualify for it on DishNetwork, that is a HUGE plus. However, the majority of people either CAN get it OTA or CANT qualify from DishNetwork, so for those people the score goes down to 2-2. Assuming you need to choose between D* and E* it just becomes a matter of preference. Both have HBO-HD so ask yourself if you want Showtime-HD or HDnet? If you want more variety, take HDnet because it has sports, special events, and documentaries. If you need a few more movies above what HBO-HD has, then maybe Showtime-HD does make sence. Unless D* and E* merge, HDnet wont be on DishNetwork for at least 2-3 years. Dispite their track record, there is a better chance that DirecTV will get Showtime-HD and a HD network (CBS/ABC) in that timeframe ... especially with the new satellite going up soon. I'd say that if funds allow, you should either get ALL the providers ... C-Band, DirecTV, DishNetwork, OTA, and anything else that you can legally get. Otherwise, make the choice(s) that make the most sence to your tastes. Hopefully midway thru 2002 D* and E* will have taken care of all the "must carry" issues so they can BOTH concentrate on providing more HDTV!

I could not agree with you more. Its not the first time that member has stretched the truth to make his "opinions" appear as "facts". The reality is there is a significant amount of Dish subscribers that are unable to get the CBS-HD feed (just check out the amount of posts here of those who cannot get the signal). For those that can get it, more power to you. Thanks for clarifying this and showing the "true" math instead of the fuzzy kind!

 

[DP1]

Oh c'mon Kipp. Thats "true" math? Maybe my "true" math is I like having HD PPV access other than the middle of the night, I like having a 24/7 HD demo for whatever reason, I do qualify for CBS-HD, and I like having Showtime HD. Maybe I also think Cuban is a dork and wouldnt watch his channel if you paid me. There, *my* "true" math makes it 5-1.


The only thing thats "true" is that a person needs to research current HD programming for themselves. But just as embellishing about what might happen doesnt fly, backhanded dissing of channels by saying this ones lame or that ones lame... few people think this and few people think that... doesnt work either.

 

[RScogland]

Sorry, Dan ... I wasnt trying to slam either provider. I was just showing an opinion that differed from the direction this thread was heading. In addition, I mentioned the benefits of having both providers. I didnt actually say any channel was lame.


I can understand the frustrations of DishNetwork customers who cant get HDnet, but I dont see why you need to call Mr Cuban a dork ... he's just an ordinary acting guy with a few billion dollars more than you and me who took it upon himself to give HDTV consumers what they most lack. Take a look at your opinions and see if they make sence:


DP1 wrote:

"I like having a 24/7 HD demo for whatever reason"

"I wouldnt watch (Mr Cuban's) channel if you paid me"


So if a salesperson said: "OK, I can give you a choice of two 1080i channels ... would you like an endless loop of the same thing over and over again, day after day after day, or would you rather have an assortment of professional and amateur sports, documentaries, concerts, and special events?"


Would you seriously say: "Could I have the endless loop thingie?"


If you have any helpful comments, by all means post them here. If you want to slam me, feel free to send me a private message so everyone else can be spared.

 

[Savageone79]

Look I stated possibilities. I did not say they are facts. Also i do realize that in the future hopefully HDNET will show more material but you have to admit right now they aren't a lot better then a demo loop considering they show the same 5 shows over and over every day and that Ireland documentary gets shown most of the day. Also it's not fair to diss Showtime by saying that it's no good because they are mostly upconverts especially when most of HBO's HD stuff isn't much better in terms of picture quality. I'll take the OAR upconverts on Showtime any day over the cropped so called "HD" stuff on HBO. Also Mr. Kippjones I would appreciate if you would drop this little vendetta you have against me. Your response is not appreciated and is mostly inflammatory trashing for no good reason. I say what I say. It is pretty easy to see that it is educated speculation and opinions which is most of what gets post on these newsgroups anyway. I do not call it anything other then what it is.

 

[trafter]

WOW. Tough thread. I have DISH and pretty much like it other than my ongoing problems with WXYZ. If I had lotsa bucks,(and could convince the SO that another dish on the roof wouldn't look tacky) I'd probably try to get Directv, too, because I do like sports. I hope Marc Cuban is successful, because that will spawn imitators. The only realistic place for those imitators to end up is on DISH and Cable systems. Hey, I can really see both sides of this debate but think that arguing over them makes about as much sense as arguing over religious beliefs, but people have been doing that one for millenia too...

 

[DP1]

RScogland wrote:


I can understand the frustrations of DishNetwork customers who cant get HDnet, but I dont see why you need to call Mr Cuban a dork ... he's just an ordinary acting guy with a few billion dollars more than you and me who took it upon himself to give HDTV consumers what they most lack. Take a look at your opinions and see if they make sence:


DP1 wrote:

"I like having a 24/7 HD demo for whatever reason"

"I wouldnt watch (Mr Cuban's) channel if you paid me"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


I was being facetious Rick. Of course I have HDNet. It's arguably (notice the word arguably because certainly not everyone would agree) the coolest HD thing going. But I'm sorry, I dont think that channel alone somehow puts the two companies on equal footing (as your 2 to 2 comment could be interpreted) at this time from a commitment to HD standpoint, even if every consumer cant necessarily take advantage of everything Dish has to offer.


Really though, verbage aside it does come down to the deisre of having HDNet or not when it comes to choosing providers at this point but whoever said making decisions about anything when it comes down to HDTV was easy right? Which is kind of sad in a way because as you also pointed out, about the only way to go is to have both.



Just call me Rainman!

 

[Kipp Jones]

Quote:

Originally posted by Savageone79 Look I stated possibilities. I did not say they are facts. Also i do realize that in the future hopefully HDNET will show more material but you have to admit right now they aren't a lot better then a demo loop considering they show the same 5 shows over and over every day and that Ireland documentary gets shown most of the day. Also it's not fair to diss Showtime by saying that it's no good because they are mostly upconverts especially when most of HBO's HD stuff isn't much better in terms of picture quality. I'll take the OAR upconverts on Showtime any day over the cropped so called "HD" stuff on HBO. Also Mr. Kippjones I would appreciate if you would drop this little vendetta you have against me. Your response is not appreciated and is mostly inflammatory trashing for no good reason. I say what I say. It is pretty easy to see that it is educated speculation and opinions which is most of what gets post on these newsgroups anyway. I do not call it anything other then what it is.

Savage,

I am not trashing you or have a "vendetta" against you. By the way, I did not mention your name in my post above...hhhmmmm...you have a "guilty" conscience????? Many of the forum members use the information posted here for their knowledge as I do. It does bother me when someone's posts strongly "imply" or "state" something that is not true or without backup. Opinions are one thing but there is a way to state an opinion. If you post something here leaning heavily that it may be true, you should at least provide reasoning why you state that. If you just feel strongly about something, then just say so without leading members into believing its true.


There are many new members here lately and the last thing we need is rumors and misinformation corrupting the transition of HDTV. I do not know what your "expertise" is with HDTV but the way you state things, you come across as you being the "expert". If you are so confident in what you post, BACK IT UP! Its that simple. I provide backup for what I post. I stand by what I post and if found to be incorrect about something, I will post a retraction as I have done in the past. I am not trying to tell you what to post, I belive you should follow the etiquette that most members follow here. If you continue to mislead people, I will point it out just as we all do if something is not true. You being a student should know how important it is to do research and know the facts.