[tcat]

I would like to make an "informed" decision on going to HD... I am in Austin and read so much conflicting info. The last message saying HD on Time warner costs you nothing, is that true?


I am on DISH, there's a hill and trees between me and local towers, so OTA is probably out. Dish HD "costs" me the receiver and an ugly SECOND dish. I like Dish PQ, and Starz Dolby 5.1.


Does Time Warner give you the HD receiver for nothing? Is their HD programming free (other than the normal cost of their "digital" package)? Does TW broadcast Dolby 5.1?


Sure would be nice if Dish put at least some HD on their "normal" satellites. You'd think if anyone really wanted to market HD they would at least feed an HD channel that you could easily try out...

 

[RussSchultz]

Options here in Austin are kinda slim.


From personal experience and gathering info:


Time Warner:

Time Warner cable boxes suck. It doesn't cost anything beyond digital cable, but the 2000HD that I have is a piece of doo. I 've had several, because they keep breaking, and they all seemed different. One would downmix the 5.1 to analog, the other 3 would send the digital channels out the SPDIF, but silence out the SPDIF when the analog channels were tuned. This forces me to manually switch back and forth because my reciever detects the SPDIF silence as a valid signal and it takes precedence. The only HD offering on time warner is HBO. With the 2000HD box, you can't get PPV of any sort, or any of the in demand features (they will give you a second box for free, though)


OTA:

right now, the only game in town is NBC. FOX is supposedly broadcasting, but I can't pick it up with my rabbit ears.


Dish:

Supposedly, you get Showtime, HBO, CBS(we qualify in Austin for this). I think it even has an HD PPV.


DirectTV I think doesn't have showtime or CBS, but does have HDNet (eclectic programming, with lots of sports and plenty of reruns). It looks like HDNet has taken over the HD-PPV slot on directtv (except in the middle of the night). That's no big loss as when I subscribed, they played the same movie for weeks at a time only at 11pm central.


My choice will probably be DISH when I get my house built.

 

[BatAVS]

Hi Tom,

Since I have TWC here in Austin, here is my input on your questions.
Quote:

Does Time Warner give you the HD receiver for nothing?

There is no extra charge for the HD converter box. I just had my old box (Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2100) swapped out for an HD box (SA 3100HD). There is a monthly rental charge per box - I think it's $5.95. You only need one box, but of course you might want several for different rooms.
Quote:

Is their HD programming free (other than the normal cost of their "digital" package)?

The only HD channels/content that is currently available from TWC Austin is HBO and SHO. So you must subscribe to one or both in order to get the HD versions. I think it's about $8.50 per month for each.
Quote:

Does TW broadcast Dolby 5.1?

Yes and No. For "most" channels (including movie channels: HBO, SHO, etc.) TWC broadcasts in the recorded sound of the source. Meaning, if a movie has Dolby 5.1 then you will receive it (some older movies are only 2 channel sound). "Some" of the channels are not broadcast with digital audio at all.


Hope this helps.


Regards,

Brian

 

[tcat]

Thanks Brian. I think I'll wait another year before diving into HD. Hopefully there will be a lot more variety, a lot more accessable. If Dish would move some HD to their main Satellites I'd go for it then.... be intertesting to see what happens if they merge.