Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DirecTV vs Dish Network

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-07-2006, 09:10 AM:

I have Dish Network now and have constant troubles with the picture pixelating and freezing up and making screechy noises. So I either have to buy new DN equipment or switch to DirecTV.
Has anyone been able to compare picture quality side by side? I think I like DirecTV's channel line up a bit better. I've been reading about their HD/Tivo receiver. Anyone played with that? Which of the two has better HD?
I don't watch sports, so that's not a factor

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-07-2006, 11:16 AM:

Obvious question: Is your dish aimed as accurately as possible? Are the dropouts happening all the time, or only during "extreme" weather (like heavy cloud cover and rain). My dad has complained about DirecTV dropping out a lot during bad weather. He recently upgraded to a new dish and receiver though, don't know if that helped any.

When I had DirecTV I was very careful about aiming the dish to get max signal strength, and it was very rare for the signal to drop out.

As far as who has the best picture quality (meaning, who allocates more bandwidth to each channel), I don't know.

There's a guy here where I work who has the HD DirecTV receiver with Tivo and he loves it. He's pretty picky, and I haven't heard him say anything bad about it at all.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-07-2006, 11:42 AM:

It's pretty mysterious. It's different channels at different times. Then they will be ok and it will be other channels that screw up.
This system is pretty old and it's probably do to break.
The idea of the HD/Tivo unit is pretty attractive as it has Component out as well as HDMI, so it will be good to have something like that when I upgrade the display, down the road
I called the tech line at Dish Network and they had me check the signal strengths when it was screwing up and they pronounced it A-Ok

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 02-07-2006, 11:49 AM:

I have had DirecTv for over 10 years now:

picture pixelating and freezing up

Very rare, only during very severe thunder storms or bizzard snow conditions.

making screechy noises.

Never.

On the other hand, I am thinking of switching back to cable. The way they transmit my local channels does not work well with my older boxes, and there attitude to the problem is that I should buy new equipment. My attitude is they can go f'ck themselves. As I was thinking of upgrading to HD service anyway, I priced Cablevision, and they offer more for much less.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-07-2006, 12:32 PM:

I'd probably go with cable just for the internet, but they don't have it strung up my road (long easement road) and they want $3000 to bring it in if all the neighbors down the road went for it too.
Where I plan to retire will never have cable for sure and I'm trying to plan ahead

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 02-07-2006, 01:22 PM:

Greg, do you have the early first-generation RCA DirecTV receiver? That's what my dad had. It was like 10 years old. He called DirecTV last month and complained about the dropouts and said he was gonna switch to Dish. They offered him a new receiver and dish, installed, for free because he'd been with DirecTV for so long. I doubt you'd get the HD Tivo version out of them for free, but you might get a good deal on it if you threaten to switch to Dish. The value of their business is based on how many subscribers they have, and they HATE to lose subscribers.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 02-07-2006, 02:09 PM:

There was a time when I had both a few years ago, and Direct TV's customer support sucked major ass. It was next to impossible to get anyone on the phone. I ended up giving up the Direct TV and sticking with Dish. Again, that was at least five years ago, so it may be better now.

About two or three years ago, Dish had their hard break commercials playing longer than they were supposed to be playing on the Fox News channel. The end result was that when the commercials were over, the programming was being joined "in progress." Trying to explain this to the front line customer support there was interesting. They all swore to me that Dish doesn't program commercials and that it's Fox News' fault.

I kept pressing the issue, and kept working up the chain, and finally got in touch with their senior vice president of technical services - or something like that. He instructed the satelite uplink center to record Fox News and watch it that night to figure out what the problem was. It was fixed the next day. He then gave me his cell phone number and told me to call him anytime if I ever had a problem again. Really nice chap, although I don't have his number anymore. [Frown]

At the moment, I still prefer Dish, although I do wish that there was more HD programming. I agree with David... they always have special deals going on for new customers, and if you tell them that you're thinking of switching, they may offer you something to stay with them.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 02-07-2006, 03:25 PM:

If you went with a swap today, Dish probably has better HD. But DirecTV is in the process of launching their MPEG-4 service, and should leapfrog Dish this year both in quality and quantity of channels. Just make sure you get their MPEG-4 receiver (model ID H20) and 5-LNB dish (which I'm told you cannot self-install due to complications in aligning the dish).

Historically, DTV has compressed less than Dish and had better picture quality. A friend of mine owned a chain of satellite/cell phone stores and had DirecTV and Dish set up and operating side by side. DirecTV was obviously better. Local channels are compressed higher and don't look nearly as good as the main "cable" channels, but I'm getting mine OTA anyway.

I've been a DirecTV customer for about a decade. Happy with the service. Customer service is horrible. Glad I only have a reason to call them maybe once every other year.

It should also be noted that DirecTV is apparently going to a leasing scheme with all equipment starting in March. So it'll be just like renting a box from cable companies. The upside is that this will allow for future equipment upgrades and receiver repairs at no cost to the customer. DTV will waive the first receiver fee and charge $4.99 for additional receivers. Since customers are currently charged a $4.99 fee for "mirroring" service to each additional receiver, and THAT cost is going away, you'll pay basically what you pay now without the up-front costs.

(Customers who already own their equipment won't be affected by the lease deal...until they need new equipment, of course...)

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 02-07-2006, 03:53 PM:

I have Direct and am generally very happy with it, having switched from a horrible RCN analog cable system, but one observation is that I virtually never have any reception problems at my NJ house, but at my other house at the end of Long Island we have more frequent weather related outages--especially in the winter. I've had the dish replaced and realigned and it helped but still happens to some degree. I guess it may be the result of shooting across open water where different weather conditions occur.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-07-2006, 07:27 PM:

David
I have Dish Network and it's a pretty old system. I think it's a 4700 or 4900 series
Also when I say it pixelates I mean it does so in big blocks and the whole screen will freeze for a second. Then it will skip to where it's supposed to be and you miss the sound during the skip. Some times it will let out a little screech while it pixelating/freezing up. I should record it and send it to them.

I tried to update a couple of years ago to a DVR receiver (also Dish Network) but my plasma screen didn't like it. Everytime I pluged in the s-video connector the screen would lock into "zoom" mode and it wouldn't let me change it. I thought it was a bad receiver and they sent me a new one, but the new one did it too. So I sent both of them back and stayed with the old one.
Now I've got this fancy shmancy Pioneer AV center/amplifier and I plug everything into it and it feeds the plasma screen through the component outputs

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-07-2006, 09:08 PM:

I've been a Dish Network customer since 1999. My receiver is the 4700 model, the first in the "Dish500" series. The unit has worked pretty well until just recently.

For some odd reason I get some hiccups with HBO East and HBO West. It's rare, but sometimes the picture will freeze for a moment while the audio still plays. Then it unfreezes. This problem only happens when I have Dolby Digital 5.1 output selected in the receiver. I have not seen the glitches occur running the audio in PCM. But I like the 5.1 thing enough to keep that option selected.

The other problem is a bit bigger. Sometimes the stupid thing will just switch off by itself, switch on, then off, then back on and finally re-establish the satellite link. Meanwhile, I'm sitting on my couch with a dumbfounded "WTF" look on my face.

My plan about this is a bit more long term. I'm not going to go through the pain of replacing this receiver immediately. The glitches don't occur all that often. And I plan to buy some kind of HDTV monitor with true 1920 X 1080 native resolution sometime within the next year. When I buy the new TV I'll consider a receiver upgrade or consider DirecTV's offerings.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-07-2006, 09:39 PM:

The problem with Dish Network 4700 receivers are caused by the (not-so-now) new Narga scheme they are using. Apparently the processors in those receivers can barely keep up requests from the CAM, resulting in the glitches.

I haven't looked at the specs for the processors to compare them with current models, but this is what an old class-mate that works at Bell told me (Bell uses the same European equipment that Dish Network does).

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 02-07-2006, 09:46 PM:

I've had Directv since their beginnings. No problems. No problems anytime I called customer service either.

My dad has DISH, and has gripped about it since day one. Locksup, pixelates, you name it. Horrid menu structure.

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 02-07-2006, 10:24 PM:

I had Directv for over 5 years, within that time frame I had maybe 3 signal interruptions due to weather. Picture and audio quality was awesome, nice menu, tons of channels. Best source for HDTV programming.I gave up Directv and switched to Charter Cable. Big mistake on my behalf. Tons of audio and picture problems, no signal for hours upon hours. The same goes for their internet service, slow then fast, or no signal at all. I'd switch back to Directv, but I pulled my home phone and went cell only. Directv requires a landline connection for billing purposes. My sister has Dish Network, I wasn't impressed at all with their service. Fewer channels to choice from, crappy program menu. She constantly has a problem with the menu opening up during a show, seems to lose the signal. I'd stick to Directv, I never had a problem with their Customer Service in the 5-6 years of subscribing. Plus, they would issue credit for signal failure, if you bug them, that's something that Charter Cable will not do. Oh, by the way. In all the years of service with Directv they raised their package price twice, and around 5.00 total. Charter Cable has raised their prices every year. I started out paying 59.00 for digital cable and high speed internet at the beginning. Its now at 85.00 plus tax.I've only had cable for 2.5 years. Crooks!!!!!! [Mad]

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 02-08-2006, 02:58 AM:

I used to work for Dish Network & I guess my advice to anyone that is having problems with their recievers or rooftop equipment is to call & say you're going to cancel. Get transferred to "WinBack". They will authorize up to $300 in free service calls or equipment upgrades to keep you as a customer.

They always told us that it costs about $350 to get a new customer, so fixing or giving a free upgrade to an existing customers is well worth the cost.

With the HD upgrade though, sometimes a 12-month contract was needed to get it free. It's amazing what you can get by just continously complaining. Call around 10:54 eastern, right when the customer service rep wants to get off the phone to go home, they'll give ya anything!

Side note, while under their employ, I liked Dish Network & thought they/we were fair to the customers whenever possible.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 02-08-2006, 07:57 AM:

Does anyone here have Cablevision's Optimum IO digital service with HD channels. That is what I am thinking about dumping DirecTv for. I'm interested in finding out how the quality is. My only hesitation in dumping DirecTv is that I have not forgotten how unhappy I was with cable when I dumped them for DirecTv 11 years ago.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-10-2006, 02:55 PM:

Mean while.....

Has anyone been following C-band offerings? (the big dish)
Are they offering anything like "High Def"? Or is that a dead medium?

I always enjoyed playing with the one I had (right when they started scrambling) The funnest thing was watching the back feeds. The whole thing reminded me of radio DXing except of course you couldn't transmit

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 02-10-2006, 03:08 PM:

Don Anderson wrote:I'd switch back to Directv, but I pulled my home phone and went cell only. Directv requires a landline connection for billing purposes.

Actually, I've got 6 sets in two houses on Direct and not one is hooked up to a phone line. The installers said it wasn't necessary and I've had no problems. On the rare occasions I want a PPV movie I call in.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-10-2006, 03:18 PM:

Yep, I'll add to Jeff's statement. I disconnected the telephone line a couple of years ago thinking that it might be slowing down the signals on my internet dialup. It wasn't, but I never reconnected the phone line

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 02-10-2006, 03:36 PM:

Internet DIAL-UP? You must be a patient man. What about Direct Way, Greg. As the chunky dark haired girl says, "...and you diserve it".

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-10-2006, 03:52 PM:

I finally did get Directway and had that for about 2 weeks over a year (contract requirement) then Sprint FINALLY offered DSL out here in the sticks. I'm spoiled now. 3meg down and 512 up!

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-16-2006, 03:09 PM:

quote:
.... Just make sure you get their MPEG-4 receiver (model ID H20) and 5-LNB dish (which I'm told you cannot self-install due to complications in aligning the dish).

It should also be noted that DirecTV is apparently going to a leasing scheme with all equipment starting in March. So it'll be just like renting a box from cable companies. The upside is that this will allow for future equipment upgrades and receiver repairs at no cost to the customer. DTV will waive the first receiver fee and charge $4.99 for additional receivers. Since customers are currently charged a $4.99 fee for "mirroring" service to each additional receiver, and THAT cost is going away, you'll pay basically what you pay now without the up-front costs.

Thanks much for those tips. I just talked with DirecTV this morning and I'm making plans to switch to them and get the unit you described. They did confirm that they will be going over to the lease program that you mentioned, in March, but did not give an exact date. I was hoping that they would allow me to buy the unit and not activate it until my current paid up 1 year subscription with Dish Network runs out in mid July, but they wouldn't go for that. The most they will go is 30 days. So it looks like I'll have to lose a few dollars in wasted subscription.
I did call Dish Network and went through the whole problem with them again and they could offer no cures. All they wanted to do is have me pay for another receiver. So it's lose money one way or the other.

So I guess I will wait until Feb 28 and buy the DirecTV unit and have that installed at the end of March.

I'd wait and go with the lease deal, but that reminds me too much of the cable and I like owning the stuff I have. Unless I misunderstood how it works to have a lease unit.

Thanks Sam, for the help

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-17-2006, 03:50 PM:

After reading some reviews on the "model ID H20" it might be more prudent to lease that gizmo. One reviewer started out very happy with the unit and still is in most respects, but he's on his 3rd unit now after the first two failed apparently due to h-drive failures.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 02-19-2006, 09:58 PM:

BTW Greg...I did respond to your PM. Not sure if you knew because they're flagged "Unread". But they're there.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 02-20-2006, 09:18 AM:

Thanks Sam

Posted by Don Anderson (Member # 397) on 02-20-2006, 12:36 PM:

Glad to hear that you guys don't have your Directv receiver hooked up to a landline phone. I'll be switching service back to Directv soon! I never watch any of the pay per view movies. Heck, I've seen them all before they get to PPV. Thanks guys!

Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 03-16-2008, 02:48 PM:

It has been 755 days since the last post.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-16-2008, 02:48 PM:

BUMP.

I'm trying to decide on just what choice to make in upgrading my satellite TV service for HD, whether it's DishHD, DirecTV HD or just waiting a couple or so months for some better offers and more channels to become available.

I still have the same Dish Network setup that was installed in 1999 and am ready to do something if Dish Network or possibly even DirecTV can offer me a good deal.

It's pretty annoying that the advertised deals are for "first time customers only" and that you have to make threats of switching to other providers to get some sort of good deal on new equipment, installation and programming packages.

The choices are difficult. Dish Network seems to have better quality receivers, if you believe those c|net reviews.

DirecTV has a bigger variety of HD channels (many of which are not available at all on Dish), but quite a few are confined to much more expensive programming packages. And I've heard complaints about image quality and that many HD channels don't really show much of anything in real HD.

Dish Network has one all-HD programming package for only $29.99 a month. But the 40+ channel package is lacking many "must have" channels you would expect in a cable/satellite lineup. There's no HD-quality channel for Comedy Central yet. There's not much in the way of news channels either.

For those of you who do have HD channel packages with Dish or DirecTV, what specific packages do you have? What are you paying for them? Which packages do you feel give the most bang for the buck?

Right now I'm paying close to $60 per month for Dish's Top 200 channel package and HBO. I'm strongly considering dumping the HBO package regardless of what I do since I just haven't been watching it much at all in the past few months.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 03-17-2008, 01:20 PM:

I have DirecTV and am very happy with it. On the HD front, the complaints about image quality were coming from the original set of MPEG-2 encoded channels. These channels were squeezed in and the 1080i channels were downgraded in resolution to something like a 1080x1440 squeeze (don't remember the exact resolution) to reduce the bandwidth requirement. This is the infamous HD-Lite that you will read about. All of the channels added in the last year (the vast majority of HD Channles) come off of a new satellite are MPEG-4 encoded and the quality is great. It isn't blu-ray quality but it is very good.

Another satellite is being launched this week which will allow another 50 or so national HD channels to be added. DirecTV also announced that they will launch what was supposed to be a ground spare satellite in 2009 to bring the capacity up to 200 national HD channels (up from the planned 150).

I have directv's HR20 DVR (since replaced by the HR21 which moved the OTA HD reciever to an external device) and I am very happy with it. The UI is intuitive and it does everything I need it to do. It also has some unpublished features like the ability to add an external SATA drive to the unit to give you added recording capacity.

I am also impressed that directv uses real users to beta test software releases. At dbstalk.com there is a forum that you can join to become a beta tester. You will be able to download beta versions and report bugs. DirecTV seems to be very proactive in monitoring internet forums and responding to the wishes of actual users.

The HR20 got a bad rep because they released it way too soon (when they ended their relationship with Tivo) and it was very buggy initially. I have seen a bug once in a while but it performs better and better with each software release.

Also, with a DVR you can get DirecTV "On Demand" which is basically the ability to download content over broadband to your DVR.

I can't comment about dish since I've never used them but I've subscribed to DirecTV for about 9 years now.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-18-2008, 01:31 PM:

Glad to hear DirecTV has improved. I wasn't impressed with their picture quality back in the 1998-2001 era when I worked for their sister company PanAmSat. Intelsat now flies DTV's birds from the old PAS control center in Long Beach, CA through tracking antennas in Castle Rock, CO.

I've considered going with Dish in order to receive some Japanese-language programming not otherwise available locally. Expensive though - approx $40 per month on top of the basic subscription, plus an extra dish to pick up the second spacecraft that carries that Japanese channel. Yikes!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-18-2008, 02:34 PM:

DirecTV has some good offers for attracting new customers, and they appear to charge less for those additional service fees (DVR service, local channels, etc.).

One drawback I found is DirecTV doesn't have local channels for the Wichita Falls/Lawton market at all. Dish Network carries the local channels for this area, but not in HD. All the major network affiliates in Wichita Falls are now broadcasting over the air in HD.

Due to bandwidth issues it may be a long shot for DirecTV or Dish to offer local channels in HD for my area. So I may end up having to get a really good outdoor antenna anyway.

According to Dish Network's "Charlie Chat" the company is supposed to be adding a couple dozen national HD channels over the next couple of months, mainly the ones DirecTV has had exclusively for the past few months. I guess by the time all those new channels come on line DirecTV will be adding even more HD channels by way of the new satellite they're putting into orbit.

Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 04-20-2008, 11:27 PM:

In the past couple of weeks Dish has added:
CNN HD
USA HD
SciFi HD

Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 04-21-2008, 04:21 AM:

I recently switched from DishNetwork to DirecTV. I can easily say that their receivers are overall of higher quality... both operationally and in build quality. My only issue is that the UI is a bit slower than Dish's. My main reason for switching was more HD... I can also say that both their standard definition and high definition channels have a bit better picture quality than Dish's. With the exception of the legacy HD channels (Discovery theater, HDNet, HBO east and SHO east), the HD quality is easily a few steps above anything Dish is offering. Also, until those legacy channels are upgraded, in the case of HBO and SHO, it's very easy to record/view from the WEST feeds of channels, which contain the same programming but in the superior MPEG4.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 04-21-2008, 09:25 AM:

quote: Jason Burroughs
In the past couple of weeks Dish has added:
CNN HD
USA HD
SciFi HD

Actually, those channels became available on Dish just a few days ago. CNN HD lit up last Wednesday. Then USA HD and SciFi HD lit up on Friday, just in time for those angry Dish Network customers who are fans of Battlestar Galactica.

What's really strange is that USA HD and SciFi HD were "uplinked" to Dish's satellites since this past December. The best speculation is that "contract talks" are what held up those channels becoming available.

Dish Network CEO Charles Ergan (the "Charlie Chat" guy) allegedly holds out for lengthy amounts of time to try to get the lowest possible contract price from any given network. With Dish Network falling so far behind DirecTV in terms of national HD channels offered, and with certain programs like the HD version of Battlestar Galactica becoming a key point of focus with customers, that strategy may have bit Charles in the butt. Dish network has been losing lots of customers to DirecTV lately.

I probably would have switched to DirecTV long ago as well, but DirecTV doesn't have local channels available in my market -not even in standard definition.

Dish Network has had the Wichita Falls/Lawton locals available in SD for a couple of years. Now they have the HD versions of those local channels "uplinked" to their satellite at 61.5° (uplinked April 2). I don't know when those channels will actually be available, but odds are they'll light up within the next few weeks. Dish is turning on local markets in HD faster than they are adding national HD channels.

DirecTV also has no HD-only package to compete directly against the DishHD package. I could get the DishHD package, my local channels (possibly in HD), the HBO package and all the DVR service fees included for less than $60 a month. To have all the same HD channels, HBO and the DVR -but still be doing without the local channels- I'd be out $90 or more per month with DirecTV.

The only bad thing about any HD-only channels package is certain key channels not available in HD yet would be lost -like Comedy Central. The upside is certain shows on that network can be seen via the Internet. South Park Studios has every episode available to watch anytime.

quote: Mark Strube
I can easily say that their receivers are overall of higher quality... both operationally and in build quality.

Dish Network's ViP series of HD capable receivers have earned much better reviews than the H20/H21 receivers from DirecTV. Many who participate at forums like the ones at The Satellite Guys website and dbstalk.com concede the receivers from Dish are better -even if the variety of programming you can currently get on them is not.

quote: Mark Strube
I can also say that both their standard definition and high definition channels have a bit better picture quality than Dish's.

That's a point that can be argued.

Some Dish Network customers are receiving HD via older MPEG-2 only receivers. The newest ViP series of receivers decode both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Many of the newest added channels, as well has many "spot-beamed" locals in HD, require a MPEG-4 receiver.

DirecTV has been guilty of sending out "HD Lite" -1080i HD passed off in 1280 X 1080 pixel form instead of 1920 X 1080. I don't know if they're still doing that, but they've gotten into trouble over it before.

Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 04-21-2008, 02:58 PM:

quote: Bobby Henderson
Dish Network's ViP series of HD capable receivers have earned much better reviews than the H20/H21 receivers from DirecTV. Many who participate at forums like the ones at The Satellite Guys website and dbstalk.com concede the receivers from Dish are better -even if the variety of programming you can currently get on them is not.

Well, this is my personal review since I've used both.

quote: Bobby Henderson
Some Dish Network customers are receiving HD via older MPEG-2 only receivers. The newest ViP series of receivers decode both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Many of the newest added channels, as well has many "spot-beamed" locals in HD, require a MPEG-4 receiver.

DirecTV has been guilty of sending out "HD Lite" -1080i HD passed off in 1280 X 1080 pixel form instead of 1920 X 1080. I don't know if they're still doing that, but they've gotten into trouble over it before.

I had the ViP722, and I watched Dish's version of MPEG4. Not horrible, but it is clear to me on my 1080p SXRD television that DirecTV does a better job at encoding these channels. The difference was actually a bit surprising to me, considering how much bickering goes on between the E* and D* camps... DirecTV's quality is notably better.

Also, DISH has had plenty of downrezzed channels themselves. All of their VOOM channels were at one point running at 1280x1080... I believe since they went MPEG4 they've brought them up to 1440x1080 but don't quote me on that. DISH used to be the place to go for untouched HD... that stopped about a year ago when they started hacking up HDNet (bringing it down to 1440x1080), and starving the bitrate of HBO and Showtime.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-17-2008, 05:56 PM:

I finally upgraded my satellite receiver this past Wednesday. Decided to stay with Dish Network for a number of reasons.

On Monday, Dish Network added another 22 national HD channels, which closed much of the gap DirecTV had over Dish Network. D* still has a few more national HD channels than E*. The HD versions of Fox's FX channel, Speed HD and possibly some others may be held up because of a lawsuit going on between Echostar and News Corp.

Coincidentally, Dish Network dropped all 15 Voom channels from their system. 10 were dropped early in the week. Then the remaining 5 were deleted on Wednesday. This is due to Rainbow Networks hardly providing any new content at all on their Voom channels. They've been replaying the same old shit endlessly -and that ended up violating their contract with Echostar. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't what freed up bandwidth for the 22 HD channels Dish activated.

The extra channels helped, but availability of local channels is what sealed the deal.

DirecTV has never carried the local channels from the Wichita Falls/Lawton market. Dish is the only service offering locals in this area via satellite. And now Dish has the locals in this market uplinked in HD and will soon make them available. DirecTV has no word at all on when they'll do anything for this market either in SD or HD.

I ordered a ViP 622 receiver, but wound up with a ViP 722 because the installers just didn't have any 622 models anymore. Overall, it's a pretty nice receiver. Despite Mark's comments, the general consensus among electronics reviewers (as well as customers) judges Dish's ViP series of DVR/receivers to be better than what DirecTV is currently offering.

I also managed to get the DVR/receiver connected to the Internet using a new "game adapter," a Linksys WGA600N dual band adapter (supports a, b, g and n standards). It works well -now that it's set up.

The WGA600N is one of the better game adapters you can buy (which is why I bought it), but I'll offer some advice on how to get it working right so anyone else buying it doesn't have the same headaches.

When setting up the WGA600N don't use the install wizard on the CD it doesn't work worth a damn. Use the web-based utility instead. I had to hard wire connect my notebook to my router and hard wire connect the WGA600N to the router in order to log into the device and get it set up properly. Get the latest firmware for the device from Linksys. Update the firmware first, then apply your Wi-Fi network settings. The interface isn't easy to figure out. Hit the "basic" button and the select the "wireless" button from that to apply Wi-Fi security settings, your Wi-Fi network name, etc. Once all that is done the WGA600N will work properly. You can use it to connect all sorts of Ethernet equipped devices, like game consoles or satellite receivers.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-01-2008, 02:47 PM:

Today Dish Network added a few more channels to its HDTV offerings and restructured its HDTV programming packages into various "TurboHD" categories. They also claim they will carry 150 HD channels by the end of the year (by virtue of some creative channel counting practiced by both satellite providers). A new E* satellite was successfully launched a couple weeks ago to add some of that extra capacity.

E* added 17 channels, most of them being premium channels.

ActionMax HD (DISH Network Ch. 313)
CBS College Sports HD (Ch. 152)
Lifetime HD (Ch. 108)
Lifetime Movie Network HD (Ch. 109)
Planet Green HD (Ch. 194)
Encore HD (Ch. 340)
HBO 2 HD (Ch. 301)
HBO Comedy HD (Ch. 307)
HBO Family HD (Ch. 305)
HBO Latino HD (Ch. 309)
HBO Signature HD (Ch. 302)
HBO West HD (Ch. 303)
HBO Zone HD (Ch. 308)
Starz Comedy HD (Ch. 354)
Starz Edge HD (Ch. 352)
Starz Kids & Family HD (Ch. 356)
Starz West HD (Ch. 351)

Dish Network now carries all 7 of HBO's channels in HD. E* previously only carried HBO East in HD. DirecTV currently offers two HBO HD channels, but will probably add the entire suite too in mid August when they do a significant programming upgrade.

E* added some temporary HD channels for Olympics coverage.

Dish Network is still missing some key national HD channels, such as FX HD, Fox News HD, Spike HD, Speed HD and more because of ongoing wrangling with companies like Viacom, News Corp. and Rainbow Group. Those issues will have to get resolved in order for E* to hit that 150 HD channels mark.

One of the things stirring up the most controversy is the announcement from E* that its MPEG-4 HD receivers can now play 1080p-based video on demand content.

E* is offering a $2.99 rental of I Am Legend in 1080p format "same as Blu-ray Disc quality". That comment from their press release is what fired up the flames. Compression ratios are surely very different from the video bit rate used on the Blu-ray version. There's no Dolby TrueHD audio either.

Dish Network has made it mandatory for customers with MPEG-2 based HD-capable receivers to exchange them for newer MPEG-4 based units. As of August, 1 E* is no longer sending any HD signals in MPEG-2.

All of those developments are pretty good (especially since I'm already paying for HBO). Still waiting on the Lawton-Wichita Falls HD locals to be made available. They've been uplinked on the 61.5° satellite since April 2.