dish network update or not?

[frank]

I have two dish network recievers in my home and they work well enough. the cost for what I use, no paid movie channels or sports packages is around 75. a month. dish says my reciever are outdated and need to be replaced at a higher monthly cost. Is there any benefit to having the dvr recievers or hopper recievers over the outdated ones I have? would you pay more monthly charges for new recievers when the old ones, about 15 years, are still working fine? I often think I would like to cut or get rid of the ones I have if I could find a way to get the local networks on some other form of reception. what do you think?

 

[timo2]

I have two dish network receivers in my home and they work well enough. the cost for what I use, no paid movie channels or sports packages is around 75. a month. dish says my receiver are outdated and need to be replaced at a higher monthly cost. Is there any benefit to having the DVR receivers or hopper receivers over the outdated ones I have? would you pay more monthly charges for new receivers when the old ones, about 15 years, are still working fine? I often think I would like to cut or get rid of the ones I have if I could find a way to get the local networks on some other form of reception. what do you think?

I never had a DVR before I signed up with Dish a year ago. We got the Hopper. It is a great DVR for my first one, but I don't have the experience compare it to a non-hopper DVR. I did notice that some of the lower packages with Dish don't come with Hopper availability.

I have two hoppers. The big TV is fine with it. I was thinking of removing it from my office TV (after football season). I have a media PC to use in the office, plus I can use the ROKU that is the sole input on a third TV. That way I can get more familiar with finding internet content, and one day persuade myself and DW to cut the cord.

 

[zinger1457]

First off they should give you some kind of award for having a 15 year old receiver that still works, mine usually die out after a couple years. I would also remind them that although you've been a long time Dish customer you're considering jumping to DirecTV to save money, they might be willing to throw in the new receivers with no cost increase.

 

[wrigley]

First off they should give you some kind of award for having a 15 year old receiver that still works, mine usually die out after a couple years. I would also remind them that although you've been a long time Dish customer you're considering jumping to DirecTV to save money, they might be willing to throw in the new receivers with no cost increase.

You are correct. We just did that with DirecTV. We told them we were considering going with Dish because they offered us a deal that would be hard to resist. DirecTV not only lowered my bill to an amount that I was very satisfied with, they also threw in the NFL package for free for the entire season.

Mike

 

[pb4uski]

I have two dish network recievers in my home and they work well enough. the cost for what I use, no paid movie channels or sports packages is around 75. a month. dish says my reciever are outdated and need to be replaced at a higher monthly cost. Is there any benefit to having the dvr recievers or hopper recievers over the outdated ones I have? would you pay more monthly charges for new recievers when the old ones, about 15 years, are still working fine? I often think I would like to cut or get rid of the ones I have if I could find a way to get the local networks on some other form of reception. what do you think?

We have been on Dish since 2010. Earlier this year we got an upgrade to new equipment (the Hopper, a Super Joey and a couple Joeys). I really like the new equipment. I like that any TV in the house or garage can access the same DVR and tuners. We ended up with 5 tuners (3 in the Hopper and an additional 2 in the Super Joey) so we can record up to 5 shows at once or up to 8 shows at once during PrimeTime. I like PrimeTime Anytime and also really like that the Hopper allows you to skip commercials automatically.

I called Dish, told them that we had been out of contract for over a year and that I would do an upgrade if they gave me the same deal as a new subscriber, which at the time was a $25/month credit for the first 12 months.... otherwise I would drop Dish and sign up with Direct. They hemmed and hawed for a minute and then agreed. We pay $91/month before the $25 credit ($55 for America's Top 120, $12 DVR fee, $10 for Super Joey and $7 each for Joeys).

We live in the boonies and have no OTA signal so satellite is a must, and we get a slightly higher package so DW can watch her beloved HGTV.

Make sure that one of your Joey's is a Super Joey as it adds 2 tuners but is only $3/month more (a regular Joey doesn't add any tuners).

Another trick is that I had them mount my dish low enough that if it builds up with snow I can wipe it off with a push broom without having to get on a ladder or get the snow rake out. It only happens when we get really wet, heavy snow (a couple times a year perhaps).

I just wish the DVR was smart enough to know when the whole programming schedule is running behind time as a result of football games running late but I'm not aware of any DVR that does that.

 

[RunningBum]

I like DVR so I think that's worthwhile. Doesn't sound like you really care about that or getting more channels so I wouldn't pay more if you aren't getting something new you want. Have you looked at getting a good antenna to pick up locals over the air (OTA)? I am picking up stations from over 50 miles away with some small mountains in between with a Leaf antenna. If I didn't care about sports I would just drop Dish and look at my options to record OTA programs.

 

[RunningBum]

I just wish the DVR was smart enough to know when the whole programming schedule is running behind time as a result of football games running late but I'm not aware of any DVR that does that.

That is frustrating, but I get around it by extending the timer an hour since I don't think I've seen a game run over more than that. It's somewhere in the record options and you can set it for a specific ongoing recording.

 

[Car-Guy]

I have had Direct TV for about 20 years now. I converted to a DVR receiver when it became available many years ago and we like it. The only time I really think about moving from Direct TV to Dish is when I need to call in for some type of service or support.

 

[Rustic23]

Number one advantage to The Hopper. No commercials for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX in prime time. Just about all the programs we watch on these channels are DVR'd and we watch them the next day. The system cuts all but about five seconds of the commercials.

 

[pb4uski]

Number one advantage to The Hopper. No commercials for ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX in prime time. Just about all the programs we watch on these channels are DVR'd and we watch them the next day. The system cuts all but about five seconds of the commercials.

To be clear about The Hopper though, Auto-Hop only works for PrimeTime Anytime recordings that you watch the next day. Auto-Hop doesn't apply to recorded shows on other networks or even major network shows recorded outside of prime time. If you want to watch a PrimeTime Anytime show recorded earlier that night, you have to fast forward through the commercials just like a regular DVR recording but the 30 seconds forward and 10 seconds back buttons are real handy for doing that.

As mentioned, Auto-Hop shows about 5 seconds of the first commercial, jumps to the last 5 seconds of the last commercial and then to the show. Pretty cool. I love it.

 

[frank]

First off they should give you some kind of award for having a 15 year old receiver that still works, mine usually die out after a couple years. I would also remind them that although you've been a long time Dish customer you're considering jumping to DirecTV to save money, they might be willing to throw in the new receivers with no cost increase.

thanks I think I will try this tactic and see how it works out.

 

[Rustic23]

Just timed the delay with the Hopper for commercials. It averaged 8 sec! Good enough to cut out four or five min of commercials. Another caveat I understand the networks don't like this and are suing to stop it. Not sure if this is accurate.

 

[timo2]

Another caveat I understand the networks don't like this and are suing to stop it. Not sure if this is accurate.

This has been going through various courts for a while now. This article is the latest I have heard
"Dish (DISH) announced on Monday night that it would turn off AutoHop for ABC shows until three days after a program first airs. The deal is part of a wide-ranging new contract agreement with The Walt Disney Co. (DIS), ABC's parent company."

Dish scales back AutoHop in deal with Disney - Mar. 4, 2014

here is an older link from 2013 Fox Loses Bid to Stop Hopper's Place-Shifting Technology - Worldnews.com

 

[pb4uski]

The networks did sue Dish. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303933404577505222670750412

Later, Disney/ABC agreed to withdraw their suit in exchange for Dish only allowing AutoHop for ABC shows after 3 days. Disney, Dish Network reach truce on ad-skipping AutoHop - LA Times

Though when I go to PrimeTime Anytime on my DVR and sort by date, some ABC shows that are less than 3 days old have a AutoHop symbol on them and others don't but there is no discernable pattern that I could find. Interestingly, NFL and college football games don't seem to have AutoHop available at all. I think perhaps that where AutoHop limitations apply that they only apply to new episodes and perhaps not to reruns.

 

[Midpack]

First off they should give you some kind of award for having a 15 year old receiver that still works, mine usually die out after a couple years. I would also remind them that although you've been a long time Dish customer you're considering jumping to DirecTV to save money, they might be willing to throw in the new receivers with no cost increase.

+1. Our first Dish Receiver (722) lasted about 4 years before it died. Fortunately they replaced it at no cost (same model, 722) and no increase in subscription ($71/mo, two HD, one SD, DVR). We plan to hold off as long as possible as we're not willing to pay any more than we have to, but after 15 years I can believe the OP has no choice but to upgrade to new equipment. I'd think it would have to be an improvement after that many years...