Who has DishTV?

[Laprok]

I am contemplating switching from TWC to DISHTV. I have two questions. One, If you have DISHTV how do you like it?
And two, I have always been able to stretch my analoq signals from TWC but not my digital. Since DISHTV is all digital has anyone had any problems with stretching the 4:3 signal to 16:9?

In addition what are you using for the off air antenna to pick up the local stations in HD? And how good is the reception?

[summerfun]

Originally posted by Laprok
I have always been able to stretch my analoq signals from TWC but not my digital.

You can stretch digital channels with TWC, just not the HD channels.

Just curious why you might want to change. I think they are a fantastic service. Far better than many cable companies around the country.

You get all the locals, most all the cable network HD channels with more to come. DVR to come soon and no hassle with antennas, poor signal strength and all that mess.

[gparris]

TWC requires no upfront costs and chances are, you may have to use more than one dish to get what you want. Dishnetwork is usually aiming at more than one location for HD and the balance of channels and has nothing special to offer the Milwaukee area like CBS HD: to my understanding, you cannot even get CBS here at all for locals-according to their website!  
As one who has done some installs, the Dish customers I know usually migrate to Directv based on poor customer service or abandon sat altogether unless they can get OTA with a DirecTV receiver, which would be my choice to refer a customer or friend,etc., instead of Dish.
Wait for the HD DVR from TWC...look at the 8000HD SA website and notice the ability to stretch viewed pictures on the site. Try it out once it comes in. Then, if you really want to switch, go ahead...or pay a thousand dollars for a HD Directivo, unless you don't record anything....IMO.:confused:

[mhz40]

Originally posted by Laprok
I am contemplating switching from TWC to DISHTV. I have two questions. One, If you have DISHTV how do you like it?
And two, I have always been able to stretch my analoq signals from TWC but not my digital. Since DISHTV is all digital has anyone had any problems with stretching the 4:3 signal to 16:9?

In addition what are you using for the off air antenna to pick up the local stations in HD? And how good is the reception?

Let me preface that I work for TW, so take my comments for what their worth...

I have a DLP based HD monitor, so I really don't know what the SD stretch options are on our hardware---never had a desire to try.  However I can stretch any 4x3 content via my TV's menu using one of the baseband video inputs, or the one component input that supports 480i/p.  Then I can stretch, zoom, and panoramic the display as needed.  Maybe your TV has some of the same capability?  The only downside is that you would need to switch inputs on your TV when tuning to an HD feed on the cable set top.
Maybe someone with Dish can chime in with the features they have, but remember all of the receiver gear has different feature sets, so get model numbers if you find one that supports your needs.


MHz40

[summerfun]

Originally posted by mhz40
Let me preface that I work for TW, so take my comments for what their worth...

I have a DLP based HD monitor, so I really don't know what the SD stretch options are on our hardware---never had a desire to try.  However I can stretch any 4x3 content via my TV's menu using one of the baseband video inputs, or the one component input that supports 480i/p.  Then I can stretch, zoom, and panoramic the display as needed.  Maybe your TV has some of the same capability?  The only downside is that you would need to switch inputs on your TV when tuning to an HD feed on the cable set top.
Maybe someone with Dish can chime in with the features they have, but remember all of the receiver gear has different feature sets, so get model numbers if you find one that supports your needs.


MHz40

Let me be clear in case there is some question. The TWC 3510HD box has both the ability to stretch the digital SD 4:3 signal by it self and send that to your TV or you can send it not stretched and let your TV to the stretching if your TV has the capabilities. You will have to try both ways and find what looks best to you.

BUT YOU CAN STRETCH THE DIGITAL CHANNELS, just not the HD.

If you have the SA HD box, I don't think it can, so ask TWC to switch you to the 3510.

[jkane]

What's DISHTV?  Do you mean DiSH Network?  If so, I have them, but not the HD stuff.  I have some older receivers that are not compatable with the dish, and they won't let me keep my old dish!  Other than that really STUPID "rule", I am very happy with the 100% digital programming I have gotten for almost 7 years now.  It looks great on my 57" RPTV.  I have had only 6 times the signal was out in those 7 years compared to how many times with TWC?  As far as streteching the image, I am totally happy with the picute quality when stretched.

I would recommend DiSH over TWC or Charter any day of the week for SD.  Sorry, but I can't speak on the HD which is probably what is important to you in this Forum.  

[summerfun]

Originally posted by jkane
I have had only 6 times the signal was out in those 7 years compared to how many times with TWC?  

Once or maybe twice that I can remember with TWC for the last five years that I have been on them.

[RobbQ]

Laprok,

I have had Dishnetwork for years and I am very happy with it.  I recently had the Superdish installed so I have all channels including local and HD with one dish.  I have never found rainfade to be a problem.  I don't think any solution is best for everyone but after years of frustrastion with TWC, which continues to this day because of a cable modem, I find that Dishnetwork is the right choice for me though I am sure that I would be just as happy with Direct TV.

Being in Milwaukee near the stadium I simply have the Channel Master STEALTHtenna which is mounted on the outside of my house.  I get every local digital channel perfectly... except for Fox of course.  FYI, I have the Dish 6000 and 510 receivers.

It is true that DISH does not currently have CBS 58 on their locals package for Milwaukee but I believe that is because Mr. Hall is a tough negotiator and it will happen soon enough.  Since I get CBS in HD over the air this has never really been an issue for myself or my wife.

If you have any question please feel free to PM me, I will be happy to answer them.  Oh, and stretching the picture to 16:9 is not a problem.

Robb

[summerfun]

Originally posted by RobbQ
which continues to this day because of a cable modem,

What's wrong with their cable modem? I have my whole house on a network using the TWC cable modem and never had a day's problem.

I don't understand all the TWC bashing that goes on with this board. TWC has a fantastic service. I have been on their service for all five years that I have lived here. The service has been top notch. Trust me; there are many worse cable companies out there.

TWC provides reliable cable service for TV and internet. I can't even remember the last time it went down.

TV service includes all local channels, all cable channels, all local HD channels and most all cable HD channels with more to come. They have icontrol and video on demand. I don't know any other service that can say that.

I have my HDTV set up with and HD box and all the other TVs in the house get free cable with no need for any box of any kind. When a new service comes along like Digital, then DVR, then HD, then HD DVR, just call and they swap out the box, no charge, no purchase. Rental fees cover maintenance and support and are much cheaper than buying new hardware.

All I ever hear are issues with satellites and antennas and OTA signal strength and towers. It's a mess and a fuss that we don't have to deal with. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad people are happy with their other choices, but I don't understand all the TWC bashing.

[drgingras]

Originally posted by Laprok
I am contemplating switching from TWC to DISHTV. I have two questions. One, If you have DISHTV how do you like it?
And two, I have always been able to stretch my analoq signals from TWC but not my digital. Since DISHTV is all digital has anyone had any problems with stretching the 4:3 signal to 16:9?

In addition what are you using for the off air antenna to pick up the local stations in HD? And how good is the reception?

I've been with Dishnetwork for 3 years, overall very satisfied. I do miss the Weather Channel local forcasts, it was a real pain getting feeds for 6 TVs and 3 PCs out of 2 boxes (no free analog with Sat, you know), and it's taken the better part of the last 3 year's lower monthly bills to cover the up-front cost of the equipment. PQ is good to great, pricing is good, little to no rain fade, and customer service has not been an issue.

As far as stretching digital, I assume you are referring to the HD channels? Yes, both of the Dish HD boxes allow you to stretch and change to grey bars. They also downconvert and pass the HD to standard outputs, and upconvert everything to their HD outputs. The model 6000 is an older unit, the 811 is their newest. Neither are without their "issues".

If, by "all digital", you're referring to the 60, 120 or 180 channel packages, these cannot be stretched by standard definition Dish boxes. The Dish HD boxes will stretch these. However, as with TWC, your TV should also take care of this for you.

I'm just up the road a ways (Greendale), and I get all the locals, both analog and digital, with a cheap amplified chimney-mounted omnidirectional antenna. Faux6 digital gets the usual exception here. OTA locals are integrated in my HD box and passed through my SD box. Pretty simple and painless, except for all the extra cabling required.

Despite my obvious satisfaction with Dish, I no longer advocate switching to their services without doing a lot of research. TWC has come a long way with both their content and equipment the last 2 years. Directv has some very attractive stuff out there. And everyone has their own individual needs. Spend some quality time exploring your options before making the investment required to switch. Here's one of many great places to get Sat. user's comments:

SatelliteGuys

Dave

[jkane]

Thought I would clear up what my outages were.  Only 2 were rain fade, and those were really major storms.  The kind where you questioned why you would even consider leaving your TV plugged into a wall outlet!    The outages lasted maybe 2 minutes.

The rest were uplink issues and DiSH resolved them before a service rep even answered the phone.  Must have been plenty of other people in the counrty already calling them.

Don't mean to keep bashing cable, but the first rain fade happened before I disconnected my cable service.  And the cable went out before DiSH did and came back after I got a signal back.  That was within the first month I had service.

As for TW cable internet service, I lose it at least twice a month during the early hours of the morning.  It's very frustrating to see my modem blinking that it's re-negotiating for a carrier.  It's out most times for only a couple minutes, but about 3-4 times a year it's been out for over an hour at a time.

I take that to mean the Video part of TW could be just as unreliable.  Maybe I am wrong.  I stick with RR because I am too far from a phone company CO to get decent DSL service.  Otherwise I wouldn't even have RR.

[summerfun]

Originally posted by jkane
As for TW cable internet service, I lose it at least twice a month during the early hours of the morning.  

I hate to hear that. Not only do I not have that issue, but many people that I know on RR don't have that problem. It must be localized to your area. The people I know on RR are very happy.

[Gregg Lengling]

I really don't want to get into the debate as 15 years ago I had a great fight with Cable here in Cedarburg.....basically because they didn't understand the rules and I was actually the one causing them problems because they had leakage.  And leakage is a 2-way street, if they are getting out, things can get in.  But I'll add my 2 cents anyway.

It's going to have a lot to do with the age of the infrastructure in your neighborhood and how old the installations are.  I've got friends that have never had a problem with Cable but then again others that have a continuing battle.  I have a friend that has RR outages almost weekly and they could cure it by replacing the 25 year old cable in his neighborhood, but that would cut into profits so they just keep screwing with it.  Because they have their service call guarantee where they pay you if they miss the appointment, he hasn't cancelled.  That's because he hasn't paid for cable or RR for the past 6 months because they miss at least 2 service calls a month at his house.  Just doesn't make sense to me, I ran a service oriented business for over 25 years and if I had that attitude I'd lose customers and probably go bankrupt if I took that kind of service attitude.

But all in all, I haven't had any real problems with Directv, otherwise I would seek out other options.  You have to be glad to live in this country where you have choices.  We have 3 great choices (Cable, Directv, Dish), plus many others here.  So there will always be the option to go elsewhere if you're not happy.  So if you've got a gripe....give it to your vendor...remember they also know you have choices.

Soap Box Mode Off:

:bow:

[Matt Heebner]

I have had Dishnetwork for years and I am very happy with it. I recently had the Superdish installed

Hey RobbQ,
You  don't by chance live on 68th street, just south of Milwaukee Ave. do you ? The reason I ask is someone on that street just got one of those new Dish Superdishes installed, and they are pretty impressive looking for a satellite dish.  I didn't realize how friggin big they are.

:p

Matt

[gparris]

Options are great in this country to have at least 3, if you don't count on Voom hanging around for long.

As for RR, have had it since its inception, was a beta tester in its earliest stages and have had perfect service. Gregg is right, if you are in new or newer construction, not fighting with old cable lines, you probably will get great connections. I have gone from new cable lines in my original house in 1991 to a new apartment complex in 2003 (new cable lines) to new house in 2004. The result? No cable problems, clear pictures, great service!

Competition keeps our options open and allows for more HD, hopefully.
Right now, there is a "lull" in new HD-channel additions, though I am confident that since TWC, among other cable companies like Comcast, do not have to do battle with satellite launches like Directv has with the 7S satellite problem, more HD channels will be forthcoming sooner rather than later on their systems.

Bring it on!:cool: