TurboHD Gold $40.39
WILMINGTON, NC DMA PACAKGE $5.00
DISH Network DVR Service Fee $4.60

Monthly Total Price $49.99
One-Time Credits and Fees
$50.00 credit on 1st bill -$50.00
Activation Fee 99.00
Activation Fee waived. -99.00
Cinemax for a penny $0.01
Amount Due Today $0.00

Instant Savings! All new customers receive a $50.00 credit on their first bill with qualified programming.

Agree to our 24-month commitment and we will waive the $99.00 activation fee.


Equipment to pause and record live television on first 2 TV's is FREE.
To pause and record live television on up to 2 more TV's there is a one-time charge $99 upgrade fee for additional equipment and $5.98 monthly fee.





You will receive:

* Monthly savings of $.98/mo
* Over 55 channels.
* Your local channels
* Multi-room DVR
* FREE Standard Professional Installation



Channels here:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/dish_hd/programming/turboHD/index.shtml


worth it?

8/18/2008 12:07:30 AM

yes, but not with a 2 year agreement. see if you can get them to waive that. i did.

8/18/2008 12:35:49 AM

check dishstore.net first...when I signed up, I got all the advertised Dish specials, plus another $125 in rebates (which showed up within a couple of weeks). People usually suggest avoiding the third party vendors, but I've read a lot of good things about dishstore.

8/18/2008 11:13:53 AM

I'm thinking of getting the Silver service since it includes the regional sports networks. Also don't forget you get 1yr of Cinamax for $.01 for doing online bill pay. Also with the DVR you can hook it up to a SD TV for free. Also with an antenna for HDTV locals, you can record 3 programs at once (1 antenna, 2 satellite).

8/22/2008 9:13:12 AM

You guys were too slow. Back before they had 3 tiers (plus platinum) of "all-HD" packaging, they had DishHD Absolute, which I am still waiting to have installed... somewhere between current silver and gold lineup for $30/month.

It's still a good deal if you ask me. You can save yourself $5/month and just buy an antenna for your local channels. Remember, an antenna gives you free over-the-air HD, and the DishNetwork boxes have ATSC tuners for just this purpose...

Now if I can only figure out how to get the installer to ground the antenna without my landlord seeing the grounding cable draped down the side of the building.

8/23/2008 10:57:43 AM

i'm not your landlord but I would prefer to see a grounding rod then all my appliances blow up and my attic be on fire.

8/23/2008 12:05:14 PM

^^You will have to manually record local stations. You only get the program guide if you subscribe to locals from what I have read. Also you can only record one local at a time.

8/23/2008 7:18:28 PM

Quote :

" Now if I can only figure out how to get the installer to ground the antenna without my landlord seeing the grounding cable draped down the side of the building."

ask the guy to run an extra long grounding wire along the trim of the house, like they did for me.

plus they routed the cable through the attic, instead of drilling a hole or anything stupid.

8/23/2008 8:15:10 PM

just got it installed - HD Gold package with no SD channels - $45/mo - no 24mo commitment either so i'll have leverage in 6 months if want something

i mounted an antenna outside next to dish (on chimney) and hooked up to HD DVR box, can watch locals from there (with no programming).


the programming/guide is just about worth $5... also, if i use another receiver, that won't have locals unless i run a separate line.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 4:19 PM. Reason : it]

8/25/2008 4:18:48 PM

how did you get the 24 mo. commitment waived?

8/28/2008 12:05:55 PM

Does Dish Network require two coax lines running to their HD DVRs in our area?

8/30/2008 5:57:39 PM

Just signed up for the Silver package. I hope I can get a line of sight over my neighbor's trees. It's going to be close.

8/31/2008 9:14:55 PM

Did you find out about the two coax for the DVR thing? Also, did you get the 2 year contract waived?

8/31/2008 10:00:37 PM

Im curious about the two coax as well if someone finds out.

8/31/2008 10:41:37 PM

Probably doesn't require it, but if you want to record two shows at once you'll need a feed for each tuner.

8/31/2008 10:57:24 PM

I really want to switch over, but im concerned about the installers ability to install the system in my house.

I actually read about a "stacker" that allows the system to use one coax cable as two, but I imagine its pretty expensive.

9/1/2008 8:23:04 AM

I did not find out about the 2 coax requirement, but it does not really matter since I just rewired my house: http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=528146

I figure worst case scenario is that you need two coax for the tuners, 1 OTA coax, 1 additional coax for the distribution port (for 2nd TV), and an ethernet or phone line. I now have all four coax lines in my living room in addition to two ethernet lines.

I did not get the 2yr contract waived, but I did not try very hard to either. If you want the ViP722™ DVR, just request it in your installation instructions when you order. Otherwise, they may just give you the ViP622™ DVR. The only differences I am aware of are exterior color and HDD size.

9/1/2008 8:25:45 AM

Just wondering if it makes sense to drop TWC for TV and go for the TurboHD silver and RR basic.

Bills would total to about 90, best I figure it.

9/1/2008 9:27:40 AM

bttt

I'm considering getting this. Can anyone vouch for the video quality? Also, what does the installation involve? I take it that they just can tap into my house's existing coax system that I use for cable. That could be an annoying amount of pulling wire and fishing lines through walls.

9/8/2008 3:53:57 PM

They can tap into it...my Dish signal comes in through the preexisting coax. In fact, I still have TWC for internet, and although I thought it would be an issue having all of that information coming in on one coax, I have not experienced any issues with it at all.

9/8/2008 4:29:57 PM

That's good to know. I don't like the idea of a anyone but a licensed and experienced electrician trying to fish a lot of cable around my house. I've seen first hand the kind of talentless monkeys they let install stuff like this.

9/8/2008 4:55:03 PM

Guy is coming tomorrow to set mine up. He came Saturday but was missing some parts to the dish kit and had to reschedule. Much cheaper than anything else I could find and all the freebies you get for the first year are icing on the cake.

I didn't pay for locals though but read somewhere that there is a way to get the local guide using only an OTA antenna. Not sure how that works but I thought I read on another forum that people had managed to make it happen.

9/8/2008 8:52:03 PM

I'm definitely switching to this. I currently have Dish and must say that the DVR alone is worth this price.


^I'm still trying to figure out how to get the guide info for OTA as well

Until then, I'm using the OTA antenna as it allows you to record 3 shows at once on the DVR (1 OTA tuner and 2 Dish Tuners), but still pay for their locals for the guide information, doh!

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 8:39 AM. Reason : sdfgsfdg]

9/9/2008 8:38:20 AM

Is there a separate outdoor antenna for the local channels? Or do you just pay a monthly fee for it?

9/9/2008 8:58:32 AM

i pay $5/month for local channels i think

9/9/2008 2:38:59 PM

Quote :

"Did you find out about the two coax for the DVR thing? Also, did you get the 2 year contract waived?"

i have my time warner cable AND hd dvr on the SAME rg-6 line. how do you like dem apples

9/9/2008 3:08:50 PM

So i guess I should just trust that they will work out how to get the thing set up in my house.

9/9/2008 3:35:57 PM

^^do share

9/9/2008 3:37:32 PM

they just use a splitter to separate the satellite band and cable band - rg-6 is capable of this. they then do another splitter to the hd dvr that has 2 inputs, which works just fine. so you only need 1 cable run to run time warner cable and an hd dvr

9/10/2008 9:35:49 AM

Does anyone in here have RR basic (1.5)? I'm just wondering if the drop in speed is worth the dishnetwork switch.

At the very least, when I call TWC to disconnect you would figure they'd offer some sort of deal.

9/10/2008 10:49:13 AM

i don't have twc (in rocky mount), but i have dish and dsl through embarq - package deal. i initially had the fastest speed they offered (3Mb i think?), then dropped it down 2 levels to the 768k. i don't do much browsing at home beyond tww and email, and the only place you really notice it being slow is google maps w/ satellite.

so i pay $15/month for dsl and i get a $5 discount for having bundled it w/ dish. i get another $5 discount on my dish package also.

9/10/2008 11:44:47 AM

I once heard a rumor that if you have Roadrunner, you also get some basic cable channels because they just come through unfiltered on the line, is that still the case?

I have some guest room TV's that just need like channels 2-20 or something, and would hate to pay a monthly fee for a Dish setup for those TVs when they rarely get used.

9/10/2008 1:48:00 PM

My office TV at home is split with the RR line and it picks up 70+ channels, plus the HD stations.

9/10/2008 2:30:25 PM

^^ That's only true if they forget to put the trap on the line that filters out everything but the band for the internet. I never seem to get the lazy service tech from TWC.

9/10/2008 2:54:31 PM

I really really really want to do this.

The only thing that's funny about it is my father in law is all about satellite, and he just switched all his stuff to TWC so he could have high speed.

He'd be so pissed if I switched.

9/11/2008 8:51:47 AM

I just put in my order today.

I got the lowest Turbo HD package with a DVR and the locals. Comes out to like $35 a month.

Ill post after they come install it, because I still think my install is going to be a little nuts.

9/11/2008 9:32:02 AM

Quote :

"I once heard a rumor that if you have Roadrunner, you also get some basic cable channels because they just come through unfiltered on the line, is that still the case? "

If they put the data trap on your line like they're supposed to, you'll only get the Noggin channel over cable.

9/11/2008 10:34:19 AM

At my house (newer home) there is not trap on the cable box on the side of my house. They must do it upstream somewhere or something. Anyone know how they do it these days?

9/11/2008 11:24:01 AM

^ There's most likely a service post either in your or one of your neighbors yards near the street. It's there. That's where the trap at my house lives.

9/11/2008 11:29:43 AM

Right now we get the basic cable as is, and we have a bunch of digital boxes.

Im hoping that when i call to drop digital cable and keep road runner, that they will just ask me to bring in my boxes and not bother sending someone out.

9/11/2008 12:49:01 PM

I have a LOS!!! It turns out there is a new Eastern Arc they are using for the Turbo HD. It's at 175 or 185 degrees, I did not catch which one. It is also at a 45 degree angle of elevation. Currently it points at 2 satellites, but it is also pointing to a 3rd future satellite when they add more content. The installer is here now. I'll update later.

9/13/2008 10:21:55 AM

Damn, it really takes 2 weeks for an installer to get out there?

9/13/2008 10:47:57 AM

If you want to order this, I would order it over the phone. I did the online order process and there was no way to choose which DVR yo wanted. I did the live support and they said to just put it in the install notes. Guess what, the installer didn't show up with the 722, so after about 30 minutes of phone calls, it was sorted out. I had to call again later to get the Cinemax for 1 year for a penny. They forgot to activate it.

So far the picture quality seems acceptable. I have not done any true test. I compared to OTA channels and so far it looks similar. The one thing I don't like about the 722 DVR is that you have to physically push a button on the DVR to switch between single and dual mode. I like to use PIP, but I have to put in single mode to do so. Then when I want separate control for the second TV, I have to manually set it to dual mode.

The DVR software is excellent compared to TWC, but most anything would be better. Now I can set record priorities. What a concept! I subscribed to locals and so I have the guide for the OTA channels too. I guess WB22 is not in their local list, so at least I have the OTA to make up for it. The wife would kill me otherwise. And you can record three shows at once with 2 sat and 1 OTA.

The RF remote would not work from the opposite end of the house, but I was able to run the antenna to a nearby room using existing coax lines and all is well.

So far so good.

9/13/2008 9:40:00 PM

so for those that have TurboHD Gold - do you get any other channels besides what's listed on the website?

we're tired of paying $75+/month for TWC HD and HDDVR. The turboHD is attractive, especially for like $50/month but comedy central and E! are two of the channels my gf watches the most. so they're kind of dealbreakers.

it looks like to get those, i'd need to do their americas top 200 (or 150), then add turboHD for $10/mo. which brings our total up to the TWC neighborhood. but if turboHD includes some other programming i can't find on their website, we'd be in good shape. i wonder if i should just call TWC and threaten to cancel, and see if they drop my rate?

9/17/2008 9:39:23 AM

^^their DVR is rated the highest, better than Tivo.

9/17/2008 10:00:34 AM

^I thought it was the closest you could get to tivo without surpassing it ?

9/17/2008 10:08:50 AM

no, it was rated by cnet as better than tivo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiGRvEcP_qg


[Edited on September 17, 2008 at 10:12 AM. Reason : ]

9/17/2008 10:10:47 AM

Ok, the guys came and installed it last night, and I love it. My wife loves it too.

My concern about them running cables and the like was completely unwarranted. They didnt have to run a single new cable in my house to make it work.

The only thing I am concerned about is how the DVR operates in Dual Mode. We have our bedroom TV hooked up as TV#2, and I dont like the fact that if you set the DVR to record on a certain tuner, you are kind of stuck with that, It cant intelligently decide when in Dual mode.

I think we are going to give Single mode a shot and see if that covers what we need. Rarely do we watch both TVs at the same time, so I think single mode is probably going to work for us.

I dont have a land line, so they hooked the 722 up to the broadband and that works just fine.

9/17/2008 1:38:22 PM

you can change the default tv from TV2 to TV1. if you start recording something while it is on, it gives you the choice of recording to to TV1 or TV2.

if your default tv to record to first is TV2, then shows listed higher in priority are recorded there first, and the lower priority on TV1 if the shows come on at the same time.

if you run into the problem where you're watching TV1 currently, but at the top of the next hour both TVs will be recording something, and you want to watch what's recording on the other TV...don't go skipping recordings to try to switch the TVs. just wait a couple of seconds, hit the DVR button twice, then start the show from the list. saves a lot of headaches.

9/17/2008 1:51:10 PM

I get how it works, the scenario i would like is the following:

We are in Dual Mode, we have scheduled CSI to record on TV2, it starts recording.

I am upstairs, decide I want to watch TV. The TV downstairs (TV#1) is off. I turn on TV2.

Ideally, it should give me Tuner #1, since Tuner #2 is in use, and Tuner #1 is available. Instead, in Dual Mode, it always shows me Tuner #2 on TV2, which is currently recording CSI.


I think single mode is the way I need to be using it, so it will act like I am describing. The only downside is that I would need to switch it to dual mode whenver my wife and i want to watch different shows on the different TVs (which is extremely rare).

9/17/2008 2:33:31 PM