The BEST DEAL in Satellite TV...
   

I've had a Dish PVR for over 4 years, and I can't live without it!

I just don't have time to watch TV in real time.

The shows I really want to watch are on when I'm working, sleeping, or doing something else. I used to miss most of them.

Now, when I get home I hit the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) button on my remote, and watch the shows that are just sitting there waiting for me.

I started with a regular Dish receiver without the PVR, then bought a single receiver Dish PVR that let me record one show.

It didn't take me long to be sold on recording TV!  I bought a two receiver Dish PVR that lets me record one program while I'm watching another, or record two programs at once. I often ended up wanting to record two programs at once when I had the single receiver PVR.

I bought all of our Dish receivers. That was a mistake.  The Dish dealer didn't tell me that I could lease them, and not pay the big bucks to buy them... and I'd get up to four rooms of free installation to boot (I did get free installation from the dealer I bought them from).

Donna thought I was an idiot to pay $350 for our first single receiver PVR. She never used it. When I got the $500 two receiver PVR (Dish 721), she thought it was silly but she started using the single channel receiver. Now you couldn't get her to give it up! She wants one that will record more hours (like the two receiver PVR).

Since I bought the receivers when we started with our local installer, we seem to be locked into it. You get the best deal when you're a new customer, and you think through your needs before making the deal with Dish. Once you're a customer, you don't get any deals.

This is the best part of recording shows for me...

SKIP the Commercials on programs you record,
and watch a 30 minute show in 20 minutes!

This has been a real time saver for me. I've actually worn the arrow off the 30 second Skip Ahead Button on my remote:

Most TV commercials are 30 seconds. I just hit the Skip Ahead Button six times when I see a commercial come on. If there's still a commercial on, I hit it two more times because it's four minutes of commercials instead of three minutes (it must be a popular show).

I also love the Go Back Button, which brings you back 10 seconds each time you push it. I use it all the time... when I didn't hear something, or want to see something again. You can also simply rewind or fast-forward, and Pause a live or recorded show if you have to answer the phone. I find myself wishing the radio in my car, the TV at the office, and everything else had a Go Back Button. Maybe someday?

Tivo^® has a similar thing on their units (used on regular TV, Direct and Cable), but I could never bring myself to buy a Tivo^® since I know it phones home every day with the exact information about what I watched, recorded, and viewed. They also work with companies to stuff the commercials down your throat - even when you hit their skip button. Too much like Big Brother for me.

An installation note... 

I took the regular F-connector output from my two receiver Dish unit and fed it into the antenna system that was already in the house that I didn't need any more because I had satellite. That way, I can watch the recorded programs from any room by either changing the channel on the TV or clicking an A/B switch box at the TV.

The remote that comes with the PVR is an RF remote (Radio Frequency of around 400mhz) that won't interfere with anything else around the house. That means you can change channels and play stuff off your PVR from any room - it's not line of sight like a regular IR (infrared) remote. That's what really makes it worth sending the output over the existing antenna system.

You may have to rearrange splitters and amplifiers, but it's easy to do. Ask the Dish installers about doing it for you (some are better than others). It's well worth the time and money so you can watch your recorded shows in any room!

If you've spent the money on an HDTV, or you're thinking of getting one in the future, you can make a deal with them to get one or more HDTV receivers. Be sure you ask them about it now to get the best deal. It'll be more expensive when you're not a new customer.

We don't have phone lines hooked up to our Dish units. I'm too cheap to buy Pay-per-Views (I've never rented movies either), so I don't need phone lines. If you do buy Pay-per-View movies or sports events, you need the phone line.

Dish's receivers also work with VoIP lines like Vonage. Just put *99 in for the dialing prefix in the setup menu.

If you have multiple receivers and don't have a phone line, Dish will occasionally call you and tell you that they'll turn off your service if you don't walk to each of your receivers and punch some buttons on the remote for them. You really do have to have all the receivers connected to dishes at that location, or they will cut you off.

I have a VCR and DVD recorder connected to the two receiver Dish unit. I can make tapes or DVDs for my friends, who inevitably call me and ask me to record something for them (I hope they read this and get their own PVRs!).

The main negative about satellite compared to cable or regular TV? The picture goes away for a few moments just before it starts raining like cats and dogs (the heavy rain actually blocks the satellite signal). It works fine in regular rain and snow. On the other hand, our cable service would go out for hours or days from time to time.

You can get more information on the VMC Satellite web site. It won't cost you much to get started with Dish (you could actually get $100 back from them if you order a 120 channel package), there's free installation, and you'll get the best deal compared to buying the stuff (like I did).

Our company specializes in selling the "World's Best" everything for phone men. I'm really picky. I've had Primestar, Direct and cable, and Dish is better than the others (they're all a pain to deal with, especially after you're a customer).

NOTE:  Dish recently "upgraded" the software on all of their receivers, which has made me think about getting rid of Dish.  I pretty much leave all the TVs running all the time. We have one tuned to Headline News all the time, day and night. For whatever reason, the idiots at Dish decided that they'll make their satellite box go to sleep after you've watched TV for four hours. I walk in the room where Headline News used to be on all the time, and now it has the Dish logo and says "Press SELECT to Continue."

Of course, when I get home from work after 6PM, Headline News doesn't have any headlines for many hours - just repeats of some talk shows.

When I called Dish, they said there's no way to stop the receivers from going to sleep. They said all of their boxes go to sleep after four hours. Gee, I guess I should thank Dish for making me stop watching TV after four hours?

After digging around the Internet for information, I was finally able to get the Headline News TV to stay on by setting a timer to record Headline news (Channel 202) to a VCR from 5 in the morning until 11:30PM. I don't have a VCR hooked up to that TV, but the Dish box doesn't know the difference. I can't do that on the other TVs, because we watch different channels at different times. Every time a Dish box goes to sleep, I get closer to getting rid of Dish. The good thing about owning the receivers is that I can sell them to a neighbor or on ebay.

The one channel I can't get on cable here is RFDTV (now on Dish 231), which is a "Network for Rural America," but which has some really neat programs for big city people. They're the only channel I know of with a weekly hour long show on real Trains and Locomotives, with a half-hour model train show, with a couple of hours on Classic Tractors (very neat!), and with the Big Joe Polka Show. 

Like at almost all big companies today, if you have questions about Dish you'll probably get a better answer by asking your dog or cat than the people Dish hires to answer the phone. I would hope they're in a third world country. It would be embarrassing to think these were Americans, but they're no worse than the jerks at AT&T, Verizon, Vonage or Comcast. You'd think these big companies would at least put their call centers in a country with electricity so the people could actually use the service they're selling or supporting.

If you still want to try Dish, I did some research on VMC before I put this on our web site, and found very few complaints... the primary complaint being that if you don't keep the system for 18 months, you have to pay a penalty (like the cell phone companies). They do have an option for no commitment at all, but you lose the free warranty on the equipment (be sure to read the fine print at the bottom of their page, and the FAQ in the left pane). If you cancel service, you have to return the receivers. VMC is owned by a publicly traded company, INPC, which seems to check out fine.

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Mike Sandman

Copyright © 2007 Mike Sandman Enterprises, Inc.