What is Dish Network HDTV like?
October 25, 2014 9:57 AM   Subscribe

We are ready to upgrade from our ancient TiVo to a DVR that is compatible with Dish Network and supports an HD signal (yes, we are behind the times). Before we pull the trigger, we want to know what to expect. I mean, yes, we expect it to change channels and record things, but...do you like it? Does the UI work well? Anything we should know about going in?
posted by That's Numberwang! to Technology (7 answers total)
 
I have Dish and I love it (pm me if you want a $50 off coupon!). The only thing I wish I had known is that it's based on an eastern time zone setting, so some channels for me go to infomercial at 1AM, instead of 4AM, since I'm in California. The on demand is great and I prefer the UI over Time Warner, but it's not as slick as Uverse.
posted by banannafish at 10:08 AM on October 25, 2014


If you get the hopper it's truly amazing... Great UI. Very very snappy. "Just works" with streaming to iPads and phones etc. They even have wireless boxes for the extra TVs....
posted by chasles at 12:02 PM on October 25, 2014


Happy Dish customer for 15 years and I really have no complaints. Their guide is grid-based and is pretty simple but effective (no idea if TiVo still has that but their old UI was really awful).

The only thing that gets tricky is timer management. When you select shows to record the timers go into a prioritized list, which you can easily change. But sometimes when you find a show you wanted isn't scheduled to record it's a little tricky to dig in a figure out which recording to cancel to make sure your other one happens.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:29 PM on October 25, 2014


I also have DISH. I wouldn't say the UI is great, but it is ok. With DishAnywhere, I can program my DVR over the internet and also stream shows from my DVR anywhere I have an internet connection, including outside the US. I can also download shows from my DVR to my iPad and iPhone and watch them without an internet connection. They have a feature where you can auto-record primetime on the big 4 networks (CBS,ABC,NBC, and Fox) but you can only keep the shows a week.
posted by elmay at 5:13 PM on October 25, 2014


I just got Dish a few months ago, and love it so far. Besides the Hopper and Dish on the Go that others above have mentioned, there are apps like Game Finder. It lists all the sports and what channel they are on as well as current score, which my boyfriend finds very useful.

One downside I have heard is a loss of signal during heavy rain, and if you live in a snowy area it may stick to the dish and you may need to clear it off. I have yet to experience either of these personally though.
posted by weathergal at 5:27 PM on October 25, 2014


Do you have Dish right now, or are you switching to them as well?

We have Dish and like it. We rent a slingbox DVR - dish owns them now - and it works pretty well. It is not perfect, but when our previous model broke, they replaced it without issue. Are you going to buy your own or rent from Dish?

I use the website and app occasionally. I have had some frustration in trying to record a bunch of things in late August. I set up several Simpsons episodes and a few new shows using the website. The schedules showed up on our DVR, but they did not record. Other schedules during this time worked correctly; it was just the new ones that didn't. We could tell which ones were bad in the way they were displayed, so I ended up deleting them and rescheduling from the DVR itself. Our DVR has a decent search option, so I just use that most of the time. Since then, I have used the website to set up more one-off recordings and it worked.

I've used the iOS app and it has also worked correctly, but I only do one schedule at a time with it.
posted by soelo at 7:58 AM on October 27, 2014


Response by poster: We have been Dish customers for several years now and have been happy with it. We've also been TiVo customers for a long time. We need a new DVR, but the new TiVo models don't work with Dish Network, so we are probably going to end up with Dish's DVR system. We just wanted to see if there was anything Really Terrible with it before we pull the trigger.

It sounds like it's pretty decent and will meet our few needs well. Thanks everyone!
posted by That's Numberwang! at 8:17 PM on October 27, 2014


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