I can't get OTA HD so my only option is Dishnetwork or Directv. I've heard bad things about Directv HD. Plus you get more HD channels thru Dish. So how is it? Is it worth it? I'm looking at the bronze package of 26 HD channels. Is it comparable to OTA or worse?

It's not as good as OTA but better than DirecTV in my opinion. OTA is not compressed so it will be better picture quality than satellite. DirecTV made their HD such a mess that I switched to Dish and have been pretty satisfied. Dish has compressed theirs but not nearly as bad as DirecTV plus Dish has a better selection of channels. I've also been very happy with my Dish ViP622 HD DVR.

I live too far away to get OTA so I can't compare, but Dish is the reason I switched and I couldn't be happier. Would like Cinemax in HD, but the VOOM channels are an incredible surprise. I watch the Monster and Kung Fu channels as much as anything.

I also have the VIP622 DVR and am very happy with it. You can put the guide on just "HD Channels" and I don't watch anything else. If you like videogames, the GAME channels is fun for awhile, too.

I know people with Direct HD, and I can't imagine having it. For the same cost, Dish has so very much more content.

Does Dish rent/lease HD-DVRs, or do you have to buy them?
Thanks!

It's a lease. Seemed like it was $99 to upgrade from a free HD receiver to the HD DVR.

If I am reading my bill right, the monthly fee is something like $5.99, but that is waived for 6 months, I believe.

Should probably point out that DirecTV's MPEG4 channels are much, much better than their MPEG2 channels on bitrates. Most seem to say they are now comparable to Dish, since both of them do some resolution-chopping.

Although, if it wasn't for the NFL, I probably would've switched to Dish this fall. So take the 1st paragraph with a grain of salt.

When you sign up for local channels that does that mean you get the 4 big networks in HD? I did the zip code thing on their website and it said unavailable but I don't see why they can't send the network HD signals down the dish.

Other than the Kung-Fu and and Monster channels, the others are total crap. The Rave channel has a decent concert every now and then.

It's $199 upfront to lease the 622 with a rebate of $10 or $20 off your monthly bill. I can't remember which rebate price they are currently running.

HD locals are only available in certain markets and they are gradually adding more. They have to be added to the satellites after working out details with the affiliates. They are not allowed to provide national NBC,ABC,CBS,FOX HD by law to those who don't have HD locals available yet. A large number of subscribers get around this by calling Dish and 'moving' their service address to an area that then allows the HD locals for that market to be activated. They keep their billing address the same and set their billing to paperless. You just have to be sure you're in the signal beam for the market you choose.

Have you guys heard that Dish is supposed to be offering an external storage drive soon that plugs into the USB of the ViP622? I'm not sure of all the details but I've seen screen shots of the menus. It should be very cool to have a place to keep that HD stuff you don't want to delete.

Video On Demand is supposed to be here in a couple of months too, including HD programming.

I've got all of the Firefly episodes in HD. If I can move those to an external source that would be sweet.

I enjoy the HD Foreign Language Channel quite a bit. I also watch Mr. Magoo on the HD Cartoon Channel (Animania?).

I love the Voom HD channels. Equator and National Geographic are nice demo channels, there's HDNet for films and programming, Universal HD. It's so worth it. I love bragging to the Comcast and DirecTV owners that I have 30 HD channels.

I got it a while back when I got pissed at Charter (month long cable/cable modem outage and terrible customer service, long story).

I have to admit I don't watch a lot of TV, but it's nice having. And I like having a DVR as now I actually watch some TV.

I've watched a few movies on TNT-HD (LOTR, for example, I skimmed through, as it was broadcast cropped). I was impressed with the PQ. I'm not a hi-def DVD owner, though. I can only get a couple of OTA HD channels in (and only at night time) without putting up a huge antenna, but I can't get local channels in HD.

I get the most wear out of HDNET and HDNET movies. They broadcast stuff OAR for the most part (AFAIK) and cycle through some decent movies.

The Dish specific VOOM channels tend to be useless, but some of 'em, like the Kung Fu and Monster Channels, are kinda cool. We watched one of the Godzilla movies in hi-def one night (butchered/dubbed American version).