Dish Network - What is Free

What is it that you really get for free when you sign up with Dish Network? Basically it's equipment and installation. So you get a state-of-the-art satellite TV system plus installation free of charge. And what do you pay for? Well that's easy - programming! This is where the networks - cable and satellite - make their money. Competition has ensured that equipment comes free, but the networks have to recover their costs, and this they do through programming.

When you decide to order a Dish Network system, it's essential to think carefully about the programming you want. There is no point paying for a top package if you aren't going to get full value for money by watching it.

Dish Network Retailers

Over the coming weeks I'll take a look at some of the Dish Network equipment retailers. Today I'll start with Allsat. AllSat has been a direct retailer of DISH Network since 1996 so they were pretty much in there at the beginning. Over this time they have been able to keep up with the extensive requirements needed to sell DISH Network service and to install it. So Allsat are still around 9 years later, and still independently owned and operated.

As shown in the Dish Network Directory, Allsat have as a good a deal as any when it comes to the equipment and special offers. Of course they offer the Digital Home Advantage package, which gives you free Dish Network equipment in up to four rooms with free DVR. This is the sort of deal that cable just can't compete with.

Dish 311 Receiver

The DISH311 receiver is DISH Network's entry-level satellite receiver. It will drive a single TV. Although as said it is the entry-level receiver equipment, it is still packed full of useful features. DISH Home Interactive TV for example, this allows you to use a whole host of interactive features including Games and Entertainment, o rgetting the latest news or weather. The interactive TV can also be used to contact Customer Support. There is alsi the on-screen, Electronic Program Guide (EPG) which provides you with loads of useful information including program listings. Another great feature of the DISH311 is the way it gives you features for searching for programs or keeping a list of your own favorite - whether it be favorite programs or just favorite themes such as comedy shows or music. If you add in the timers and the parental controls, it gives you more than enough to keep the average DISH Network satellite TV watcher happy.

The DISH311 is described along with the rest of DISH Network's equipment at the
Dish-Network-Directory.

Dish Network and HDTV

Satellite TV technology seems to move along at ever increasing rates. Now is the time to consider HDTV, as demonstrated by the interest shown by our visitors to the Dish Network Directory.

With analog TV being switched off in a few years and digital TV having reached the limits of technology, we are now in the era of HDTV, and Dish Network is fully part of this.

So now we have the choice of getting HDTV, what do we do? Let's look at cost. To get theDish Network HD receiver, ViP211, you only need pay a one-off fee of $49.99. The programming (Dish Network DishHD Bronze package to the DishHD Platinum package) will cost you about $20 to $40 per month more than standard programming. This is what you pay to get the best picture quality possible.

Looking to the future, HDTV will become the norm, it’s just a question of when and not if you get HDTV.

Compare Dish Network and Cable, Part II

This is part two of my investigation comparing Dish Network Satellite TV and Cable TV. I've found that as I've been compiling the Dish-Network-Directory, I've been able to examine the differences between Dish Network and Cable TV. Last time it was equipment, today it's just a short note on programming , then a summary of what I've found.

There are two types of programming, the first is traditional programming, the second is HD or High Definition programming. It doesn’t take too long to realize that Dish Network Satellite TV offers many more channels of both types than the cable equivalent. In addition to this, the number of channels is increasing all the time. With Dish Network, you are also sure to get a free trial offer of three months of movies or something like this.

What about the relative cost of Dish Network and Cable programming. Dish Network Satellite TV certainly has the edge here. You will find that Dish Network channel packages are much cheaper – even if you don't take the special offers into account. The standard Dish Network programming package starts at $19.99 per month against $50-plus for cable.

So to summarize, whether it's equipment or cost and variety of programming, Dish Network Satellite TV stands way ahead of Cable.

Compare Dish Network Satellite TV and Cable

This is the first of two investigations. I've found that as I've been compiling the Dish-Network-Directory, I've been able to examine the differences between Dish Network and Cable TV. Some of the factors I compared were technical and others to do with cost. Let's see how Dish Network fairs against it's older competitor.

One thing that certainly stands out is that Dish Network market share is growing whilst cable is falling. Another thing is that the cost of cable is increasing annually at a rate that is way above inflation. One thing to bear in mind that even if Dish Network prices were to increase, the level of technology continues to improve with the result that you get better quality and more choice for your money.

I'm going to look at equipment today and I'll take a look at programming tomorrow. These are exciting times for Dish Network equipmet due to the proliferation of HD (High Definition) TV. This provides the highest quality pictures available to any satellite or terrestrial TV network. There's no point in having the equipment if you don't have any HD channels, and HD channels are certainly available and increasing in numbers all the time. You can also do HD DVR so that you see recorded TV with exactly the same quality as the original picture with absolutely no degradation. This is on top of the fact that Dish Network provides a 100% digital service . Cable in comparison provides only a percentage of digital services with more limited HDTV.

So on the basis of equipment, the Dish Network Satellite TV comes out on top so far.

Don't forget that all this information is available via the Dish-Network-Directory.

Dish Network Directory

It all started when I was trying to compare the different Dish Network satellite TV deals that are available. They all seemed to be very similar and it was time-consuming to pick out the differences between them. This is on top of trying to compare Dish Network with DirecTV and compare satellite TV with cable TV. To jump ahead a bit, I decided to create the Dish-Network-Directory, a place where I put everything I found about Dish Network and how to buy a system.

So, to go back a bit, after many hours without making much progress, I started to make some notes, this turned into a table, and by the next day, I found I had a long list of best offers and deals for Dish Network equipment and Dish Network programming. This made me think that many other people must be having the same problem and like me they're worried that they might miss out on something. For instance I found that each retailer had their own special offer - something that differentiated them from the competition. With all other things being equal, maybe these offers would be enough to swing the balance.

So as I mentioned earlier, I created the Dish-Network-Directory. This is part of my online mall shopping website - http://www.the-states-online.com. If you take a look in the the Dish-Network-Directory, you'll find all sorts of useful information, comparison charts and links to Dish Network and DirecTV retailers.

I'm updating the directory daily so it contains the latest information and who knows, might help you decide which equipment to get and which programming offers to choose.