 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
The following part is my installation story. I installed the international package for my parents-in-law. But I think some of the experiences also apply even you only need the US package. Hope it can provide you some useful information. [Headline]
[Aug 20, 2006]Dish Network changed their policy about Clubdish program. Now each people can only refer up to 5 referrals per year. Also they changed the policy about the 49.99 credit on the first bill. 18-month commitment is required to get the 49.99 credit. [Oct 03, 2004]From Oct 2004, Dish Network announced a new Chinese package called Great Wall package. There is 17 channels inside this package. Check the detail here Current customer can get a free upgrade and free installation if you agree to renew your contract for one additional year. Also a super dish is required to install the great wall package. Here is a picture for the Super Dish
The size of the super dish is bigger comparing with the normal Dish 500. Also there are 3 LNBs on super dish which makes it receiving signals from 3 satellites directly. [Apr 26, 2004]Got the DVR today around 9am. It took about 15 minutes to install the DVR. It works good. I can pause the live TV anytime and record any program in the future. The DVR holds around 10 hour program, which is pretty enough for me. I like this device because if I have some time conflict. I can record the program and watch it later. The device I got is Dish510. This one is a combination of receiver and digital video recorder. For those of you who want to ebay the digital video recorder, this may not be a good news because you can not sell the digital video recorder separately. Here is a picture for the receiver:
[Apr 22, 2004]Finally I got the DVR and international program as they promised before. It took me one hour on phone before it works. The major reason for this is because they did not bring DVR receiver for me when they installed the device for me at the first time. So they have to figure out the reason and set up a new installation for me. The time I got is next Monday. Basically they are going to change my current basic receiver to a DVR receiver. Frankly speaking, I have no idea if the DVR is just one kind of advanced receiver or it's a separate device. I will post the pictures after I got the DVR on Monday. I was so surprised to find out it's so easy to add and remove channel using Dish Network. I called the customer service tonight to add the international package. It only take 5 minutes before I can actually see the program. I think this is pretty good because it's so easy for us to add the program and remove when we do not need it any more. [Apr 21, 2004]The tech people came to my apartment around 9:30am. They checked the room and told me they will be back. Then I waited around half an hour before they show up again. Not sure what they were doing outside. It took around 1 hour before they install everything. Normally it should not take so long but something is wrong with our international dish. They can not get signal at all. Finally we found out there is some short circuit in the dish. Here is the pictures for the two dishes:
The bad thing is that they have to put one dish on the ground because they said they were not allowed to amount it on the wall because this is an apartment. I do not own this place. This is very inconvenient because it used a lot of space on the balcony. If you also live in apartment, this may become a problem for you. One dish is used for America 60 program and another one is used for local channel. These two dishes has been connected to a connector.
The output of the connector will go to the receiver (the one on the top of my apex DVD player). I also get a guide book, a channel description and some accessories. All the channels with black dot is available for America 60 package. Here is some pictures for them:
[Apr 19, 2004]Based on the post on fatwallet, I called this company: http://www.vmcsatellite.com/channels/dish_splash.cfm Their phone number is 1-877-998-Dish. I asked about their promotion. The rep told me it's available in my area. The Service I am going to get is "American Top 60". You can check here for all the channel information. I also asked about the international package. The one I want is "Chinese Plus Pack". The rep told me I can get this one with no problem. They can gave me free Dish for both "American Top 60" and "Chinese Plus Pack". Also I can get free installation for up to 4 TV. I need to sign one year contact. But I will not have any commitment with "Chinese Plus Pack". It means I can add this package any time and also remove this one any time with no additional charge. This is pretty good for most of us since our parents only stay here for a few months. The free DVR is also available for additional 4.98$ each month. They have two option about the equipment. The default option will be the leasing. If you want to own the equipment. It will be 5$ more each month. I tried to calculate the best choice since we can always sell the equipment later to get some money back. Here is what I finally order: "Chinese Plus Pack", "American Top 60", Free Digital Video Recorder; I will own the equipment after one year contract. They also include the local package inside which is 5$ more. So my total month fee for all these is around 56$ each month. I am so happy to know there is no tax for this in Greenbelt area. I ordered around 3pm on Apr. 19th. The scheduled installation time is Apr. 21, 2004. One additional thing is the rep in VMC told me I will get the "American Top 60" first and then I need to call back to add the "Chinese Plus Pack". Otherwise Dish Network will charge me 99$ dish fee for the international package. She said she will call me back on Thursday and tell me exactly what to do. Hope this will not be a big problem for me. Let's wait to see what will happen next.
|
|
|
|
|||
|