I have a satellite HD question.

So, I hope to get my $2,000 gift card from Niutech by the end of the year (I have 3 of the shitty offers left to do and money is REALLY tight...) and I plan to purchase a Plasma. I understand that in order to get the most from my HDTV, I need HD programming (I've heard regular tv looks rather shitty on a big HDTV), so I've began looking into satellite. Now, Dish offers a free HD receiver upgrade, but I am a little confused as to how this works. I know I have at least a couple of local stations that are now broadcasting in HD... with this receiver will I be getting those channels in HD? My confusion is due to their offering HD packages as well. The "bronze" package is too much and I don't really need all of those channels... just a few HD stations would be great, but I don't want to spend an ass load extra just to get a bunch of HD stations I probably won't watch. So, to simplify my question, do I HAVE to purchase an HD package in order to get ANY HD programming? Thanks for any help.

you can just get an HD antenna and you will be able to pick up your local stations in HD

you can get one from walmart for about 30-40 bucks

We bought a DLP HDTV, but we don't have cable or satellite. There are several channels here that broadcast over-the-air HD programming (PBS, NBC, ABC, etc.). We get these channels fine with a regular TV antenna, and they look pretty good, but YMMV. Just be sure to get a TV with "built-in HD tuner."

Right, but I want to get THE MOST out of my HDTV!!! I'm going to be spending most of the gift card on the TV (the remainder will be spent on accesories and what not... like surround sound theater system and an upconverting DVD player) which is a TON OF MONEY for sub par video quality. An antenna (I have heard of these and was gonna buy one before I started thinking about satellite) couldn't possibly give great results. That's exactly what I want - great results, without ANY flaws... But, thanks for the suggestion. Does ANYONE know anything about HD satellite?

http//www.lyngsat.com[]http//www.lyngsat.com

Everything you could possibly WANT to know about satellites (including what's on each satellite, what you can pick up and free satellite channels [FTA])

Sadly, I don't have satellite, but I intend on getting it soon... In the mean time, I'll enjoy my 13 channels of basic cable on my TV... (

i practically live on the hd channels.. espn 1 and 2 hd, inhd, hdnet movies, tnt hd and hd broadcast channels for sports and primetime tv (not every show broadcasts in high def).

what cable company do you have?

If you were asking me, I don't have cable... I use a sorry assed antenna.

Are there any Time Warner Cable subscribers that get ESPN2HD?

Unless you live in a VERY large market, you won't get a lot of OTA HD channels -- the networks and PBS if you're lucky. Certainly none of the better HD channels.

Dish Network has the best HD package of any satellite vendor. I prefer DirecTV (was a subscriber for over 5 years) for equipment and support, but Dish has them beat on HD programming, particularly since Dish bought out Voom's HD programming.

I have about 10 HD channels through Charter's service. I hate Charter with a passion though, and as soon as my promo discount is done I'll be going back to satellite. Cable pales in comparison to sat, the only reason I tried was because there was no upfront costs and contracts -- with sat you have buy the HD equipment (expensive when you have 3 DVR's in the house like I do) plus sign 1 or 2 year contracts.

[quote92a9086a6f="dmorris68"] I hate Charter with a passion [/quote92a9086a6f]

I agree, worst customer service ever

F charter

dtv has been great for us. calling them to get a free hd dvr later this week, if it is available in my market.
u can totally get stations in with great quality with an over the air antenna.

try satelliteguys.us

also if u go with dtv and want to be my referral I would give you some cash back on what i would get with the credit for dtv

I appreciate everyone's help and would hate to sound ungrateful, but no one has actually answered my question... there are several local stations here that are broadcast in HD and I only want them. I don't care to spend ton of extra money for Dish Network's HD package (the cheapest HD plan jumps up to $50 after the 10 month promotional period... and I wouldn't even watch most of the channels). So, if I were to simply pay a few bucks extra a month for the HD receiver, could I get those few channels in HD or do I HAVE to purchase an HD plan to get ANY HD channels? Secondly, jy3, I would be more than happy to be your "referral," and wouldn't charge anything, BUT I don't even have the TV yet... and even then, Christmas is just around the corner, which means money is gonna be tight. So, I probably won't be getting satellite for quite a while. But if I decide to and it crosses my mind, I'm sure it won't be no trouble for me to track down this thread and give you a shout.

If you only want local OTA HD stations, then just get an OTA antenna, but don't be surprised if you have to spend a lot of money on a good antenna. Inexpensive OTA antennae are typically directional, which means they have to be physically aimed at different stations. If you pay a little more and get a large roof or attic mounted omni-directional, you'll typically get much better results. But every site is different. I live within broadcast range of around 5 HD stations, but due to terrain I can only receive 1 of them OTA, and it's pretty crappy at that. But if that's all you want...