Dish Network and DirecTV Offers From JMJSatellite.com

Even though HDTV (high definition television) is all the rage these days, Dish Network hasn’t neglected its commitment to offer great television programming and technological features to all of its subscribers; even those who choose not to subscribe to its high definition television programming packages. The standard definition television satellite receivers that Dish Network offers are good examples of this continuing commitment.

Dish Network’s standard definition satellite receivers have an impressive blend of technological features that make watching television more convenient and enjoyable. One example of features that come on all of Dish Network’s standard definition satellite receivers is the Dish Interactive Electronic Program Guide. The Electronic Program Guide, or EPG as some people call it for short, is the central part of the software that guides the Dish Network television viewing experience. Just like its name suggests, the Dish Interactive Electronic Program Guide is an on screen TV program listing that tells you what’s on all of the channels that you have access to, when it’s on, who stars in it, what it’s about, and even how long it lasts. If the “it” in question happens to be a full length movie, the EPG would even tell you what the MPAA has rated it or let you know if it doesn’t have a rating. The Electronic Program Guide also ties into Parental Control Lock software which could be set to block your kids from accessing programming that you do not prefer them watching according to a variety of criteria. On receivers with built in digital video recorders, the Electronic Program Guide also makes it easy to program in what TV shows and movies you prefer to record (more on that later).

Some Dish Network receivers would also supply TV signals to two separate televisions located in different rooms of the house. That way different family members could watch different programming at the same time. The receiver is installed in the living room or home theater with the household’s primary TV set, and then connected to another TV set located elsewhere in the house by using a coaxial cable which is run through the walls. A second remote control also comes with these receivers and operates on frequencies that could penetrate walls and keeps the receiver from confusing remote control signals from people watching the different televisions.

One of the most useful types of technology that’s built into some of Dish Networks satellite receivers is digital video recording. A digital video recorder is basically a high capacity hard disk and some special software. together they could record programming from up to two channels at the same time and then play it back when convenient. At first glance it may seem that a digital video recorder serves the same purpose as a VCR, but further examination reveals that it actually does a better job than any VCR. That’s because a digital video recorder is programmed through the intuitive interface of the Electronic Program Guide rather than the obscure interface used by old fashioned VCR’s. This makes a digital video recorder a pleasure to use, and if it’s a pleasure to use, it would be used a lot more than the VCR ever was. The other difference comes from the fact that a digital video recorder could store up to two hundred hours of programming and doesn’t require the use of video cassette tapes.

In all Dish Network’s standard definition satellite receivers are a great addition to any home entertainment system.

As a home entertainment enthusiast you probably know that there are a lot of advantages to having high definition television in your home, but there are so many complications to acquiring high def programming in your home that they may seem insurmountable. For example, not only do you have to acquire a high definition television set and have it properly installed and calibrated, but you also need the high definition programming to go with it in order to acquire the most out of it. And if you have high definition television programming, that means that you also need a special receiver to go with it.

As you read this you might be thinking that you understand that you need a high definition television set and you need to have it properly calibrated. You may also understand why you need special high definition television programming, but you might be wondering why you need a special receiver in order to decode it. There are actually several reasons why you need a special receiver to decode high definition television programming. The first is that just about all television transmissions that you would acquire from any television service provider are encrypted to prevent unscrupulous people from intercepting them and stealing them. This is true with both satellite TV and cable TV. hence you need a receiver to decode the programming. Another reason that you need a receiver is that high definition television has a much higher resolution picture than standard definition television and a much wider aspect ratio screen than standard definition television. Both of these features make high definition television much more data intensive than standard definition television.

More data means taking up more bandwidth and as all television service providers have some kind of a limit on the bandwidth that they have available in order to send programming, high definition television is compressed using MPEG-4 data compression technology so that more high definition channels and standard definition channels could be packed into the same mount of bandwidth. Standard definition television programming is also compressed, but it’s largely compressed using the less sophisticated and less compact MPEG-2 data compression format. hence high definition television receivers have to be able to handle programming compressed using the MPEG-4 technique as well as the MPEG-2 compression format. Another reason why you need a special high definition television receiver in order to watch high def programming is because standard definition television receivers only handle programming in 480i and maybe 480p resolutions, while high definition television comes in 720p and 1080i resolutions. That means that a high def receiver has to be able to handle all four resolutions while a standard definition receiver has to be able to handle all four.

The good news for you is that if you sign up for a high definition television programming package from Dish Network, Dish Network would take care of all of these issues for you. It does this by providing a high definition television satellite receiver free with your subscription. It would even take into account your individual situation when making the decision about which one of two high def satellite receivers to send to you. You would either acquire the basic model ViP211 or the digital video recording enabled ViP622 DVR. In either case Dish Network would even go the extra mile to install the unit for you in your home entertainment center.

What comprises the free equipment offer by Dish Network in their promotional advertisements for subscribers? What is a digital receiver? What could it do for my viewing pleasure? Why is this equipment being furnished free of charge? Perhaps we could offer easily understandable answers to these questions.

A Dish Network digital receiver is a technologically advanced piece of equipment designed to receive and decode digital signals being emitted from any of Dish Network’s nine satellites presently in orbit. Equipment furnished by Dish Network, a receiver, transfers the digital signals from satellites into crisp, crystal-clear pictures with the best possible sound onto subscriber television screens. Dish Network offers these services to their subscriber base, having their equipment only, in an effort to offer and maintain the best possible digital satellite television service with the least amount of potential problems relative to possible equipment malfunctions and repairs. This is sort of like a combination of preventive maintenance and avoidance of problems associated with using another company’s equipment. It actually saves Dish Network money in repairs and replacements, and saves the subscriber money in increased costs as a result of such repairs and replacements.

Dish Network offers several models of receivers with different features. You may select the receiver, from the descriptions that follow, to best meet your needs.

DISH 111 is an entry-level receiver that is sleek in appearance and a perfect 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th receiver in a home requiring many. It, too, features the DISH Home Interactive User Interface to enhance your viewing of news and weather, sports, and games. This receiver features the interactive options as well as a 2-day interactive Electronic Program Guide (EPG), parental locks, favorites and theme lists, program browse, and caller ID.

DISH 301 has many features with a slender design that enables the interactive features using the DISH Home Interactive User Interface. It includes an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), listing of Favorites, program info and browse, themes list, parental locks, caller ID, Closed-Caption support, and an infrared 4-component universal remote that could be programmed to operate up to three additional components – another television, VCR, or DVD player.

DISH PRO 311 has a slim line and is a wonderful basic receiver with an infrared remote, with S-Video and RCA jacks for both audio and video and coaxial output. The IR Blast feature controls the VCR and permits scheduling of a maximum of 10 programs for automatic recording and viewing. The Blaster records the selected program and stops when it is complete. OTR allows you to program only once to automatically record a program when it comes on, whether it is once a day, once a week, once a month, and to replay it when you desire. This is a truly unique feature that would allow you to awaken to your favorite music or program, see a program that is shown while you are away from your home, or create your own collection of favorite movies. This remote controls a maximum of 4 components – VCR, TV, DVD, and another TV or DVR. Up to 4 guides could be created containing a maximum of 30 channels each. When you are listening to music channels, the song name would be displayed. This receiver could be used as a system or a second receiver.

DISH 322 is another slim design that holds 2 tuners for independent viewing on 2 separate televisions using a single receiver. The mono output emits the 2nd tuner’s signal to other televisions. Dish Network’s DISH 322 also has Interactive capabilities as well as the on-screen Electronic Program Guide (EPG) that could store up to 2 days of program information. It also has parental control, favorites and theme lists, browse, Closed-caption support, and one-touch channel return. This receiver also has capabilities for audio selections as well.

Dish Network offers much in the realm of free equipment and technology, and you could be assured that with their equipment receiving digital satellite signals from their equipment, it would give you the best possible picture and sound available to man.

Ever wonder what’s inside the deals when Dish Network retailers claims they are giving off satellite TV systems or DVR systems for free?

When you see the statements “Free satellite TV systems” in the Dish Network or DirecTV promotion, it actually refers to the satellite TV receiver. Working up with the 18”-satellite dish, satellite TV receiver are used to decode the digital satellite signals and turn it into viewable TV image for the viewer. Dish Network currently offers two types of satellite TV receivers for free in their promotion deals: DISH 322 and DISH 311. Both systems from offer the latest digital receivers and all digital programming at the lowest possible cost.

DISH 311

DISH 311 is Dish Network’s entry-level feature-rich satellite receiver. It uses the DISH Home Interactive User Interface and offers interactive features that improve viewer’s TV picture and audio quality. DISH 311 supports some Dish Network program features, functions supported includes DISH Interactive Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and interactive capabilities, favorites lists features, themes lists, program browse, parental control locks. With DISH 311, you could also acquire Infrared (IR) 4-component universal remote control that could be programmed to operate up to three additional electronic components, like TVs, VCRs and DVD players.

DISH 322

DISH 322 features two tuners for independent satellite TV viewing on two separate televisions. This means you could acquire up to two rooms connected with just one DISH 322 system. Besides double tuners, other supported features of DISH 322 include interactive features thru 4DISH Home Interactive TV, programming listing information thru On-screen Electronic Program Guide (EPG) with access to up to two days of programming listings/information, parental control locks, themes lists, favorites lists, program browse, one-touch channel return, closed-caption support and alternate audio selections.

Digital Video Recording (DVR) system is frequently included as one of the free gifts when you order your Dish Network deals. The DVR is actually a recording device that records TV programs into a built-in hard disk drive in digital format for later viewing. It gives the freedom for you to record, pause, rewind, and fast forward TV shows. Dish Network currently offers a lot of different DVR models with different features and functions. Consumers frequently acquire confuse on the differences between these different models of Dish Network DVRs. To ease this problem, let’s have a brief overview on the Dish Network DVR systems.

DISH Player-DVR 510.

The DVR 510 is the only DVR model that would be given to you for free. Combined with the functions of a normal Dish Network receivers, DVR 510 is capable of recording up to 100 hours of programming on a 120 GB hard-drive and has the ability to pause live TV, record standard definition Dish Network programming, skip recorded commercials and create instant replays. It has the ability to fast forward and rewind in four speeds (4x, 15x, 30x, 300x). You could also skip forward up to 30 seconds and skip backward up to 10 seconds. There is a one-touch record management feature and the option to use the manual or automatic record timers. The DVR 510 also gives you easy access to the Extended Electronic Program Guide that lets you view up to nine days of programming and allows you to search by names, subjects, or actors (all stored onto the hard drive).

DISH Player-DVR 522.

Along with all the features that the DVR 510 has, the DVR 522 has two satellite tuners in one. This dual tuner gives you the power to record two programs simultaneously, watch a live program while recording another, or even watch a pre-recorded program while recording two live programs. Other features of DVR 522 include basic custom program controls such like parental locks, program information, picture-in-guide view, On Demand Weather, favorite lists, and much more. Further more, Dish Network DVR 522 comes with 2 platinum plus remotes and had Picture-In-Picture (PIP) capabilities.

DISH Player-DVR 625

Unlike DVR 510, DISH Player DVR 625would charge you $19.99 as an initial fee. DISH Player-DVR 625 is an advanced dual tuner, two TV output satellite receiver and integrated digital video recorder (DVR). DISH Player-DVR 625’s dual tuners and two TV outputs offer the unique ability to record two shows simultaneously as well as allow for independent viewing of live satellite TV programming and recorded events when connected to two televisions. DVR 625 allows its user to do name based recording, where you could pick any show and the DVR would check all new episodes and record them regardless of any changes in program length or broadcast schedule! Other DVR 625’s main features include Dual satellite tuners that offer several multi-room viewing options, Picture-In-Picture (PIP) functions, basic DVR functions that allows you to pause live TV, play, stop, fast forward, fast reverse, skip forward, up to 100 hours of 100% digital video recording on a 120 gigabyte hard drive, and acquire up to 9-day extended Electronic Programming Guide

DISH Network Satellite TV Receivers

A satellite TV receiver is the electronic box that decodes and sends the satellite signal to your television.

DVR (digital video recorder) satellite TV receivers could also let you record live TV shows, skip through commercials, and pause the show you are watching so you could acquire a snack or answer the phone.

Here’s a review of DISH Network satellite TV receivers:

Free DISH Network Satellite TV Receivers

DISH Network offers two free standard receivers:

* The DISH 311 receiver has one tuner for viewing satellite TV programs on one television.

* The DISH 322 receiver has two tuners for independent TV viewing on two separate televisions.

DISH Network offers one free DVR receiver, the DVR 625, that allows you to:

* Pause and rewind live satellite TV programs

* Record a live TV program while you watch a pre-recorded program

* Record up to 100 hours of your favorite shows, sports events, and movies

* Record two programs simultaneously

DISH Network offers one free HD receiver, the VIP211, that lets you:

* Watch programs in SD (standard definition), HD (high definition), and Analog formats

* Listen to your programs in Dolby Digital format

Note: In order to acquire a free satellite TV receiver you must subscribe to DISH Network’s Programming service. As a subscriber you acquire up to four free receivers and one satellite dish plus free installation.

DISH Network programming prices start at $19.99 for 40 channels.

Other DISH Network Satellite TV Receivers

Dish Network offers a combination DVR and HD receiver, the VIP622, for $199.99. It allows you to:

* Record to 180 hours of programming in an all-digital format

* Pause, stop, fast forward, and replay TV shows

* Record two TV programs at the same time

* Record a live TV show while watching another live show

* Record two live shows while watching a pre-recorded program

* Watch programs in SD, HD, and Analog formats

* Listen to your programs in Dolby Digital audio

Bottom line

If you prefer the easiest and most efficient way to record your favorite programs then I suggest acquiring one of DISH Network’s free DVR recorders. If you prefer the clearest, most lifelike picture, then a free HD receiver is what you need. And if you prefer the best of both worlds and do not mind spending the extra $200, the combination DVR/HD receiver is just the ticket.