Dish TV Blog

DISH Network continues to decimate Cable TV concerning HD (High Definition) Channels.  Dish Network increased the number of HD channels by offering another 5 HD channels nationwide.  That brings the total HD channel count up 40.  The new HD channels are FX, SPEED, Fashion TV (FTV), Logo and MavTV.  All these channels went live in Early May.  Also, in June MSNBC HD will be added (briniging the number of HD channels to 140).

X HD and SPEED HD can be tuned in if you have Dish Network’s Classic Silver 200 HD programming package and above. That plan starts at at $22.99 for the first six months. FTV HD, Logo and MavTV HD are available in PlatinumHD which is an add-on package available for an extra $10 a month.

Last month Dish added 7 HD channels to its lineup including CMT HD, COMEDY CENTRAL HD, MTV HD, Nickelodeon HD, Spike TV HD, VH1 HD and BET HD.

Dish Network and Fandango just made an announcement. 

If you haven’t heard of Fandango previously, Fandango is a website/service that allows you to buy movie tickets, from almost ANY movie theatre in the US, online.  It is a great way to bypass lines and guarantee that a movie is available.

If you have Dish Network, you can go to channel 100 and order movie tickets just by using your remote.  This is similar to the new iPhone application that also allows you to purchase movie tickets.

Tune your dish tv to channel 100 and preview all the movies playing in theatres near you.  You can get movie information and previews through dish network and Fandango without actually purchasing tickets.  Tickets are ordered using a credit card.  So don’t worry about somebody sneaking in and ordering 1000 tickets to a remake of Water World.

Just bring the credit card that you used to buy the tickets with you to the theatre.  Then show it to the box office or swipe it one of the ticket kiosks (in most theatres).  Your real tickets will be printed and you just saved yourself some worry and time.

What is PocketDish?  Although the name suggests that PocketDish is a pocket sized satellite dish/receiver, this is not the case.

PocketDish is made and sold Dish Network.  PocketDish is a tv, video, music, game and photo gadget.  As the name suggests, PocketDish is small and compact enough to fit into a pocket.  PocketDish stores TV programs, music, your favorite games and photos on PocketDish.  It is much more than a standard MP3 player.

PocketDish was created by Dish Network, the fastest-growing U.S. satellite-television service, and the first pay-TV service provider to enter the market of portable video players. Using cutting-edge digital technology, the designers of Dish Network's PocketDish have created a miniature, multi-purpose entertainment system thats perfect for people on the go, offering super-fast downloads and crystal-clear images.

The PocketDish portable media player is available in three versions.  20GB PocketDish, 30GB PocketDish and 40GB PocketDish.  All but the 20GB PocketDish can record video/media from other sources.  The 20GB, 30GB and 40GB PocketDish have 2.2inch, 4inch and 7inch screens respectively.  This makes the largest PocketDish, the 40GB, significantly larger than the smallest one, the 20GB version.

All PocketDishes have USB 2.0 ports that can be plugged into the some Dish Networks Dish Plaers.  This will allow for superfast downloading of programs on your DVR.  Roughly speaking 1 hours worth of programming is transferred in 5 minutes.  Most movies take less than 10 minutes to transfer to any version of the PocketDish.

Transferring Dish Network content to your PocketDish is easy. Just connect the PocketDish to your DVR using the USB cable and you are prompted on screen to transfer which shows/movies you would like.

For those interested in buying, check out PocketDish.com or refer to our handy PocketDish chart below.

ITEM	AV402E	AV500E	AV700E
Hard Drive (HDD)	20GB	30GB	40GB
LCD Display	2.2"	4"	7"
Dimensions	4.2"(w) x 2.4"(h) x 0.7"(d)	4.8"(w) x 3.0"(h) x 0.8"(d)	8.2"(w) x 4.2"(h) x 0.8"(d)
DISH Network Content Capacity	Up to 20 hours*	Up to 30 hours*	Up to 40 hours*
Records Video from Other Sources	No, Audio Only	Yes	Yes
Other Source Content Capacity	Up to 80 hours*	Up to 120 hours*	Up to 160 hours*
Song Capacity (MP3, WAV, WMA)	Up to 10,000*	Up to 15,000*	Up to 20,000*
Photo Capacity (JPEG)	Up to 200,000*	Up to 300,000*	Up to 400,000*
LCD Aspect Ratio	4:3	16:9	16:9
Speaker(s)	No	1	2
Microphone	Yes	No	No
Remote Control	No	Yes	Yes
Docking Station	No	Yes	Yes
Removable Battery	No	Yes	Yes
Stand	No	Part of Case	On Unit

A very common  question that many people get is, how do I watch my satellite channels on my computer?  Sirius satellite radio streams all of its radio stations to the internet.  Does Dish Network or DirecTV have Dish TV on computers?

There are many ways that you can watch Dish TV on your PC or Mac.  This article is our first in our  "how-to" series.  

SlingBox

One of the easiest ways to watch TV on PC/Mac is through by using a device called a Slingbox.  What is a Slingbox?  A Slingbox is a small device that connects up to your satellite receiver (or cable box).  The only caveat is that you must have a DSL, Cable or other highspeed internet connection.  It uses you're home internet connection to sned your own TV signal over the interent to any computer you want.  You can use your Slingbox to watch TV on any computer in the house or anywhere else that has an internet connection.  If you have a laptop that means pretty much anywhere.

The Slingbox does not interfere with your normal TV watching.  The slingbox basically sends your Dish/Direct TV channels over the internet to where ever you want them.

There are NO additional monthly fee fors this service.

Prices range from about $140 for the Slingbox Solo to about $260 for the HDTV enabled Slingbox Pro HD.

Slingbox is such a high quality product that TiVO and and Dish Network may be integrating this into all of their future products.

Complete list of ALL HD channels offered by Dish Network

The nation's third largest pay-TV provider and the Dish TV leader, Dish Network,  today announced that beginning Today October 28th, 2008and running through Nov. 7, DISH Network's interactive mosaic will update its multiple screen channel display to simultaneously air six 24-hour news channels during the 2008 election cycle.  For eleven days, DISH Network subscribers may tune into Ch. 100 to watch the following six networks: FOX News Channel (Ch. 205), CNN (Ch. 200), MSNBC (Ch. 209), CNN Headlines News (Ch. 202), CSPAN (Ch. 210) and CSPN2 (Ch. 212) simultatneously.

DISH Network offers one of the most comprehensive TV services in the U.S. being in more than 13 million households.