I just had to come here to vent because I have had Cablevision Long Island for the past year and I hate it but I have no other choice that presents a clean solution for what I need. Let me explain:

My needs & wants:
1 - HD and DVR receiver. Must receive & record HD local channels so I never miss LOST
1 - Standard DVR. Just to record kids shows in the play room
1 - Basic receiver

My problem has been the HD DVR. Currently Cablevision's SA-8300HD is my only clean solution. The DirecTV HD+DVR does not receive the new MPEG4 channels which is what all the NY local channels are. That means I would need an OTA antenna for local HD. DISH has no local HD channel offering even though their new 942 HD HDVR receiver has MP4 capability. If anyone knows anything about when the new DirecTV NDS HD DVR will be available please let me know.

Both sat companies will have equipment and channels soon, but there may be some more waiting yet. 2006 is moving year for the TV provider industry, if you get my golf reference. The next few months will still be annoying, but it should be getting better as the year goes by.

DirecTV will have an MPEG4 DVR by summer, most likely. But still no date known.

Dish is adding HD locals rapidly this year. Are you sure they aren't available for you? NY seems like it should be first. We just had an announcement that Mpls, MN will be getting them no later than March 13. Note they will be still be MPEG2, although sent in an MPEG4 stream. It will also be HDLite at first, meaning any 1920x1080i network (NBC, CBS, etc) will actually be downrezzed at Dish to 1280x1080i. Hopefully Dish will change that when they go to full MPEG4 usage and have more bandwidth.

dishnetwork will solve this problem now.....

921 receiver hdtv and pvr inone unit...way cool
942 same as 921 except will do second room

call your local dish company

Are there any particular issues with the 8300HD you're having that I could help with? I'm using that same DVR...

Daniel- Do you know if yours has the SARA software or the Pioneer? The box works well but the SARA software is very slow and clunky and the interface is terrible.

In theory the 942 would solve my problem but, as I stated in my original post, local channels in HD are still not available in my area. Dish said they will be launching HD local channels on Feb 1st in 50 markets but would not say if that included NY

Yup, mine uses SARA.

Dear Jim,

I have just reciently purchased a Dish 942 and am able to record HD programs from HDTV brodcasts over the air with the DVR. It allows you to setup the local over-the-air signals and record them just like the Dish signal. It even lets you include the local HDTV signals in the guide with all the Dish programming.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Jim

Daniel- Maybe I'm just too critical. I used Tivo for years and just can't adjust to SARA and, quite frankly, I have a bias against Cablevision so I feel like I'm trapped in the enemy's camp.

JS - I don't know where you are or how happy you are with the OTA signal. I have ruled this out as an option for several reasons. I am in Eastern suffolk and have heard mixed reviews about the OTA reception of HD and I don't want to put a huge antenna on my roof.

Dear Jim,

I am in Morristown, TN, about 40 miles east of Knoxville. I have a large antenna in my attic (not outside). My reception for analog signals is not that great, but the clarity of the HDTV is fantastic, and I picked up new channels I previously didn’t know existed.

When I first got my Dish Network system, I told the installer that he would have to prove that I could get local channels with antenna before he could make a sale. He brought the antenna out and raised it to the height of my attic and hooked it up to my TV. Based on that demonstration, I bought the Dish system and had him install the antenna in the attic. Maybe you can get someone to demonstrate what kind of signal you will get also.

Good luck, whatever decision you make.

Jim

The 8300HD certainly isn't a perfect box, but for the most part it works. My issues are:

1) Not that fast to operate (but a lot faster than the 8000HD I used for a week).

2) Sometimes decides it's no longer going to record 3/4 of my shows despite indicating that it will. Usually I have to completely clear out my scheduled recording lists and start from scratch.

3) Not at all easy to search for specific programs or sort through the TONS of results you normally end up with.

4) FF/RW is slow to respond, low framerate and has no auto-backtrack function.

5) EPG is low resolution and somewhat fuzzy.

I also have a Sony DHG-HDD500 DVR and, while it also is far from perfect, it makes great improvements in some areas. FF/RW has snappy response and a smooth framerate, customizable auto-backtrack times, widescreen HD-resolution EPG, EPG has great search and catagory capabilities, much better way of listing previous recordings, and so on.