I brought this up in the beginning of the season but i wanted to revisit it.

I have Dish Network and live in Colorado. Because of the contract dispute with MSG I know I won't recieve HD feeds from the Sabres crew and only rarely get SD feeds with RJ and Harry. 9 times out of 10 I get the other team's guys which sucks but it is what it is. The problem is that 9 times out of 10 the Sabres games are only shown in SD where on other cable carriers you'll get them in HD nearly every time.

Does anyone work for or know anything about why Dish Network charges the same ammount for the Center Ice package but only shows a quarter of the games (or less) in HD where as other cable providers show nearly all games in HD? The canned answer I get from customer service is that if they get the HD feed they show it and that maybe I'm not tuning into the right channel!! Total bull.

_________________

As I've read, you're not even supposed to be getting he SD feed of MSG on Dish. So I guess that's a plus.

They're probably not carrying the HD feeds intentionally to be cheap. They can show between 2 and 4 SD programs using the same bandwidth as 1 HD program, depending on their compression effectiveness.

Dish Network doesn't have nearly that much bandwidth available on their sats, so they have to do stuff like this all the time.

Punt them and get DirecTV. :p

Here's the problem with going to Direct TV over Dish. With Dish I got one HD DVR reciever and the wireless doohickey for the SD tv in the bedroom for free. If I go with Direct TV they "give" me the SD reciever for free but I have to pay 199.00 for the HD DVR reciever....just to get started. Fucking highway robbery. So my options are stay with shitty NHL coverage and have DVR and HD service or pay through the nose for a fucking reciever. What the flipping fuckity fuck?

_________________

Heh, I hear you there. My first HD box with DirecTV cost me $350, but I've gotten 4 years out of it, so it's been ok.

DirecTV does have a higher cost of entry, but their service has always been great, especially channel offerings. Their HD content is miles ahead of anyone else. When they do have a situation that they need bandwidth for HD sports, they drop a shit channel for a couple hours and give you all options on sports.

I don't get Center Ice, since I get Sabres games + NHL Network + CBC over the air, and that's enough for me.

What about the options on NHL.com for watching games? i have two 23 inch HD screens on the computer plus I could always hook the tower up to the TV. How much are their deals and what do you get? Can you watch games that have already played like if you miss it can you watch it later that night? One big thing is that I go to school at night and use my DVR.

_________________

I know I've said this before in threads on this subject this year, but I'm not sure most cable providers would be any better. I have comcast cable, and I only get 2 HD channels in my center Ice package. I haven't seen an MSG broadcast in HD all year. Whenevr a Sabres game is in HD, it's always the opposition's broadcast.

I understand your frustration. That said, think of how lucky we are to be able to see Sabres games from thousands of miles away at all, whether in HD or SD, whether on MSG or another network. If you went to a sports bar, you probably wouldn't be able to hear the announcers at all. I mean, all things considered, we're pretty blessed to have the technology we do have. It's kind of like whenever I fly, I always see people who act like it's the end of the world when there's a delay. I always try to think how incredible it is that I can go from one side of the continent to another in 5 or 6 hours, instead of 4-5 days driving, or months on horseback. so what if it takes 8 hours instead of 6? You're still getting where you want to go incredibly fast.

All a matter of perspective. Try to think of all the things you do have and maybe this matter will seem less important.

I totally understand Stu. I'ts amazing to watch Sabres games at all and sometimes i feel like a whiny bitch but I do pay a lot of money for the service and get kind of a so so product sometimes. I'm thinking about getting the NHL Center thing through NHL.com though since it's like 100 bucks cheeper and has the ability to watch games that have already been played.

_________________

Just so you know, I had dish network at the beginning of the season, and I was a year into a two year contract.

I called them and cancelled, and spoke to a supervisor about refusing to pay the cancellation fee because I signed a contract with the understand that I'd be able to watch Sabres games.

Of course they said it didn't matter at first, but a few phone calls later and some more bitching, they waived my cancellation fee, I switched to direcTV (who has all HD games) and got a great monthly deal locked in for 2 years with free DVR and some other nice things.

Something to consider if you're still locked into dish network.

_________________
Wheelhouse

I'd check out the picture quality first if possible. I've never used Center Ice online, but I have watched a few WHL games on my computer, and to be honest, the picture totally sucked. It was like going back to my childhood watching a Sabres game in Olean with a weak and in-and-out TV signal we picked up on the antenna. You could barely make out the players, much less the puck.

I know I'm relatively new here (posting, at least), but my 2 cents... I have DirecTV also, with HD DVR, and I was able to get a pretty good deal where the receiver was free and I get free HD and DVR as long as I use their auto-bill-pay service to pay the bill. I've only ever had a problem with one Sabres game on Center Ice, and best I could figure is because they were playing a team that's somehow considered "local" to where I am. I'm not sure how the playoff game availability will be, but I haven't been disappointed in the regular season... except when I have to watch VS or NHLNet, but that's a whole different problem.

As for the online thing, I have a friend at school who subscribes to one of them, I'm not sure exactly what it is though. If you want, I can ask him how he likes it and how the coverage, picture quality, etc. are.

I've watched NHL Gamecenter Live games (it's what Center Ice Online is called now) and the picture quality is standard def and pretty clear. It's 80 bucks for the season, and I'd say it's totally worth it. I'd imagine it's discounted right now with the playoffs here.

_________________
mechaphil

NHL.com is showing like minute or so live clips from hockey games from, so you use that to judge

_________________
PSA: I am an overly sarcastic person. If you take me at my word, then i will most likely anger and offend you.

DP, if you sign up for DTV and take advantage of that referral promo, you get $100 and your referral source gets $100.

If you use me for a referral you could get your $100, and I'll send you a check for my $100. That would pay for your HD DVR receiver. One time offer only...lol. I'm serious though. Here's the link...

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/referral/ ... rogram.jsp

Cha-ching!

Thyat woul;d be sweet man but I think because I used to be a customer that I can't do it. I'll check though.

_________________

Open it up under your wife's name, unless you're still at the same address as when you had DTV.

You're kind of wrong - I get ALMOST every game in HD on GameCenter Live. I hook my laptop up to my TV via HDMI, and it's effing great. Plus, during intermissions, I can youtube without having to get up.

_________________