question

I know this has to be a stupid question but I am thinking of cancelling my direct tv and getting dish to get the free high def receiver. My tv is hd ready so will I need anything else the hd signal or will the receiver handle everything?

The Dish and lnb's will have to be replaced and maybe some of the wires may need to be moved or replaced (depends on your current setup). If you are using OTA, that wire just needs to be run to the receiver depending on whether your tv has the digital tuner or if you are getting the dvr unit and want to use Dish receiver to dvr your OTA HD.

If you are new to dish they will most likely set you up with the necessary dish equipment (I had $0 equipment cost and i just give it all back if i cancel dish). The receiver will handle everything and will be the only thing you need. HD ready probably means your tv doesn't have hd tuners (an external tuner needed) but it handles hd signal. Any ota antenna you have can be hooked up to the hd receiver (depending on the receiver, i know the newer equipment will like my 722). You can also record ota programming to the dvr if you go the dvr route which i would recommend since the additional cost is only about $5-$10.

Hope this helps you out.

Thanks. I just have to decide if I am going to cancel my direct service which wants $300 for hd or go with dish for free. I can go with dishes top 100 with my local channels and hd for the same price I am paying for directs service now. The only problem is I will loose a few channels I watch.

Not sure what your price range is but with the hd dvr, top 200 and locals i'm paying about $70. Not sure if top 200 has the channels you'd be missing or if that's even in your price range.

I am not sure what package I have with direct, the 150 channel package I believe but I am paying $60 for it, 1 dvr and 1 additional receiver.