I just wanted to pass along this information to anyone who is in the same boat I was. I was a 15 year happy Directv subscriber who was waiting for Dish Network to settle their ESPN new deal negotiations before switching over. Once the deal was signed last month, I began shopping around for the best signup options.

The best I found was through GWDish http://www.gwdish.com. It might seem a little shady, but everything went smoothly for me. They are offering a $200 rebate for signing up through them (for AT200 package). After signing up through GWDish, everything else is handled by Dish Network from that point forward, and Dish Network assigns you a local installer. The GWDish website says you get a visa gift card but I got a check in the mail 1 week after installation (I believe some other people did as well).

Things to note - the $200 rebate is in addition to any of the deals Dish is offering (free iPad or $30 off/month for first year etc etc - I took the $30/month off for the year). Also note the $50 friend referral credit will reduce your $200 rebate by $50, so it doesn't make sense to use that (unless you just enjoy giving your friends $50 at your own expense).

I've had Dish and the Hopper for about a month now and am totally satisfied - especially considering I'm kind of a hard person to please. The Sling capability of watching literally any live channel or any recording from my DVR on my iPad or phone anywhere in the world is pretty amazing. And the remote/DVR/picture in home has been great. Originally I wanted to make the switch for the Pac 12 Network, but am really pleased with all the ancillary benefits (not to mention the rebates/deals).

I'd like to stress I'm not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Dish Network or GWDish - I just wanted to let people know about this in case someone is in the same position I was.

If someone knows of an even better deal, please share for everyone's benefit.

is that seriously their website?

bearsandgiants;842311990 said:

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is that seriously their website?

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No. It's a fake website. OP fell for it.

Well, I got the $200 check in the mail and cashed it, so I'm not sure why you think it's fake.

Graphics on that page are a bit suspect. Poor quality.

75bear;842312155 said:

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Well, I got the $200 check in the mail and cashed it, so I'm not sure why you think it's fake.

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You have fake money in your checking account now.

Well, the check posted and cleared 1 month ago - it hasn't bounced or had any issues in the last month. I'd love for you to explain to me what the scam is.

Thanks for the link 75, I've been waiting to switch to dish too and will explore this. Also none of the CSS on that page surprises me. Lots of sites spend significant $ to look bare bones (Exhibit A in this genre has to be craigslist), particularly when "bargain" is the desired message. It's all about matching the site appearance to the marketing objective.

75bear;842311444 said:

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I just wanted to pass along this information to anyone who is in the same boat I was. I was a 15 year happy Directv subscriber who was waiting for Dish Network to settle their ESPN new deal negotiations before switching over. Once the deal was signed last month, I began shopping around for the best signup options.

The best I found was through GWDish http://www.gwdish.com. It might seem a little shady, but everything went smoothly for me. They are offering a $200 rebate for signing up through them (for AT200 package). After signing up through GWDish, everything else is handled by Dish Network from that point forward, and Dish Network assigns you a local installer. The GWDish website says you get a visa gift card but I got a check in the mail 1 week after installation (I believe some other people did as well).

Things to note - the $200 rebate is in addition to any of the deals Dish is offering (free iPad or $30 off/month for first year etc etc - I took the $30/month off for the year). Also note the $50 friend referral credit will reduce your $200 rebate by $50, so it doesn't make sense to use that (unless you just enjoy giving your friends $50 at your own expense).

I've had Dish and the Hopper for about a month now and am totally satisfied - especially considering I'm kind of a hard person to please. The Sling capability of watching literally any live channel or any recording from my DVR on my iPad or phone anywhere in the world is pretty amazing. And the remote/DVR/picture in home has been great. Originally I wanted to make the switch for the Pac 12 Network, but am really pleased with all the ancillary benefits (not to mention the rebates/deals).

I'd like to stress I'm not in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Dish Network or GWDish - I just wanted to let people know about this in case someone is in the same position I was.

If someone knows of an even better deal, please share for everyone's benefit.

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The one big question I have is: do Dish Network or GWDish provide the PAC12 Channel. When I spoke with a representative of Dish Network some time ago, I was told "Yes...but..." I needed to perform some gymnastics with my laptop. I just want a simple "plug and play" I do not want to spend a lot of time setting up some special features.

68great;842313215 said:

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The one big question I have is: do Dish Network or GWDish provide the PAC12 Channel. When I spoke with a representative of Dish Network some time ago, I was told "Yes...but..." I needed to perform some gymnastics with my laptop. I just want a simple "plug and play" I do not want to spend a lot of time setting up some special features.

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I have no problem getting Pac12 on Dish.

68great;842313215 said:

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The one big question I have is: do Dish Network or GWDish provide the PAC12 Channel. When I spoke with a representative of Dish Network some time ago, I was told "Yes...but..." I needed to perform some gymnastics with my laptop. I just want a simple "plug and play" I do not want to spend a lot of time setting up some special features.

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GWDish is just a company you can sign up through to get Dish Network service - kind of like a middleman. It's Dish Network that will be providing the actual service/billing/cust service/installation etc.

You can definitely get the Pac 12 Network from Dish Network - that's the reason I switched to them from Directv. I believe if you are in the Pac 12 footprint, you will get the channel on most all packages. If you are outside the Pac 12 footprint, you may need to sign up for a higher package or sports package to get the Pac 12 Network. Maybe someone else can confirm this.

How is the dish service? I have had DTV for forever. I briefly switched to Time warner that first Pac 12 year and TW sucks. I am not talking about customer service, I mean their equipment. It is slow to change channels, the guides are slow etc. etc.

So is Dish better?

I do not think I can take another year of streaming football games.

The Dish service itself is pretty good. I'm a longtime Directv customer, so I can best compare it to that. With Directv, the remote was often frustrating in that I'd press a number or command, and it would take a few seconds to register, so I often wasn't sure if I needed to press the number or command again and double entered it. With Dish, I haven't had any of those problems - the keystrokes are always registered immediately. Changing channels and the guide don't have terrible delays that I've noticed. The picture quality of Dish and Directv seem similar to me as well. The Dish Hopper DVR comes with 2,000 hours of recording space and the ability to Sling live tv or DVR recordings to tablets, phones, etc so that was an upgrade. I think you'd be pretty happy with switching if you are coming from TWC or Directv.

I'm sure there are some slight differences between the 3 services and you might lose 1 or 2 minor functionalities that you had previously with TWC or Directv, but overall it should be a win.

The one thing I don't like with Dish that I had with Directv was that when I initially turn on the TV, Directv always had maybe 30 mins or an hour of recorded TV on whatever channel it was tuned to. So if I turn on a Warriors game and it was halftime, I could always rewind and watch most of the game and catch up to live tv. If anyone knows a way to do this with Dish I'd love to know how. Maybe there's some kind of setting?

thanks 75