When you shop around for a new television service provider, you probably don't give a lot of thought to the extra equipment the you might need in order to take advantage of your new TV service. You're probably more concerned with the type of TV that you have and finding the right programming package to complement your lifestyle and stay within your budget. There are several reasons why you'll need extra equipment to get television programming on your TV though. For one thing, most of the newer television sets, at least the high definition ones, don't come with built in tuners. That means that whether you get your TV programming from a satellite TV provider, a cable TV provider, or just off of the airwaves, you're going to need additional equipment. If you have an older standard definition TV set, chances are you'll also need a special converter box to view over the air TV programming after stations switch over the digital television format in 2009. If you subscribe to a cable TV or satellite TV service you'll need a special receiver because both encrypt their programming in order to prevent theft by non subscribers. The receiver boxes can decode the programming so that it can be viewed on your TV. Fortunately, Dish Network can put all of these concerns to rest because it provides a satellite receiver at no extra cost to its subscribers with every programming package.

There are actually a variety of Dish Network satellite receivers that you could end up with if you get a Dish Network programming package. The basic receiver is the Dish 301 model. The Dish 301 can handle hundreds of channels of standard definition television programming and all of the basic Dish Network software like the Dish Interactive Program Guide, Parental Control Locks, favorites lists, and has on screen Caller ID capability, but doesn't have any extra bells and whistles. The Dish 301 is the basic programming package that you'll get if you have a standard definition television programming package that you plan to enjoy on a single TV and don't ask for any extra features.

If you still just have a standard definition programming package and don't want any extra features, but you plan to watch your programming package on more than one TV, you'll probably be given the Dish 322. In addition to the features of the Dish 301, the Dish 322 can send separate television programming to a second television located elsewhere in the house at the same time that it provides television programming to the primary TV located in your living room. That way two people can watch different programming on different TV's at the same time with only one receiver.

If you want the ultimate convenience while watching television, getting a digital video recorder built into a satellite receiver is a great way to do it. The Dish Player-DVR 625 has a built in hard disk that it can record up to one hundred hours of video onto. That way you can program the receiver to record all of the TV shows and movies that your really want to watch, but are prevented from watching by outside obligations.

Dish Network not only solves the problem of providing receivers to its customers, but also throws in plenty of bonus features along with them.