I just switched over from Dish today and got the essential+HD extreme + HBO/movie with 2 HD DVR's, 1 - HD, and 3 - SD 6000 series STB's. I was quite excited about getting the new service and anticipated the "Wow" factor of all that bandwidth and uncompressed video could provide. I have to say that my first impressions are so far less than overwhelming... the poor SD picture quality was the most disappointing aspect, but appears to be limited to the HD DVR STB's as reported in some of the other posts. The SD picture appears so soft and out of focus to me that it is virtually unwatchable. This pretty much limits my channel selection to only the HD content for the HD DVR's installed in the theater and bedroom. I understand that the 7000's series are not plagued by this problem, but unfortunately Verizon would not provide the latest equipment until they get rid of the old stuff, and was told that I could maybe get an upgrade in a couple of months. I did not have this issue with content from my previous provider and am wondering if I made the right choice. So far I am not feeling the love.
