There are deals and then there are deals. When I signed up, there were no deals on HD equipment. (Like I said, the 6000 didn't even come with enough hardware to actually receive the HD channels?!) The programming credit for new customers was relatively small ($60-$100), if there was one at all. There were gaps when there were no credits and the going price for receivers was $190 and up. A 5100 PVR cost $600 and a 6000 cost $800+. Now, new customers are getting $300+ in credits when renting a 9200. Installation and extra hardware is free and they can walk away after 2 years with no loss in investment.
When signing up for EV, I figured that part of the saving over cable was due to the cost of the equipment. At $20/mo in savings, it would take about 4 years to pay for the receivers. Two years later, EV wants to jack up the service cost by $20, and make me help pay for the rentals it is supplying to new customers, with a free year's rental, free HD for 6 months and/or up to $300 in other credits.
EV is a company with no consistency where customer policy is concerned. Subsidies for hardware appear and disappear for no apparent reason. First you can't rent, then you can't buy, then you can do both and that seems to change depending on who you get on the other end of the phone. Depending on the whims of management, different customers get different channels in their packages at different rates. HD channels show up and disappear (or not), seemingly at random intervals. Many channels are available, or not, depending on when customers signed up.
Then there is the mushroom factor. Many CSRs are not informed of policies and promotions until well after the fact and often learn of them from customers. It's a mess and it's little wonder that many CSRs can't provide a consistent answer.