I'm considering upgrading to a HDdvr and was told by a csr that for me to upgrade to the 722 it would be $200 upfront and a $100 coupon back to me. For the 622 it would be 150 with a 100 coupon back to me. So I'm just curious is the 722 really worth the extra 50. If so please let me know so I can make a well informed descion. I already know about the extra 20 hrs of hd recording with the 722, but with the use of an external now it really doesn't matter right. Well anyway help wanted. lol
P.s. On the dish n it up page for upgrade to hddvr it only states the 150 upfront nothing about the the 200 for a 722.
The existence of extra drive space is not entirely a moot issue if you have external storage. Depending on your DVR habits, having more "on board" space to work with is nice. Not to start a debate, but the purpose of the external HDD is really for
archiving. At least with the current software, it is not fluid. There is not currently a way to file/group the programs on the external HDD. The receiver doesn't treat the external HDD as "additional space". You have to move items back and forth manually (i.e. when the on board HDD gets full, it won't automatically start recording to the external HDD).
Some have had issues with the HDMI port on the 622 failing. It's been suggested it's a result of weak/unstable mounting on earlier production lines. They apparently resolved that issue (upgraded the mounting) on later releases and all 722's.
Chances are, you wouldn't receive one of the older 622's anyway. If you're not prone to maxing out the HDD space on the 622. Then you won't likely notice a difference between the 622 and the 722 (except for the color). DISH also claims to soon be offering HD VOD on the 722 where it won't be available on the 622 (this was not a selling point for me as I doubt I'll ever use VOD).
Some of the power users on this forum will elaborate, but apparently the 722 utilizes an upgraded "chip" that's supposed to improve something, but I have a 622 and a 722 both in single mode being used on the same set, and I can't tell the difference.
So other than the color difference, extra HDD space, possible improved HDMI port, and chip upgrade, the receivers are the same.
When I decided to add an additional dual tuner HD DVR, the deciding factor for me was the additonal HDD space. Even though I have a 750GB external HDD (which works flawlessly), it does not take the place of the extra on board space.
