921 or Wait for 942??

[luckycat]

OK so with the new price point on the 921, I'm thinking of getting rid of my 811 and my 721. I never use these at the same time, and have been waiting for the price of an HD receiver to drop to the $500 range before taking the plunge.

I really like the 721..some people have had issues but I have had very few problems. I've had my fair share of issues with the 811, but nothing that has caused me to return the unit. I'm wondering just really how bad is a 921?

If Dish will continue to spool out software updates for the 921, I'll be patient and live with it for a while. I just need time shifted HD in a major way. What would I be missing with a 924? Two outputs? I can live without that.

I suspect many others, with this new price, are in the same boat. Looks like the latest update indicates 942 won't be out till 05 sometime, and I don't know if I want/need to wait any longer for DVR in HD!

Also - Does the 921 have a $5 monthly DVR fee?

 

[ats7627]

The 921 does have the DVR fee.

 

[BCH]

No DVR fee if you have AEP.

 

[Stargazer]

I would wait for the 942. I would expect the price for the 942 to have a cheaper MSRP than what the 921 had at $999.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I expect the 942 to be lease only. It is based on the 522 and it is lease only. I imagine they will allow you to add one if you lease. But not at first if you have bought your receivers. I heard the 522 would be available to be added in the dish n up program come January. Maybe the 942 would be added by July or later if it ever makes it to the market the first quarter of 2005.

 

[hdtvtechno]

on the 942
what kind of features, advancements will it have ?
whats the diference to the 921

 

[Stargazer]

At the price that the 942 would be I think I would rather lease it. I can see them charging $10 instead of $5 to cover the higher hardware cost although having one of these receivers would be no different than having two DVR's in which this would probably be a cheaper cost with the 942 and it would have HD as well. A receiver like the 942 may be more mainstream in the future seeing how it is HD and has DVR functionality.

 

[DishSatUser]

How many can afford AEP after shelling out for a 921?

 

[Stargazer]

Perhaps the correct way of looking at it is if you can afford to shell out for a 921 then you can afford to shell out for AEP plus you save $5 on DVR fees.

 

[bbriggs]

I'd REALLY like to get Scott's input on this one (the title of the thread). I understand the new pricing is a kick in the teeth for Scott and Claude as well as several members of this forum. Still, it's pretty enticing.

Scott, you've used the 921 for some time. You've commented that the competition's device is pretty exciting to use, and that the 921 may be at or near the end of its production cycle. It seems there is speculation this new pricing is the fire sale to clear out inventory for 942. Further speculation that 942 may be lease-only. All part of the big game of life, I suppose, but no less troubling to consider.

Do you think, given your past comment that Dish is pleased with neither the hardware nor software of the 921, that Dish will come through with name-based recording? I believe Mark from DBStalk that OTA guide will come through, but might Dish just stop there except for periodic and minor software updates? It strikes me that 942 has a fairly bright future for meaningful software updates (and it will most likely need a few soon after it comes out the gate.) The 921, though, seems like it is an orphan already. An orphan is fine by me, given that Mark is correct that OTA issues will be ironed out in next couple of software releases, but if it stops there we'll never get the name-based recording.

Anyone else have input on that issue?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am upset about the 921 pricing but I guess we did OK compaired to other dealers who payed the full dealer cost on 921's last week and now have a showroom full of 921's and could have purchased double the amount of units today for the same price as they paid last week. Now that really hurts.

DishStore went out of their way to work to get special pricing on 921s so they could offer people a better deal (and actually it was Dish who came to us with the offer to move some 921s for them)

The price change took DishStore by surprise (as it did all dealers) I am sure it also surprised many at Dish as well (as they were in talks for us to do one more group buy again)

Now onto your questions.

First I do believe that the 921 WILL get name based recordings. I do not think we will see them to late Q1 of next year.

Of course the 942 may come with Name Based recording out of the gate (Not saying it will but it could)

As far as I know the 942 will be lease only and not for sale.

Should you get a 921 or wait for a 942? That is a decission you need to make if the 942 had two OTA tuners I would probably be happy with it.

 

[bbriggs]

Thank you Scott.

I recall last year about this time you seemed a fairly strong Dish supporter, I'm sorry to see that dim. Dish should come through and support you, especially after all the support you've shown them. I would expect you're working on Dish to offer up a little compensation after they (knowingly or unknowingly) misled you. I hope you prevail on that.

Yes, only the buyer (fool or otherwise) can decide what to do, and only the future can answer if the buyer did right or wrong. Your vision is better than mine, though, so it helps to get some idea of what you see.

Thanks again.

 

[dfergie]

I jumped on the 921 deal today... I have a 6000u , but I also have SD D*, came very close to getting an HD D* box in the last week ago or so...when this deal came up I could not resist. Now I wait on new programming as I have made my decision for now...btw I ordered a Replay yesterday planning on using it for SD, the one in my livingroom for HD downrezzed from E* and the one in my HT room for downrezzed HD from D*...

 

[DWS44]

I'm kinda fighting the 921 now vs. 942 later thing too. The 921 is very tempting as I have been jonesing for HD DVR for some time. The $1000 pricetag was out of reach. I would prefer to lease one than have to shell out even $500 for one, which is what makes waiting on the 942 more tempting. The only thing there is even if the 942 DOES come out lease only, what are the chances I could even get Dish to let me have one? Isn't it their pattern to only let new subs have the new toys? I am on DHA, but they won't even let me lease a second 811...constantly telling me that I can't add or upgrade anything I have w/o purchasing @ full price.

 

[dfergie]

Last december I had the money for the 921 ratholed, shyed away and got my first Replay...did same thing in June, got my second Replay. Ordered my 3rd Replay yesterday, now if only they would interface with the 921

 

[John Kotches]

Query about 921....

Does the $549 price include installation, and any required switches (replacing Switch 64 with DPP 44)?

Also, what do I do when I need to add the 5th receiver to this installation?

Thanks.

Cheers,

 

[dfergie]

I believe thats for the Receiver only...at least thats what I am assuming. (won the Dpp44 in a Chat a couple of months ago and bought the rest from Claude)

 

[SimpleSimon]

Query about 921....

Does the $549 price include installation, and any required switches (replacing Switch 64 with DPP 44)?

Also, what do I do when I need to add the 5th receiver to this installation?

Thanks.

Cheers,

My aren't we greedy. You get 45% off the price most of us paid to be abused by E* and you want installation and other hardware, too.

Anyway, the switch swap you're talking about can't be done without swapping out the LNBFs for DishPro also.

As for the 5th box, it depends. Do all your boxes need all the birds? If any can live with just two, use a Quad LNBF for the Dish 500 - OR add a DP21 attached to the cascade outputs of the DPP44. There's other variations depending on the need.

 

[John Kotches]

All,

Now, the next question... with the DishPro Seperator do I only use one of the feeds off of the DPP44, or two. If two, where do I join the signals the seperator is switching in front of the receiver?


SimpleSimon says:

My aren't we greedy. You get 45% off the price most of us paid to be abused by E* and you want installation and other hardware, too.

No, I'm trying to figure out my total cost so that I know what I'm paying out of pocket before I buy.

So, a DishPro Quad LNBF ($100) + a DPP 44 switch ($200), plus a Dish Pro seperator ($13), plus a legacy adaptor ($70) or a new receiver ($89 for a 111) + installation are my added costs.

That pushes the total up to about $950 + installation, assuming I don't have DishPro LNBF.

If I recall correctly, you can't use a diplexor, so I have to add an additional run of cabling to the total cost of the install.

Cheers,

 

[mwsmith2]

Hmmm, this new price has drawn me out of lurking! I've got a few questions that maybe someone here can figure out for me.

Right now my setup is very simple, 1 dish, 1 quad LNBF going to 1 6000 receiver. That's it. No plans to expand beyond that. If I get the 921, will I need to replace the LNBF? Will I need a DPP44 switch?

Thanks for your help fellers,
Michael