Can a 721 Receiver be Activated?

[navychop]

Everything has an expected lifespan, and perhaps the 721 has reached it's.

I have a 721. I am very happy with it. I do not expect it to last much longer. If it dies, I expect Dish will send a 522, or a 625 if they are out of 522s at the time. And to start charging me a monthly DVR fee. Of course, I'd rather have the 721 but that's how it goes.

I really expect, if my 721 lasts that long, that they will make me an offer to trade up my 721 to an HD DVR. I think all of us that still have active 721s can expect such an offer, perhaps within a year.

IIRC, generally, state laws only require the stocking of repair parts for products for five to seven years. That should tell us something.

 

[UGAChance]

The 721 does not support the new smart cards. Development was stopped due to TIVO Lawsuit. When they turn on the new smart card encryption across the board, the 721 will officially be dead. I heard maybe the end of the year.

Maybe they will offer a better upgrade option then... time will tell.

 

[Smith P.]

The 721 does not support the new smart cards. Development was stopped due to TIVO Lawsuit. When they turn on the new smart card encryption across the board, the 721 will officially be dead. I heard maybe the end of the year.

Maybe they will offer a better upgrade option then... time will tell.

While it's true for current FW version of 721, I bet any money the PVR itself doesn't have any limitations to add a support of G3 cards.
There is other technical [HW] real problem - no support of MPEG-4/H.264 SD/HD stream. As we know initially G3 cards will needs for new EA service based on MPEG-4 SD/HD compression.
Discard the EA market and you'll have millions customers and MPEG-2 SD programs for many years - plenty of usage the good old PVR721 !

Plus as saw in case of loosing mass PVR - 501/508/510 - Dish can rewrite some algos to avoid TiVo patent infringement.

 

[retiredTech]

Where did you get your info that the new smart cards are not compatible?

If they are doing away with the 721, (smart card or other),

E* had damn well better notify 721 owners, soon !

And make sure they give us a good deal!

 

[UGAChance]

While it's true for current FW version of 721, I bet any money the PVR itself doesn't have any limitations to add a support of G3 cards.

Yes, it can support the new cards... but it doesn't and will not.

 

[kstuart]

The same applies equally to 501/508/510 and there are many more of those out there - I find it hard to believe that E* will just throw away its ability to exempt those receivers by not updating them for smart cards.

 

[UGAChance]

The same applies equally to 501/508/510 and there are many more of those out there - I find it hard to believe that E* will just throw away its ability to exempt those receivers by not updating them for smart cards.

Keeping a team of developers for only a few (less than 10,000) receivers to add features to keep up with changing sats, new features, bug fixes, and etc.

 

[Smith P.]

10,000 receivers bringing minimum $3,000,000 per year what enough to pay for SUPPORT ( not developing ) current FW.
Sorry, but you're repeating Dish propaganda.

 

[navychop]

That 3M still needs to go toward programming and overhead expenses. It's not like it's just sitting there.

I'm sure Dish has people calculating to the last decimal point when it is cost effective to cut the old loose. Clearly we're not there yet, as we still have some older units out there.

 

[kstuart]

Keeping a team of developers for only a few (less than 10,000) receivers to add features to keep up with changing sats, new features, bug fixes, and etc.

Dish has been providing updates for plenty of old receivers used by a small fraction of the subscribers. All of the receivers except the original 2000 are still supported with updates for new satellites and new smart cards.

 

[Smith P.]

He is just a part of Dish.