I've had a 522 for a year. I started my Dish service with it. I've had to replace it once recently. The biggest problems I've had are:
- the hard drive clicking
- show timers were missed or did not record even though they fired.
- on some recorded shows, there were problems with audio drops (silent few seconds)
- I had mine freeze many times when watching recorded shows to the point where I had to reboot. I suspect this was related to the hard drive malfunctioning.
- An annoying problem with the System Info screen and it locking up the timers
- the UHF Pro remote range on upper floors
The first few months, everything was golden (except for the TV2 Uhf which was always a pain for me but it is dependent on the physical surroundings). Then, it started misbehaving, either because of software changes or the hardware malfunctioning. As a device, when it works correctly, I really like it. But it has not been the most reliable DVR. As far as watching live satellite, never really had a problem related to the 522--all my problems have been related to the DVR capability.
I have no vested interest in anything, just telling you what happened to me. I still have Dish. I still like the 522, but I always have my fingers crossed that it won't crap out again.