Dish Beta Testers
- Thread starter bcshields
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reedl said:
Yeah, but he said Windows 3.0 which was pretty buggy.
I agree on 3.1..... The last of the operating systems where I could modify the SYSTEM.INI and AUTOEXEC.BAT files without doing a voodoo ritual first (which I have to do when messing with the Registry)
If we did not so call ''beta test'' the receivers then they would probably be outdated by the time we would be able to buy them, or they would at least have the competition coming out with receivers with better functionality before Dish got to.
Delta4C said:If you are Dishnetwork Customer you are a Beta tester like it or not!
Frankly, I think anyone watching HD OTA is a beta tester, at this stage of the game. The local stations here are constantly experimenting, messing things up, etc. Some send PSIP data, some don't, some broadcast DD, some don't. Some broadcast guide data, some don't. You never know what resolution or aspect ratio material is going to be broadcast, etc. On top of that, everyone has such widely differing factors affecting OTA signal reception. People living 5 miles from the tower can't receive stations due to multipath. People living 50 miles away have no problems in Dallas, etc, etc, etc.
I wouldn't be too suprised that the channel lock problem on the 811 was probably due to some unforseen (possibly non-compliant) variance in the way certain channels were broadcasting their PSIP data. It very consistently happend to only 3 out of 18 digital channels I pick up.
As far as the 49% lock problem... sounds like they are still trying to tweak the receiver chipset. That's a difficult dance, to come up with a set of parameters that give the largest number of people acceptable signal. If you make improvements to the Multipath issue, you may very well cut 2-3 miles off the reception radius. Then you are going to have another group of unhappy customers.
I really think that is why there as such widely varying opinions on all HD receivers... and it's an unfortunate situation. The 811 works great for some, and is unusable to others, and the only way you can find out is buy trying one in your own environment (and hope a software update doesn't screw things up). I think that is going to be the case with nearly all HD tuners until the local stations reach some maturity level in their HD broadcasts.
As both an hardware and a software guy, I do have a level of understanding and sympathy for what all HD tuner manufacturers are having to deal with. And, at times, I simply amazed the HD stuff even works at all.
However, by the same token, screwing up simple things that having nothing to do with HD, and have been working correctly for years on other receivers, that is a completely different matter
Why can't the broadcasters use cell phone tower network? Maybe a local zone tower in many areas repeating signal might improve reception.
As for the topic... I think that Stargazer's right.. if there is a lengthy widespread beta test, then they'll lose the competitive edge...
As for the topic... I think that Stargazer's right.. if there is a lengthy widespread beta test, then they'll lose the competitive edge...
bcshields said:
Last time I checked, the competitor has 12Mil vs. 9Mil subscribers, 2-tuner Tivo-branded DVR's, hardware that works out of the box with minimal bugs, and more industry buzz regarding their HD DVR (which again, is Tivo-branded). It seems like E never had the edge to lose.
GaryPen said:
That's true, although they try.. customers sacrifice alot for the sake of competition.
I've got this idea in my head based on PC beta testing... media benchmark tests, limited beta releases 6 months before main release... maybe I should wake up and get back to work.
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