DISH! questions??

[Jhon69]

Well after 3 years with DirecTV I'm back in the saddle with DISH!.I had DISH! before for 4 years and never had a DVR always the standard receiver(DP301).When I was with DirecTV I decided to try their DVRs first the R15 then the R22 needless to say those DVRs require alot of patience and loyalty because they are second rate DVRs.

When I finally realized(my family helped) I needed to have The Hallmark Movie Channel and more Premium Movie Channels I knew my time with DirecTV was becoming limited.So when I resigned up with DISH! with my local installer I requested the DISH! 625 this DVR is outstanding! I really like all of the 625 features.

But after researching the features on DISH!'s HDDVRs I find for myself (I have no plans to go HD) their HDDVR's features not equal to the 625 like the 625 has longer live buffers(2-120 minutes in Single Mode) and they hid the Mode button behind a door you need to open to change Modes.Who thought of those winners??.The way it looks I will be a standard DVR user for a long time.:rant:

 

[KAB]

HD buffers are shorter, naturally...greater amount of info to store. Have fun in SD land.

 

[Centex]

Okay. Enjoy your 625 then. I really like my 722k. I lke the minimal look of the smooth face of the 722k.

 

[Jhon69]

HD buffers are shorter, naturally...greater amount of info to store. Have fun in SD land.

But the hard drives are larger so it just doesn't compute to me.If DirecTV ever gets their HDDVRs to work right DISH! could find themselves on the wrong end of the stick as DirecTV has 2-90 minute live buffers on their HDDVRs.

Also is it possible to opt out of Dish! On Demand? paying for a 24 hour movie that you can't save on your hard drive makes no sense to me.

 

[CowboyDren]

First, the 625 is probably the best SD satellite DVR ever built, even compared to the DirecTiVo S2 boxes. That said, all other DVRs are going to come up short, for a while to come.

I've never heard of anyone actually using the Mode button on a regular basis. Most people who use Single mode and need to watch in another room just set up the UHF remote for TV1 and carry it from place to place. The TV2 output mirrors whatever TV1 is putting out when you're in Single mode anyway. If opening a door to push a button is too much work for you, maybe you should spend $7 per month and put a 311 receiver in the second room? You can program a 6.3 remote to run a 625 in another room and a 311 via IR in the room you're watching, and by switching the 311 off or on, you can watch the modulated output of the 625 or have your own dual satellite tuners.

The disk is bigger on an HD DVR, but at over 8 GB per hour (vs about 1 GB/H in SD), trying to manage two (or three or four) two-hour buffers and do all of the other things that the ViP series can do gets ungainly. My 722 already fails at a lot of stuff that my 625 used to excel at, so I figure, "why make the engineers work harder on such a trivial thing." Length of the live buffer really doesn't matter that much; if you know you want to watch something later, just bump the record button and make it happen. Even if you missed the first part, just hit the Search button at the bottom of the remote, and it'll find another showing for you (I know this doesn't work on sports events, I'm just saying it's available).

You can block the PPV and VOD channels from your channels list. Probably want to block all of those duplicate 6000, 7000, and 8000 channels while you're at it.

 

[Cold Irons]

But after researching the features on DISH!'s HDDVRs I find for myself (I have no plans to go HD) their HDDVR's features not equal to the 625 like the 625 has longer live buffers(2-120 minutes in Single Mode) and they hid the Mode button behind a door you need to open to change Modes.Who thought of those winners??.The way it looks I will be a standard DVR user for a long time.:rant:

Well....that's about the silliest reason not to go HD that I think I've ever heard.

BTW, what's with the repeated "!" ? Don't think that's part of the Dish trademark.

 

[Jhon69]

First, the 625 is probably the best SD satellite DVR ever built, even compared to the DirecTiVo S2 boxes. That said, all other DVRs are going to come up short, for a while to come.

I've never heard of anyone actually using the Mode button on a regular basis. Most people who use Single mode and need to watch in another room just set up the UHF remote for TV1 and carry it from place to place. The TV2 output mirrors whatever TV1 is putting out when you're in Single mode anyway. If opening a door to push a button is too much work for you, maybe you should spend $7 per month and put a 311 receiver in the second room? You can program a 6.3 remote to run a 625 in another room and a 311 via IR in the room you're watching, and by switching the 311 off or on, you can watch the modulated output of the 625 or have your own dual satellite tuners.

The disk is bigger on an HD DVR, but at over 8 GB per hour (vs about 1 GB/H in SD), trying to manage two (or three or four) two-hour buffers and do all of the other things that the ViP series can do gets ungainly. My 722 already fails at a lot of stuff that my 625 used to excel at, so I figure, "why make the engineers work harder on such a trivial thing." Length of the live buffer really doesn't matter that much; if you know you want to watch something later, just bump the record button and make it happen. Even if you missed the first part, just hit the Search button at the bottom of the remote, and it'll find another showing for you (I know this doesn't work on sports events, I'm just saying it's available).

You can block the PPV and VOD channels from your channels list. Probably want to block all of those duplicate 6000, 7000, and 8000 channels while you're at it.

Yea I hear you when I was with DirecTV I even got a HR10-250 and ran it for awhile and even though it has a lot of features to me the 625 beats it.

My only concern about the Mode issue is it is a problem for people with disabilities and as for the live buffers like I said if DirecTV gets their HDDVRs running right their 2-90 minute live buffers are going to be an extra that DISH! does not have.

Yes I already have everything you suggested basically blocked and have created a Favorites List.But I appreciate the idea Thanks!.

 

[Jhon69]

Well....that's about the silliest reason not to go HD that I think I've ever heard.

BTW, what's with the repeated "!" ? Don't think that's part of the Dish trademark.

Well I do have others like all the channels are not in HD yet.

I can't justify spending the money on a HDTV when I have a perfectly good TV to watch now or....

I'm on a fixed income and that money would be better spent on food..... or extra SD programming.

The ! is an on going joke I have with one of my sons,actually the ! brings attention to DISH! so if they want to use it? have at it.Then again when has Dish marketed themselves very well compared to DirecTV.

 

[CowboyDren]

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to turn on Closed Captioning on a High-Def Dish box. ELEVEN CLICKS ON THE REMOTE, same number to turn them back off. What are they smoking up there in the mountains?!?!

 

[Jhon69]

You wouldn't believe how hard it is to turn on Closed Captioning on a High-Def Dish box. ELEVEN CLICKS ON THE REMOTE, same number to turn them back off. What are they smoking up there in the mountains?!?!

Must be the lack of air?.

Yea CC/wMute is pretty sweet!(How I have it setup in my 50" RPTV).

That's one of the few things(yes there are only a few) that DirecTV HR2xs and R22s do easy.

 

[CowboyDren]

The worst part is that Dish HD receivers do NOT passthrough the CC data. The TV has no idea that CC is available, because the data's just not there. Mind you, I have no impairments to speak of, I'd just like to be able to read what they're saying if the noise levels in my house are too high, and I don't feel like blaring it over the kids. I can't imagine the frustration that people with impairments must feel. Of all of my complaints against the 722, this is by far the most grievous.

 

[Jhon69]

The worst part is that Dish HD receivers do NOT passthrough the CC data. The TV has no idea that CC is available, because the data's just not there. Mind you, I have no impairments to speak of, I'd just like to be able to read what they're saying if the noise levels in my house are too high, and I don't feel like blaring it over the kids. I can't imagine the frustration that people with impairments must feel. Of all of my complaints against the 722, this is by far the most grievous.

I have to agree hopefully Dish will see this and correct this problem(we hope).