What years was the Dishplayer ( I think it was also called a 7200?) used?
And where did MSN/WEBTV fit into this?
And where did MSN/WEBTV fit into this?
Dishplayer
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You should start your own thread. More people will see it and you'll get more replies.
The Dishplayer was WAY ahead of its time, IMO. It is still one of my favorite receivers to this day 
Before the Microsoft vs DISH war broke out and then it was toast. I had three replacements at $14.99 a pop in shipping and handling before I gave up and went with a 501pvr. The glitches and reboots were unlimited . But when I first got one I used it for my first access to the internet. Even hooked up a printer to it and was able to get my mobile home refinanced with a new company using it. I also loved the Home screen and the keyboard you could use with it. I had my first one in 99 too. I remember it as the Webtv/DISHPlayer 7100/7200 models.The Dishplayer was WAY ahead of its time, IMO. It is still one of my favorite receivers to this day
Waking up and seeing "Upgrade" was like a surprise birthday party.The Dishplayer was WAY ahead of its time, IMO. It is still one of my favorite receivers to this day
I remember when that was the truth for nearly all electronics. Nowadays, seems like that feeling of excitement has generally been replaced by "Dammit...what's being taken away, neutered, and/or broken this time?"
I remember when that was the truth for nearly all electronics. Nowadays, seems like that feeling of excitement has generally been replaced by "Dammit...what's being taken away, neutered, and/or broken this time?"
Windows 10 is still pretty much like that...
Microsoft had the code, Dish only did the hardware. It seemed like a good idea at the time, no? After a while MS started to not address software issues--at least not in a timely manner, and it seemed MS was blowing Dish off, and this was peeving Dish customers off, and peeving Dish of because it seemed MS was moving slower than a sloth on such matters. It turned out that not too long after MS introduces it Ultimate TV product. Now, it makes sense as to why MS was virtually not returning Dish's phone calls about bugs in the software that was upsetting Dish customers, and Dish had to deal with the dissatisfied DishPlayer users.
Oh yes, the Displayer 7000 series was right up there with TiVo at the time, but Dish had been burned by depending on another company for the software, and do Dish developed their own DVR: the PVR 500 series. Those things were a pretty big come-down from the DishPlayer 7000 series. Those old 500 series were below rudimentary, but I still loved being able to DVR Dish provided content without using a TiVo and its additional charge. The biggest PITA was that the 500 series was there were NOT name based timers, but hard timer timers. Other than that, I could deal with the ugly UI and other stuff I may not remember. At the time TiVo was still the best DVR out there, at least for a few more years to follow, anyway. I believe that the 500 series never had a DVR fee, and that was a NICE bonus.
After a while MS started to not address software issues--at least not in a timely manner, and it seemed MS was blowing Dish off, and this was peeving Dish customers off, and peeving Dish of because it seemed MS was moving slower than a sloth on such matters. It turned out that not too long after MS introduces it Ultimate TV product. Now, it makes sense as to why MS was virtually not returning Dish's phone calls about bugs in the software that was upsetting Dish customers, and Dish had to deal with the dissatisfied DishPlayer users.Oh yes, the Displayer 7000 series was right up there with TiVo at the time, but Dish had been burned by depending on another company for the software, and do Dish developed their own DVR: the PVR 500 series. Those things were a pretty big come-down from the DishPlayer 7000 series. Those old 500 series were below rudimentary, but I still loved being able to DVR Dish provided content without using a TiVo and its additional charge. The biggest PITA was that the 500 series was there were NOT name based timers, but hard timer timers. Other than that, I could deal with the ugly UI and other stuff I may not remember. At the time TiVo was still the best DVR out there, at least for a few more years to follow, anyway. I believe that the 500 series never had a DVR fee, and that was a NICE bonus.
At first the 500 series of dvrs had no dvr fee till the 510 model came out with a dvr fee. Charlie used to brag on Charlie Chats, that DISH Network had the only "tapeless record" dvr for no monthly fee. Then the retroactively applied the dvr fee to all dvrs regardless of what they said when they came out. They gave most subs a $5.00 credit off of their bill for a few years till those models were finally cycled out. By then we had the Vip dvrs come out and they definitely had a dvr fee. Now we are using Hoppers and the fees were always there ,they just keep hiking them every few years.
Ah, 508 memories. And of the 721- when it worked.
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Interesting. Thanks for the info. We added the next gen DishPlayer 721 and also kept our 50X. Later we traded up from 50X and 721 to the 522/625 (I hope I got those model numbers correct) before the DVR fee imposed on 50X, IIRC. I think we left 50X before the fee was imposed. We never had the 510. Now that I think of it, I never upgraded to 510 specifically because of the DVR fee of 510. We made due with 50X. I can't remember if the 721 had a fee, but I don't think it did. I'm sure someone here remembers correctly.
Oh yes, I too remember Charlie making a big deal about yhe 50X NOT having a fee on the Charlie Chats. In fact, I rember the words, ". . . we want you to have a DVR without a fee . . . " I remember at that moment thinking, "Right! How long will that last?" I believed that Dish was just waiting for the right moment to spring the fee.
I made a truck load of money selling non monthly fee DVR’s
501, 508 and 721’s where my favorites to sell
Actually it was the intention to never change a DVR fee, EVER!
The problem was the customers.
To have a no fee DVR, you then needed to charge a higher upfront fee (Usually $50) for the DVR.
People where not willing to spend the money to upgrade to the DVR, when the base systems where FREE at the time.
Back then it was a proven fact that a DVR made for a more sticky customer who was less likely to switch providers.
The solution was to roll out DVR advantage programs where the DVR fee was included in the base programming package, and the $5 fee was introduced for DVR’s not under DVR advantage.
Add to the fact that they then paid retailers an incentive to sell DVR, this way almost every new customer getting service was getting a DVR.
It was the customers stupid mentality that everything needed to be FREE, that started the DVR fees, and not just typical Dish being greedy.
The greed with Dish didn’t start until around 2008 or early 2009.
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