First Look: DISH 381 Receiver

[jcrandall]

Seems like a STUPID business decision. Sell an HD product that will not get the HD offerings they sell for $20/mo more!

Clearly just a way to rebadge the 811 inventory as a SD product. I would expect to see the 942 rebadged (392 maybe?) as a dual tuner SD DVR, and hey, it can get OTA locals too

I think they would be better selling off to Canada and getting the MPEG4 product in homes, futureproof the customer for an HD upgrade when the get an HD set, and lock up the $20 extra revenue.

 

[gammadude]

DVI output and not HDMI? This must be an older design. I would think a "newer" design would have an HDMI output with a converter cable for those who need a DVI connection.

 

[DWS44]

DVI output and not HDMI? This must be an older design. I would think a "newer" design would have an HDMI output with a converter cable for those who need a DVI connection.

811s do not have HDMI...they are DVI only.

 

[ScottChez]

Some are not getting it.

There are NO SD Locals on any SAT (dish or direct tv) at all on several DMAs. My relatives have to switch the TV inputs over and then use a rabbit ears to get there Standard Def Locals. There is no guide data.

Forget HD, this thing will do SD locals OTA, and as an added bonus it does HD Locals OTA. If they down load Guide data they will love it more.

I predict Thousands will be sold (leased).

I grew up in the middle of Nebraska, every one has Dish, everyone there will want and beg for this recevier.

Not all products are for the big cities.

 

[Foxbat]

811s do not have HDMI...they are DVI only.

Which just proves that these are 811s (trade-ins from ViP 211 lease deals?) with the trailing "1" covered in silver paint and a leading "3" added to the model number (well, and new firmware, natch). Will Dish get in trouble if they sell these as "New" instead of "Refurbished" or "Remanufactured" receivers?

 

[gdarwin]

E* is going to have a real big problems with these picking up HD OTA... My old 811 and current 942 have big time problems rebooting when multi-path problems appear... Unless they figure out a software solution...

 

[digiblur]

It's actually a pretty good idea! Re-brand the 811's and change the firmware to show a 381 and unable to view E* HD streams. Now you are putting more 8PSK capable receivers out in the field. It might be a while but one day you'll see more than just HD in 8PSK streams. Possibly changing an entire DMA to 8PSK in an effort to increase the quality? Possibly change out all the big package customers as the first stage and move some of the premium channels to 8PSK TP's? Keep in mind this is might be quite some time away but you do have to start some where.

 

[bytre]

Why put in HD guts when you can not watch Dish HD? If you don't want Dish HD, don't pay for it!

Because they will soon turn around and advertise it as the receiver that shows True HD (when they downgrade the rest of the HD channels to HD lite)

 

[mike123abc]

This is a great way to get rid of a lot of the 811 returns... The 921s should be smashed, but the 942s could be rebadged too. People would love OTA HD recording without having to pay for an HD package. Most of the HD I record is OTA.

 

[BFG]

Tis a shame Dish feels the need to pretend they have switched to MPEG4 because they had to for more room, when except for local markets, the need for MPEG4 and its use is still not their. Dish could've provided a true customer service and added these chanels to existing HD packs, but no they had to play the money game and switch receivers and create new packages for channels that aren't mpeg4, except for nfl and starz which could be mpeg2 if they want as well, but they insist as using them for a miserable.

Ok this was just another miserable rant brought out by the marketing of this receiver!protest

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Maybe this is for MDU use only. You know those funky MDU receivers that nobody else knows about. There's a 351 I think, that comes to mind.

But besides that, if this is to become the next entry level "301/311" receiver in the future, E* made a huge mistake in choosing the 811 as the base for the 381. The 811 and the 381's are missing a coaxial output that's needed for those who have older TV's. Plus OTA reception on the 811's were mediocre at best with the 211 and 622 being much better. Heck, even my 921 is pretty good at OTA.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

It's not a bad idea since these aren't costing E* much but the omission of a coaxial output and mediocre OTA reception cripples this receiver severly.

Like others have said, there's probably a software or a firmware lock to not use the decoder functions for the MPEG2 HD channels. That'd be cheaper than manufacturing new boards that only do SD Dish and SD/HD OTA channels that are only in MPEG2.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

One more thing. Isn't it wiser for E* to release a new MPEG4 SD receiver within a year or so that when and if ALL (SD and HD) channels go MPEG4 (which I hear is not far off from now), they'll need receivers that do SD and receivers that do HD. Not everyone will only have HDTV's in their home. You need receivers for SD TV's too. So this 381 (MPEG2) receiver is probably NOT a good receiver to have in the long, long run.

 

[Stargazer]

This is just a way for Dish Network to get a return in their investment on these receivers that they had to give credit for in the MPEG-4 upgrade process.

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks for the info Scott. This will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[DishSubLA]

For whatever it is worth, I think a lot of these new generation "El Cheapo" boxes that seem "dumb" and a step backward to us are really part of Charlie's announced MPEG4 swap out. These new boxes obviously have COST as the primary factor in thier design, and this 381 sounds like a perfect swap for subs with Legacy STB's. Of course Charlie isn't gonna upgrade them on his dime to any thing much more than what the current sub has. Those are my lowly two cents on the subject. Peac out!

 

[chelsea]

This is the real deal. First time Scott was fooled.

Total cost: # 3 stencil, paint, refurbed cutom painted carboard box, used newspaper for packing, flag all MPEG 2 HD.

That new service center announced, is where its going on.
I think the FCC, requires the price to be $50.

Wrong move, to be able to do 40 SD channels on 1 tp.
Geting that future $20 dollars is the key. They could have kept to the
MPEG 4 plan and use the free preview weekends to harvest HD. Show someone
stubborn, HD.

Now here's where the crazyness begins. How many of these 381's will end up
as bargain Canadian grey boxs? Or Canadian OTA's?
Then we have, Satellite Guys 381 Problems Forum - brings tens of thousands of unexcpected new members, longtime members can't log in during peak hours.

Sell them 2 or 3 times before they make it to ExpressVu.
I give Charlie credit, he put him self on Forbes Richest List.
But this takes the prize for stupid sillyness. Money is money.
If I had that much, I'd go a different route.
Donate to hospitals, with selected unflagged HD channels in every room.
Look nice, go after an unreachable demo. Older demos, refusing to pay for HD. New converted stubborn HD sub vs
already stubborn SD sub, not increasing package.


Scott how many 811's were manufactored?

 

[VinceT3]

Actually I can see a use for this box. When I signed up I got the HD DVR, HD, and SD boxes. The SD box doesn't have a digital antenna hookup, I was a bit annoyed, I realized I should have gotten all hd boxes, but I didn't see the point in spending the 50 bux. Live an learn.

 

[korsjs]

dish is going to sell these boxes and as soon as they are all gone they will announce the transition to mpeg4 and charge people to upgrade this piece of crap.

 

[Mr.Pinkeye]

There are NO SD Locals on any SAT (dish or direct tv) at all on several DMAs. My relatives have to switch the TV inputs over and then use a rabbit ears to get there Standard Def Locals. There is no guide data.

Forget HD, this thing will do SD locals OTA, and as an added bonus it does HD Locals OTA. If they down load Guide data they will love it more.

The real question, in my mind anyway, is if they are marketing this specifically as a ota digital signal converter, will they display show information for all those digital channels that aren't actually carried by dish, or will it just say 'local digital' in the guide.

I would expect that, since it looks like it is just an 811, that they will not do this, though, which short circuits the selling point of this device.

It all sounds like a recipe for ill-will.