FLASH: No Name Based Recording on 921, 721, 501, 508, 510

[psycaz]

Scott,
Any chance of making this a sticky thread for a while so folks can easily see this information?
Maybe with enough voiced displeasure, the folks at Dish will change there mind about this decision.

 

[jlhugh]

I hope you replied back to that individual and told him that was the wrong answer and to give you the right one.

 

[tnsprin]

For yesterday's retailer chat I submitted the following question...

This is the reply I got back

Personally, I don't trust your source.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Personally, I don't trust your source.

How can you not trust his source unless you know his source...is there something you are not telling us?

 

[goaliebob99]

unfortuanatly his source is true. I was told this too.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Didn't the last time a class action was filled all the lawers could settle for was some free ppv coupons? I don't think lawsuits would go far unfortunetly

This is just another addition to the books that E* cannot manage their own STBs.

E* STBs are like the pre-school toys whereas D* STBs are the real deal.

Heh, add that to the SAT

You know DirecTV is going in the direction of Echostar and have one brand of DirecTV receivers. That'll standardize the receivers' technology but the big negatives about DirecTV's new D10 receivers is that it's hard to setup. Plus, their download updates come VERY FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. Case in point is in installing the new DirecTV 95 dish. They have the installers do all kinds of weird things to try and make the signals come through. So every company has its shortcomings and in the case of DISH Network, it's a business decision over customer service I guess.

Like someone said, it makes more sense to lure customers to newer, albeit leased receivers so that DISH Network can contiue to operate and compete in the ever-competitive pay TV market. The way DISH Network give free equipment to customers, it'd make more sense to lease the equipment instead to keep the operating costs low. Already DISH Network gives out free DVR's and free HD receivers whereas DirecTV's TiVo are priced at $99 or $299 for the HD receiver. DISH Network has to subsidize the cost some way some how, right? Who knows if DISH had to license the NBR technology from RePlay or TiVo for the 522 and that it is very expensive to do so? Or that the 5xx and other receivers don't have the right hardware inside to get NBR. Remember that the 522 is a highly evolving receiver. It got the single TV, dual-tuner capability some months back and now name-based recording. The receiver must've been equipped to handle future upgrades from its inception of design. It also must be the platform receiver where newer receivers will be based off of, like the 942. Just my predictions by the way. And many of us can ask these steaming questions during CES to protest this move. I'm sure DirecTV and its associates are very happy to hear this and egg us even more.

So, voice your opinions to DISH Network first. A good venue would probably be the cancellation department. They keep a good log of why customers cancel and may very well be heard at the top. One bit of caution is that once you're a DISH Network customer and cancel to start over later, you won't be considered a new customer.

 

[jsanders]

Dish will never lease the 921. Who would in their right mind keep the 921 if they were just leasing it. Most all people would just send it back.

 

[jsanders]

Does anyone here think that the 921, or the 721, or the 510, or even the 508 can't be upgraded? Name based recording doesn't require new hardware, it doesn't require a lot of processor cycles even. It just requires a little code to manage its database in a couple different ways. It is not even that hard to implement. I don't know what turnip Dish is trying to squease here, but it is NOT a large software investment to do it. Dish is just being cheap if they don't offer it.

 

[Stargazer]

I think that Dish Network knows that if they only imlement NBR (EBR) into only the leased DVR receivers then that will attract customers to the leased products by showing the advantages that they have. The question is if the 942 will be leased or not when it comes out if if not then would they choose to put NBR (EBR) onto this model receiver.

When I bought the 501/510/721 receivers I bought them knowing that NBR may never get added to them and I am sure many others did as well not even knowing what NBR is. I know better than to buy a product expecting such a feature to get added in the future. It is also not good though to advertise that a feature is going to become available in the future on a particular receiver then later say it wont.

 

[bcshields]

This sucks.

I'd have to downgrade my 721 to a 522 in order to get NBR.

Not gonna happen, I'll go to Direct first.

And yes, after 2 years of being a loyal sub, and a year of being on this board, this is the first time I've threatened to disconnect and switch. This pisses me off to no end.

 

[gredneck]

When I bought the 501/510/721 receivers I bought them knowing that NBR may never get added to them and I am sure many others did as well not even knowing what NBR is. I know better than to buy a product expecting such a feature to get added in the future. It is also not good though to advertise that a feature is going to become available in the future on a particular receiver then later say it wont.

same here.

I think dish doesn't want to upgrade all receivers to NBR due to the fact mpg4 is comming out in a year or so.

this way it encourages existing customers to upgrade to mpg4
receivers with all the bells and whistles.

I bet we'll see a lot more attention paid to the leased recivers than the bought receivers.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Its most disapointing for 921 owners who have been screwed over by Dish Royally over the past year since the 921 has come out.

From removing the Firewire Port, dropping the price from $999 to $549, charging for local guide listings, and announcing that the 921 will become obsoliete when MPEG4 comes out are just some of the things Dish has done to piss off its 921 customers.

Other features advertised to be in the 921 still are not there, such as Dish Interactive (OpenTV) and I don't know about you but my 921 menus STILL list Internet and D-VHS as options from the menu. Whats' up with that?

 

[mallu2u]

Scott: I spoke to them yesterday and they did mention that 510 shall be upgraded with NBR software after a month. So thats not true anymore?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Guess not.

I have spoken to a few Dish employees who wanted to remain off the record who have verifed it's true.

Mark Lamutt from DBSTalk is also checking with his contacts as well, and so far he has nothing to report. To me the silence on this speaks volumes.

 

[stone phillips420]

speaking with supervisors at dishnet about 500 series dvr 721 and 921 no nbr, they don't seem to care, apparently im the only one thats called and complain, which is obviously bs
i spoke to the today and the supervisor clearly said nbr only on 522 and 942
i then asked for a 10 dollar a month credit for being lied to about my 501 and 721 getting nbr, they flat out said no
everyone call and give them hell about all there lies
the sup also said charlie chat is not facts, its rumors
what the point of having a rumor show anyone can do that?
to sum it up they just alienated viirtullay everyone thats has one of there dvr's
its odd also how 7100/7200 has had nbr now since the day it came out, i guess thank microsoft for that gift

 

[Gen Custer]

I bailed on DISH after a few years as a loyal customer after the start of the whole 921/firewire fiasco and bought a HD TIVO and haven't had any second thoughts since. Direct TV is worth the extra couple of dollars a month

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

While I have talked to a few Dish Employees (none of them who want to be named) it appears the above is true.

However I have decided for the benifit of all SatelliteGuys members and Dish Network DVR owners around the country to press the issue more.

I have just emailed the following to Dish Networks Press Department seeking an answer. I will post their reply as soon as it is received.

Good morning guys,

On the March Edition of the Consumer Tech chat it was stated that “Name Based Recording” would be available on ALL Dish Network DVRs by this summer (2004)

Yesterday Name Based recording was made available to the 522.

I sent in an email asking when we would see Name Based Recording on the 921 and was sent back the following response.

“Scott,
At this time, there are no plans to upgrade 921 receivers with Name Based recording. This feature will be implemented in 522 and all DVR receivers going forward”

Would you please clarify what’s going on an issue a statement on the future of name based recordings on all Dish Network DVR’s.

I look forward to your replies, Happy Holidays!

Scott

 

[Bill R]

Scott,

According to MY sources, the information you got about DISH not adding Name Based Recording on the older DVRs is not correct.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Bill one can only hope your info is correct. Although sadly I fear its not.

Again when I get word I will post it here and to DBStalk as well.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

MAJOR UPDATE -

Mark Lamutt from DBSTalk just CONFIRMED that this is indeed true, no name based recordings feature on the 921, 721, 50x series...

Very sad.

I am still waiting for an official statement from Dish Network on this.