joth386 said:
With all of the problems it makes me wonder if it is all worth it. I am looking into getting a HD set soon. I qualified for the 149 deal and am having trouble deciding if i want to order it for later use with the new set.
joth,
In my opinion, the 811 negative press is farrrrr overblown. Looks to me that the only issue that is a day-to-day, in your face problem is the picture-in-guide problem- which is at most a few weeks away from a patch fix. Other than that, I really have almost no complaints about it.
No audio dropout.
No dark picture with DVI or component (havent tried s-vid or composite)
Never get the "acquiring satellite signal" daily.
Never have to check switch.
Never get a shuffled guide or incorrect guide.
Hasnt frozen or reset itself.
A few problems reported with analog OTA- uhh... i dont watch analog OTA, so Ill never see these or even look to see if they exist on my unit.
No OTA locking problem- locks fine with 80% signal for me for all channels.
The 720p scaler seems to be horrible SD quality picture- but the workaround is to set it to output 1080i and let your tv scale to 720p (that is, if your tv is native 720p- otherwise this wont even be an issue for you). Channel recall between OTA and sat channels is busted. So until a patch release that fixes it, I have to type in a three digit channel instead of typing a one-key recall. I can live with that for a few weeks.
All in all, the reciever is working fine for me at least, and I dont think its nearly as bad as the huge negative press its getting. Not by a long shot. Maybe I just got a "good unit"... who knows. But think twice before considering "all the problems". Consider getting one and trying it. There is always a 30-day garuntee (trolls likely to follow with stories of hassle on the 30-day policy--- beware).