Is the 811 junk?
- Thread starter Sharpie
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Sharpie said:
How long have you been a customer of "the competitor"? They offer an HDTV upgrade for $99, which includes the receiver, mutli-sat dish, and installation if necessary. You have to speak to the customer retention department.
The competition's HD receivers are also not perfect. But, they are much less buggy than the 811. And, you don't have to go through the whole changing of providers thing.
(You are talking about DirecTV, right?)
GaryPen said:
This would depend on the Receiver, installation, difference in quality of signal. What type of features you use. Getting an HD receiver for $149 is a pretty good deal and in my opinion the 811 is worth it. Since i have not done a side by side comparisions that would span weeks to get a strong feeling of the difference I can't say for sure if you would be happy or not.
I was a 6000 user and I am happy with my 811 replacement. Yes there are some bugs but from my perspective none of them effect me to the point of causing a high customer pain point. Other peoples opinions differ. I did a poll a while back on another site and the large percentage of people were generally happy.
There are a few threads listing the bugs. I suggest you look through them to get a feel for what you might hit.
Dear Sharpie,
I am not in a position to tell you one way or another. As a former 4 year subscriber to D* I have finally transitioned to the 811 just this week. My first impressions are positive and it has already met my criteria for switching.
So far so good. I have not run into any of the problems that has been listed in this forum (Knock on wood...).
I am not in a position to tell you one way or another. As a former 4 year subscriber to D* I have finally transitioned to the 811 just this week. My first impressions are positive and it has already met my criteria for switching.
- Receive Satellite including HDTV
- Receive all our local OTA also including 5 HD's
- Simple configuration (my wife can run it all with one remote)
- Provide signal to remote television via composite RCA connection on the receiver then RF modulated RG-58
- ($$$) At Zero dollars for equipment the price was right and programming is still less exspensive than D* or cable.
So far so good. I have not run into any of the problems that has been listed in this forum (Knock on wood...).
Sharpie said:
The locals might be a big reason to switch. OTOH, if you can receive OTA digital locals, than it is a moot point. Another point to consider about the 811 is that the majority of it's bugs involve OTA usage, which you may find aggrevating.
If I was you, I'd check my address at www.antennaweb.org, and see how many local OTA digital channels you'll be able to receive with a small to medium antenna. If OTA provides all the local stations you need, I'd stay with DirecTV, and get their HD upgrade for $99. Their new HD receivers receive OTA, and, from all the information I can gather (plus personal experience with the 811), they are much more reliable. And, with DirecTV, you can also get the dual-tuner DirecTivo, which by all accounts is superior to DishPVR (which has it's own set of bugs, and only one tuner in most models.)
OTOH, if you need locals provided by satellite, then Dish is the obvious choice in your market.
Don't listen to ppl like that. Who post their opinion and don't back it up in any way. The 811 is not junk, although it can be a buggy receiver if you plan to use it to capture OTA HD. If you don't plan on using it for OTA HD for now, then certainly go and get it, don't look back. Most bugs are in the OTA part, but they will be fixed. It's a fairly new Dish receiver and Dish takes a while to to fix all the bugs, but they are fixed.ocaddict said:
Here's a couple reviews of the 811.
These reviews were written before the major upgrade last month, but even then, you can tell the person was happy with their receiver.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=5619&highlight=811+review
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=5655&highlight=811+review
AppliedAggression said:
Ok, so I won't blame the 811 entirely. I think the lack of good HD content is what really frustrates me. But seriously, the non-HD channels look much worse than my 508 or 301 receivers using S-video. And this is with the 811 running composite HD. IMHO the product just isn't ready for prime-time. But hey, everyone has their opinions.
AppliedAggression said:
And, as a counterpoint, go back to the General Dish Network Forum page, click on "Search This Forum" on the upper right corner, type in "811 bugs", and read the threads that come up. I hope you have a comfy chair. You'll be there a while.
Here is a list of the current issues post 264.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=24896&highlight=264
And some polls related to the topic.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=7687&highlight=811
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=7510&highlight=811
I would also suggest do a search on 811 and look for the active threads. It should give you a good point/counterpoint argument... The biggest point I would have to make is that boards like this tend to focus on the negative and usually show the product in a darker light. The two polls I listed, though by no means are scientific, in my opinion do show that the 811 is not a pile of useless chips and software.
I was in the same boat you were trying to decide on waiting and getting a 6000 or using the 811 until the 921 is sorted out. I jumped and I am happy I did.
Cheers,
WJD
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=24896&highlight=264
And some polls related to the topic.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=7687&highlight=811
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=7510&highlight=811
I would also suggest do a search on 811 and look for the active threads. It should give you a good point/counterpoint argument... The biggest point I would have to make is that boards like this tend to focus on the negative and usually show the product in a darker light. The two polls I listed, though by no means are scientific, in my opinion do show that the 811 is not a pile of useless chips and software.
I was in the same boat you were trying to decide on waiting and getting a 6000 or using the 811 until the 921 is sorted out. I jumped and I am happy I did.
Cheers,
WJD
Well, the 811 is not a piece of junk. It does perform its main function of receiving signals and displaying on your TV. It does have LOTS of problems that range from constantly annoying to not functional (OTA performance). The JUNK is not the 811, it is Dish Networks handling of it. They do not clearly acknowledge problems and give you no idea of if and when they will or can ever fix them. It leaves you with a real feeling of confidence (ugh).
I don't know if D* is any better. What I recommend if it suits you is get Cable and if necessary a separate OTA receiver for HD locals. My cable company has some HD but with OTA I can get as much as I had with Dish. Overall the costs are about the same because of the internet service discount with the cable company.
I am trying to figure out how to fire Dish before my one year agreement is up with no or minimum penalty because of the 811 and lack of support thereof.
I don't know if D* is any better. What I recommend if it suits you is get Cable and if necessary a separate OTA receiver for HD locals. My cable company has some HD but with OTA I can get as much as I had with Dish. Overall the costs are about the same because of the internet service discount with the cable company.
I am trying to figure out how to fire Dish before my one year agreement is up with no or minimum penalty because of the 811 and lack of support thereof.
WeeJavaDude said:
babakanoosh said:
Lack of support? I guess if you consider 3 updates in less than 6 months is lack of support than I would agree. As for exposure to when bugs get fixed, I am not aware of any cable company or satellite company that provides this level of information. For the record, Microsoft does not either.
I know everyone would like exposure into Dish's bug tracking system, but that is not how it goes with consumer products of this nature. You also don't get a list of fixes or release notes with each software update. That would be a great PR thing and I wish Dish would do it but from what I can see the industry as a whole does not do it. Industry being Payed TV providers.
Wonder if TIVO provides this info. If anyone would, I would expect them to.
As you can see, some say the 811 is good/great/ok, others say it is *****. I'd suggest that if you decide to go with it try to get it where you don't have to commit to 12 months with E*. That way if it doesn't work out in your envorinment nothing lost.
rad said:
Good point RAD. There are sure some people that found it a piece of ***** in their environment and under their use cases. For me I found it a welcome upgrade to the 6000. I plan on getting a 921 soon, but I am awaiting some more runtime and availablity on the 921.
rad said:
That is why I suggest staying with DirecTV. You already have a satellite provider that will give you less buggy HD equipment for $99, and no additional commitiment. Then, use their HD receiver for OTA locals (if possible). Why switch, if you're not unhappy?
BTW, if Dish offers your locals, you will probably need a 2nd dish to receive them. Or, in some parts of the country, a big, ugly "superdish", which are in short supply (long waits). Plus, if it's the west coast satellite (148) that you'll need for locals, the 811 won't be able to pick it up, if they install DishPro equipment. (Another bug.)
Sharpie said:
I have the 6000 and the 811. Ive had the 811 since December and dont have very many of the problems people have complained about. The only thing with ours is the dark s-video picture so my son just watches everything thru the dvi. At first we lost the ota channels occasionally but my son doesnt turn the 811 off very much and it hasnt happened in a really long time. Thats it... the only problems we had so to us it was worth it. Bottom line.... its up to you and your situation.
I switched from D*... and I was a sub for 9+ years... I called several retention specialists, and was offered the "$99" deal.
However, in each case:
1) They wanted to charge me $470 up front on my credit card, then get $370 in credits on my bill... I know some managed to get the $470 charge on their account, but I couldn't get anyone to do it no matter how many times I tried
2) They required a commitment to the HD package ($1 more/month than dish)
3) They required a year commitment to TC choice
On the other hand, by switching to dish, I am getting
1) Free 811
2) Cheaper programming. I am paying less now for 2 recievers and the HD package than I was paying for 1 receiver and no HD package on D*. Yes, I got a few more channels on D*, but none that I was watching.
3) No commitment, other than to the HD package
I have also read about some current D* subscribers getting slammed with additional install costs with the HD upgrade.
However, in each case:
1) They wanted to charge me $470 up front on my credit card, then get $370 in credits on my bill... I know some managed to get the $470 charge on their account, but I couldn't get anyone to do it no matter how many times I tried
2) They required a commitment to the HD package ($1 more/month than dish)
3) They required a year commitment to TC choice
On the other hand, by switching to dish, I am getting
1) Free 811
2) Cheaper programming. I am paying less now for 2 recievers and the HD package than I was paying for 1 receiver and no HD package on D*. Yes, I got a few more channels on D*, but none that I was watching.
3) No commitment, other than to the HD package
I have also read about some current D* subscribers getting slammed with additional install costs with the HD upgrade.
Sharpie said:
That depends on your tolerance level. You will likely have to look at a mediocre picture with crushed blacks. The 811 has a mediocre OTA analog tuner. More user interface bugs than I can list, mostly around the OTA channels. Perhaps by March 30 we will have another code update to fix some more of these issues.
I would not recommend the 811 as it stands today. If the bugs can be fixed, and the mediocre video quality is the one that concerns me the most as that might be a hardware design error, then it could one day be an outstanding receiver.
Keith.
I am definately reconsidering about getting dish. Now, whether I pull the trigger and cancel my dish network installation is another thing. I have already paid $49 that vmc satellite says is non-refundable. Don't quite understand that because no service has been done. If anyone knows how to get my $49 back please let me know.
