Overall concern about quality of Dish Network DVR software

[jrbdmb]

I have to express an overall concern about quality of Dish Network DVR software. Look at the examples:

921 - well documented issues and lack of features that have never been resolved
942 - from all indications S/W quality and stability has regressed from the original release
721 - marginal S/W quality and stability, lack of features (Many parts of Dish Home. etc.) and slow response time
5xx (501/508/510) - until recently was perhaps the most stable of the DVRs, but the new 3.03 release is a significant regression in S/W stability (black screen lockups).

Scott or other mods, have you gotten any feedback from Dish as to what is going on with the DVR S/W development? Beyond the individual problems that are reported to them, do they understand the perception among many users that each subsequent S/W release will introduce more bugs than are resolved? Do they understand the perception that the 921 is effectively a "boat anchor" due to buggy S/W, and that many are concerned that the 942 is headed in the same direction? Do they understand the frustration of 5xx owners who had a fairly reliable platform which has been made much less so by the two most recent S/W "upgrades"? Do they understand as DirecTV begins to more aggressively push its new DVR offering, stability and reliability of the Dish DVRs will become more critical in aquiring and maintianing subscribers?

This now goes beyond individual bugs or platforms; there appears to be serious problem with the processes Dish uses to develop / test / deploying all of its DVR S/W, and scanning this forum indicates the problem is getting worse over time. Sorry if this appears like venting, but I sincerely hope Dish has the ability to address these process issues before these DVR S/W quality and stability issues becomes a limiting factor in their business.

 

[SKrueger]

942 - from all indications S/W quality and stability has regressed from the original release

Personally, I have to disagree at least with regards to the 942. While I have noticed some minor glitches in the latest release (and I can't say that they weren't present in earlier releases), I find the latest release much more stable. I don't have frequent lockup or reboot problems like I did with earlier releases. I have not suffered the oft noted audio drop out problems nor most of the other problems noted.

Maybe, just maybe, there is something more. Specific units might have a hardware problem or poor quality connection cables may being used (never trust a salesman to tell you a cable is good, they'll just sell you the most expensive).

Just some thoughts.

 

[riffjim4069]

Speaking on behalf of my 942, I have to agree with jrbdmb's general observation: I have experienced various annoying glitches that were not present prior to L2.80/L2.81. Overall, this thread summarizes what has been posted in numerous threads concerning Dish DVRs...

Dish Network: Mr. jrdbmb, that is a lucid, intelligent, well thought-out observation.
Mr. jrdbmb: Thank you.
Dish Network: Overruled.

 

[jrbdmb]

I can only present 2nd hand evidence on the 921 and 942, since I do not own either and have not seen either in action. I also did not include the Dishplayers, which could open a separate can of worms, since from what little I know that S/W was not done in-house. I also realize that those with problems are more apt to post here than those who have no issues. But (IMHO) there is an overall systemic problem with the Dish DVR S/W develop / test / deplay process as I stated above.

I've flamed Dish more than once in the past, but today just decided to calmly ask if Dish belives there is a problem here, and if they are concerned about the perception of mediocre S/W in their DVR products. I've read quite a bit on SatGuys about feedback from Dish concerning new H/W or programming changes, but relatively little about the S/W side of things. I hope that can change in the future.

 

[maximum]

5xx - until recently was perhaps the most stable of the DVRs, ...

From my experience the 522 has never been stable.

 

[catnap1972]

From my experience the 522 has never been stable.

I think he means the single tuner 5xx's, not the 522/625 platform

 

[Frostwolf]

From my experience the 522 has never been stable.

He mentions version number of the 501/508/510. The latest one has stopped my lockups, but it still has issues with pixilization that was never noticable before. I'm still waiting for NBR as promised The issue with fast forward has not happened as often.

 

[AppliedAggression]

I disagree as well, I have a 721 and yeah lately it has some minor issues like the skip back button not working or freezing for a couple seconds, but i really prefer the whole box as a whole to my crappy directivo which is slow 100% of the time and has its bugs as well. From my experience Dish has the best DVRs. They may be a little buggier but overall are much better (faster!)

 

[jrbdmb]

My 721 feels slow to me in comparison to my upstairs 508, can't compare it to the DirecTivo units. Occasionally my wife or kids will tell me "this thing isn't working" - ususally the result of not waiting up to 10 seconds for the unit to power on, then starting to mash the power button. (I've notice the same thing with the computer, if something doesn't happen with a button click, click it 10 more times very quickly. )

I've had a few spontaneous reboots in the two months I've owned the 721, enough to be annoying. Otherwise the unit runs OK (I can't call it "stable" due to the reboots mentioned above). It is disappointing that many of the Dish Home features are still not available, wish I could watch the Mosaic TV stuff and access Instant Weather.

 

[gpflepsen]

You are not imagining things. I think Dish is getting a reputaion for poorly executed DVR software. They may not care but it will catch up to them.

 

[Sapient]

From my experience the 522 has never been stable.

My 522 has been stable, but buggy as hell.

 

[maximum]

My 522 has been stable, but buggy as hell.

So what's your definition of stable? I guess you could say that it is consistently buggy, thus, stable in that you can count on it having bugs.

 

[Purogamer]

Unless D* has really buggy DVR software, and doesn't add channels/improve PQ, they're going to reap the benefits of E*'s neglect, it's just that simple. E* has been in a holding pattern for a long time now. Only a small handful of the new software releases have been beneficial, and they introduced new problems that nullified those benefits, so they haven't done much for their customers besides FINALLY add a few sports channels.

E* has fallen farther behind, and unless they announce "Here's MPEG-4, it's out next week" on the 14th, they're going to fall much farther behind i'm afraid. It's ok to not be first, but to be a distant second is not going to keep customers happy...

 

[RocketMan]

942 software

I monitor this board occasionally for news of the network. I came to Dish via Voom in May, and the 942 remains the cherry on the cake. My sample space of 1 has certainly surpassed my expectations. I've not experienced increasing problems with the updates. I write firmware for the ultimate mission critical application, and I haven't seen anything from Dish so far that would prompt a conference call from my customer, much less a vendor review. A subscriber poll on the 942 hardware/software subject might provide a broader perspective.

 

[Bob Haller]

Ahh its ALWAYS been a problem, all the way back to the legacy DP

E found its saves them money, so they dont care. We DVR subs are sticky

My 522 is honestly not perfect but pretty good, and has currently the most stable software of any box I have ever owned.

My 721 got so bad I retired it. Its on the shelf currently....

Charlie and company doesnt really care, although a couple years ago the lack of a working high def DVR cost E a christmas selling season. that did get their attention.

 

[NOHDjunkie]

I've never had any serious problems with my DVRS. (942, 508, 510)

THe 942 updates have solved problems for me. I had the DVI loss of signal problem that was fixed in one of the last two releases (since aug 29th) and have had great success with OTA and sat recording.

The only thing I've noticed is that when I have it recording three things at once and watching a recorded show, do not hammer the skip buttons too quickly. A nice medium pace when skipping commercials is OK but iff youu hammmer quickly and skip back and forth too quickly it may hang. Hardly a bug, the machine is at full tilt recording three streams...

I never miss a recording (ok maybe two or three in the last 8 months) All in all the updates have been either beneficial (Added feature or fix) or of no consequence to my 942. Knock wood.

942 = awesome. I hope the 962 is equally great.

 

[mpeltz]

I agree with jrbdmb. I admit that the 942 receiver is a great receiver when it works, but it has serious reliability and stability problems as compared to DirecTivo. The Dish 942 receiver requires many reboots and constant attention to operate.

I had a DirecTivo for over four years and never had the number of problems that I’ve had with the 942. Since May 2005 when I had the 942 installed, I’ve rebooted more than 60 times. I’ve missed more than 30 programs due to guide glitches or unexplained phenomenon. Not to mention countless audio and video problems introduced by the recent patches. With my DirecTivo, I rebooted maybe once every 6 months and I recall only one missed recording the entire time I owned it.

 

[Bob Haller]

my 522 froze tonight when I attempted to set up a dish pass recording.

Stuck 5 minutes later I power plug rebooted. At least its a rare problem...

 

[bigthrust]

My 510 has been flawless for 2 years. I must say that the new release is by far the best. My PQ is outstanding via s-video to my Sharp 26inch LCD TV.

 

[mnassour]

I had a DirecTivo for over four years and never had the number of problems that I’ve had with the 942. Since May 2005 when I had the 942 installed, I’ve rebooted more than 60 times. I’ve missed more than 30 programs due to guide glitches or unexplained phenomenon. Not to mention countless audio and video problems introduced by the recent patches. With my DirecTivo, I rebooted maybe once every 6 months and I recall only one missed recording the entire time I owned it.

Well, that tells me exactly what I was just about to ask. I'm a long-time-ago Dish subscriber (the original Dishplayer, etc.) currently running an ExressVu 501 in addition to a couple of HD DirecTivos. I'm really concerned about the direction that DirecTV is going with HD, given the fact that 30 second skip and reliability don't seem to be a major concern of theirs with the new DVRs.

However, tales such as this talking about buggy Dish boxes ( even those that are high $$$$ ) make me just want to hold onto my old HD Tivos that much longer. I held high hopes for the 942, thinking that this might be a way out when DirecTV finally leaves Tivo.

But it looks like Dish is still, well, Dish.