You will get it soon - watch RandallA's "New SW..." thread and check if your 211' serial number win. 
ViP211® and ViP211k® DVR Conversion Feature Now Available to Customers
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
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Does the serial number start with the R00. It is the only numbers similar to the numbers RandalA lists.
I just got my new software upgrade, I havent read thru this entire thread but how many hours of HD can I record if I buy a 750gb hard drive? I cannot watch and record a different program at the same time correct? This is exciting b/c my brother works at the Apple store and I can get 50% off any drive, anyone with some good reccomendations? I might just buy 2 while I am at it. Not having a DVR fee is great as well. I am excited to record a bunch of movies during the overnight hours and while at work. FINALLY THE HD PAK CHANNELS ARE MOVING TO MPEG 4.
My serail number starts with 7695. I got a long way to go from 7640. I had the 211 feeding one of my TiVos. I pulled it out and wired the 211 into my Yamaha AV receiver with componenet cables for the HD picture. My wife uses the other TiVo for her soaps. I am going to try to move her over to the 211, so I can sell both TiVos. They both have Lifetime subscriptions, but are SD TiVos.
The reason you're not getting a lot of replies to your first sentence is because of your last sentence.
Just a joke. There are dozens of posts that talk about how many HD hours will fit on a EHD. But they were all written pre-mpeg4. Mpeg4 is more efficient so more fits in the same space. This means not many people know with any certainty what the right answer is.
Unfortunately I don't remember any numbers, pre or post mpeg4, but someone will post soon, with some real info I'm sure.
The only thing I can remember is it is a lot, like 50+ hours I think.
Some typical numbers off of recent recordings:
OTA HD MPEG-2: 17Mbps, 7.6GB/hr
Dish HD MPEG-2: 10Mbps, 4.5GB/hr
Dish HD MPEG-4/AVC: 9.5-11.2Mbps, 4.3-5.0GB/hr
I've seen some slightly lower bitrates on the non-movie MPEG-4 HD channels.
I was going to upgrade my 211 but I decided to call Dish instead. Glad I did! They exchanged my 211 for a 612 for free and gave me HBO and Starz free for 3 months. The 612 works with the EHDs from my 622, a major consideration that sealed the deal. I did have to re-sign for 24 months. Just an alternative to consider. PS, you can record THREE programs at the same time with a 612, two sat, one OTA.
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When I transfer a 1 hour program to my EHD they are usually in the 2.3-2.5GB file size range with MPEG-4 recordings.
Those numbers are atypically small in my experience. A quick scan of my recordings found only Sci-Fi HD using that low of a bit-rate (specifically "Sanctuary"). The other HD recordings I checked (prime-time LILs and movie channels) showed sizes of 3.8 to 5.6GB per hour, with most in the 4.2-5GB/hr range.
Yes it will work. Will it keep working beyond the warranty period - who knows? One thing that Dish has suggested is that we use EHDs that do not have a sleep feature, or that it can be disabled. The My Book does go to sleep, and with the 622/722 that is not a problem. Not sure how to disable it for use with the 211 but I am sure there is a fix out there somewhere.
During the tech chat they mentioned that they were working closely with Western Digital, and if I'm not mistaken, they showed a My Book box with the Dish approval logo on it.
I hope that they would have checked for things like the drive going into sleep mode before giving it the stamp of approval.
By the way, a certain B & M electronics store has the My Books on sale this week both in store and on their web site.
I hope that they would have checked for things like the drive going into sleep mode before giving it the stamp of approval.
By the way, a certain B & M electronics store has the My Books on sale this week both in store and on their web site.
I have seen the WD DVR Extender for Tivo in lots of places, but it is eSATA only and not compatible with Dish Network equipment. The USB version that works with Dish equipment is still pretty new and not widely available yet. It may be a better alternative than their regular My Book series, but I am not sure how it is different, if at all. It looks like it has the same plastic case as the others, and carries the same one year warranty. By comparison the Maxtor EHD carries a limited five year warranty and appears to have a mostly aluminum case.
They won't be up and running till after the 19th. I too am wondering which drive to buy. Will drives that work as storage on 622/722's work for this application. Do we need drives with fast transfer rates for this, or will a good quality 7200 drive be fine? How about it hard drive experts. What do you think the best way to go is?
