Will you buy a 942?

[WorkOutMN]

JSanders:

The FCC requirement doesn't address DVR's specifically. From my reading, it just mandates that if I want a box with Firewire, they are to provide one to me, but there isn't a requirement that it have identical funcionality to the DVR box.

In any case, I now have two 8300's installed -- one HD, one not, and the third box (the 3250) is a client to them both. My local high-defs come in clear as a bell without need for an external antenna, no snow/rain fade, and the S-ATA port on the 8300HD is just begging me to test adding a 400G drive.

Dish has left the building.

 

[Stargazer]

Unh, sorry. The 942 does NOT have two independent HD outputs. It has one HD and one SD.

Dang, I thought I saw it posted a while back that it had two HD outputs. There would still be an advantage of a second tuner. I guess they wanted to try to keep the price down. Oh well for two tuner HD receivers that have two actually HD outputs.

 

[jsanders]

Yea, not like two 811s. More like an 811 and a 311. Those bozos. It still has only one ATSC tuner as well. If someone is watching OTA in the livingroom, and the bedroom TV viewer wants OTA, the livingroom has to relinquish the ATSC tuner. What sense does having a dual output and only one OTA tuner make? This piece of junk is more of a boat anchor than the 921 was.

I bet the guy that made the dual output single tuner decision was the pointy haired boss that makes a lot of these stupid decisions. Everyone else is stupid for not firing that guy.

 

[Stargazer]

Most people only have one HD television anyways (if they even have an HD televsion at all) at this point in time so they can get away with it a bit more than they will be able to later. They better make the first MPEG-4 HD DVR two HD tv outputs and expansion ports if they want it to be a long-term receiver. Instead of having to come out with new receivers so dang often all they would have to do is just ship out or even sell the upgrade modules. That would be easier to do and extend the life of the product until the expansion ports are no longer able to do what they need them to do for the receiver. They could even come out with a daisychain type of setup to where they can make a nonDVR receiver a DVR and add a tuner onto a receiver and so forth without all the components that the first receiver had to have, by using the main board in the main receiver.

 

[korsjs]

They better make the first MPEG-4 HD DVR two HD tv outputs and expansion ports if they want it to be a long-term receiver. /QUOTE]

i would be very nice if dish would take this into consideration.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I would like the ucentric dvr option that Voom has said they will use and Directv will use by years end. This allows you to have a central media server that does either hd or sd and has 4 sat tuners and 2 ota digital tuners. You can record up to 4 things at the same time. You can also put smaller boxes on your other tvs in your house and have dvrs on every tv in your house and share a common hard drive. This is the way to go. I only hope there is no fee for each tv and they have a 500gb hard drive you can share . It is supposed to provide hd or sd on your other tvs. OF course this is what I have heard from the CES talking head and the other reports people made from CES. Don't know if all of this is true yet. But it sounds sweet.

 

[psycaz]

The only good thing you can say about Dish releasing this unit is that there is no lack of information for people out there to use in making their decision.
If you buy this receiver you should know that:
a) It is not mpeg4 upgradeable.
b) Mpeg4 is scheduled to roll out by year's end - making the unit obsolete at that point (arguably already is)
c) It will have little to no resale value once the conversion to mpeg4 for HD is started.
d) Expect no other features other than those that are working the moment you turn the box on for the first time.
e) There is NO guarantee of a discounted uprade to the new mpeg4 boxes if you own one of these units.
Nothing is stopping Dish from leaving current HD offerings at mpeg2 and all new offereings to mpeg4 to compel folks to upgrade their boxes on their own dime.They can really say that you should have known when you bought it that it was not mpeg4 upradeable.

To me, non of these items would make me want to buy or even lease a 942 at all.
It just looks like a nightmare wanting to happen.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I have been stressing multiple times in the past that they need to make these receivers upgradable by having additional slots for memory, add-ons, etc. for many possible upgradabilities in the future. It would have been cheaper to have an add-on to the receivers than a complete replacement. They could have implemented certain slots to overide certain components in the receiver (they already implemented this with the cardless card slot). Technology is changing way too fast to not do this anymore. Maybe they will finally learn their lesson. Make certain components plug and play, out with the old memory module, in with the new, out with the old tuners in with the new, out with the old processor/board in with the new. How hard can that be? This could save them LOTS of money.

You mean - you can't mean - you must mean - actually designing a box that acts like an ordinary PC has for years before the 921 was even thought of?

That is, insert an expansion video, sound, modem, whatever, card, and it simply works - if you have a way to load the drivers - like a frelling satellite downlink?

 

[dishrich]

Those bozos. It still has only one ATSC tuner as well. If someone is watching OTA in the livingroom, and the bedroom TV viewer wants OTA, the livingroom has to relinquish the ATSC tuner. What sense does having a dual output and only one OTA tuner make? This piece of junk is more of a boat anchor than the 921 was.

I'm surprised more people haven't picked up on this yet as well. While the first HD-Tivo out of the door from D* has 2 off-air tuners, as well as the upcoming D* "media server", as well as the prototype Cablecard Tivo w/2 cable AND 2 off-air tuners, D* is releasing ANOTHER HD-DVR w/ONLY 1 off-air tuner. And to add insult to injury, they only offer ONE of the networks in HD (CBS) while D* has all 4 - you'd think they'd at least spring for the 2nd off-air tuner to compensate for this, but NO!!!

E* really does have a bunch of retards designing these things...

 

[wmhjr]

Not a chance in .....

Mistakenly bought the 921. Am now switching to Adelphia Cable and the Scientific Atlanta 8300 and my locals in HD. Will never purchase another DVR from Dish - ever.

 

[Stargazer]

Yes, it would be more like a computer since it can actually be upgradable with all those expansion slots and upgradability. Does Dish Network think that these receivers are going to last a lot longer than what they have been without technological changes? Even if Dish Network didnt want the consumers to do the upgrades to the receivers they could at least have the option to have them sent in for an upgrade. I remember when they offered an upgrade for the DishPlayers for a bigger hard drive in them for a fee.

 

[Mark_AR]

Oh come on now....

Do you think that out of 10 million subscribers that there are enough techno-literate ones to even consider an end-user upgradable unit?

I know of several people that have a problem working a kids style remote, never mind opening a case and putting more memory/add-ons in a PC style satellite receiver.

Nice concept - Yes (For us bleeding edge geeks)
Is is feasable - No (For people who have trouble adjusting darkness of toast)

Benefit of the doubt to Dish. Even if you send it in for upgrade, you have to consider shipping, more parts warehousing, payroll for techs to do just upgrades, etc.... So it still boils down to profit margin. Its cheaper to trash an existing unit and produce/replace with newer model.

 

[jsanders]

Really?? Why can't you just train the local installers to do upgrades?? Let's see, Dish could charge you for the labor of the local installer to perform an upgrade. Dish could also add a margin to the upgrade parts. Why would that cost Dish anything? Wouldn't it be possible that they could actually make money doing it?

 

[BobMurdoch]

I like this plan. They can rate their walk in retailers and those deemed proficient can be deemed "Approved Service Centers". This gives them a way to get out of the problems with people trying to take receivers to those Cell Phone kiosks that also sell Satellite TV.

Personally, I feel comfortable to do it myself (I've changed enough hard drives, power supplys, memory sticks, motherboards, modems, sound cards, video cards, etc. to be comfortable cracking open the case). But I know that many won't want to risk breaking their receiver.

 

[SimpleSimon]

jsanders & BobM are absolutely right - it would be the best way to go.

Therefore, E* will never do it.

 

[Stargazer]

It makes too much sense, thats why Dish Network would not do it. I do not think that throwing away the old receiver and making a complete new one would be the best way to go, making them upgradable would be the best way to go, even if it had to be shipped in. If the cost of the single tuner nonDVR receivers were cheap enough then it is possible that it would be cheaper to just junk the old receiver but the future is DVR's and multiple tuner receivers. Dish Network has finally realized that having multiple tuner receivers saves money and space along with saving the customer money on monthly fees.

Is it still true that DirecTv still plans on replacing everyone's receivers with a DVR? If so Dish Network should follow suit and having expandable slots/upgradability would give Dish Network opportunities to make more money with enhanced services and sell hardware that consumers could add onto the receivers. Seeing how the internet may play a huge role into the future of television or a possible merging of television and internet the expansion slots could be made to where access to channels could be made from the internet as well.

 

[tnsprin]

Not that I plan to go with one, already having 2 921's, but what is the connection on the 942 to the second TV? Not "antenna" f-connector or RCA (composite) I hope.

 

[jsanders]

Not that I plan to go with one, already having 2 921's, but what is the connection on the 942 to the second TV? Not "antenna" f-connector or RCA (composite) I hope.

I'm sure the F-Connector is one of the options. I use it on the 921. The cool thing about it is that audio and video are both on the RF modulated signal, whereas composite, s-video, component video all need separate sound connections. That is a hassle for me, because the bedroom TV is down the hall. Yes, I know that doing the extra modulation steps will cause a degredation in the signal, however, it is a clean source to start and it still looks good on an SD TV. Not that it matters for me either though, I won't buy that door-stop.

 

[fenwah]

I plan on going with TWC once they release that dual HD DVR and drop Dish. I have two HD TVs in my house. TWC allows you to lease the unit instead of having to shell out a boatload of money to buy a piece of equipment that will be outdated before you even open the box. I might pay $5-$10 more a month...but that is a heck of a lot better than paying $500+ for a unit that will (or is) obsolete in no time flat. Dish needs to change their business plan to allow HD DVR leases. Once they do that, I will reconsider.