Dish VIP 622 DVR

[txfeinbergs]

Guys, I have been a TIVO supporter since my first series 1 standalone unit 4 years ago - so don't take this the wrong way. I have also been a member of this forum for more than 2 years. I just wanted to let those of you who are fed up waiting on DirecTV to release 6.2 for the HR10-250 know that there is another (unfortunately non-TIVO) DVR out there that is excellent. I just got the Dish VIP-622 receiver installed today which has been out for about 2 months now (replacing DirecTV, an R10 and an HR10-250 receivers in the process). It has a very polished interface, and is lightning quick (so much so that you might actually speed past entries in the guide if you aren't paying attention). It can record 3 programs at the same time (1 OTA and 2 Sat), while playing back a 4th. It has a 2 hour buffer. It has folders. It tells you exactly how much space is left (for both High Def and Standard Def programs). It has caller ID. It also is very stable so far and let me set up 14 "Season Passes" in about 5 minutes. It has interactive features including some games you can play on it (haven't tried them out yet - but I am not expecting much there). It is an MPEG-4 receiver and Dish Network is adding national High Def channels at a fairly fast rate (just announced another one yesterday - Food-HD) (can't actually imagine myself watching that one, but to each their own I guess). It actually supports 2 TVs concurrently. That means you don't need a second receiver for some other TV in the house (Saves you $5 a month and gives two TVs access to the DVR... at the same time) (the second remote - it comes with two - is radio frequency so it works through walls). It only requires 1 cable to the TV for dual tuner. I can keep rambling, but I think you get the point by now. Dish has been building DVRs almost as long as TIVO and they have their act together (albeit maybe ripping TIVO off in the process, but I guess the courts will decide that). I am not sure DirecTV will have their act together with the HR20-250 as it is their first DirecTV based DVR - but who knows.

Just wanted to let you guys know there are options out there.

[Guindalf]

This is interesting, but after the first day, it will be tken with a grain of salt, I'm afraid. Features are not the issue with E* equipment, but its ability to perform over a period of time will be what will make people think about a swap.

Many HR10 owners are tied to a two-year contract, which we know can be broken by returning the equipment, but few will just "out of the frying pan and into the fire" without more substancial information than first impressions.

As to whether Dish finally has its act together, I hope so, but time, and nothing else, will tell.

Thanks for the info though. I, for one, will visit the site and take a look at costs, etc. to swap.

[MarcusInMD]

I made a post a few weeks ago about possibly going this route. Keep us posted on the performance of the new DVR if you can. Once Dish flipped the switch to REAL HDTV it only made the decision a bit easier I suppose.

The only thing I am concerned about is some of the bugs that need to be worked out of the unit. Granted the HDTIVO is slow as molasses and DirecTVs HDTV is the worst in the business it still records what it supposed to, when it supposed to..

[txfeinbergs]

To Dish's credit, they have been sending out updates to this thing on a regular basis to squash bugs. I definitely would not have wanted to own one when they were first out the door two months ago, but 4 updates later, they seem to be well on their way to a stable/solid product (release notes for the updates are available at SatelliteGuys forums). I agree that only one day of use is not overly informative, but if you want longer feedback, you can visit the SatelliteGuys forums. (only problem with that though, is like most forums, the negative/complainer base is usually a lot louder than the positive experiences). The people having the positive experiences aren't coming to the forums in the first place in most cases. I will let you guys know what I think of it after a week's worth of shows record.

[JimSpence]

I know nothing of this receiver/DVR, but there is a dedicated forum on DBSTalk about it.
http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107
It seems to have growing pains.

[Sk8man]

I have had my 622 for over a month now and really like it. I can record 3 things at once while watching something that I already had recorded. I like the Tivo interface better, but since my series one or two won't record HD and the new series 3 won't work with satellite, this is more than adequate.

[Dssturbo1]

this is dish's 3rd generation hd pvr and it still only has 1 ota tuner?????? dish is notorious for unstable receivers due to updating them to repair bugs. And it will NOT support two HDTVs.

[txfeinbergs]

That is mostly correct. It will not support sending high-def signals to two TVs... but you can still send a standard def signal to the second high-def TV. Yes I know, why would you want to do that - but I would guess that if you can afford two high def TVs, you can afford two DVRs. Anyway, as far as the one OTA tuner - well, this is a Sat tuner and since they have the same plans as DirecTV to broadcast local high defs I don't see this as a drawback (especially given that I can record three local high def channels at the same time since local high defs are already available in my area).

[wje]

IGranted the HDTIVO is slow as molasses and DirecTVs HDTV is the worst in the business it still records what it supposed to, when it supposed to..

Well, usually. Mine has spontaneously rebooted right in the middle of recording.

I've been following the 622 also. I've decided that the next time my HR10 dies, I'm dumping D* and moving to E*. The 622 has some very nice features I'd really like, such as PIP. Another plus... they actually release software upgrades on a regular basis.

Once D* rolls out their new HD unit (a year from now? The date keeps receeding into the distance), it won't be a TiVo either.

TiVo seems to have sufficiently po'd D* and E*, so I doubt we'll ever see a TiVo from either of them again.

I'm pretty mad at TiVo right now, too, because of their absurd patent suit against E*. So, maybe they were granted a patent for the idea of delayed playback of a recording in progress, but that doesn't mean they should have been. I suppose I should actually be mad at the patent office; their policy now seems to be to grant anything and let the courts sort it out.

[jrvtecaccord]

I switched from D* to E*, I received this dvr when it just came out, was a little buggy, but with there latest update L356, this thing is solid and FAST, even using HDMI.

At first I was a little worried with switching, since I have been with D* for at least 6 years, but now, D* who?

[alv]

Hopefully it will stay bug free! They don't always.

[jcricket]

I think one's perception of DVRs is driven by one's history with said technology.

In my case, I moved into the satellite world subscribing to E* back in 1996. My first DVR experience was the POS Dishplayer I had with E*. Now there was a sh*tty DVR (regular reboots, bad conflict management, etc). I struggled with that for a couple of years before hearing about the DirecTivo.

I moved to D* in 2001 because I was excited by the dual-tuner DirecTivo (GXCEBOT). So my 2nd experience with a DVR was very positive. The box "just worked", and was a big technological and user-interface leap-forward compared to the DishPlayer.

My first generation DirecTivo started experiencing symptoms of hard drive failure back in June of 2005, so I took the plunge and got a HR10-250. Overall, the HR10 works close to as well as the first-generation DirecTivo, with the added bonus of recording HD. However, I regularly bemoan the slowness of the HR10 (especially when trying to add/re-arrange season passes). I am also frustrated by its relatively poor OTA tuner performance and occasional audio/video glitches. In other words, 3 years after my second-DVR, my third experience with DVRs was a let-down. I like recording HD, but am disappointed by the lackluster performance, bugs and lack of new features/progress 3+ years since my last DVR.

To me, all this points to "staying put" being the best option for anyone with a functioning HR10 and/or R10 at this point. I won't be moving off my current platforms until someone offers a box for a reasonable price that's appreciably different than my current HR10. My next "dream" DVR will be as reliable and speedy as my R10, have 3-4 tuners, HMO-like features, HD recording, OTA support and possibly an integrated DVD player/recorder. Seems like I'll be waiting a while :)

[MarcusInMD]

I am kind of in the same boat. I came over from C-Band though using SageTV. SageTV BLOWS anything Tivo has or anyone else for that matter out of the water. SageTV is an evolving product and the authors listen very carefully to the user community and add fantastic features. Add to that all of the user developed add-ons and the product simply can't be beat. And on the system I built for it it was very stable. The only problem I have now is NO HD SUPPORT. Until something PC based with HD support (full for satellite or cable) I can't go back in that direction.

I am so torn right now though because Directv HDTV is pretty bad and we cancelled it months ago and now only record HD OTA which is OK. A Dish 622 would give me the speed I crave but maybe missing some features like the wish list etc. Cable is missing some of the channels I want to have like DiscoveryHD and Boomerang and their (adelphia) while OK is still not a great unit from what I have read. No real clear paths to take at this time. :(