Dish PVR 921 (1 Viewer)

[Randy Korstick]

Is anyone here using the Dish HD Receiver/Recorder PVR 921?
I heard there were alot of bugs with it when it came out in January but supposedly they are all cleared up now. Anyone have any experiences? Is it worth the money if you can aford it?
Also Dish recently released a switch that enables you to get the 2 inputs from the satellite needed for the PVR 921 through one cable thus saving the need to run a 2nd cable. How good does this work? According to the sattelite companies I talk to both are working great but just want to hear from others that may be using it before I take the plunge.
Thanks in Advance.

 

[HarryS]

http://www.dbstalk.com/index.php?

 

[JeremySt]

Ive got one...only quirk I have is, you cant add local channels to a favorites list, and no caller ID. Im sure it will be corrected soon. other than that it works perfectly.

EDIT 5/19/05: a software upgrade has fixed these problems.

 

[Westly T]

I picked one up at Costco for $489, caller ID does work on mine. It can't tune in the HD local channels from cable signals like my HD TV gets (found I get all the local HD channels without the cable box tuner from the cable comapny). Called Dish and while their non-DVR HD tuner supports Cable digital tunning, the PVR does not yet. Right now I'm only using it for Dish content and the quality is excellent! I think i'm not going to be able to watch Tivo now, too much loss in quality. I don't like how noisy it is, looking into hiding it somewhere since the remote is RF to lower the fan noise. It's about as loud as a quiet PC. I've only had it a few days, but so far I really like it. I'm rethinking my options, I had 2 Tivo's with the media option allowing me to watch programs in either room regaurdless of where it was recorded. It still allow someone else to watch what they want too on the other unit even it that was the source for the program. Dishes dual tuner dual out PVR would allow this, but it's not High Definition. I'm also finding it hard to know how often shows play (m-f, daily, 7 days, weekly, etc).

 

[Dave Miller]

I'm pretty sure that this is not the case. The 811 does not support digital cable. Why would they create a box that allows you to recieve their digital service and the cable company's digital service. That's their main competition. I don't think the 811 even has an NTSC tuner. If I'm wrong on this, someone will correct me. I am constantly amazed at the lack of information CSR's have.

Peace,

DM

 

[Gary Thomas]

I've been itching to get one of these since they were announced a long time ago. I check out DishDepot.com & was surprised that they had dropped the price from $999 to $549. I checked their bargain bin & they had a open box return w/ 11 month warranty for $399 w/ no shipping & no tax! I should have it by the end of the week & will post my comments, but I assume they'll be good!

 

[Citizen87645]

I just saw the price drop too and am looking at my options. My questions, which I'm sure the company can answer but I thought I'd try here first :

1) It says it receives off air HDTV. Does the PVR record the off air signal in HD?
2) I actually have an old DirecTV dish aimed at a Dish satellite, single LNB. Does anyone know the orbital location of the HD satellite and whether I'd have to (finally) switch to the dual or triple LNB?
3) Would I have to run a separate line for the HD signal or does both standard and HD use the same coax line?

 

[Robert_J]

1. Yes, it will record an ATSC (digital signal) via an antenna. The 921 only has a single ATSC tuner so it will only record one OTA show at a time.
2. You would probably have to upgrade to a Dish500. I don't think you need the second dish pointed at the side satellite any more.
3. You would have to run another line for the second satellite tuner. You can diplex the OTA signal on to one of those lines if you want. Since you are running one line, just run two. Diplexers just add more equipment in the mix.

Here is a forum dedicated to the 921. link
The 921 will NOT be getting the new name based recording software. link

-Robert