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Dish ViP722 DVR Best HD DVR on the market!

post #1 of 645
9/20/07 at 11:39am
Thread Starter 
I switched to Dish Network this past week, and I really like the new ViP722 DVR! I am a former DirecTV/Tivo owner and I am very impressed with the new Dish DVR. Not only is it very fast, but it also has an enabled USB port that supports external hard drives up to 750GB. Unlimited HD storage! Can't beat it! I believe this is currently the best HD DVR on the market.


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post #2 of 645
9/20/07 at 2:55pm
Is this the 500 GB one that comes free for new customers? I just signed up for Dish Network as well (formerly Cox cable). Do you have more than one HDTV hooked up to it? If so, can you take a look at this thread and possibly help me out?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=911343
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post #3 of 645
9/20/07 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jshigashi View Post

Is this the 500 GB one that comes free for new customers? I just signed up for Dish Network as well (formerly Cox cable). Do you have more than one HDTV hooked up to it? If so, can you take a look at this thread and possibly help me out?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=911343

I would suggest you start here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=94818

The Vip722 is great!
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post #4 of 645
9/20/07 at 5:10pm
Oh really.
Well, last I checked it had no firewire, and your "unlimited" USB drive storage is tied to your receiver, so when that goes tits up, you're stuck with all the encrypted useless data. I hope you enjoy that.
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post #5 of 645
9/20/07 at 7:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by timecop View Post

Oh really.
Well, last I checked it had no firewire, and your "unlimited" USB drive storage is tied to your receiver, so when that goes tits up, you're stuck with all the encrypted useless data. I hope you enjoy that.

Actually, it is tied to one's account, so the recordings on the USB storage can be moved to a new receiver in the case of a failed DVR.

Ted
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post #6 of 645
9/20/07 at 11:49pm
OK, correction.
When DirecTV goes tits up or you cancel your account, there goes all your archived recordings. Not much difference.
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post #7 of 645
9/21/07 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by timecop View Post

OK, correction.
When DirecTV goes tits up or you cancel your account, there goes all your archived recordings. Not much difference.

Out of curiosity, what sort of setup to you have in Japan? I would assume that Japan is ahead of the US in the area of HD as they are with most other technologies. I doubt either D* or E* will go "tits up" as you put it any time soon. I would worry more about the constant bleeding the cablecos are experiencing at the hands of D*, E*, AT&T, Verizon, and to a lesser extent local utility companies. None of them have the long-term bandwidth limitations that the cablecos do which means less content compared to the competition.

Ted
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post #8 of 645
9/21/07 at 5:18pm
I was shocked the other day to find that there are something like *100* HD satellite channels over U.S.
There are less than a dozen over Japan, 6 or 7 free, couple subscription. That's it. And about 40 or so of SD, mostly subscription. (free ones are QVC/homeshopping/etc).
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post #9 of 645
9/25/07 at 12:49am
I've had a good experience with my VIP722 over the last 5weeks. The only negative I've seen so far is that currently viewed HD programming will only store for one hour (as opposed to 2hrs with SD programming), so you'd better elect to record it within 60 minutes of viewing or it will be lost. Did that make sense?
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post #10 of 645
9/25/07 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fresh Fish View Post

I've had a good experience with my VIP722 over the last 5weeks. The only negative I've seen so far is that currently viewed HD programming will only store for one hour (as opposed to 2hrs with SD programming), so you'd better elect to record it within 60 minutes of viewing or it will be lost. Did that make sense?

Your comments made sense. However, 1 hour of buffer is about as good as it gets SD or HD. I did not even realize that SD was 2 hours on this unit.

Ted
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post #11 of 645
9/25/07 at 7:11am
There are at least 50 things you can't do with a Dish DVR (or DTV for that matter) that you can with a stand alone Tivo subscription. But if your only gauge is size of a HD (which you can put on Tivo btw) and speed, then go ahead and claim victory. Heh.
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post #12 of 645
9/25/07 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazingisntit View Post

There are at least 50 things you can't do with a Dish DVR (or DTV for that matter) that you can with a stand alone Tivo subscription. But if your only gauge is size of a HD (which you can put on Tivo btw) and speed, then go ahead and claim victory. Heh.

I would like to see that list. I would guess that number is more like 10-15.

Ted
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post #13 of 645
9/25/07 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazingisntit View Post

There are at least 50 things you can't do with a Dish DVR (or DTV for that matter) that you can with a stand alone Tivo subscription. But if your only gauge is size of a HD (which you can put on Tivo btw) and speed, then go ahead and claim victory. Heh.

Please list them! I'm curious th know what they are. Let me also point out a few things the Dish 722 DVR can do that TIVO cannot do:
1. run two TVs at same time
2. instant 30 second commercial skip button
3. record three shows at the same time
4. filter programing guide to display only channels you subscribe to, or only
display all HD channels, etc.
5. Picture In Picture, Side By Side
6. Multiple External USB HD support (up to 750 GB each)
7. Broadband Dial out support (Enabled ethernet jack) - TIVO may do this as
well, not sure.


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post #14 of 645
9/26/07 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by amazingisntit View Post

There are at least 50 things you can't do with a Dish DVR (or DTV for that matter) that you can with a stand alone Tivo subscription. But if your only gauge is size of a HD (which you can put on Tivo btw) and speed, then go ahead and claim victory. Heh.

Er...so, no list of TiVO advantages? Look, TiVO is a great product, but without partnering with at least one national content provider, like they did with D* for a while before RM dumped them, TiVO as a company is not going to be a great success because there is no consistent way to show off their advantages. Users will have a variety of experiences based on whether their cable service or OTA reception is any good.

Ted
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post #15 of 645
9/26/07 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncted View Post

Er...so, no list of TiVO advantages? Look, TiVO is a great product, but without partnering with at least one national content provider, like they did with D* for a while before RM dumped them, TiVO as a company is not going to be a great success because there is no consistent way to show off their advantages. Users will have a variety of experiences based on whether their cable service or OTA reception is any good.

Ted

I would offer that TIVO still has the best DVR user interface on the market. In addition Tivo also probably offers the best DVR seach capabilities on the market. But thats about all I can think of. TIVO is still one of the best DVR's out there, but Dish is quickly closing the gap.
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post #16 of 645
9/26/07 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hifikid View Post

I would offer that TIVO still has the best DVR user interface on the market. In addition Tivo also probably offers the best DVR seach capabilities on the market. But thats about all I can think of. TIVO is still one of the best DVR's out there, but Dish is quickly closing the gap.

Fortunately for TiVO, TWC is not.

Ted
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post #17 of 645
9/27/07 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hifikid View Post

7. Broadband Dial out support (Enabled ethernet jack) - TIVO may do this as
well, not sure.

does this already work out-of-the-box on your 722? is this available as an upgrade to existing 622's?
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post #18 of 645
9/27/07 at 7:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by memnoch View Post

does this already work out-of-the-box on your 722? is this available as an upgrade to existing 622's?

Yes, it should as of 4.41. There is a fix coming in 4.44 for some bugs that people have with this feature.

Ted
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post #19 of 645
9/27/07 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hifikid View Post

I would offer that TIVO still has the best DVR user interface on the market. In addition Tivo also probably offers the best DVR seach capabilities on the market. But thats about all I can think of. TIVO is still one of the best DVR's out there, but Dish is quickly closing the gap.

Really? Tivo's fall software update just came out with boolean wishlist search.

Advanced WishLists!

- Multiple Keywords and/or Title Keywords
- Multiple Actors and Directors
- Any combination of Title Keywords, Keywords, Actors, Directors, and Category in a single WishList
- Negated, Optional, or Mandatory terms
- User-defined name for a WishList

For example, you could define a WishList for movies with Sally Fields but without Burt Reynolds.
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post #20 of 645
9/27/07 at 11:28pm
A dual tuner Tivo would work on two TVs, and you can go through the interface on guided setup to choose which channels you do and don't get or want to, it's been like that since the Series 2 models.
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post #21 of 645
9/28/07 at 6:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by yunlin12 View Post

Really? Tivo's fall software update just came out with boolean wishlist search.

Advanced WishLists!

- Multiple Keywords and/or Title Keywords
- Multiple Actors and Directors
- Any combination of Title Keywords, Keywords, Actors, Directors, and Category in a single WishList
- Negated, Optional, or Mandatory terms
- User-defined name for a WishList

For example, you could define a WishList for movies with Sally Fields but without Burt Reynolds.

Impressive!
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post #22 of 645
9/28/07 at 6:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ricknoberts View Post

A dual tuner Tivo would work on two TVs, and you can go through the interface on guided setup to choose which channels you do and don't get or want to, it's been like that since the Series 2 models.

But can a single Tivo show 2 different recording or live broadcasts to separate TVs? This can be a useful feature, depending on one's setup, and it is in the recent DISH DVRs. One only needs 1 box to provide content to 2 TVs.

Ted
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post #23 of 645
9/28/07 at 3:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncted View Post

But can a single Tivo show 2 different recording or live broadcasts to separate TVs? This can be a useful feature, depending on one's setup, and it is in the recent DISH DVRs. One only needs 1 box to provide content to 2 TVs.

Ted

Tivo doesn't do this. The closest they come to doing this is with 2 Tivo's doing MRV (multi-room viewing). One Tivo can download and start watch shows from another Tivo on the same network, regardless of if anyone is watch what on the other Tivo. One upside of MRV is Tivo's wireless dongle works well so this can be a pretty clean wireless multi-room viewing solution. I don't think Dish's DVR does wireless unless you use coax/composite and a video sender and risk interference with WLAN or phones. When Tivo turns on the MRV for Tivo S3 and Tivo HD in Nov, HD shows can also be MRV'd, which is something that Dish DVR doesn't do. DishDVR's dual mode on a single box still can't overcome the physical limitation of the 3 tuners that 1 box has, so it doesn't have OTA for the second TV. So they each have their advantages. Below is what I found on how Dish 622 DVR implements this:

Quote:


Unlike any other non-Dish DVR we know of, the ViP622 has what Dish calls a dual mode to feed two televisions. ... the TV2 option allows a viewer on the secondary television to watch any of the recorded shows on the ViP622's hard disk (HD programs are downconverted to SD for display on TV2). In dual mode, the ViP622's three tuners are split among the two TVs: TV1 gets the OTA and one satellite tuner, while TV2 gets the second satellite tuner. In other words, you can't watch live OTA programs on TV2.
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post #24 of 645
9/30/07 at 11:40am
I've had Tivo. I currently have the 622 (which according to the guys on DBStalk shares the same software platform with the 722).

Two TV output is neat. But you need to keep in mind that it's HD on the primary and SD on the secondary. Even more irritating, the only two options for TV2 when watching HD recorded content is 4:3 crop or Letterbox. There's no anamorphic output on TV2, so if the second TV is widescreen you can only see things in the right aspect ratio in cropped 4:3.

Given that, I'd rather have multiple HD DVRs with a network option. It's always irritated me that Dish has Ethernet on several DVRs, but no networking ability.

The other downside to Dish is there's a limit on timers and events. Up until a late this year the limit was about 90 something timers. As more and more networks do the half season scheduling (meaning I'm recording more shows than I was before) the more annoying the limit was. Don't know what the new limit is, but I'm sure I'll hit it eventually.

The plus side is Dish does a very good job with conflict management. It will determine things that are on again in the week and automatically resolve that. It also has a nice visual interface for you to manually resolve the ones that it can't.

At any rate, I think Tivo and Dish spank all the other Cable and Sat DVRs out there. But I just can't say that the Dish is the clear winner. Because it's not. But Tivo isn't light years ahead of Dish like they used to be either.
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post #25 of 645
10/1/07 at 7:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kagato View Post

I've had Tivo. I currently have the 622 (which according to the guys on DBStalk shares the same software platform with the 722).

Two TV output is neat. But you need to keep in mind that it's HD on the primary and SD on the secondary. Even more irritating, the only two options for TV2 when watching HD recorded content is 4:3 crop or Letterbox. There's no anamorphic output on TV2, so if the second TV is widescreen you can only see things in the right aspect ratio in cropped 4:3.

Given that, I'd rather have multiple HD DVRs with a network option. It's always irritated me that Dish has Ethernet on several DVRs, but no networking ability.

The other downside to Dish is there's a limit on timers and events. Up until a late this year the limit was about 90 something timers. As more and more networks do the half season scheduling (meaning I'm recording more shows than I was before) the more annoying the limit was. Don't know what the new limit is, but I'm sure I'll hit it eventually.

The plus side is Dish does a very good job with conflict management. It will determine things that are on again in the week and automatically resolve that. It also has a nice visual interface for you to manually resolve the ones that it can't.

At any rate, I think Tivo and Dish spank all the other Cable and Sat DVRs out there. But I just can't say that the Dish is the clear winner. Because it's not. But Tivo isn't light years ahead of Dish like they used to be either.

I agree. TIVO and Dish DVR's seem to be light years ahead of any current cable DVR offerings. I could be happy with either Dish or DirecTV/Tivo DVR offering.
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post #26 of 645
10/1/07 at 8:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by timecop View Post

Oh really.
Well, last I checked it had no firewire, and your "unlimited" USB drive storage is tied to your receiver, so when that goes tits up, you're stuck with all the encrypted useless data. I hope you enjoy that.

Well my Tivo went "tits" up and now I have a very expensive paperweight. With Dish I could just call them and have them send me another one. In my opinion this is a very big plus.
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post #27 of 645
10/1/07 at 8:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kagato View Post

I've had Tivo. I currently have the 622 (which according to the guys on DBStalk shares the same software platform with the 722).

Given that, I'd rather have multiple HD DVRs with a network option. It's always irritated me that Dish has Ethernet on several DVRs, but no networking ability.

This is supposed to be forthcoming.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kagato View Post

The other downside to Dish is there's a limit on timers and events. Up until a late this year the limit was about 90 something timers. As more and more networks do the half season scheduling (meaning I'm recording more shows than I was before) the more annoying the limit was. Don't know what the new limit is, but I'm sure I'll hit it eventually.

The new limit is something like 270 Timers or 500 events.

Ted
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post #28 of 645
10/1/07 at 11:30am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by th8ter View Post

Well my Tivo went "tits" up and now I have a very expensive paperweight. With Dish I could just call them and have them send me another one. In my opinion this is a very big plus.

I just became a Dish customer this month. Will Dish replace a defective DVR for free? I got suckered into leasing a DVR when I was with DirecTV. My first Tivo hard drive failed and a CSR offered me a free R-15 replacement. I was very happy until I realized a couple of months later that I had actually leased the R-15 from them and made a 24 month service comittment. Really pissed me off... The CSR did not mention anything about a lease or a service renewal. Does Dish pull the same crap on their customers? If the internal hard drive fails on Dish 722, will an external hard drive still work?
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post #29 of 645
10/1/07 at 12:21pm
If you sign the 18 month commitment, you get Dish Home Protection Plan for free for the term of your commitment IIRC, so yes, otherwise it is $5.99 a month.

If the 722 internal HD dies, the external HD will still work and can be moved to the replacement receiver up to 3 times. You do not have to re-format the drive to continue using it.

Ted
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post #30 of 645
10/1/07 at 12:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncted View Post

If you sign the 18 month commitment, you get Dish Home Protection Plan for free for the term of your commitment IIRC, so yes, otherwise it is $5.99 a month.

If the 722 internal HD dies, the external HD will still work and can be moved to the replacement receiver up to 3 times. You do not have to re-format the drive to continue using it.

Ted

Ah, but the external HD will not work with the defective DVR only a new one. Correct? I wasn't aware that there was a Dish Home Protection Plan... I signed up via ATT since I am an employee. Does ATT Dish offer the same protection plan? I believe I signed up for 18 months. Not positive though.
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