Bill R, How do you like the 721?

[DaYooper]

Bill R,

I've noticed in several post over the last few weeks that you've replaced one of your Dishplayers with a 721. I've valued your opinion over the last few years on the DBS forums and am curious how you feel about the 721. I've got to decide what I'm going to do if Dish wants to start charging me $10 a month when my free PTV period runs out in June.

Thanks.

[Bill R]

DaYooper,

Thanks for the compliment.

I am very happy with my 721. The user interface was very well thought out and designed and I like it even better than the DishPlayer (which a lot of people consider one of the best on any PVR). The 721 is very responsive, nothing like the sluggish response you often see in the DishPlayer. Since I have had it I have only had to re-boot it once and that was at the request of a DISH tech who was troubleshooting a problem that turned out to be a bug in the software (Sky Angel audio only channels don't come in; that will be fixed in a software release next month). I have been recording (at least) a couple hours of programs a day and the 721 has never missed a recording. One thing that I will note is that the 721 has time slot based recording (the DishPlayer has name based recording) and the 721 recorded a couple of programs that I didn't want to record because the networks changed programs in a couple of weekly timers that I had set up. That is no big deal, but I agree with a lot of others that have posted that they would like to see the 721 get "name based" recording.

The remote was very well thought out (MUCH better than the DishPlayer remote which I never did really like, I think mainly because of its shape).

The two tuners are really great and I have been using that feature (recording two programs at the same time) a lot more than I thought I would. I took a lot of time to compare the 721 to the DirecTV TiVo (Hughes HDVR2) and I do like the way that TiVo handles the two tuners better than the 721. What TiVo does is that they buffer both tuners all the time (30 minutes each). The 721 buffers only the active (the one that you are watching) for 120 minutes. You can have the second tuner buffer if you have PIP mode active but I would rather have it buffer in the background. I like the longer buffering (30 minutes is much too short on sports) but I would rather have both tuners buffer while the receiver is on. The second tuner does buffer while it is recording of course so you can always do it that way but a lot of time I just want to switch between programs and not miss anything.

Features like Caller ID, and sorting (on recorded programs) and very nice too and I think we will be seeing a lot of nice new feature in future software releases.

If you have any specific questions about the 721, just ask. There are many people here that know a great deal about them and Scott has done a great job on detailing new software features.

[DaYooper]

Thanks Bill.

I do think that the lack of name based recording would be the only Dishplayer feature that I'd really miss if I went with a 721. I do have a few questions about the time based recording of the 721:

Let's say I set a timer to record Junkyard Wars on TLC from 9-10 pm on Wednesday. If TLC airs Modern Marvels instead I'm going to get a recording of Modern Marvels, correct?

If Junkyard Wars is a special 2 hour episode that runs from 9-11 pm I'm only going to get the first hour, right?

What if I set the timer to record from 9-11 pm? Will that insure that I always get the entire show? How will that show up in the recorded shows screen?

If TLC has a special Junkyard Wars that airs on Friday am I correct in assuming that I'm just SOL?

Ryan

[Bill R]

Originally posted by DaYooper
Thanks Bill.
You are welcome Ryan.

I do have a few questions about the time based recording of the 721:

Let's say I set a timer to record Junkyard Wars on TLC from 9-10 pm on Wednesday. If TLC airs Modern Marvels instead I'm going to get a recording of Modern Marvels, correct?
Yes, that is correct.

If Junkyard Wars is a special 2 hour episode that runs from 9-11 pm I'm only going to get the first hour, right?

Yes, it will ONLY record the time that was set up in the original timer.

What if I set the timer to record from 9-11 pm? Will that insure that I always get the entire show? How will that show up in the recorded shows screen?

Yes, that would get you the entire show. It would show up with the name of the program that is in the EPG listing at the time. If you set up a manual timer there is no way to "name" the program as there is on the DishPlayer. I hope that is something that changes in a future software upgrade.

If TLC has a special Junkyard Wars that airs on Friday am I correct in assuming that I'm just SOL?
Ryan

Yes, that is the main disadvantage of time based recording. The 721 does have a nice search feature though (and a 9 day EPG) so you can search for a program and set it to record from what you find. As for the keyboard, you can use a USB keyboard or the on-screen keyboard. DISH will be coming out with a wireless keyboard for the 721 but we have not heard when it will be released or what it will cost. My USB keyboard works just fine but it does not have all the "special" keys (PVR and other functions) that the DISH keyboard will have.

[Randy_B]

Originally posted by Bill R
DaYooper,
The remote was very well thought out (MUCH better than the DishPlayer remote which I never did really like, I think mainly because of its shape).


Except for the page up/down button. That tiny thing is pitiful and poorly located. I prefered the larger more central scroll button on the DP remote.

[BobaBird]

Check this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10373) for the USB keyboard mapping.

The 721 doesn't save search history? It won't perform searches automatically like a TiVo, but I thought a previous search could be manually reselected as on the 501/508.

I'm with Randy_B on the scroll button.

[Bill R]

Charles,

You are correct. The 721 DOES save searchs. It is under HISTORY, I missed that.

I agree with both of you on the scroll button. It should be larger and vertical.

[larrydj]

Having recently switched from a DP to a 721, I agree with all of Bill R's comments. One additional note, I prefered the way DPs listed timers by the original name of the program (I guess that comes with name-based recordings), I found it much easier to review what I intend to record. My viryual keybaord is a (programmed keyboard image into my Pronto remote, using a stylus, so this is a poorer alternative than the IR keyboard that comes with the DP, but acceptable. The 721 is a LOT less buggy, though as I say that, there's a major EPG guide problem that has just errupted). I like it, I couldn't go back to my DP now.

[lonnman]

DaYooper,

I like my 721 a little more than the DP, mostly based on that it works when I want it, it doesn't have name based recording, but I worry a lot less than I did with my DP that it actually recorded anything.

The things I miss on the 721:
1. It was easier to see the timers in the guide. The guide won't always show the red dot if the show was replaced by a movie. For example if you had a timer for Alias at 8PM on Sunday and they replace Alias with a movie, it won't show the red dot, but the timer is still active, so you may have some scheduling problems.
2. I liked seeing in the guide on the DP the multiple elliptical dots for a repeat timer, and the red dot with a black X for a conflicted timer, etc...
3. The missing quasi name based timer that would skip or extend program that was to be recorded in that slot.
4. The missing unlimited pause buffer.
5. I did like the remote a little better.
6. I thought that the DP GUI in general was more intuitive, especially with the timers. I do miss some shows sometimes, but that is related to my wife and daughter not understanding (or not caring?) and deleting my timers or stopping my recordings.

The L110 upgrade should have a triple timer conflict screen (so were told), which will be nice, and the option to skip a timer once.

You will still have some nuances with the 721, but they should be a lot less than the DP. I would wait until the L110 upgrade is out and watch for comments on it before buying the 721. I did think that the L108 was better than the current L109.

Please note that I gave up my DP last April/May, so the thing I remember most about my DP is having to reset it almost daily and it missed a lot of my recordings.

Good Luck on your decision,

Jeff