721 problems, DN gave me a credit!

[Bill Mullin]

Since around the time that software version 109 was downloaded to my 721, I've had major problems. You've all heard it before: pixellation and "acquiring signal" messages, with accompanying loss of sound. I estimate that I've lost fully 50% of my programs with 109! I called DN and asked for advanced tech support, telling the technician exactly what I've typed above. I further told the fellow that I felt that Dish owed me a 50% refund for the period of time I've been having problems. The tech credited my Visa with the exact $ amount! I wonder if more of us did this, would they stand up and take notice?

I further told the technician that if I continued to have problems when 110 was released, I'd be dropping my service with Dish and going to DirecTV. I don't think this threat bothered him a bit, but the refund did get his attention! :D

- Bill

[kyoo]

bill, you might have a bad tuner.. they do go bad.

do you have a SW64 connected to this thing?

when signal is going in and out for you.. pop up the PIP and put it on the same channel as the one that's going in and out.. or SWAP the two so the PIP goes in and out of tune.. my point is put both tuners on the same channel and see if one works better than the other.

[Danbo]

I certainly don't have a SW64 switch on mine. I have only the 721, two cables from the dish directly into the unit. I've had pixelation all too often. Sometimes I see it live, sometimes I see it on recorded shows. I've had audio drop out on channel 300 (every 20 to 30 seconds). I've even had the "Acquiring Satellite" message pop up. My guess is it pops up more then I'm aware of, or can. I've see it pop up and last for a minute or so, and other times for just a couple of seconds. No weather related issues.

I've gone over this with two different advanced tech support people, one giving me ridiculous things to try (complete system reset, NVM and all), and swearing up and down that I was the ONLY one reporting the problem. The other said it has been reported, and there isn't anything that can be done right now as they themselves aren't able to necessarily get it to fail.

I'm more inclined to believe Dish prefers NOT to let people know that the 721 has, still, some major issues to resolve. They certainly don't do any communication with customers, either through announcements or e-mails. The only way you ever find out others are experiencing the same problems is to come here and read. And even then I sometimes wonder how many people that do have these problems just rant, but put up with it and don't actually call tech support.

[johntoto11]

Last year when I was A DN customer my 501 would lose all the recordings on it's hard drive at LEAST once A month for A while. This happened for about 6 months straight. Each time it happened I would politely call Dish and ask if I could be compensated for all the time I spent recording movies and shows. It was A real hassle recording all that stuff with 1 tuner.Dish came through every time with some sort of credit. I bet they credited me nearly $250.00 in all. At one point I didn't have A DN bill to pay 4 months straight.Mind you I didn't lie to them, I was very honest. I was on my 4th 501 in 7 months and was tired of them replacing them. Eventually the 501 problems cleared up. When my contract was up, I joined the Directv family. Now I am A happy HDVR2 camper.And those guys are right....TiVo REALLY ROCKS!!

[Bill Mullin]

Originally posted by kyoo
my point is put both tuners on the same channel and see if one works better than the other. Been there, done that. A lot of people on this forum are having the same problem with their 721's, so this is nothing that is unique to my system. The problem is either in the 721 hardware or software, my guess is that it's the latter. The good news though is that I've been about 48 hours now without any problems (knock on wood). :D

- Bill

[Bill Mullin]

Originally posted by johntoto11
I joined the Directv family. Now I am A happy HDVR2 camper.And those guys are right....TiVo REALLY ROCKS!! I'd probably join you, but the main reason I have the 721 is for the 90 hours of recording time. AFAIK, the TiVO doesn't come close to that, right?

-Bill

[johntoto11]

Yes, Thats probably my only complaint. Either I can put in A bigger HD and void my warranty or live with the way thing are. Really though, 30 hrs. is quite A bit of recording time. Unfortunatly last week Directv had A .99 cent porn special and I recorded 10 hrs of it. I found watching 10 hrs of porn that day will make you kinda sick of it after A while. I wish I new someone near me that has expierence, and knows how to upgrade my new HDVR2.

[Bill Mullin]

Originally posted by johntoto11
Really though, 30 hrs. is quite A bit of recording time.It depends on your needs. All I record is movies off the premium movie channels (I have 29 of them), and it isn't unusual for me to have a 60-70 hour backlog of movies to watch. Because of this, TiVO isn't a contender . . . yet.

- Bill

[jasonf]

It is very easy to upgrade your Tivo... there are several online guides on how too. I did mine in about 30min with no problems. As far as warrenty, I save the orginal drive to just slap it in there if there is any problems. 100+ hours is nice to have too ;)