Tron
04-18-03, 02:25 PM
Just thought I'd share some thoughts/comments/suggestions on the 721 from the perspective of a 3 year DP user.
721 over the DP:
-The speed of the program guide is the biggest improvement. Try "quickly" advancing 18 hours ahead in the DP! With the 721 just enter '18' and right arrow. But, the guide is so fast you can just hold down the right-arrow and it zooms over very quickly anyway!
-There is no 'calendar' option that the DP had, but it really is not needed due to the speed of the guide. Just use the skip-ahead-30sec button to advance 24 hours.
-Scrolling up/down in the guide is also just as fast as scrolling sideways. The page-up/down buttons are rather tiny on the new 721 remote but I hardly find myself using them (they were a -must- on the DP guide! )
-The 721 remote is better then the DP IMO...(It is a hair bigger then the DP) I didn't think I'd like it, but after a week of use I find it very comfortable. And the buttons are in more logical groupings (info button is close to channel up/down!) The buttons have a better feel and the PVR buttons are bigger and nicely placed. No more silly 'home', 'back' and other webtv buttons! (The 'cancel' button is pretty much what the 'back' button was)
-I've setup the remote to control TV, DVD, and VCR --no way DP!
-Setting a timer is all done on one screen and very quick (if you keep the defaults)
-Of course dual tuners, UHF remote, big HD, and is quiet! (DP you could hear across 2 rooms)
-PVR functions are much smoother and have step-frame + slow-mo modes.
-Changing channels takes half the time! (about 2 secs vs. four secs) When manually channeling up, if you delay too long to read the program title it will already be tuned to that channel!
-The search is super fast! Use # to quickly search for a repeat viewing of a show you are currently watching (or find in the guide). Also, the touch-tone keypad entry is nice, no need for virtual keyboard (but it's there if you want)
-Ability to record what is already in the buffer
-Switch check is faster, yes faster--because DP would do the infamous '8 min download' after a switch check. (Though I miss the dish-pointing sounds on the DP :( )
-Actual local channel #s in the guide (4,5,6, etc)
DP over the 721:
-Unlimited buffer..721 only has 2 hour buffer--I have no idea why
-Warning if you might lose the buffer when changing channels (DP 'must first go live' popup)
-The DP guide has titles left justified whereas the 721 has them centered in the box. This makes listings look 'messy' on the 721 and also could show more of the program title if left justified.
-No Spanish character support in the 721 guide?! Very surprising since DISH seems to pride themselves in Spanish and foreign programming (No accented vowels, no ń, etc.)
-Get ready for a different source for program descriptions. The 721 info usual takes twice as many words to describe a movie than the DP did. Very long run-on sentence! Not a big deal (as I'm guessing all 'normal' dish receivers use this source), but just kinda different. And I'm sure it's out of Dish's control.
-Of course, name-based timers!
721 issues and suggestions
-Ok, so the second tuner will not be buffered if PIP is off. However, I thought I could get around this by tuning the second channel, then pressing record and choose 'manual stop'. So, I switch back to tuner 1 and try and close out the PIP view and it won't let me! Says I have to stop recording on tuner 2. Why? Is this by design or a bug?
-Why does pressing 'view' make me jump to live mode? I understand that 'stop' will do this, but why 'view'? Shouldn't it be 'cancel'? I use this to quickly check the time, or time remaining. Only workaround is the hit 'browse' or 'cancel'.
-There seems to be issues when on the music stations. Esp. if I record them. Sometimes it gets very sluggish and appears frozen only to quickly execute all the commands that I tried to do.
-When quickly jumping ahead 30-secs, sometimes the sound gets out of synch and sometimes there is a terrible 'screech!' sound--yikes!
-Step framing back seems to go back more frames then stepframe-forward (which is one frame at a time)
-When using no transparency (or even medium) the guide letters were so bold they 'bleed' into each other making it very unreadable. No biggie, because I can choose 'high transparency" which makes the letters look nice.
-Add to preferences screen: buffer length (2,4,6,8,10,12 dropdown list), default timer options, go-live buffer-warning checkbox.
-Pressing 'view' will not make you go to live mode
-When in the guide display the start and end time of the show (the DP did this)
-Remove individual items from the search history--sometimes there are funny entries in there "&R"
-Organize the PVR list better-- i.e. there should be a 'edit timer' button instead of going to timers then selecting a timer then getting into edit timer screen.
-Maybe have a screen capture mode and use the USB port to offload them to your PC?
-What is a high temperature? I average about 114F.
-I don't think harddrive ever spins down when powered-off. This could use more electricity and wear&tear on the HD.
- And of course, name-based timers! I thought I wouldn't run into issues, but I have... Turn on to see something completely different recorded! ugh! There has got to be a way around this copyright or patten or whatever. Like Amazon's 'one click' shopping etc.
In general, I'll never go back to the Dishplayer--the 721 is here to stay!
Ok, that's it... I'm sure I forgot something--I'll post followups as necessary. Thanks for listening!
721 over the DP:
-The speed of the program guide is the biggest improvement. Try "quickly" advancing 18 hours ahead in the DP! With the 721 just enter '18' and right arrow. But, the guide is so fast you can just hold down the right-arrow and it zooms over very quickly anyway!
-There is no 'calendar' option that the DP had, but it really is not needed due to the speed of the guide. Just use the skip-ahead-30sec button to advance 24 hours.
-Scrolling up/down in the guide is also just as fast as scrolling sideways. The page-up/down buttons are rather tiny on the new 721 remote but I hardly find myself using them (they were a -must- on the DP guide! )
-The 721 remote is better then the DP IMO...(It is a hair bigger then the DP) I didn't think I'd like it, but after a week of use I find it very comfortable. And the buttons are in more logical groupings (info button is close to channel up/down!) The buttons have a better feel and the PVR buttons are bigger and nicely placed. No more silly 'home', 'back' and other webtv buttons! (The 'cancel' button is pretty much what the 'back' button was)
-I've setup the remote to control TV, DVD, and VCR --no way DP!
-Setting a timer is all done on one screen and very quick (if you keep the defaults)
-Of course dual tuners, UHF remote, big HD, and is quiet! (DP you could hear across 2 rooms)
-PVR functions are much smoother and have step-frame + slow-mo modes.
-Changing channels takes half the time! (about 2 secs vs. four secs) When manually channeling up, if you delay too long to read the program title it will already be tuned to that channel!
-The search is super fast! Use # to quickly search for a repeat viewing of a show you are currently watching (or find in the guide). Also, the touch-tone keypad entry is nice, no need for virtual keyboard (but it's there if you want)
-Ability to record what is already in the buffer
-Switch check is faster, yes faster--because DP would do the infamous '8 min download' after a switch check. (Though I miss the dish-pointing sounds on the DP :( )
-Actual local channel #s in the guide (4,5,6, etc)
DP over the 721:
-Unlimited buffer..721 only has 2 hour buffer--I have no idea why
-Warning if you might lose the buffer when changing channels (DP 'must first go live' popup)
-The DP guide has titles left justified whereas the 721 has them centered in the box. This makes listings look 'messy' on the 721 and also could show more of the program title if left justified.
-No Spanish character support in the 721 guide?! Very surprising since DISH seems to pride themselves in Spanish and foreign programming (No accented vowels, no ń, etc.)
-Get ready for a different source for program descriptions. The 721 info usual takes twice as many words to describe a movie than the DP did. Very long run-on sentence! Not a big deal (as I'm guessing all 'normal' dish receivers use this source), but just kinda different. And I'm sure it's out of Dish's control.
-Of course, name-based timers!
721 issues and suggestions
-Ok, so the second tuner will not be buffered if PIP is off. However, I thought I could get around this by tuning the second channel, then pressing record and choose 'manual stop'. So, I switch back to tuner 1 and try and close out the PIP view and it won't let me! Says I have to stop recording on tuner 2. Why? Is this by design or a bug?
-Why does pressing 'view' make me jump to live mode? I understand that 'stop' will do this, but why 'view'? Shouldn't it be 'cancel'? I use this to quickly check the time, or time remaining. Only workaround is the hit 'browse' or 'cancel'.
-There seems to be issues when on the music stations. Esp. if I record them. Sometimes it gets very sluggish and appears frozen only to quickly execute all the commands that I tried to do.
-When quickly jumping ahead 30-secs, sometimes the sound gets out of synch and sometimes there is a terrible 'screech!' sound--yikes!
-Step framing back seems to go back more frames then stepframe-forward (which is one frame at a time)
-When using no transparency (or even medium) the guide letters were so bold they 'bleed' into each other making it very unreadable. No biggie, because I can choose 'high transparency" which makes the letters look nice.
-Add to preferences screen: buffer length (2,4,6,8,10,12 dropdown list), default timer options, go-live buffer-warning checkbox.
-Pressing 'view' will not make you go to live mode
-When in the guide display the start and end time of the show (the DP did this)
-Remove individual items from the search history--sometimes there are funny entries in there "&R"
-Organize the PVR list better-- i.e. there should be a 'edit timer' button instead of going to timers then selecting a timer then getting into edit timer screen.
-Maybe have a screen capture mode and use the USB port to offload them to your PC?
-What is a high temperature? I average about 114F.
-I don't think harddrive ever spins down when powered-off. This could use more electricity and wear&tear on the HD.
- And of course, name-based timers! I thought I wouldn't run into issues, but I have... Turn on to see something completely different recorded! ugh! There has got to be a way around this copyright or patten or whatever. Like Amazon's 'one click' shopping etc.
In general, I'll never go back to the Dishplayer--the 721 is here to stay!
Ok, that's it... I'm sure I forgot something--I'll post followups as necessary. Thanks for listening!