Ever see a PVR 522?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Well now you have. :)

The 522 is a dual tuner dual output PVR which can output seperate signals to two different televisions plus you can share recorded PVR shows between TV's.

Thank you to whoever sent this photo to me, I am not exactly sure who to credit. I do know that this photo came from this weeks Dish Network Team Summit in Atlanta.

[lgnaclo]

i think there are too many boxes out. i wish that dish would put all their resources to a few boxes- diplayer, 501, 301, 721, 921, 6000 are enought boxes to worry about.

[mjz]

No S-video on the 2nd TV?

[BobFly]

has anyone heard the what the price range will be on the 522? what are specs? release date? it sounds like it will be a nice piece of equipment

[Robert F. O'Connor]

No news on the 544? Was that just mythical?

-Robert

[Lee L]

Hey, same shape as the 721 and 921 but black...

[Big Bob]

Hmm, usb port on back. wonder what that is for?
and digital audio out?

I thought this was to be a lower end box. Maybe it is a middle of the road box

[Steve Mehs]

The 322 is the lower end box. 522 is supposed to have an 80GB HD according to a news artical from a few months ago.

i think there are too many boxes out. i wish that dish would put all their resources to a few boxes- diplayer, 501, 301, 721, 921, 6000 are enought boxes to worry about.

I don't think so at all. Currently Dish's receiver is just plain poor. 301, 508, 721 and 6000. DirecTV has many more receivers at various levels. Upcoming boxes include, 211, 322, 522/544, 811, 821, 921 and the JVC 9000. Out of all those there is still no higher end non PVR, something like the 4900 and there is no SD receiver with component video out.

[Jacob S]

This 522 looks more like the 721 only black. Looks like a cross breed.

[Mark Holtz]

They should offer PVRs with 120GB hard drives. While slightly more expensive, they will make the customers happy and annoy those who own HDVR2s with only 40GB hard drives.

[Jacob S]

How much more expensive? They should offer upgrades from time to time for subscribers, just like they had an offer to upgrade the Dishplayers in the past.

[Mark Holtz]

Judging from the back panel, I can hook my TV up to the TV1 output, and my VCR to the TV2 output. Then, I can dump PVR programs from the PVR to the VCR.

Dish needs something that is competitive in price to the dual-tuner HDVR2s.

[LarryS]

HDVR2 owners won't be annoyed by a PVR with 120GB since for $100 they can do this upgrade themselves. I would be jealous of a two tuner/ two output unit since all those with PIP on their TV could actually make use of it. It will probably turn out that TV1 and TV2 are not independent and are just like the twin outlets on most current units. Would be nice if they were independent outputs.

[Jacob S]

Why would they not have two coaxial tv outs? I also thought it was my understanding that one would be able to watch two different shows at one time at two tv's with these new receivers with two outputs. Seems like they are being cheap to me. They expect you to hook it up to RCA/S-Video outputs for your first tv in the same room and coax out to the second room.

[Mike123abc]

The picture of the back of the 522 shows 2 75OHM cable outs for two different TVs PLUS the composite and Svideo (only one Svideo).

[Chris Freeland]

I want one, but first I need to get my first IT job. :(
Any entry level jobs out their for a MCP ;)

[Chris Freeland]

Originally posted by lgnaclo
i think there are too many boxes out. i wish that dish would put all their resources to a few boxes- diplayer, 501, 301, 721, 921, 6000 are enought boxes to worry about.

You must be kidding, you want less choices? One of the advantages D* has over E* is more choices in hardware. To me DBS is about choice and the more choice the better. ;)

[Chris Freeland]

Originally posted by Jacob S
Why would they not have two coaxial tv outs? I also thought it was my understanding that one would be able to watch two different shows at one time at two tv's with these new receivers with two outputs. Seems like they are being cheap to me. They expect you to hook it up to RCA/S-Video outputs for your first tv in the same room and coax out to the second room.

Look a little closer, both tv 1 and 2 have both RF and A/V outs plus tv 1 also has a S-Video out.

Personally I would only use the RF out from tv2 to my bedroom tv, I would send tv2 A/V rca jacks to my vcr, I would use S-Video and the audio jacks for my primary tv and sound system, and would send the RF for tv1 to my channel 4 signal combiner to send signal to my daughters tv and any other tv's I might add in the future. I would then de-activate my old 2000 receiver and move my 2700 to my daughters room, this set up would give me a lot of flexibility. Now if I could only find a job. :shrug:

[Jacob S]

I see it now, but its stupid in a way to only have one Svideo out although thats meant for the room that it is in and its not common for someone to run that thorugh a house like you do coax.

[jasonf]

Originally posted by Chris Freeland
I want one, but first I need to get my first IT job. :(
Any entry level jobs out their for a MCP ;)

You can have mine. I'm sick of the "IT" world. Plus here in Colorado we are getting 500-1500 people applying for every IT job, even Help desk agent jobs...... pretty sad.

[Bill D]

I would have liked to seen double set of composite video and audio for TV 1 out (much like the 721 has). Plus another set of the same for the TV 2 out. Otherwise, I like the black, better then the 721's silver. They do need to bump up the hardrive to atleast 120 gigs..

[scooper]

I want it ! When will it be available ?

Getting this would get me to Nirvana - a 1 box solution with 2 tuners and PVR available.

That TV2 outputs are perfect for a modulator - which I'm already using .

[Jacob S]

Will this receiver have PIP? The major difference in this receiver and the 721 will probably be the internet capability, hard drive size, two independent tv outs, and the software that runs it. I wonder if it will really be much cheaper than the 721 being the 508 is $300 for the receiver and the 721 is $500? This one will probably be $400. This is just my opinion.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by Jacob S
The major difference in this receiver and the 721 will probably be the internet capability, hard drive size, two independent tv outs, and the software that runs it.

So what will be the same? :)

[Chris Freeland]

Originally posted by jasonf


You can have mine. I'm sick of the "IT" world. Plus here in Colorado we are getting 500-1500 people applying for every IT job, even Help desk agent jobs...... pretty sad.

Yes I know, it is very discourging. I finally find a profession that I think I will love, work my tail off to get a MCP and because of a crappy economy I can not get a job, not even a Help Desk job :( . Wish me luck though, tomorrow I am taking the 2000 Server exam, having a 2nd exam under my belt might not help much getting that first job but I guess it wont hurt either. :shrug:

[guest]

server 2003 is now the new MS OS...

[P Smith]

Originally posted by guest
server 2003 is now the new MS OS...

We knew it , but what is a relationship the w2k3 server to the topic ?

[Robert F. O'Connor]

So I guess the 544 is mythical, or at least waiting to see how the 522 does...

BTW, I think it's a little early for 2003 server exams! The 2000 cert should certainly stand anyone in good stead for 2003 installs with a little reading up on new features.

-Robert

[guywall]

I wish someone knew a release date for this. I was all set to buy the 721 a couple of days ago, but the local retailer said 22 out of the 25 he had installed had been returned becuase of problems. He even said to wait for the 522.

[Jacob S]

Perhaps we will hear something on the next Charlie Chat and maybe they will have the tech guys in the background like they do at times just in case they get certain questions.

What would be on a 544? I never heard this mentioned before.

[DarrellP]

Does anyone know if the PVR'd programs can be isolated or hidden between TV's? It would be nice to "hide" certain shows from the kids. Can they be password protected for viewing?

[jasonf]

Originally posted by Chris Freeland


Yes I know, it is very discourging. I finally find a profession that I think I will love, work my tail off to get a MCP and because of a crappy economy I can not get a job, not even a Help Desk job :( . Wish me luck though, tomorrow I am taking the 2000 Server exam, having a 2nd exam under my belt might not help much getting that first job but I guess it wont hurt either. :shrug:

Good luck and hang in there. I'm changing career paths myself :)

[Robert F. O'Connor]

A 544 would be a 522 with two additional tuners. The idea is to serve the whole house from one box. Some rumors surfaced on Yahoo, I think, awhile back. It makes sense that if something like that was even being considered, they'd want to see how the 522 did.

Password protected recordings on 522: I would be really surprised if the 522 wasn't 501/508 feature-by-feature identical (excluding dual-tuner features) at least initially. Currently the 501/508 doesn't do that, but that would be a good feature for all three boxes, actually.

-Robert

[Mike Phillips]

I'm I correct in assuming that the 522 is based off of the 501/508 and not the 721?

[Jacob S]

Yes, if it was based on a 721 then it would be called a 722 or 744. I remember hearing about this whole house server multi tuner receiver a year back but not heard much about it since then. I wonder if they are going to come out with a 722 in which is a 721 with two tv outputs to independent viewing on two tv's instead of just a PIP.

[dlsnyder]

And what about that USB port? Anyone care to speculate on what it will do? Maybe the 522 can serve as some sort of entertainment hub like the new TiVos?

[Scott Greczkowski]

This is just speculation but the USB on the back could be used for the Internet. From what I know the Internet application that was planned for the 721 was OpenTV based, and the 522 is also OpenTV based.

If it's not for full blown Internet it might be so you can play OpenTV games from others around the US over the Internet (that would be cool) as well as send and receive text messages.

I am looking forward to seeing the 522 in action myself.

I wonder if it will have folders so this way if my son records Pokeman it wont show up in the PVR guide on my TV in the bedroom.

I also like that the RF out encodes the audio in (MTS) stereo thats a cool feature in and of itself!

[jasonf]

So did they have a working unit there or was it just a display?

[Scott Greczkowski]

From the looks of the pictures it was a working model.

I am hoping to find out more about the 522 soon.

[DarrellP]

It would be a cool feature to use the USB port for Internet access and be able to program the machine via a web browser like the Sonic Blue units.

[guywall]

Found some additional pictures (not as good as Scott's) including the remote HERE (http://www.dishretailer.com/ts2002/Index.html)

Sorry if this is old or a repost.

This can't be coming out in June if no one has seen it yet, can it? I'm holding off on the 721 but don't know if I want to wait for the 522....:confused:

[dan_minnick]

I wouldn't hold my breath on the 522 or 322. There are some problems retaining team members right now.

[P Smith]

dan_minnick
do you have more info ?

[Ken_F]

Dan,

You imply there are some morale problems. Does this have anything to do with the failed merger + News Corp acquisition of DirecTV? Or are the issues entirely internal? I know Echostar has been feeling some pressure lately, and did want to speed development of some products, but how has this impacted employees?

I don't suppose you know why Echostar has terminated these individual(s) on the 501/522 team?

[Bob Haller]

:) maybe they reported too many bugs:)

JOKE! I am in a wierd mood:)

[Scott Greczkowski]

BTW I don't think that Dan_Minnick is the REAL Dan Minnck who is the VP of Software Development for Echostar.

I suspect that the "Dan_Minnick" that posted above is a former disgruntled Echostar employee. His IP address does come back to a Denver ip address.

I know Dan and also know he does not post to the forums

I spoke to the REAL Dan Minnick last week and I can tell you that the 522 is on track.

I am excited by the idea of a 522, with it I can get rid of both of my Dishplayers. :)

[Mark Holtz]

The 522 sounds good in theory, but... how will it work in reality?

Dish Network really needs an affordable dual-tuner PVR. Right now, DirecTV has a two-tuner PVR for around $250. This is the about the same price point as the 508, but the 508 is a single tuner PVR. The only two-tuner PVR that dish has is the 721, but the price tag is a little steep. What direction is Dish going with this receiver? If someone was Internet savvy enough, they could hook it up to a home network, then, from a remote location through a web browser, see what is being recorded and what is being watched, and even setup or manage timers directly on the machine. Even if the connection was a simple cross-over cable, I could manage the PVR better from my PC because of the resolution limitations of the NTSC monitor.

It sounds like the intention of the 522 is to give PVR functionality to two TVs. But, I'm looking at the 522, and I see "I can have one output going to a VCR for archival purposes, while the other output is going to my TV." I don't see running another coax cable to another room across the house (although it would be interesting to have it run to a kids room and see what little Timmy is really watching). In addition, the firmware should support the larger hard drives (>137 MB) that are now available. Perhaps a removable drive tray that can have a hard drive put in, and that drive is formatted and "married" to that receiver also so that you can't take the program content to a friends house and watch whats on that hard drive.

According to pricewatch (which tends to low-ball prices):
250GB - $260
200GB - $196
180GB - $161
160GB - $131
120GB - $94
80GB - $73
40GB - $54

[Jacob S]

It would probably be easier to get a big hard drive for your computer (250GB) to use with some PVR software for your computer, you would have up 250-300 hours for tv, somewhere around there, may want to save some for computer space but still thats a lot, plus you would have a lot of space available for the computer as well, so it would serve for two purposes. You could swap hard drives when bigger ones come out if that is not enough room for you and it would be a lot more flexible.

[ocnier]

I know this a a dumb question but does anyone know if e* will specifically key the remotes so you don't have cross talk? I had two recievers before in two seperate rooms and that was a definite issue.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Most of Echostar receivers have addressable remotes meaning you can change the remote address so that your bedroom remote does not change the channels on your living room TV.

Consult your owners manual for how to change your remotes address.

[Jacob S]

The dedicated remotes (not blue button ones/non-multi-functional remotes) change the channels on other receivers even if you change the address on them.