Will you buy a 921 for $999.00 ?

[Frapp]

I did not see this question posted anywhere after the Tech chat.

Now that we know ( As I predicted during the chat :D ) the 921 standalone receiver will be $999.00, will you buy one ?

I may purchase one later on, but would like to see how well it works for a few months :shrug:

Also on another note, at this price I doubt dealers will be able to stock very many at a time :nono:

[Kagato]

Depends on two things. One) DirecTV. Will they get more bandwidth, what will the HD-Tivo cost, etc. I'll hold out a few months, let the early adapters pay a premium.

Two) What dish does for the 5000 + Modulator owners that will most likely be obsoleted. I've heard rumors of a trade in. If it's good I'll bite, if it's so so, I'll consider D* or (shudder) cable. Just like this is business to E*, it's business to me. I don't owe Charlie squat.

[Lee L]

Well, $999 was about what I expected it would be. I was hoping (pie in the sky) for $799 and afraid it would be $1199 or more based on internet speculation so they seem to have split the difference quite well I guess. If I decide to stay with dish after the cost of everything else I have to buy (Superdish, switching, etc) is know, I will definitely buy one.

[jeffwtux]

Na, I've currently got a 4900 and 508 with only the 508 activated. I'm going to ebay the 4900 any day now, and will probably get a 6000 when they plummet in price after the 811 comes out.

[Geronimo]

I am no longer interested in HD. Not at that price.

[Danny R]

yup, I'll get one. I would have put in a pre-order already but for the fact that I was scared they would be over $1000.

[marko]

Nope, not with the 811 at $299. I always assumed I would get cable when it came time for hdtv, but the 811 seems to be a good price with good features.

The timing is good too. I am not planning on getting an hdtv within the next 6 months, but possibly shortly after that.

[Phil T]

No

I have a Dishplayer, a 501 and a 6000 8psk/8vsb.

I bought the 8psk because I was told by Dish I would need it for new HDTV Channels. (they never added any) Now I am being told I will need a Super Dish at additional cost.

The available HD programming on Dish and OTA here in Denver has not made my investment worthwhile. (although the Super Bowl in HD was awesome)

My biggest TV issue now (with two teenagers in the house) is the lack of recording capacity. (Dishplayer 30gig = 20 hrs.-501=35 hrs)

My Dishplayer is flaking out with blackouts all the time (whats new about that?) so I am reluctant to get a bigger drive for it.

I am considering trying to sell or trade my 6000 for a 721, although after last nights tech chat, the bottom my be dropping out of market for 6000's.

[Cyclone]

I might. My wife is about to quit work and have our first kid. So have two things about to impact the bottom line.

I really like the 921 but I'll have to see how the money is. Otherwise, I likely could swing the 811 and sell off my 6000 to lessen the out of pocket expense.

[DarrellP]

$600 seems pretty steep for a 250GB hard drive compared to the 811. I'll wait and see if they have a good deal for current subs and to see how many of the bugs are worked out, but yeah, I wll buy one eventually.

[John Corn]

Yes, I'm going to get one. :)

[Mark Lamutt]

Yes.

[dinkster]

At the moment, I'm on the fence. I like virtually everything about the 921, and I think the price is reasonable for the functionality included with the unit.

I will need to know a bit more about connectivity issues with my older Mits wrt HDCP, cost and hassle of replacing my 2 dish setup with SuperDish and switches, and what new HD programming Dish is providing beyond the current offerings and at what monthly cost.

The 921 in and of itself seems to be a great value, but there is more involved in reaching the full decision.

[Tusk]

To be able to receive Satellite HD and SD plus tune in your OTA HD stations, then record any of those signals to a 250 GB hard drive.

Absolutely. I want my 921.

[gwynnebaer]

Commodity electronics prices the way they are today, this price point makes no sense. I was infuriated by the cost of the 721 when I bought it (by then it was *only* $400). I can buy an 811 and a fully-decked out PC with all the HDTV PVR features I want for the same price as the 921.

My hope, however, is that we still have time to put pressure on E* to drop this price prior to release. My target price would be *no more than* what I paid for the 721, or at least a trade-in discount on my 721 that amounts to the same.

My guess is that they are gauging interest based on this obvious ludicrous price.

I don't like TV *that* much. :grin:

[EvanS]

[QUOTE=Tusk]...To be able to receive Satellite HD and SD plus tune in your OTA HD stations, then record any of those signals to a 250 GB hard drive...QUOTE]

same here - I'M THERE!!! at least after the dust settles...maybe after 1st of the year.
But I do plan on shoveling the 721 and Samsung 151 out the door to make room (and I do mean ROOM) :eek2: for this big boy

[cicijay]

I think:

It will be released at $999 and you will have to buy the Superdish or they may give the Superdish away for free with some sort of commitment (and of course cc Autopay) like they did with the Dish 500.

Then they will probably offer some sort of discounted upgrade path like they do with the 501.

So I guess the question is when will I get it? If it is released before a PVR alternative from another Satellite Provider, I'm in. The $999 + the ?? cost of the SuperDish is worth looking at new sign up incentives from another Satellite provider though. I have been sitting with an HDTV capable Projector for 8 months now and have no options but Satellite. If I could have bought one last night I would have before the show was over.

Just my part of putting my expected child credit refund back into the economy ;)

[UpOnTheMountain]

I'm falling off the fence at that price.
I'll see what my new MyHD and my HTPC does for me off of the local CBS HD ... To see if it really does make watching TV worth yet anolther thousand dollars.

[kstevens]

I'm falling off the fence at that price.
I'll see what my new MyHD and my HTPC does for me off of the local CBS HD ... To see if it really does make watching TV worth yet anolther thousand dollars.

I will order as soon as I'm able to.


Ken

[RAD]

When Mark went of the specs and the price I was ready to grab for the phone, hoping that he would say it's available now, which we now know it isn't and still don't know.

Frankly $999 isn't bad for what this box is supposed to do. Heck, I paid $800 for the first gen Sony DBS receiver and dish when they first came out, so for what you get I think it's worth it. If I actually buy one is up to Dish since if the DirecTV TIVO streets first that's where my $'s will go.

[ocnier]

Does anyone know really if the 921 will even be out by December 04'. I am stuch with a tivo now because the 721 was waaaaaaay past projected release date. Overall I think dish equipment is better, but their product release record is lousy.

[Fred S]

I'd pay $999, if I have to.

Is it very likely that DISH will offer a program for 6000 customers to trade up to a 921? Didn't they do something like this for the 721?

[sampatterson]

Yep, 2 for me.

[Ken_F]

Yes. I'll pay $999 for the 921, assuming it ships this year.

[MattJ]

Yes, I'm in for the 921. Assuming it ships by end of the year.

[Mark Holtz]

With the current HDTV offerrings by both broadcast and satellite AT THIS TIME, combined with the cost of a HDTV set top box, I must say no at this time.

And, if the the 921 has the same code base as the 721, the 721 needs some badly needed improvements. The 721 came out with a lot of promised new fetures, but so far, we're waiting. Maybe the 721 owners will get a major upgrade in late August. We shall se.

[bills976]

I won't be investing in anything HD related until at least 50% of OTA/cable channels are offering HD programming.

[DCSholtis]

Depends on two things. One) DirecTV. Will they get more bandwidth, what will the HD-Tivo cost, etc. I'll hold out a few months, let the early adapters pay a premium.

Two) What dish does for the 5000 + Modulator owners that will most likely be obsoleted. I've heard rumors of a trade in. If it's good I'll bite, if it's so so, I'll consider D* or (shudder) cable. Just like this is business to E*, it's business to me. I don't owe Charlie squat.

Dan Collins over on DBSForums.com is stating the rumored price of the Directv HD PVR will be $599.

[Jacob S]

N O ! ! !

[razorbackfan]

I will wait for a year after the 921 comes out, then get one when they offer it as an upgrade, or the price comes down, and when Dish finally gets more HD programming, and the bugs have been worked out. Like I said in another thread, I WAS going to take the HDTV plunge (my locals are in HD now) but after the tech chat, now I'm gonna wait and see. It just doesn't seem to me Dish knows what they're going to do. For a $1,000.00 receiver I want to be sure.

[Glenn]

Not for a while. I'm currently using a 6000 for HD viewing and a 501 for any recording I want to do. (It's also nice to have that second tuner for recording while watching another channel.) Real Soon Now, I'm going to put an antenna on the roof for OTA HD locals. My TV has a HD receiver built in, so I can connect the antenna directly. Bottom line then, with a minor investment (the antenna, which I'd have to purchase and install no matter what receiver I have) I can watch satellite HD, local HD and watch/record satellite SD. The one thing I won't be able to do is record any HD, and that feature alone, while certainly nice, isn't worth $1,000 to me.

[Jacob S]

If you had to buy a $1,000 receiver every couple three years to stay on top of things then that really increases the price you pay per month average. $1,000 every 3 years would make it about $30 a month just on that one receiver before you take into account what you get out of your receiver used in which may help a bit.

One could take a look at it this way as well though. If you get $300 out of it used then you are looking at $700 over a 3 year period in which would be an average of around $20 a month. Keep it for four years and it would be around $15 a month, not much more than what Tivo charges for their monthly fee (unless you get the big package in which its free).

By the time 3 or 4 years go by a lot of changes would take place and one may not even be able to get $300 out of it by then especially as prices would drop on new HD PVR's, new technology allowing for a lot more storage, among other things.

[Jim M]

I'm also going to hold off. I'm very unimpressed with my 50x's and my 721 -vs- my DirecTiVo unit. If Dish were to offer a box that worked 100% it would be a different issue. As we all know though, their track record isn't stellar though it is good with the 50x and a little better with the 721.

I don't want to be a beta tester in the Dish $1K club.

[BobMurdoch]

With the ability to tune and record HD OTA from Philadelphia (45 miles as the crow flies from me) which Congress says that I am NOT allowed to get from E*, the ability to receive and record HD programming, AND 180 hours of standard TV to boot?.... count me in among the first early adopters. My HD Monitor has been starved for content since I got it last December and I will FINALLY be able to feed it (but after using a PVR since 2000 there was no way I was going back to appointment TV).

I'd love to get it from Mark at DishDepot, but if all of his preorders are sold out, I may have to hit Sears or the Shack to see if they will be getting any of these when the first wave ships.

[gqmagtutgic]

I bought a 501/301 last June from Dish USa for $100. Now I can get another 501 from Dish Network for $149, and have to haggle to get them to admit that is the price. Or I can get a Directivo reciever (with 2 tuners) and a regular reciever with the dish, hardware etc. for $99. So I have to ask myself what to do? Also Charter cable is offering Digital Cable with a HD reciever and HBO And Showtime free until 02/04 for $42 a month. So no I'm not going to bite at a $1000 reciever from anyone. but I do like the PVR, I don't know if I want to buy a standalone PVR and become a collector of recievers. Dish in my humble opinion needs to get more realistic in their pricing of reciever. Like $ 49 for a 508, $99 for a 721 etc. to match Directv. This is the message we should be sending, not asking where is the $1000 line for your next reciever!

[Tusk]

I remember buying a Sony VCR (top of the line at the time) in 1995 and paying $550 for it. It is now sitting in the closet collecting dust. I could have argued that the VCR should have been given to me with a 6 pack of beer and some blockbuster movie rentals, but I wanted it so I paid for it.

Same thing applies to the 921. Everyone wants something for nothing, but the real world requires you to pay for things. :shrug:

[kstevens]

I'm starting to think this forum should be renamed from DBSTalk to DBSBitch&Moan


Ken

[SParker]

Yes I will eventually. Besides I won't be able to get one for a while after its released because I bet the demand will be rabid!

[Frapp]

I'm starting to think this forum should be renamed from DBSTalk to DBSBitch&Moan


Ken

Gotta love that one !rolling

[jrbdmb]

Dish in my humble opinion needs to get more realistic in their pricing of reciever. Like $ 49 for a 508, $99 for a 721 etc. to match Directv. This is the message we should be sending, not asking where is the $1000 line for your next reciever!Just checked directv.com, they want $199 for a DirecTivo PVR with 35 hours record time. BestBuy want $249 for the same, checked one or two independent dealers and prices are similar. Where can you get DirecTV PVRs for $49?

[gqmagtutgic]

Just checked directv.com, they want $199 for a DirecTivo PVR with 35 hours record time. BestBuy want $249 for the same, checked one or two independent dealers and prices are similar. Where can you get DirecTV PVRs for $49?


http://www.expertsatellite.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=25&exp_affil=ref9982

[Future DTV]

Nope. I'm not going to pay $999 to be a Dish beta tester especially when the DirecTV HD TiVo is rumored to list at $599 and it will most likely work as advertised on day 1.

[BobMurdoch]

No problem...... That will just make it easier for ME to get one sooner......

[Tusk]

gqmagtutgic,

http://www.dishdepot.com/Cart/description.php?II=492648&UID=2003071713231668.46.254.186

Looks like dish pricing is comparable to me. This is $100 more than your D* link, but you have 60 hours of recording compared to 35 hours with TIVO, and no $4.99/month PVR fee with E*

The catch is that to get that price from either company, you have to be a new subscriber.

[nuts4scuba]

Tusk,
Did you notice that Dish Depot is not listing any 6000's. They were just a few days ago.

[Tusk]

Tusk,
Did you notice that Dish Depot is not listing any 6000's. They were just a few days ago.

Yeah, it makes good business sense for them to stop selling the 6000 (even though I think the 6000's are no longer being produced). I wouldn't want to sell a new customer a 6000 and then they find out in a few months that they could have gotten the 811 for less money with more features.

Smart move in my opinion.

[AllieVi]

First,“thank you” to everyone who will be buying the 921. Without early adopters like you, the world of technology would not advance (writing from the perspective of a recovering early adopter...).

I won’t be buying one. I believe the vast majority of consumers (but maybe not in this group) don’t yet have an HDTV-capable set and don’t expect to own one any time soon. Like many, I live too far from local broadcast towers for OTA reception and must rely on cable or satellite for service.

Friends living in other areas have HDTV’s and I enjoy watching their systems, but the limited number of HD programs available throughout the broadcast day is discouraging. Many of the shows I typically watch at home are re-runs that were not recorded in HD. At some future date, the majority of new programs broadcast may be HD, but if it arrives, that date is far in the future.

Stations may actually choose not to use their digital spectrum allocation to provide HD, but instead, may broadcast in standard definition and use the remaining bandwidth to provide other services. Such a choice would limit the available programs.

The eventual cost of HD via satellite has yet to be really addressed. Since 5 or 6 standard definition channels must be sacrificed for each HD, there’s obviously a price to be paid by SOMEone... Launching and activating new satellites isn’t cheap and there’s the channel tradeoff argument even if more bandwidth is made available. The hope for satellite delivery of locals nationwide is really a stretch.

DISH has a lackluster history when introducing new hardware. A review of the postings here and elsewhere shows that it’s best to wait for the bug spray to take effect before investing in new equipment.

I may eventually get an HDTV and whatever recorder is then available, but the price will probably be a lot less for each and more programming should be available. Waiting will allow the hardware to improve and new technologies to be developed and perfected. Maybe an agreement will even be reached on an HD broadcast standard...

[Marcus S]

No problem...... That will just make it easier for ME to get one sooner......

No problem, and you will be the 1st to report the buggy 1st release. Umm 5000, and 6000, come to mind. It only took E* 2 years to get major bugs out of the 5000, 1 year for the 6000. But keep the faith, perhaps only 6 mo's this time. Future feature upgrades? :)

[Bobby94928]

Future feature upgrades? :)

And will they tell me that as an HD customer I'll have to pay for those upgrades?

[BobMurdoch]

No problem, and you will be the 1st to report the buggy 1st release. Umm 5000, and 6000, come to mind. It only took E* 2 years to get major bugs out of the 5000, 1 year for the 6000. But keep the faith, perhaps only 6 mo's this time. Future feature upgrades? :)

The 721 was surprisingly stable in its' original release and the 921 is supposedly built around the same platform. It is a leap pf faith, but my starving HD monitor won't be ignored any longer.......

[DTV]

gqmagtutgic,

http://www.dishdepot.com/Cart/description.php?II=492648&UID=2003071713231668.46.254.186

Looks like dish pricing is comparable to me. This is $100 more than your D* link, but you have 60 hours of recording compared to 35 hours with TIVO, and no $4.99/month PVR fee with E*

The catch is that to get that price from either company, you have to be a new subscriber.

How are they even close to comparable? The link you posted is for a single tuner DVR. The DirecTiVo is a dual tuner PVR. To be fair you need to compare it to a 721. The comparable Dish system is $449. Also you cannot upgrade the hard drive in the Dish DVR's. You can upgrade any TiVo in a matter of minutes with an off the shelf hard drive

[Marcus S]

The 721 was surprisingly stable in its' original release and the 921 is supposedly built around the same platform. It is a leap pf faith, but my starving HD monitor won't be ignored any longer.......

From Scott's review "There is no easy way to access the second tuner. In order to switch to the second tuner you must go into PIP mode then you can switch to the second tuner. I would like the ability to switch to the second tuner so I can flip between two shows I am watching so that I don’t have to change channels (i.e. the Recall Feature) and wait for the 721 to buffer.

If you decide to record a show you are watching and then want to change to another channel you get a message on your screen saying “ERROR – Your request can only be carried out in live mode. Stop recording and switch to live mode now?” What it should do is keep recording and automatically switch you to the second tuner if it is not being used, or at least give you a choice to switch to the second tuner.

While I like that you can play games on the 721, I would like the option to turn the Transparency off, it is very hard to play breakout when the ball is the same color as whatever is on TV in the background.

This PVR can record 90 hours of programs while this is a nice feature it means that you could have 180 half hour programs on your hard drive. The PVR selection screen is cluttered and hard to find the exact show you want to watch. My suggestion is that they give you the ability to have program folders, this way all the shows I record go into my folder, the shows my wife records go in her folder, etc. I would also like to see subfolders so all my recording to Star Trek go into a Star trek folder and my wrestling recordings go into a wrestling folder. Because the PVR 721 uses LINUX setting up folder should not be too hard to implement."

In addition custom caller id ringing does not work on the 501/508 or 721. Bargain deal I am sure on modem chip sets. However, you are correct this is the most stable receiver that E* has produced, I do wonder however if the 921 will be Lynx OS based and that would be a problem if not. Previous OpenTV solutions where Microsoft partner based, and the 5000/6000 where propritary technology.

[wmayo]

Answer:

Only if they have a trade-in deal...
i.e. $999 minus $200 for trade-in for 6000 = $799.

This will be the maker or breaker for many of us who recently bought the 6000.

[SParker]

I am pretty sure Mark at Dish Depot will do trade in's. I am going to trade in my 721 when the time comes.

[Jacob S]

I wonder how much he pays for 501's, 508's, and 301's? One is probably better off selling on here or ebay unless they do not want to deal with the hassle of selling them because of how much less you get out of the receivers but everyone has to make money and there is risk involved when buying used receivers.

[Michael P]

$999 is a little steep, however I have long been begging E* to put all their premium features in one box. The 921 answers the call (HD + OTA + PVR).

The hard question for me is: It is worth $999 for me - with no HD set? I want to get my local OTA DTV stations (and someday perhaps DX HD), and I want a PVR. With the announcement of the 811, however that is a viable alternitive for me. Maybe I could just hook up my PC to a 811's digital output and get virtually the same thing as a 921.

[Jacob S]

Perhaps maybe there should also be a question asked as to what the most you would spend on a 921. Same for 721.

[RAD]

I used to be ready to give Charlie the bucks, but with how Dish is handling the problem that the 6000 owners are having now ( http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=16921 ) I'm not even sure that I will be staying with Dish long enough to see a 921 on the street.

[SpenceJT]

Hell yeah!

:grin:

[DarrellP]

Hey Spence, how the hell are you? The old Toshiba's still playing great! I finally have a chance to watch it via Progressive, it's awesome!!! Welcome to the forum.

[Claude Greiner]

I really have no problem dishing out $1000 bucks for an HDTV PVR with a 250 Gig Hard Drive.

The cost is really not an issue for me, what intrests me more is what this reciever can do and the features which will be available!