What do I need for 721 PVR?

[Nosteele]

I am considering buying a Dish 721 PVR. I currently have a Dish 500 system with multiple receivers but am confused on what I need in order to use the Dish 721.

Do I need to buy another Dish antenna or can I use my existing antenna and still be able to watch multiple receivers I already use (2) as well as the new 721 receiver?

Since we already have a Dish installed, is it necessary to have someone come out to install the unit?

I am a bit leary right now of making a PVR investment right now with all that I have been reading in the E* Forums.

Thanks in advance!

Norma

[rcwilcox]

I like my 721. There will always be new technology around the corner so I don't knoww what to tell you there. You will need to seperate feeds from your dish for the 721. Think of it a two recievers in one box. You either need to add another dish or have a quad LNB or SW64 or SW44 or something to give you two new feeds for 721.

[Jacob S]

Seeing how the 501, 508, and 721 will not have any fees in the future but the new DVR receivers will, then it will not hurt you to get the 721 receiver and now is the best time while the prices are low because I would expect them to climb since there will be no fee on those receivers.

You would need an additional Dish 500 dish or a quad lnbf. The advantage of the additional Dish 500 dish over the quad lnbf is that it is cheaper in some cases if you put the dish in yourself. The advantage of the quad lnbf is that you do not have to install another dish and if you are not able to get a signal in then you dont have to worry about it when buying a quad where it would only require you to swap out your twin for the quad. You could then sell your twin on the internet to someone in which makes up for some of the cost you have in your quad.

I also think there may be some switches available in which may be cheaper than buying the quad but dont know what the prices are on those as they change a lot. If you are wanting to get HD or locals in the future and it would require the SuperDish then you may want to wait for a promotion for this dish and you may get it for really cheap and still keep your existing Dish 500 as well in which would be a nice solution to the problem.

Also they are supposed to be coming out with a solution in which allows two tuners/receivers to run of of one wire with a special switch in the future probably around the time the SuperDish comes out, or it may be after it comes out not for sure yet. It is called Dishpro Plus.

[Nosteele]

Thanks to both of you that replied. I guess my next questions are:

how happy people are with their PVR721. I was reading on another DBStalk forum that people were complaining about buggy software.
Is this a problem with the PVR 721?

I am coming from using a TiVo to record cable programs and I have been very happy their product however I now need to record from satelite and do not wish to switch to DirectTv in order to do so.

Are there any functions that I will lose by switching over to Dish PVR 721?

Thanks again in advance!

[dbronstein]

I am coming from using a TiVo to record cable programs and I have been very happy their product however I now need to record from satelite and do not wish to switch to DirectTv in order to do so.

Are there any functions that I will lose by switching over to Dish PVR 721?

The biggie: name-based recording.

The 721 is time-based, so when you create a timer say for Friends, it will set it for 7 to 7:30 Thursday on NBC (or 8 to 8:30 depending on your timezone). If Friends is not on, it will record whatever is on from 7 to 7:30 on NBC. If Friends is super-sized and runs to 7:40, it will stop recording at 7:30. If a special Friends is on Tuesday at 8, it will not record it. You have to make all these adjustments manually.

Dennis

[tampa8]

The biggie: name-based recording.

The 721 is time-based, so when you create a timer say for Friends, it will set it for 7 to 7:30 Thursday on NBC (or 8 to 8:30 depending on your timezone). If Friends is not on, it will record whatever is on from 7 to 7:30 on NBC. If Friends is super-sized and runs to 7:40, it will stop recording at 7:30. If a special Friends is on Tuesday at 8, it will not record it. You have to make all these adjustments manually.

Dennis


The supersized shows are normally built into the guide even on the Dish system and the whole show will be recorded. If as often happens on NBC and Fox the show goes over by just a couple of minutes, neither the name based nor the time based system will record the whole show. The ability of the name based recording to "follow" the show is an advantage over time based however, but only if it is reflected in the guide. If the guide still says a show will be on at 8PM but a news bulletin makes it start five minutes later, the name based system still will not get the whole show, it will start at 8PM because the guide says it starts at 8PM.

[Curtis0620]

Nothing that padding your Season Pass for Friends won't solve.

[texas_yankee]

When I bought my 721 I had the reseller install it and he installed the other dish and ran the cabling for the receiver.
I have had my 721 for 7 months now and just love it. Being able to record two seperate channels at the same time and watch a third is just amazing.
I believe you can set the amount of minutes that you may want the timer to start as well as finish on any recording. I know that the default is one minute before and three minutes after but you can input in the box. Correct me if I'm wrong. I tend to record 30 minutes earlier and the same later on some shows. Especially if they are on network cahnnels since overruns are common.
I just wish that the guide went farther than one weeks worth of programming. I like to set up timers well in advance since my mind has aged a bit.
This past Sunday was the first time I have encountered any types of glitches and come to find out it was on their end.
Since I have the everything package I'm not to worried about the fee's

[av810]

If you have DishPro twin LNB (Dish Pro Logo on the LNB), the easiest solution is to buy and install a DP34 switch. I got one last week on e-bay for 63.00 shipped. You would then be able to run another cable from the DP34 to the 721 (a max of 4 receivers on the DP34).

[Bill R]

How happy people are with their PVR721. I was reading on another DBStalk forum that people were complaining about buggy software.
Is this a problem with the PVR 721?

I am coming from using a TiVo .

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate the 721 a 5 because of the buggy software. It is not a bad receiver but the software is not nearly as stable as it should be. The other day when I was watching mine it re-boot on its own. Another time this week when I pressed the GUIDE button, instead of bringing up the guide, all that came up was the picture in the upper right corner of the screen with the rest of the screen black. NOTHING would get me out of that screen, the only solution was to re-boot the receiver. Another time this week the receiver was really slow to respond to the remote. A re-boot cured that problem too.

A couple of weeks ago I had a problem with some timers not firing. A re-boot DID NOT cure that problem. The only solution was to delete the timers and re-enter them.

Another thing about the 721 is that the "90 to 100" hour of recording time is an extreme over estimate. In real life conditions I get less than 80 hours of recording time (though I don't let the disk get that full anymore). I guess if you only record the highly compressed channels you might be able to get more recording time.

[dbronstein]

The supersized shows are normally built into the guide even on the Dish system and the whole show will be recorded.

Not if you originally set the timer based on a regular show. You have to set a separate timer for the supersized show, or adjust the original timer.

Dennis

[Bob Haller]

So you were using TIVO with your cable box? Then why not use TIVO with a DBS receiver?

The 721 is all right but definetely not as good as a TIVO The bugs shouldnt exist in such a high priced box.

Sadly your probably better off with Direct TV TIVO