Dishplayer Software upgrade 10-15-03

[Roger T]

Software upgrade this morning...

% of drive remaining unused. What do 721s show? Hours/minutes/%

Games Gone
Instant News Gone


Had to get listings this morning, then later it showed the software upgrade screen w/features.

I can not say if I lost anything that was recorded, Timers looked OK

I show 1 show recorded, 1hr 35 minutes, 97% free. I had just emptied the drive after loading it (New 80Gig) to test capacity. so 1 show is proably accurate from last nights overnight timer(s).

It seems more responsive to the remote. I haven't rebooted it yet.
I may just keep the 8Gig original for games by not installing it overnight.

Seems good so far, knock wood. :D
Cheers
Roger T

I see Bill R. just posted while I pecking away on my keyboard here.

He mentioned a couiple of things I had forgotten. OOPs

[mindwarp]

Is this for the 7200 only???
I just turned mine on and it said something about an upgrade, and now it is getting tv information... wish it goes without problems

[BobMurdoch]

Mine had the upgrade this morning and I too got the "upgrade" screen where it told me that I was losing games and news (Does this mean weather is gone?). Haven't had time to play with it yet.

Sounds like a downgrade to me. I don't use the WebTV anymore so any "improvements" there don't help me.

What else has changed?

[Nick]

No more "Notices" which they (almost) never used.

Percent of HDD space remaining is useless to most people; better to convert to decimal hours, or better yet, hours/minutes.

Unless the "upgrade" resolved some of the minor remaining DP issues, such as blackout and left-channel pop, it was definitely a downgrade.

I am surprised they didn't change the WebTV screensaver logo(s) to an "MSNTV" butterfly. Now THAT would be an improvement I could live with! :rolleyes:

[BobMurdoch]

Hey, at least the Dishplayer HAS a screen saver. I've got a RPTV and I'm terrified that I'm gonna get burnin from those times when the kids freeze a show and leave it on the screen and walk away.......

[Bill R]

Is this for the 7200 only???
It is for ALL 7100 and 7200 model receivers.

[Roger T]

No more "Notices" which they (almost) never used.

Percent of HDD space remaining is useless to most people; better to convert to decimal hours, or better yet, hours/minutes.

Unless the "upgrade" resolved some of the minor remaining DP issues, such as blackout and left-channel pop, it was definitely a downgrade.

I am surprised they didn't change the WebTV screensaver logo(s) to an "MSNTV" butterfly. Now THAT would be an improvement I could live with! :rolleyes:

I suspect that it shows Percentage remaining due to hard drives being upgradable. The 501/508/510 only have three size HDs total in use so a hour estimate would be easy to implement.

Dps came stock with 8, 17, & 20 Gig drives. I've used 30, 40, & 80 gig myself and know of others that used 100 & 120 gig drives. I suspect that time remaining would be hard to implement as minutes. I could be wrong too. Could be a Microsoft thing. I wonder what the Ultimate TV units show?

I don't consider it a downgrade, ymmv, I didn't use games or Instant news so no loss to me. I have 501s with games too, not used. Weather, not used.

I'm happy that it seesm more responsive to the remote. I'll just guess that a 80 gig drive = 60 to 70 hours based on 501s with a 40 gig having upto 35 hours storage.

5% will be around 3 hours for safety purposes and I'll know to free up space at that point in time.

Cheers

[earroyo1]

Mine is showing 97% available with just 1 movie of 90 minutes recorded, so in my 40 GB HDD that gives me 25 hours.

[music_beans]

Hmm, Games were not that hot huh? (I don't have or ever want a DishPlayer.)

[Nick]

Hmm, Games were not that hot huh? (I don't have or ever want a DishPlayer.)
Beans, do you have a PVR of any type?

[TNGTony]

Hey, I discovered something! Looks like the Dishplayer is now using the "browse" program guide (This show and next show) for those who do not have the loaded EPG from transponder 29 at 110°. This is a BIG improvement!

While in this mode, the dish REALLY wants to load the full guide, but you can still navigate the EPG as long as you don't need to know the channel names.

I had this happen to me this morning before I let it load the full guide.

See ya
Tony

[bytre]

I must say I was pretty surprised to get a software update for such an old receiver. I don't mind losing the games or instant news, and appreciate the % free.

My wife mentioned today "the receiver says its got 12% free, we'd better delete some of the stuff on it" and I was wondering where she saw that feature that I'd never seen.

[Evil Capserian]

Why did we lose games and instant news? I know alot of you didn't care about those features but I did. It was nice to read the headlines once in a while. And I did like to play solitaire occassionally. Dish said that the 7200 will not have enough memory to even support super dish so why the hell did they take out games and news?

[music_beans]

Beans, do you have a PVR of any type?


Nope. PVR-less. VCR is best for me. Not the best for PQ, but they are cheap and no service charge. (unless of course it breaks, but that happens not so often.)

[Bill R]

Why did we lose games and instant news?

I used the "stock quote" feature of instant news everyday so I'll miss it too (but not the games).

I talked to someone at DISH today about why the features were removed. The answer was "they weren't being used". I asked how could they know who is using what since a lot of people don't have a phone line connected (and that is really the only way that they could check). Then I was given some BS story about "we have other ways to find out". I think the real reason is that MSN doesn't want to support them any longer and/or DISH doesn't want to pay MSN for the support.

It will be "interesting" to see what DISH does about the PTV fee at the end of this year. If they start charging for PTV again after removing those features I think a lot of people are going to complain.

Dish said that the 7200 will not have enough memory to even support super dish so why the hell did they take out games and news?
DISH never specifically mentioned a memory limitation on the DishPlayers that would prevent them from getting SuperDish software (that is true though for other older receivers that don't have a hard drive). You have to understand a little about where what (software) is stored to understand what is going on and where the limitations are. The games and news are part of the CLIENT software that is stored on the hard drive and swapped in and out of memory as required so getting rid of them won't effect memory at all. The RECEIVER software is stored in NRAM and moved to RAM (which is faster). To put SuperDish support on the DishPlayer would take (I was told) an update of the RECEIVER software and a "MAJOR" update of the CLIENT software (by MSN). The graphic screens that you see on the dish pointing screen are part of the CLIENT software. DISH does not want to undertake this project (likely that would have to pay MSN for this upgrade - more than the "normal" maintenance fees that they pay for "on going" updates). DISH does not feel that there are enough DishPlayers out there that will need access to 105 or 121 to justify the upgrade. They are working on a program that will allow owners of older receivers (including the DishPlayers) to get a new receiver if they need access to 105 or 121. I was told that it will be announced "soon" (watch the November Charlie Chat).

[bytre]

I did use the stock quotes for a while, but found it too cumbersome to use.

I think that they must have removed the stuff either due to not wanting to pay continuing licensing or maintenance or something. It doesn't make sense to me that they needed the space on the drive.

[Martyva]

Last night was the first night that i didn't see at least one blackout per night for a long long time

[Nick]

Nope. PVR-less. VCR is best for me. Not the best for PQ, but they are cheap and no service charge. (unless of course it breaks, but that happens not so often.) Well, not to spark a debate of PVR vs non-PVR, but the potty-pause feature alone makes owning (and usng) a PVR worth the price of admission, not to mention all the other features not necessarily related to the simple recording of programs. As far as your negative view of the Dishplayer goes, yes there have been many DP problems reported since its original introduction, and most all have been duly reported in the various DBS venues. If I had been aware of all the reported DP problems before I bought two, I may have felt like you do, but after I bought my first DP, it was less than a month before I shelved my 2800 and got a 2nd DP. I may have been more fortunate than some, but I have had very few problems with either DP in over three years now, and most of those were early on. My DPs are very stable and I can't remember the last time I had a problem. I recently bought an HDTV, and as much I want HD content, I will not retire my two DPs until the 921 HD-DVR ships and is firmly mounted in my component rack. I wouldn't be without PVR capability even for the recent $199 6000 deal.

Given the choice of only having an SD PVR receiver or a non-PVR HD receiver, I would opt for PVR capability and would relegate myself to viewing SD from now on.

PVR/DVR -- TV "The way it was meant to be"

[Roger T]

To True, go back to watching live TV, Yuck!

I shelved my 2700 (now2800 w/software upgrade?) very shortly after they activated PTV on my first 7100, upgraded to 30, then 40, the 80 Gig. Then couldn't wait to get another 7100, it literally changed the way I watched TV. I used to VCR shows then watch parts of the tape and ended up with stacks of partially tapes.

Cheers.

[Evil Capserian]

Oh well. Thanks for the quick reply Bill R. Since we lost the games and instant news that I occasionally (hence occasionally) used, I've been thinking of upgrading to a 510 (I do have America's Everything Pak so no PVR fees :) because that one has the channel 100 but the only thing stopping me is the fact that the on screen guide when compared to an original Dishplayer's on screen guide is alot worse. I still to this day congratulate microsoft on developing the on screen guide that the dish player has. It looks alot like digital cable's on screen guide and is the reason I got a dish player in the first place. Back in 1999. Although, I do like the 721's on screen guide but I don't wanna spend big bucks for it.