721 is better than I thought

[bunkers]

For what its worth, I thought I would just post a quick message about my first 3 months with my 721.

After reading these and other message boards I was feeling like the 721 was junk and that I was crazy to be considering it to replace my 501.

Now I still have a 508 as well ... but after getting used to the changes in the 721 interface ... I have to say that its overall been a pleasure to use and its actually only had one minor lockup (fixed with PIP swap) and one smart card reboot needed in 3 months. During the same period, our 508 has probably required at least 5-8 reboots, if not more.

Bottom line, its passed the "wife" test and she likes it and claims that the 508 is the unstable unit in the house.

So not to discount those of you who have had real problems, I am just stating that for some of us, the 721 is working well and is in fact a rather stable box from my perspective. The dual tuners is wonderful and the conflict mangement works well also. :)

I will almost certainly be facing a dead unit now that I have given praise to my Dish equipment. :eek2:

[BobMurdoch]

Careful about some of the noise you read here. Yes, there are a few people who have had problems and decided to repeat their complaints 100 times. It is not 100 people having the problem. Some have had their switches outside in the elements, others have flaky cabling, and yes, there are a few legitimate bugs that occasionally cause a problem, but in 18 months with the unit they are minor annoyances at best and 1000% more stable than the Dishplayer it replaced as my primary PVR. I have 4 E* PVRs active now (The 721, a 510, and 2 Dishplayers) and they all perform great. The 510 and the Dishplayers only get light duty, but they have been flawless (even the Dishplayers). In the last year only one of my Dishplayers needed to be tinkered with after a bad guide download during a bad storm. The 510 has run without a hitch in the 45 days I have had it. The 721 has never missed a recording, has not dumped my recordings, nor has it done anything other than lock up a few times when I was using the FF/REV buttons on a recorded show while two new timers began firing and I probably overloaded the resources for a sec. I rebooted both times and the timers fired right up after the reboot so Ionly missed a few minutes of the beginning (which I pad anyway)

When my 921 comes tomorrow, I'll be sending the 721 to retirement at my father's house where he is excited that we will be able to record two shows in the same timeslot.

[Allen Noland]

Like BobMurdoch, my 721 has worked great. I have had to reboot it once or twice but only after heavy weather.

[dbronstein]

Ditto to what the other guys said. I've had mine for about 14 months now and it's been solid.

Dennis

[goughl]

Same here for my 721 after little over 6mo. only had to do a couple reboots. I have had to reboot my computer more than the 721
Larry

[Bob Haller]

After having all sorts of troubles my 721 is working great today. It likes this software I hope they dont change it!

[Inaba]

I have to agree with Bob... the latest spool of software seems to be pretty decent. If they'd add NBR, I'd have little cause to complain about the 721 currently. Although, I find the lack of NBR to be a defining feature and since the 721 doesn't have it, it's not really a PVR IMHO, but a glorified VCR. As a glorified VCR, it seems to be working fine. But as a PVR, it plain doesn't work!

Although, I'm still jittery that one day I'm going to come home to find all my recordings gone; but I have no solid basis for that, perhaps just left over jitters?

[Cyclone]

Everyone please keep in mind that this is the Internet, I kindly remind you to all only post complaints or other endless rants. - Thank you

BTW: Please remember that you are all powerless victims of corporate greed.

[scooper]

Inaba - did you used to own a Dishplayer ? :)

[Inaba]

Nope, never owned a Dishplayer. Just real PVRs like Tivo, UTV, etc... :)

[jerryyyyy]

I agree it works when it works, but I am on my second one.....

[TomCat]

My experiences reflect pretty accurately the general forum experiences, in that my three non-DISH standalones were more stable (yet not perfectly so) than my three DISH PVR's have been. It's true that they do need rebooting occasionally, but not to the point of being a nuisance. After all, if I were happier before using DISH PVR's I would have certainly gone back to non-DISH PVR's by now. Instead, they are barely used, and only for overflow.

For the person considering DISH PVR's, I would consider the slighty shaky stability issue to be a non-issue. Make your decisions on the other features and prices that could have real impact.

[ClaudeR]

Everyone please keep in mind that this is the Internet, I kindly remind you to all only post complaints or other endless rants. - Thank you


I think you hit the nail on the head. :lol:

[kingbiged]

I just installed my 721 to replace my 501 unit 2 week ago. Not many problems besides a switch error, I have been told it is software related, but everything is working great! No glitches, and my wife loves it, since I travel a lot, she can watch the sat when I am recording something. I love the upgraded guide, and the features!