I think I want DISH, but not sure. hepl

[evilotto]

Hi there,

I've recently cancelled my digital cable. Those Robber Barons were charging me 103 bucks a month to watch television. I'm sorry, but I don't care how many channels you give me, 103 bucks is rediculous.

So I'm looking at Dish, but I have a few questions. I'm not sure if this site sells Dish, but it looks like it, so maybe I can buy from you guys if I like the answers I get.


1) I want 3 outlets with 1 being whatever PVR they are selling nowadays (and yes, the monthly fee is unreasonable.. but I'll pay it for the first PVR)

2) I want 1-2 other PVRs, and my short research tells me to get a 508 so I do not have to both purchase the PVR and then pay Dish for the priveledge of owning it like the 510 and higher models. Question 2 is "Can I get a PVR 501 from ebay or whereever, and then just hook it up and tell Dish to activate it?

3) Can I check with Dish to make sure the PVR I'm buying does not have an open balance by calling them with the serial #?

4) Can I upgrade the hard disk in the pvr 501. If not, why not? I have all the tools required to make a new disk look like a duplicate of the original. I may even be able to dig up a tool to change the disk serial # if I have to. How does Dish prevent me from sticking a 160GB drive into a PVR 501 and ghosting it from the original smaller hard drive?

5) Can I get the deal that they are offering on ebay or is it bogus. At least one of the vendors there offers the 49.00 startup fee that is refunded, 1 PVR, 2 regular receivers and one CLAIMS that I can get all this PLUS the 3 months rebate at 49 bucks each...

Can I get the same or better deal here?

thanks for your time,

Otto

[Pete K.]

1) No problem
2)Yes.
3)Yes, you'll need the Smartcard #.
4) Not recommended. The 501/08/10 is not designed for upgrade. You'll violate the
warranty.
5) Not sure what deal you are reffering to. I always use the caveat "buyer beware!"

[evilotto]

1) Thank you.
2) Thank you.
3) Thank you.

4) I understand that buying a 150 dollar PVR, putting a 120 dollar hard drive and turning it into something better than their best model isn't something that DISH wants me to do, or will support.

My question is more of a technical nature such as "how can they stop me"? Replacing a hard drive with any IDE connector is pretty brain-dead. It's a rectanglular metal box with 1 or 2 connectors on it.

Assuming I ghost (duplicate exactly) the contents and file system from 1 to the other, should it work?

or perhaps this site isn't the appropriate place to ask and someone can throw me a bone at evilotto@hotmail.com and tell me where to look. I won't pay DISH 5 bucks per device unless they are giving me the devices for free, since they aren't doing that it seems like the best way is to buy and upgrade the old one. Am I wrong?

5) Not sure what deal you are reffering to. I always use the caveat "buyer beware!"

There are two deals on Dishnetwork.com - one says I get a 49 dollar credit on my 49 dollar signup fee. One says I get 3 Months free on America's Top 100 pack.. The guy on ebay says I can get both.. Can I?

[Mike Richardson]

4) I understand that buying a 150 dollar PVR, putting a 120 dollar hard drive and turning it into something better than their best model isn't something that DISH wants me to do, or will support.

My question is more of a technical nature such as "how can they stop me"? Replacing a hard drive with any IDE connector is pretty brain-dead. It's a rectanglular metal box with 1 or 2 connectors on it.

Assuming I ghost (duplicate exactly) the contents and file system from 1 to the other, should it work?

I don't think you are supposed to discuss PVR hard drive upgrades here but I will go out on a limb and say:

From what I have gathered it is possible to take a 501 and put in the exact brand and model hard drive from a 508 assuming that drive was from a model 508 OR had the 501 filesystems copied to it. The software looks for very specific drive models and will reject all others. However the cost of obtaining such an exact drive plus the cost of the 501 may be higher than just buying a 508. I don't know if you can put a 510 drive into a 508. I've seen the idea floated by some that doing so may cause the 508 to feel like a 510 and start wanting fees. Or the software may know somehow that it's a 508 board with a 510 drive and reject the drive.

So if you want to get a 510 and then have your other two receivers be hacked 50x models then you could just get some special deal from DISH for a single 510 where you commit for a year or the like, and then have that installed and then buy and hack the 50x boxes.

[evilotto]

Thanks Mike,

I understand that the satellite companies probably don't want me talking about upgrading the PVRs that they DO NOT charge a monthly fee for. But since they know damn well that charging a monthly fee for something that

a) I own
and
b) that costs them nothing extra

it rediculous. Thankfully, I am an American citizen and can discuss anything I want.

Thank you for your reply. It appears that the Dish PVRs use some sort of disk sector identification to prevent easy upgrade of the hard disks.. I'm not sure, but the information I have says it runs on Linux and the kernel is aware of what disk is installed.

I guess I'll just buy some 508s and not upgrade them. I understand that users have problems with them, so I'm not sure.

I wonder if Dish will let me buy an extra PVR from them somehow? When I called the rep said "no way, 1 pvr per household" and I dont think that's right.

As an aside, someone Private Messaged me and gave me some good information. I'd like to invite readers to do the same. same with dealers. I have 24 hours to make my decision to buy one of these systems or just do away with tv since all the prices go up on Saturday.

thanks

Otto

[Mike Richardson]

I think if you could ink a contract tomorrow or saturday you could lock in the lower prices for a year! But alas, you don't sign the contract until the install date.

Model 501, 508, and 510 PVRs do not run Linux but instead run DISH's proprietary system which doesn't work too badly. These days the 5xx models are pretty stable.

Anyway, you can get one PVR from them with your initial install, and then I think you can call them up and get another 510 model for $99 with a one-year contract. I don't know if this contract is concurrent with the contract you sign for the first 510 and installation. If it is concurrent you could do this. But if it comes after your first contract then this would be dumb. But you can choose to get just the 510 and install and then add the 508s later. However the install might not support the 508s, that is, since it's a one room install you would have to wire up the other rooms yourself.

[cj9788]

Upgradeing the hard drive will void your warranty but I dont think it is illegal see this thread: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=22738 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=22738)



As far as cost I have AEP locals 2 sets of distant locals and the supers + one ala carte channel and 3 receivers my bill is 105.00 a month. The AEP (Americas everything pack) Is basically AT150 (AT180) + all the premium movie channels. It is a bargain because my town's cable company has no plans of going digital any time soon even if they did they would not offer the superstations or distant locals to me those are worth the high price of E*. It all depends on the program you select. BTW There are no PVR fees with AEP.

[jgoggan]

A few things...

Can the 501 be upgraded to a large hard drive -- say, an 80GB? Yes.

Can you use Ghost or any other such tool to do it? No.

Why not? Because the drive is married to the receiver and part of the information in that marriage includes sector information. Therefore, even if you could manage to clone it, you'd get an exact clone -- including the size information -- and it wouldn't do you any good as you'd only be able to use 40GB of the 80GB.

But it can be done? Yes.

How? See the "dishmod" Yahoo Group. You'll need tools and things -- it is not trivial in most cases. You even need a tool that can't be mentioned here. heh. :)

Can you use any drive? No, it must be one from a known list to really be usable -- especially for the long term.

- John...

[Mark Holtz]

:welcome_s to DBS Talk, evilotto.

Since you didn't include the location where you are, is there any particular reason for choosing Dish over DirecTV? Are you in Pegasus territory?

[Mike Richardson]

is there any particular reason for choosing Dish over DirecTV? Are you in Pegasus territory?

Is there any particular reason for choosing DirecTV over Dish? Both have their benefits.

[Mark Holtz]

Is there any particular reason for choosing DirecTV over Dish? Both have their benefits.Without going into details (this is the Dish forum, not the DirecTV forum), the DVR that DirecTV offers is better than what Dish has. Either way, when he signs up with the DBS system, he's in a one year commitment, and the best time to acquire equipment is when you are a new subscriber.

Either way, the poster did NOT like the local cable company ("robber barons"), and may want to make a decision quick. Sometimes, the deciding factor is whether or not locals are carried. Sometimes, it's a particular channel. Whatever the case, he is at least asking beforehand.