508 Owners/Ex-owners

[airpolgas]

I have 3 508s. I do not pay any PVR fees. Reading the forums gave me the impression that this unit caused a lot of grief to a lot of people, and I was wondering if you can share your experiences here.

Please be detailed if you can. Instead of "it crashed," maybe you can specify what you were doing at the time, like "pressed search while recording..." and so on.

Personally, since I had the units, I only remember 3 occasions when a unit froze on me. All I had to do was reset it, and all went back to normal. I also did not lose any recorded shows I had at the time.

Thank you.

[Charise]

I have had 2 incidents since purchasing my 508 over a year ago. In both instances I was doing a timer recording and noticed that the light hadn't gone off, meaning recording was finished, at the correct time. I tried to stop the recording but was unable to end it on both occasions. Really could do nothing--couldn't turn off the 508, couldn't get the guide, nothing. Waited fewer than 5 minutes while watching the current station, tried again, and everything was fine.

Sometimes I think I press buttons too quickly...

Never another problem in all that time. I love it! I think I will only love the 921 more (when I can get one, of course).

[rcwilcox]

By and large a stable machine. I have had very little trouble with mine and likewise my son has two with only a defective harddrive once. Some people that post here are really bashing not posting and some have had some bad luck but the norm is about what you experienced

[Randy_B]

We have not had any problems with our 501 or 510. Aside from the size of the HD I see no reason why the 508 would be more problematic.

[AppliedAggression]

I agree with the above. The 501 series DVRs were very rough around the edges when they first released but they're now very stable and have a lot more features than before.

[veith]

I have had a number of problems with 508, purchased in August of last year. None of them have really made me sweat. I researched this purchase in depth and was a little leary because of a significant number of posts about problems.

You asked for specifics, and I'll try to remember what I can. One problem would seem to stem from doing certain specific commands (say setting up a timer or deleting a program or pushing "live" button) at the exact moment when the unit actually begins to record from a predetermined timer. What happens in this case is the recording does not turn off. When that happens I pull the card to power down the drive, then reboot by unplugging and replugging the power supply. This has happend to me probably about three times in the last 8 months.

There have been other odd but rare problems. Occasionally when two discrete times are set to fire sequentially the second one will fail. The screen pvr screens reports as if it thinks it only recorded a minute or so of the first program so it doesn't stop; it thinks it has recorded only a few minutes of the first program when in reality the program is over. Same solution as above.

There have been random freezes, also times when not all the borders or graphics will present on a control screen (strange sight, just words). Other times graphics from a pvr screen (pvr, program info, timers, etc) will remain superimposed on the picture a few seconds and then fade out.

When events like this begin happening with more frequency I do a hard reboot which seems to cure the problems for awhile anyway. I would guess I do a hard reboot about every three weeks or so.

I don't consider any of the above problems serious with the possible exception of the out of control record problem which I've always been able to catch in time thus far.

On an average I have 30 to 40 hours free on my drive. It may not apply in this particular arena, but many years of computer use have inclined me toward not overcrowding the hard drive. Of course I don't see any real problem with letting it drop to 20 or less, I'm just in the habit of clearing programs off which have been viewed. And I always power it down after viewing. I'm also very sensitive about cooling issues and keep it well ventilated.

On the whole I've been quite pleased with it relative to the number of negative comments. I believe the software upgrades have probably been helpful to stability.

I just wish the heck Dish made it more plausible to replace hard drives. I really like my 508 and would like to keep it running for years. On the other hand, in my recollection, it seems I've read about as many tuner failures as hard drive failures.

I try to be kind to my 508, and hope it will reward me with a good long life.

Very best regards,
Charles

[airpolgas]

Yes, most problems I encountered were fixed by a reset. I am really happy with the 508, and I notice the same from the people that responded.

Regarding the software updates that you mentioned, I know mine updates too, but it bothers me when I see screenshots of other models' GUI. I was hoping all Dish PVR screenshots would closely resemble each other, save for those with dual tuners.

Tivo kept everything fairly uniformed with their interface, whether you're using a stand-alone, DirecTivo, Series 2, etc.

I love the three outputs of the 508. I love the UHF remote. My living room 508 can be viewed in the living room and from another 2 bedrooms (long cables, but hidden). Same setup with the other two 508s. I have my own Home Media Option going on, minus the pictures and music -- then again, I can do without those.

[Jacob S]

I had problems with the 501 where it had (1) hard drive failure and (2) tuner failures. I have heard similar issues on the boards of the 508's having this issue as well.

[BigDaddy10]

I love my 508. Any issue I've had with it was resolved by a reset. I've never lost my timers or any of the horror stories I have heard from others on this site. It seems to be an extremely stable system. I too plan on keeping it for years. I look forward to any updates they have for it. I've heard they will eventually go to name base recording. That will be EXTREMELY nice. :grin:

[joebird]

I've got 2 508s now. One is a replacement. The disk had a serious problem, and they sent me a new one (well, probably re-furb) for $20. The other one has an intermittent problem where every now and then in the morning it will have the guide data on top of the screen (the white-text overlay), but no video or sound. Pulling the card out, waiting, an putting the card in solves that every time. Not fun, but not too difficult, either. Never lost any recordings or anything like that.

[freakmonkey]

I have had my 508 for 1 year 3 months and have had 3 problems. One of them I caused my self. The one I caused my self was out of boredom. I used the lock features and locked all the channels out. Well doing this also locks or freezes you out of the locks feature. I had to do some sort of sys dump to reset the entire unit. I lost all my timers when I did this.

The second problem has been with the remote it seems possessed some times. It acts up i will press the button once to go up or down on the guide and it skips ahead like I am holding the button down. Only fix I have found is to disconnect the ANt for the UHF remote and use it as IR for a while.

The third has been reported above where the record lite goes off but the sys wont let you do any thing. I have noticed that it only does this when I try to set new timers while it is recording. It also happened once while It was raining and the signal was lost for about five mins. I was also recording at the time. It is no biggie as far as I am concerned.

All in all I love my 508 and can never go back to a regular receiver. I love the fact that is in non intrusive unlike its TIVO counter part who can keep track of what you watch or rewind or skip or other wise schedule. It does not seek out and record shows because it thinks I like them. It is really a fantastic product.

[Bob Haller]

have 2 508s. in the 2 or 3 years I hve owned them I have been thru 6 or 7 replacements, nearly all for hard drive failures or froze will not reset, which is likely hard drive failure caused.

Other than that they have been ok. When you see one freeze often watch your pre recorded shows since you maty loose them.

I admit were very heavy users. The 508s live in the basement on top of a high cabinet well ventlated away from dogs, kids, and disturbances. Their rate of failure there was the same as when they lived upstairs and disturbed jens sleep with the hard drive noise which I cant usually hear.

All in all they have been more dependable than our 721

[Jacob S]

I had 4 501's! The first one had a hard drive failure, the second and third one had a tuner failure, the fourth one I sold cheap ($175) to rid of it. I did not know to keep another one. I had gotten a special deal on two 508's but heard that some people had issues with those although I dont think as many, plus they gave me such a hard time to get them and they kept messing things up, making mistakes, and by the time I finally got them I decided that I might as well sell them since the 510 is out. I finally got a special deal on the 510 after they gave me the runaround on that. I will probably use the money I got out of the 508's to buy 522's in the future if they have no special deals for existing subscribers on them.

[JM Anthony]

Had a 508 for a bit over a year now and have had no problems. For some reason caller ID doesn't work, but what the heck the only calls we get at our house are for our teenage daughters! :grin:

[airpolgas]

I've read about the caller ID thing. I don't keep my phoneline connected to the unit so that's something I won't miss. :)

[dfergie]

Have had a 501 for a couple of years, have never lost any programming and only a couple of resets.

[Jacob S]

In order to get caller id to work your system needs to be grounded properly. One may also be able to connect it up to a surge protector that has a place for the phone line which grounds it through the electrical ground.

[JM Anthony]

In order to get caller id to work your system needs to be grounded properly. One may also be able to connect it up to a surge protector that has a place for the phone line which grounds it through the electrical ground.

Bedroom set gets caller ID fine. Family room unit (508) has all of its connections, including the phone line, run though a Monster Power unit. I've checked the set up to make sure caller ID is enabled and it is.

[finniganps]

I just bought a remanufactured 508 in January 2004. I have never been able to get it to NOT freeze a previously recorded item that I am watching if I am ALSO recording at the same time. In a 1 hour show it probably freezes 5 times for at least 5 seconds each time. My wife refuses to watch anything now while recording. I've reset many times and it seems to work until I have more than 2 items saved, than it does it again. Bottom line - I need to watch the stuff I've saved and then Dish will be sending me a new unit under the warranty. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the next one.

[speedy882001]

Have two 508's. Only had to replace one for a bad hard drive after about six months. Only other problems ever encountered were freeze ups that rebooting took care of and when I first turn them on if you do not wait until the disk spins up it can freeze the unit. Other than those few items no major problems.

[Turbohawk]

I miss my 508. Having gotten a "dish killer" deal from Time Warner, where they give me all the digital channels AND any premium movie channel AND their new DVR, all for $35/month ($20 less than what I was paying Dishnet for Top 150 + locals with tax), I have found out that this "wonderful new dvr" that Time Warner puts out doesn't hold a candle to the software and stability of the 508. Time Warner's unit is actually a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000, which is a two-tuner, 80 GB unit. The problem is not the hardware, but the software. In interest of time, I'm not going to list all the failings compared to the "old" 508.

Due to the cost savings, I am going to try to live with the shortcomings of this DVR as long as I can, but I have already had the impulse, more than once, to call Time Warner and tell them to take this POS DVR and stick it somewhere. I can only imagine how stupid those people are that are paying an additional $9.95/month for this thing. Of course, they probably just don't know any better...

[bassetized]

we're on our 3rd 501. the both the first and second hard drives died. the third is acting up, but i think it's probably a cable issue. we were told that Dish is having lots of 501's crap out now-coming to the end of their service life?
i think i want to upgrade before this'un dies. Dish said that they'd let me have a 510 for $124...
been thinkin' about a 2 tuner box, if i could get a deal for one of those(but i ain't holding my breath)

[Mark Holtz]

I will admit that when I had a 501, I encounted an occassional "glitch", but it did it's job, which is a lot more than what I can say about having 10 timers on a cable box and 4 timers on a VCR. I was willing to accept it's shortcoming provided it was free.

When there was a $5 DVR fee to be associated with Dish's new DVRs, it was cause enough for me to jump ship. Within six months, my 35 hour DVR went to 243 hours. If I could stop recording movies from TCM and Fox Movie channels, I might have room for keeping entire seasons of shows.

[mindwarp]

I had a 508 when they came out and the hard disk died after about 6 months, but I always pointed my finger to the bad electrical service where I lived, every day there were a lot of spikes, and even the surge protector that came with my system burned. Dish changed it for a new 508 on Dec 2002. Now, I hope it continues to work as stable as it is doing in my new home. In 4 months I have only had the electrical service out only 2 times.