E* will have refurb 501 offer for $129. Is this a good deal? Any other suggestions?

[coolvirus]

I don't know if this is a good deal or not. I'd like any other suggestions for my case.

One of my 7200 dishplayers is acting up. At first it would not recognize a switch no matter what I tried (pulling out card, unplugging it, etc,etc). I hooked up my other 7200 to see if the problem was the receiver or the cabling. My other 7200 did recognize the switch so cabling was not the problem.

I called Dish Network and they said the receiver was bad. They gave me a few options. They would replace the bad 7200 with another 7200 and charge $36 for a 90 day warranty. Or the new offer for the 510 for $99 but that would bring DVR monthly fees ($4.98, which I think is dumb to be charging for buggy equipment!!).

I asked if there was any other offer with no monthly fees. The CSR checked and said that very soon (possibly starting today but more likely next week) they would have an offer for the 501. Refurbished, with a 90 day warranty, for $129.

I also asked about the 508 but they said they had none. Same thing for the 721. Internet retailers only they said, IF they had any left. I didn't know they were discountinued until I did some research yesterday. Very hard to find and kind of pricey as well ($500).

Anyway, I'm not interested in getting another 7200. I'd like to try a "newer" model. The 510 is nice but I just don't want to have those stupid DVR fees. So that leaves only the 501, 508 and 721 (no DVR fees). I'd love to have the dual tuner 721 but they're so hard to find and a lot more money than the 501 that I don't know if they're worth the extra money.

Any advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[Geronimo]

Your options seem to be a 501 or a 7200. The 5xx has certain limitations. No name based recording etc. Many here insist that they would never take a 501 or 508 over a 7200. I owna 720 and a 508 and would have to give the nod to the 508. But part of that is capacity. I still vote for the 501. Let the games begin.

[coolvirus]

Many here insist that they would never take a 501 or 508 over a 7200
Interesting...why is that? Wouldn't you go with the newer model with the bigger hard drive?

[boba]

REMAN is your key word if you bought the $1.99 extended warranty your safe otherwise Remans only have a 90 day warranty. If you bought the DHPP $5.99 warranty you might as well have gotten the $79 510 upgrade and sent back the 7200 and pay the $4.98 DVOD fee but have the larger hard drive and the 1 year new receiver warranty.

[coolvirus]

I don't have the $1.99 extended warranty. And $4.98 monthly DVR fee? I haven't had a single DVR fee with my 7200s, I don't think I want to start paying them now.

[finniganps]

I moved from the 7100 to the 508 this year. I sold my 7100 on e-bay for $329 and bought a remanufactured 508 on e-bay from a satellite dealer for $225 (with a 1 year warranty). If you go the e-bay route, I'd make sure that the one you buy comes with a 1 year warranty. I had problems with mine and finally just had Dish replace it. I was really glad to have the warranty. They charged me $14.95 for the shipping, but now I have a receiver that works and I really like it. The only thing I miss from the 7100 is the ability to search by name, actor, etc., which you can't do on the 508, but I don't regret the switch at all and I didn't want to pay the $9.99/mo. for the 7100 PVR feature. I wish I would have done this a long time ago. There's no monthly fee with the 501, 508 or 721 (that's why I switched to the 508).

[Geronimo]

Some people with 7100s get charged a fee. Some do not. It is all too hard to go into.

As for whay some say they would not accept a 501 etc it is because they want a new receiver with every capability of their old ones. finniganps has named some of the features that the 7x00 had that other DISH PVRs do not.

[garypen]

I moved from the 7100 to the 508 this year. I sold my 7100 on e-bay for $329 and bought a remanufactured 508 on e-bay from a satellite dealer for $225 (with a 1 year warranty). If you go the e-bay route, I'd make sure that the one you buy comes with a 1 year warranty. I had problems with mine and finally just had Dish replace it. I was really glad to have the warranty. They charged me $14.95 for the shipping, but now I have a receiver that works and I really like it. The only thing I miss from the 7100 is the ability to search by name, actor, etc., which you can't do on the 508, but I don't regret the switch at all and I didn't want to pay the $9.99/mo. for the 7100 PVR feature. I wish I would have done this a long time ago. There's no monthly fee with the 501, 508 or 721 (that's why I switched to the 508).I thought the 501, 508, and 510 all have the same software. My 510 seems to have the ability to do text based searches. I don't know if it works or not (after all, this is Dish gear), as I have yet to use it. But, it is there in the menu, never the less.

[Scooters]

I am very happy with my 501. I would take out the $1.99 insurance, though.

We have a 501 and a 6000 hooked to the HDTV. 95% of the time the TV stays on the DVR. The family would rather have the DVR features than watch Hi Def.... go figure!

I am really looking forward to a 921 when they get the bugs worked out. The on-screen program guide, with off air locals is a must-have for me. I still can't figure out why they can't map the existing local guide from their sat feed to the HD channels. OOOppps, I'm rambling....

I'd suggest that you go for the 501 and sell it later on e-bay if you want to trade up. In any case you won't loose much!

[Geronimo]

Anyone else find that in the 510 menu?

[garypen]

It's...
-Menu,
-Themes & Search,
-Search.

[pbrown]

You can actually do a search by pressing the "#" key on your remote. AND you can search for actor, title, etc. You just can't do a "Name-Based" recording like TIVO, which is fine with me. I really like my 508.

[Bob Haller]

E REALLY should offer a 510 with a different model number like 510X that would sell for retail but carry no DVR fee. This would accomodate customers who for whatrever reason dislike monthly fees

A customer driven company would do this, besides its a low cost solution.

Mr jones a 510 with one year commitment is $99 and $5 a month DVR fee

Or the 510X is $300 no commitments or fees, which one would you prefer:)

[van_gogh]

You can actually do a search by pressing the "#" key on your remote. AND you can search for actor, title, etc. You just can't do a "Name-Based" recording like TIVO, which is fine with me. I really like my 508.

What is meant by "name-based" recording? When I access the search menu I can search by "Title" or "Program Details" and set a timer from those search results. To me, searching by Title would be name-based recording.

Are people referring to the fact that a program may change time slots but my timer still goes off at its original time and date setting? For example, American Idol last week went from Tueday & Wednesday nights to Wednesday & Thursday nights, but I still taped on Tuesday night. Or is there more to "Name-based" recording that I'm missing?

[pbrown]

Here's an example of "Name Based Recording":

You're scrolling through the guide and come across "Friends" at 8:00 on Thursday. You set a weekly timer to record Friends. Now, in three weeks, NBC for some reason moves Friends to Wednesday at 8. With name-based recording, you will still get your recording of Friends. With Dish, you will get whatever was on NBC on Thursday from 8:00 to 8:30, even though the timer is labeled "Friends".

Would it be a cool feature to me? Yes. But, not having it doesn't diminish my enjoyment of my 508 any less. I know what I want to watch, and I take responsibility for making sure it gets recorded.

Good luck.