501 Promotion Update

[John Corn]

As of May 1st. the promotion for existing E* customers to "upgrade" to the PVR501 has been extended to July 31 now.
There was no price change it still remains at $199.00, however the MSRP has been dropped from $349.00 to $299.00.

Are they setting the stage for the release of there new PVR's anyone want to speculate the pricing on them?

[Kenster]

Is E* anyway connected with Dishnetwork? Would the 501 offer apply to Dish customers?

[Scott Greczkowski]

E* is Echostar, they own and run Dish Network.

[Kenster]

John, as mentioned before, my father-in-law has about a two week old single receiver Dishnet system. He does have a dual lnb dish (500, I think) . If he called to take advantage of this 501 offer, would they charge him for installing another line from the dish to the house? Would they let him keep the original receiveror is it an 'exchange' deal? ($5.00 monthly fee understood, if he has two receivers) I think this would definitely give him what he wants. With the original receiver AND the 501, he could record one (or two?) shows while watching another channel live. I suppose he could also have it set up to record to his VCR.
Would one remote unit control all of this? I hope it's not too complicated for him. I supposed you would use the program guide to choose what shows you want to record, then somehow switch to the other receiver to watch live TV.
Thanks for your continued tutoring.
Ken

[kstuart]

Kenster - Call Dish Network, but I think $199 includes installation (might be extra for the PARTS cost of the extra cable) and he should be able to keep the existing receiver. I'm not sure whether they would add a second SW21 switch for free or not. Call and ask...

PS 508 supposedly will have MSRP of $399

[Geronimo]

I have seen lots of speculation that the 721 will be sold for $499 or $599. Personally I will wait a few months for the bug fix reports.

[DarrellP]

Just the 120GB hard drive in the 721 costs $379 retail, so unless Dish subsidizes the hell out of it, it ain't gonna be cheap.

[Mark Holtz]

I've just checked www.pricewatch.com....

A 120GB hard drive costs $145. An 80GB HD costs $86. A 40GB HD costs $51.

Your milage may vary. What I have listed is the current "best price", so add on 10-20%.