721 RCA inputs?

[GnatGoSplat]

Can the 721 record from the RCA front panel inputs?
If not, is there any other way to get video into a 721? USB port or some other kind of port?

[nsafreak]

Can the 721 record from the RCA front panel inputs?
If not, is there any other way to get video into a 721? USB port or some other kind of port?

No, the inputs are only for things like hooking up a camcorder, video game console, etc for viewing purposes. Insofar as any other way of getting video onto the unit I am not aware of any that will allow you to do that.

[SimpleSimon]

nsafreak is correct. NONE of the E* boxes have MPEG ENcoders, and that's required to do digital recording.

[GnatGoSplat]

Ah, that's kind of disappointing. Thanks for the replies!

[Evil Capserian]

Ok I am curious about the 721's other features. I notice dish email, messaging and even an option for internet (although its grayed out)? I also notice it has some USB ports on it. I know you can plug a mouse into the 721's USB port and have mouse access, so what about a USB Wi-Fi card? Can you plug a USB Wi-Fi card thats connected to a home network and have internet access available on this 721 or not?

[SimpleSimon]

No. About the best you can get is a USB keyboard.

[Evil Capserian]

Simon,

Say I got a keyboard, than what? What am I gonna do with it? Just type movies to search for faster thats all? I know I read about someone turning a 721 into a server but that is way way beyond me. I dont understand why dish has such good intentions as internet for this 721 and they never follow up on them.

[GnatGoSplat]

I must have missed that... how did someone turn a 721 into a server?
What does it serve?

[SimpleSimon]

Simon,

Say I got a keyboard, than what? What am I gonna do with it? Just type movies to search for faster thats all? I know I read about someone turning a 721 into a server but that is way way beyond me. I dont understand why dish has such good intentions as internet for this 721 and they never follow up on them.Yup that's all the keyboard is good for. I also remember the "721 as server" rumor, but it wasn't anything interesting, just being able to run normal Linux on it.

Finally, I'm not so sure that E* EVER had the intention of enabling internet on the 721. Nor DishWire on the 921. Their historical pattern of deceit is jsut too big.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Ok I am curious about the 721's other features. I notice dish email, messaging and even an option for internet (although its grayed out)? I also notice it has some USB ports on it. I know you can plug a mouse into the 721's USB port and have mouse access, so what about a USB Wi-Fi card?The same things are also listed (and greyed out) on the 921.

[larrystotler]

There is a thread here where someone managed to network the 721 by using a USB/ethernet adapter and used it as a web server. However, you have to be careful because the software does checks and if you modify it too much it reinstalls itself, and you loose all of your changes. The 721 is based on linux, so you can do some things with it. One guy modified the file that controls the front panel lights and made them blink when he wanted them to. If you do add anything to the system, you would have to be careful because you could tax the processor and I/O and cause the recording to not work properly.

[Evil Capserian]

Well, Im not planning on opening the unit up. Paid too much money to tinker with it like that. I will prefer to leave it as it is. All I am really interested is what this box is capable of. Like internet and dish messaging and this is on the unit but not enabled. This ticks me off. I want internet on my tv. High speed that is. I even thought about getting msntv 2 but than I heard you gotta pay a fee and all that. I just wanna link the 721 to my home network. I guess dish isn't really to interested in getting internet on it. So many possibilities the 721 but all fail. Anyone know when we gonna get dish games on the 721?? Hmmm??

[GnatGoSplat]

Adding a networked MP3 playing feature to the 721 would have been really cool. Something like the Tivo Home Media Option. To XBox, hackers have added an XBox Media Center which can stream MP3 and videos off a PC. Oh well, all I can do is dream because I don't know anything about Linux nor programming.