Just bought 501. What should I look for?

I see horror stories about occasional bad drives. What should I epect?

[Nascar]

I have had my 501 for a year now, Not one problem. (knock) (Knock) on wood... :)

[John Corn]

Since the P154 upgrade, things seem pretty good.
I haven't noticed many complaints, mine been rock solid.

[kstuart]

I would say that if you have a particular TV event that would be a big disappointment to miss, then you should run your VCR (with its own timers) at the same time, on the output of the 501. (For something that you want to have on tape anyway, you'll be doing that anyway.)

However, I have not had a problem recently, and it is entirely possible that the software is now mature enough that - as a new user - you won't ever see the problems that "early adopters" had.

[Kenster]

Zumahans, were you an existing Dish customer? Did they give you a deal on the 501? Did you have to do any special install?