Echostar PVR 721 Screen Shots

[KeithLINY]

.

[MikeW]

Keith-Nice-Thanks

[John Corn]

Hi Keith, Welcome to DBSTalk :hi:

Thank you for providing us those pictures, the user interface really looks cool.

[DDRio]

I want one!!!!!!!!!

[DDRio]

What's the deal with the information screen? From what I can see in the screenshots the info screen was not transparent.

I wonder if the search feature is activated? I hope so!!

Looks good!!!

[Bill D]

Thanks Keith, I see their our choices for transparency, off, medium and full. Looks great
Does the 721 come with the keyboard, or when you do searches is it easy enough to use the on screen keyboard. I remember the press releases about the award winning keyboard but wondering since no internet right now do you still get one??

[Scott Greczkowski]

Very Cool Keith! Welcome to DBStalk!

I have known Keith for a long time now, infact Keith helped me install my 10 Foot Dish at my fathers house.

Good to have Keith aboard!

I was hoping to have my 721 today but it didn't come hopefully tommorow or Monday.

So the big question is how do ya like it and any bugs you noticed?

Scott

[Adam Richey]

Wasn't the 721 supposed to have some Internet options with it or something? I heard that it would have some type of way to connect to the Internet. Did they scrap that or what?

[BobaBird]

Keith,
Thanks, these are great! I like the EPG with 7 channels, PIP, and program info all displayed at once. Can you show us the transparent guide?

Also like the taller browse banner showing both the current and next shows. Can it still be scrolled to the right to see what's on after those 2? If so, how far?

And I am completely astounded to see a program visible behind the menus. Woohoo! :righton:

Bill D,
The keyboard is optional. Without it, you can choose to hunt and peck on the virtual keyboard (alphabetical or QWERTY, thanks Keith for showing that option) or use the remote control for telephone-style alpha entry like searching on the 501 (http://ekb.dbstalk.com/291#Search) . It may be different on the 721 but that will give you some idea.

[Swampthing]

Great job, Keith! I'm relieved to see the interface looks very nice, and almost resembles a cross between the current Dishplayer and regular interfaces.

Just curious... did you purchase this unit through a retailer, or are these shots from beta testing?

[Adam Richey]

It looked like the Internet connection options will be available a little later on from the look of the menus. Will Dish develop their own Internet thing or will they get a deal with another company. I'm curious cuz my main reason for even looking into the 721 was because it had PVR and internet.

[KeithLINY]

Hi..

I got to play more with the 721 today.
( It's not mine to take home )

1st let me tell you that its NOT READY for Distribution,
it is so buggy. SLUGGISH is the main problem/
The PIP sometimes works. Changing Channels
can go crazy.

- It has a 7 Day Guide

- For some reason it does not get Instant Weather
on ch.9500, but it must have open tv since it
has some games ( via the Interactive Menu )

- The Browse button displays whats playing
NOW and NEXT. No right scrolling is needed.

If I remember correctly a feature I noticed was when
in the Guide you can scroll all around the EPG, but
the new feature was you can scroll into the channel
name (Listed on the left side) and when you do
that it changes channels on the Upper Display...

( I think thats what it did, I forget :)

But my review so far is IT'S BUGGY....
otherwise its nice, but is it worth $550 ?

[kck]

Has antone else noticed the top banner was showing channel #10 for "remote control help", not channel #101? Is this part of the new mapping for locals. (its the lower left screen shot)

[KeithLINY]

That ch.10 is probably an error on my part, I was
not alone when taking the snapshots, so maybe
someone was punching in a channel (ie.105)...

But I do recall today when it was acting up,
there was a channel 77 on the View Banner.
I dont know it its a bug or it was going crazy :)

[kck]

Keith, did you notice if the locals were in the 8000's or the 2 digit zone? BTW, thanks for the great screen shots. I have a waiting list of past customers looking to order the 721 but after your short review I think I will wait to order them.

[KeithLINY]

The locals were in the 8000's..

also I noticed there was no INTERACTIVE WEATHER
Channel on ch.9500

[John Corn]

Keith's review is somewhat disappointing, I figured it might have a bug or two............*sigh*..............:(

I mean changing channels, you would figure they would have that much right..........:shrug:

[Dmitriy]

Keith, how did you get access to the 721? Are you a beta tester?

[Chris Blount]

Keith,

Thanks for the great screen shots and welcome to DBSTalk.Com :hi:

The 721 looks interesting. Too bad for the buggy software. Seems like Dish has been spending too much time on the merger and not enough on software development.

[John Corn]

Based on the 501, I figured software development would have been further along. :mad:

E* software developers shouldn't be having anything to do with the merger?

[Scott Greczkowski]

I understand that there will be a software update for the 721's that should be going out early this week. This update it supposed to be more stable and faster as well.

After this update is sent out then the 721's will be released to the public.

I should have on as soon as they hit the warehouse. Besides the normal Screen Shots, I am working on putting a RealVideo server online so that people can see the 721 in action.

Stay tuned to DBStalk.COM for all the latest updates.

Scott

[Swampthing]

ugh... Real video? Do you have any other higher quality solutions available??

[Scott Greczkowski]

Nope it will be RealVideo.

I will be using Surestream which means it will be dual encoded. 56k for those with a 56k modem and 256k for those with broadband connections.

The videos will give you some general overviews of things. Everything will be good enough to get the feel on how things run.

[Randy_B]

Saw on DBSForums that Claude (Metro) has said he has a 721 in hand now.

[kstuart]

Too bad for the buggy software. Seems like Dish has been spending too much time on the merger and not enough on software development.

Software engineers certainly are not involved in the merger ! :rolleyes:

From the look of the interface, I would guess that it was designed from scratch, which takes longer.

In the case of the 501, they took a 4900 and added PVR features to it - which is one reason the timer screen still looks the same as 5 years ago. However, that meant that they did not have to "reinvent the wheel" - all of the timer, tuning, and satellite setup code was already there.

From all indications, the 501 should remain "ahead" of the 721 for awhile, at least in terms of stability. From what I hear, the next 501 software release includes some incremental improvements rather than major features (although new features common to all the DishPro receivers should also appear, such as DishHome) - but some of those minor improvements are ones that have been requested in the Forums.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I just received word that my 721 has finally been shipped! It WILL be here on Friday!

Unfortunately while this is good news for us, because we Will be doing a full product review, the bad news is that units are still not shipping to customers yet. Echostar for some reason is shipping units out in quantities of 1 or 2 for dealer use so that they can set them up and use them as displays in their showroom.

I am told that larger quantities will be available soon. So sit back and relax and we will put the 721 through its paces for you! Look for the 721 review this weekend here on DBStalk.COM!

[Jay Byron]

:mad:

[Jay Byron]

Scott,
How much longer do I have to wait? A week, a month. They send it to dealers instead of me-a PAYING customer. It amazes me that I can walk in and plunk down $549 for a bug infested Windows computer but I can't get my hands on this PVR by the end of June 2002! Is calling Dish Depot on July 5th to find out the status of my preorder enough time?

[Scott Greczkowski]

Jay, check Dish Depots website, they are now shipping. :)

[lee635]

Hey the link isn't working... too many people visited angelfire.

:(