*sigh*.....Complaining about the 501.

As I make my way through the Internet daily, I would like to tell some people to sell there 501 and get a Tivo.
Mine has been fine, I've had a bug a time or 2.
nuff said. :D

I agree John - I've never had a problem with my 501, and mine was one of the first to come off the line. Just lucky I guess.

I'm really surprised here, no one ever mentions alot about it. Every now and then but thats about it.
I would welcome more of it around here. :D

More complaining about the 501, or more positive stories about it? :)

Just a couple of minor glitches here..had to reboot one and never lost a recording..had the 501 about 5 weeks

Either or Mark, its kind quiet around here regarding the 501.

Tim, Good to see ya back. :)

No problem John..I never "went" anywhere. I have been reading and posting at the "other place" for over two years..Hard to get into a pattern to come here as well..I probably check over here on the average of once a week..Another note on the 501.I probably average about 25 hours of regular recording a week I am very pleased with its performance

I'm with you, Tim. I record about 15 hours a week on my 501, and have never had a glitch of any kind on it.

My wife has mine slap full of Oprah. :evil:

I had my first recording bug with it last night, I had Fear Factor set to record, it stoped after 1 hour, FF last night was an 1 1/2 hour episode. :(

John, did you set a manual timer for a 1.5 hour event, or did a weekly timer record it for only the hour that it was set for? I.e. user error, or 501 recording bug? :)

If you set a manual timer for 1.5 hours, did it conflict with anything else set for the next hour? One thing that I'm noticing more and more is that I don't always get a conflicting timer screen when I set up conflicting timers anymore.

I've had several problems with the 501. The upgrade before last caused me to lose all of my recordings, about 20 hours worth. I've problems with it locking up and have to reboot. I've also had ghosting problems with the menus. Overall it is less troublesome than my DP 7200. Plus it needs more intelligent PTR software. It records weekly and daily events even when they are not on. My 7200 won't record a show if the schedule on the guide changes.

I had a weekly timer set.

Well, tivo the 501 ain't...that's for sure. Guess you'll watch your weekly timers more closely now, won't you John? :) Happened to me once as well...

lol....ya I will. :D
It was about 15 mins before I realized it had stoped recording, I just happen to notice the red light was off.

Is Tivo really that perfect?

According to everyone over at dbsforums in the pvr forum, tivo is that perfect, and does windows too! I dunno about that, but it does keep track of shows so that if they change slots, or change lengths, it would record at the right time for the right time.

Up until last night I too would have been counted in the happy throngs of 501 owners.

Last night I was watching a previously recorded show while recording another. When the one that was being recorded ended the PVR happily ended the recording then promptly shutdown the receiver and lost all my recordings (20+ hours).

Called Dish and they had me try rebooting by unplugging from the wall, but all to no avail.

On the bright side I now have room for 30+ hours of recordings. (Can't wait to lose them again)

The 501 has a basic timer similiar to those in VCR's. It will record at the times it is set for. It doesn't use any program information to set the timer.

I find the 501 to work fine knowing it doesn't have the automatic features other recorders have.

It also doesn't have the service fee's the other recorders have.

It's nice to have the choice.

But I hate to say this, it will run rings around the DishPlayer / 501. 2 Friends of mine, STAUNCH E* supporters, have switched to DirecTV and the DirecTiVo. A third is waiting until his 1-year is up. I refer to him as a "convict" doing his time for taking a hit of E*. The 3 of them gave me a whole lot of hell for going with DirecTV 3 1/2 years ago.

The TiVo is only as good as the Guide Data that feeds it. Yes, It would have automatically recorded the super size Fear Factor, unless a higher priority Season Pass was slated for the last 30 minutes. But, with the dual tuners, conflicts are few and far between.

Except for a rash of infant mortality failures, the DirecTiVo has been solid. I cannot imagine going back to watching TV the old way.

And, as an indication of the appeal of the thing, my wife, who rolled her eyes when I bought it, will not give it up. She swears by the thing, and demo's the thing to all of her friends. Now if only the supply would catch up with the demand.

And, to those who rail against the PVR fee, compare what you have, with what the TiVo offers. Is it not worth $.34 / day? Looking at how E* has implemented 2 PVR's to date, can you blame the TiVo crowd for not supporting the merger?

Charlie can have my DirecTiVo when he can pry it from my cold, dead, hands. If my TiVo is not in his plans, then I am not part of his subscriber base, IF the merger gets approved.

Posted by Win Joy:
I cannot imagine going back to watching TV the old way. And, to those who rail against the PVR fee, compare what you have, with what the TiVo offers.
I have a 501 and and an unsubbed SA TiVo which offer precisely what I want.

The core feature of any DVR is the ability to almost instantly record and review an ongoing program. TiVo service, UTV, and even ReplayTV, offer various other features I don't want for an extra price.

I'd much rather pay for programming than for TiVo's programming presentation service. I enjoy watching most TV programming without timeshifting it.

If the DBS merger goes through I would have a problem with being forced to accept a replacement DVR which required an additional service fee before it would record.

I don't believe that's likely and am not strongly for or against the merger. It doesn't appear that input from here will have much affect on it anyway.

I don't think many people who are happy with their 501's are going to be willing to pay the $10... I know I won't.

It works for you, and I have no problem with that.

Have you even given the TiVo service a try? It saves me a lot of time managing my "gadget", since I do not need to set many manual selections. Add in the wishlists and the Season Passes, and it makes my TV viewing more enjoyable. I know that only first run episodes of Enterprise are picked up by my TiVo, waiting for me when I want to watch it. Plus, skipping 15 - 20 minutes of commercials an hour is also very nice.

And who knows, if TiVo is the selected PVR maker post merge, you may not need to pay a fee. It could be hidden in the next price increase everyone pays...

Honestly, I haven't tried tivo, but I have seen it. For now, all I need is a glorified vcr, which is the niche that the 501 fills. The only feature I don't have is the ability to archive the hdd of the 501 with DD intact to some sort of media.... I'd love to see firewire for this.

Originally posted by Win Joy:
Have you even given the TiVo service a try?
Yes, I used to have a 30 hr. SA TiVo with lifetime service which I eventually traded away. I am very familiar with its capabilities. I found I did not use it to watch timeshifted TV but only watched programs on it which I had missed. That was a waste of it's capabilities.

I find the 501 to be almost exactly what I want in a DVR.

For me the core reason to have a DVR is the ability to instantly record and revue an ongoing program. Besides the 501 I have a Dishplayer and a 20 hr. unsubbed SA TiVo. I also have an OTA tuner with the Starsight EPG.

I mostly use the 501 to record program conflicts when they occur.

I use the Dishplayer the same as the 501.

All the programming sources (two satellite and several OTA) are accessible on 3 TV sets in the house. The sources can be controlled remotely.

I doubt they'll be problems for either Echostar or DirecTV equipment owners if the merger gets approved. I expect DVR products to remain available from their current manufacturers for a postmerger DirecTV.

I'm not strongly pro or anti DBS merger--but we don't have much say about it! I certainly wouldn't be happy with major programming price increases.

I'd be strongly opposed to getting a free replacement DVR which required an additional service fee to record. If they're going to give away replacement DirecTV DVR's with service included (highly unlikely, IMHO) I'd choose UTV which has almost the same EPG as the Dishplayer which has my favorite EPG display.

"I'd be strongly opposed to getting a free replacement DVR which required an additional service fee to record. If they're going to give away replacement DirecTV DVR's with service included (highly unlikely, IMHO) I'd choose UTV which has almost the same EPG as the Dishplayer which has my favorite EPG display."

I'm strongly opposed to giving up my UTV that runs perfectly for $10 per month for a Dish unit that is free but doesn't work. You get what you pay for.

Originally posted by Karl F:
I'm strongly opposed to giving up my UTV that runs perfectly for $10 per month for a Dish unit that is free but doesn't work.

I disagree totally with you that the 501 "doesn't work". The 501 is a basic DVR. I find it an exciting concept because it does precisely what I want in DVR without doing all the extra things which other manufacturers add for extra cost.

That being said, I'm in total agreement with you that neither of us would be satisfied with each other's choice.

I also have a Dishplayer besides the 501. Until the "PTV service" for the Dishplayer was included at no charge I didn't subscribe to it. I like the style of the DP and enjoy using it either as a receiver or DVR.

Dishplayer was the original design for what evolved into UTV. Dishplayer has design flaws which cause glitches. For me its glitches are consistant and easy to remedy when they occur. I like DP and the EPG which it largely shares with UTV.

There are a lot of uncertainies regarding the outcome if the DBS merger get approved. I'm of the belief that most things would work out pretty well. But there's no guarrantee.

I don't feel strongly pro or con regarding the merger. My biggest concern is that programming costs will rise to just below cable prices. The one thing I can say with certainty is that we here at internet forums won't have much say about it.

IMO....The 501 takes a beating when it isn't really that bad.