721 question

[dbronstein]

When my 721 is recording one show and then another timer kicks in, I get a message saying that the main tuner and PIP tuner are both in use so what do I want to do? I select the option to record on main and everything works fine, but what happens if I just let it sit there? Will it ever record the second show? And shouldn't it just swith over to it on the free tuner by itself?

Dennis

[EvanS]

Originally posted by dbronstein
When my 721 is recording one show and then another timer kicks in, I get a message saying that the main tuner and PIP tuner are both in use so what do I want to do? I select the option to record on main and everything works fine, but what happens if I just let it sit there? Will it ever record the second show? And shouldn't it just swith over to it on the free tuner by itself?

Dennis

bumping this up - I'll be getting my 721 soon and would also like to know.
seems the tuner selection should be pretty much seamless, as far as recording goes

[Scott Greczkowski]

There is a bug fix that will fix this problem, if the tuner you are watching is in use it will automaticly flip to the second tuner without giving you a warning.

This is one of the things I mentioned the day I first got my unit. :)

Now the question is when will Dish release the bug fix? Your guess is as good as mine.

[sjhill01]

I don't think that's the bug he's referring to.. I've had this happen several times, and it's when I'm recording one show, watching another one live, and, on top of that, a timer fires. The dialog box pops up asking what it should do.. I've been wondering what happens until you answer the question, but I've never setup a test just to see.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Oh that one. I just tell it to use the "main tuner", then I flip to PIP and change to the other tuner. :)

Yes the 721 got some bugs but I seem to know all the work arounds already. :)

[greylar]

From what I can tell this isn't really a bug. You can't be recording 2 programs and still watch a 3rd, (unless its from you PVR list),  for the simple fact that there is only 2 tuners. My guess is that in this case since the timer is the last one to the party so to speak it will not record anything until you give it permission to use one of the tuners already in use.

Greylar

[dbronstein]

I just tell it to use the main tuner, but if I'm not right in front of the TV at the time, it misses the start of the show until I tell it to go. It should just switch the main tuner over to the channel it's supposed to record without prompting.

Dennis

[EvanS]

Originally posted by dbronstein
I just tell it to use the main tuner, but if I'm not right in front of the TV at the time, it misses the start of the show until I tell it to go. It should just switch the main tuner over to the channel it's supposed to record without prompting.

Dennis

so does this mean that you MUST turn the 721 "off" when you are not watching and there is a chance of a timer firing?

I could see the scenario where you go to bed and leave the 721 on. A timer fires so it is recording on 1 tuner. Now if another timer goes to fire won't this be a problem? I ASSUME that while the unit is ON that both tuners are "tuned" to something and buffering up to the limit.
Unless, of course, I totally don't understand what constitutes a LIVE tuner. I mean - if the 721 is ON how does it know whether you are watching something or not?? :shrug:

the only thing that I can think of that would differ from my scenario would be if 1 tuner was recording and the 2nd tuner was SPECIFICALLY "PIPed" to be the main tuner....maybe this is the case?

[Scott Greczkowski]

I have seen this happen once, what happened was I did not reply to its question so when the timer was to fire it took control over the tuner I was watching and recorded what it was supposed to.

The screen that came up was a warning basicly that it wanted to use the tuner I was using.

[sjhill01]

The safest bet is defeinitely to turn off the 721 when you're not watching it, since that could easily cause you to miss a show (unless you're already tuned to the channel it's going to record on) if you're already recording something on the background tuner.

If the 721 is "ON", then you ARE watching something whether you're sitting there or not. (Is that kind of like the tree in the forest with no one around?)

[virtualsmith]

But there is no way to actually turn the 721 "off". If you reboot, it just comes back up in a few minutes and it is on again.

[sjhill01]

By "Off" we really mean Standby (i.e., no display, power button not lit, etc.). When in this mode, the 721 should change tuners around as needed for recording.

[Filip1]

I hate this "feature" of the 721, but it is only a minor annoyance. If you leave the warning up, after 40 seconds or so it will start recording the scheduled timer.

[jcrash]

One thing new to me on the 721 that I really like is the standby mode. On my 7100 if you hit the power switch while it was recording - goodbye recording.

With the 721, I don't even bother to check if it is recording or not before hitting the power button - even the one on the receiver itself. Nice feature!

[mll]

Originally posted by sjhill01
By "Off" we really mean Standby (i.e., no display, power button not lit, etc.). When in this mode, the 721 should change tuners around as needed for recording.

I am just re-thinking purchasing a 721, but the continuing discussion of lockups and requirements to be in the Standby mode discourage me.

1) I have read that there is a release coming out R.S.N. but don't see the pointer to the "Tech Talk" that discussed it.

2) Will this release try to decrease the lockups and have a way for the user to specify that recording a second channel takes precedence over not being in standby mode?

3) Is there any thought to allowing third party programs to be easily added, and not erased, so that additional functionality could be added without depending on EchoStar?