Season Pass for 721?

[leyth]

Hi There,

Please forgive me if this issue has been addressed before. I did a quick search and I couldn't find the answer I was looking for.

Is there a reason Echostar doesn't implement "Season Pass"-like functionality for the 721? Or is it in the works? I know that Directivo and Ultimate PVRs already have it so I am wondering why dish doesn't offer it even for an additional fee.

Thank you in advance for your input.

Leyth

[Halfsek]

I asked the same question and it seems like the answer is that there is no SP available. I realize now how cool that feature was since I don't have it now.
As for why they didn't do it, I have no idea.

[dbronstein]

What is it, for those of us who never used Tivo?

[DmitriA]

I really don't know, but I am guessing that there are some patent issues with just copying that feature. But then UTV has it and I don't know if they paid anything to Tivo for the right to use it, so maybe I'm totally wrong on this

[Karl Foster]

What it is (at least on Ultimatetv) is the ability to "Series Record" programs and tell it not to record repeats. In addition, UTV (and Tivo) have the ability to search and automatically record programs when they come on regardless of what channel they are on. An example is setting an "Auto Record" for Friends. It will record it on TBS, NBC, and our local independent station that shows it no matter what time or what day it is on.

I have "Auto Records" set for movies I like and when they are on, the UTV just records it without intervention. I set an Auto Record for "Back to the Future" and it recorded it about a month later (the next showing) on TMC. It is a very valuable feature.

[dbronstein]

Ah. I had that with ReplayTV, although they called them "theme channels". It couldn't skip reruns, though. It just comes back to the 721 doing time-based recording instead of show-based.

Dennis