[Guest]

It's pretty lonely in here.

 

[Guest]

I have one and I love it. I wish the hard drive was bigger. I keep running out of room before being able to watch the stuff that I recorded.

 

[Guest]

Hey! Alright...two of us

Yeah, I love mine as well, little glitches and all. I can't believe I wasted all that time over the years watching commercials!

Mark

 

[Guest]

I have had one for about 2 weeks...there have been a few annoying bugs that will hopefully be addressed with the next sw upgrade...but it has made t.v. viewing a more enjoyable experience...I am wondering a bit if I didn't jump the gun by not using my 4000 receiver for a few more months until the dual tuner model comes out...it would be sooooo nice to be able to record 1 show while watching another or record 2 at the same time...anyone have similar feelings?

 

[Guest]

I know what you mean Mark. If I want to keep a show on a permanent basis, I would transfer it to videotape and zap the commericals so when I go back to watch it again I don't have to pick up the remote to fast forward. It's so cool! Can't wait until the 721 comes out.

 

[Guest]

Oh yeah, that would be so nice. I saw the preview of the 721 on Tech Forum. It looks so cool. Looks like the menus are being revamped, which is good. But having 2 tuners and a 80GB hard drive and internet access is awesome! I can't wait!

 

[Guest]

posted by planetx:

If I want to keep a show on a permanent basis, I would transfer it to videotape and zap the commericals so when I go back to watch it again I don't have to pick up the remote to fast forward. It's so cool! Can't wait until the 721 comes out.

I'm with you there - One of my basement walls is full of tapes done like that (on shelves of course ). I'm hoping that one day E* will give us a way to up the disk space in these boxes...100+ hours of storage would be very nice.

Mark

 

[Guest]

The BEST feature of the TiVo is the ability of the device to search on its own. I suspect the DishPVR search will be interactive, but when DishPVR is able to set up "Season Passes" and can pick up shows based on Title and record only one episode based on description E* will have a real hit. After that it should be trivial to add "WishList" type functionality whicj is basically a Season Pass for a generic search such as an Actors Name, or subject matter.

For those that don't have TiVo, I can put in a word like Robot or Dinasaur and TiVo will record shows that have that word in the description or title.

Another great feature that TiVo just added is the ability to identify the number of episodes to save. This is a great feature and lets you set up your TiVo so it is always ready to watch whatever you want with no maintenance of the list of shows recorded. There is no need to worry that the 1 episode of Voyager that came on while you were away on vacation gets wiped out because you have the system set up to record the news every night.

There is really no reason why DishPVR can not do these things and with the added benefit of no monthly fee!

 

[Guest]

I'd love to have one of these new PVR receivers. I don't think that I'd have a problem with running out of space though because the only thing that I ever record is a movie very rarely and Malcolm in the Middle. I'm a big MITM nut. Maybe it's because that family is so much like mine, it's scary.

 

[Guest]

. Maybe it's because that family is so much like mine, it's scary.

Ouch! That is scary! :lol:

I'd love to see all of the tivo features on the 501, although I really am happy with mine the way it is now. I've found that I tend to record stuff that I might want to watch later rather than just the stuff I know I'll watch. Plus, I almost never start watching anything on time anymore - I love starting at 7:20 and ending at 8...almost did that with the chat last night until I remembered that there weren't commercials in it!

Mark

 

[Guest]

Well, just got my 501 yesterday. Already have TiVo for the main room, but got so used to PVR functions, just had to get one for the bedroom.

Not quite like a TiVo but it does an adequate job.

 

[Guest]

I'm tempted by the $199 offer, but I'm holding out for the 921.

 

[Guest]

Im going to get a 501 eventually, maybe as a Christmas present to my self. I'll get my summer job back during Christmas break and @ $6.50/hour for approx 10 hrs for 5 days I should have almost enough for a 501 at full price. I want to take advantage of the special offer but I dont have the $200 (actually I do but it will be going towards my DD system that I got 3 weeks ago) Plus my mom heard a few horror stories about CC autopay and I dont think shed go for it.

Steve

 

[Guest]

I have a TIVO in the main room, just added a 501 for the bedroom. The 501 is nice, allows one to pause, instant replay, record, etc. It's nowhere near the TIVO, but I suppose it's possible that DISH will upgrade the features in the future. Of course, TIVO has a monthly or lifetime subscription fee. At the moment, it's well worth it. But 501 is nice for the second room.....And who knows about the future....

 

[Guest]

I've had mine for 2 months now,I love it. It does all that I need. In can't wait until the 721/921 come out. I will probably wait until the merger is complete to see what standard will be used.The 501 is a good compliment to my ol' trusty 4000'

 

[Guest]

Have the 501, love it, despite a minor glitch or two. If I could, I would remove the Hard drive and put in a 100GB hard drive, and can't wait for the 9 day guide. According to www.pricewatch.com, the prices for hard drives are:

$73-40GB
$84-45GB
$95-60GB
$195-100GB

 

[Guest]

With the 921 still a year away and the merger throwing a huge ? into the picture, I bit the bullet and got the 501 the end of October. It's nice, but Dish has a long way to go to make this thing stable. I found that if I do a Power button reset daily, I have no problems with it. With the new 9 day guide on the way, and enhancements to the recording options, it should be a very nice unit.

 

[Guest]

I have two 501s that I bought as a result of having repeated problems with a DishPlayer. I was told that the 501s wouldn't have problems like the DishPlayer. Perhaps if I hadn't been lied to I'd be a lot happier.

I agree with other posts that the 501 functions are great in many ways, they just don't work reliably for us. Since I have the same or similar problems on both units, my impression is that the software vs. the individual units are the problem. This has been confirmed to me in that when new software is downloaded, new problems come and go that seem to be related to the software upgrades.

Dish Network at times has offered to replace them. Unfortunately, I've replaced other units such as a Dishplayer and a 301. Neither switch went without a hitch. They ended up sending me three DishPlayers before we got one that worked some of the time and it's not hardly worth trying to get anything to record now.

Considering our PVRs are in entertainment centers and it takes 10-30 minutes to get all the cables out and swapped out, I don't enjoy the exercise. Even though the units are under warranty, Dish Network wants us to pay for the privilege of them exchanging the warranted unit and they won't send someone out to do the work.

Perhaps I'm too picky in thinking that a PVR should work like a TV or VCR. I think it should work without problems like my TV

 

[Guest]

I have a PVR501 and it has been relatively problem free.
I have had to hit and hold the power button in to reset it a few times, but thats about it.
I have never lost any recordings.
Its been good to me !!

 

[Guest]

How do you "zap" commercials when sending them to tape with the 501? I just got mine, so I'm really new to this. TIA