Quick Facts for 622 and 222

[Mac Daddy]

Is 211 receiver going to be available to current subscribers to HD on Feb 1?

 

[gdarwin]

If you have any leased receivers that can be upgraded in the Dish'in it up promo... Call now and see if you can do it now.

 

[Mac Daddy]

Every time I call it seems nobody knows anything. Doesn't dish inform their employees?

 

[gdarwin]

Keep calling - it's called "CSR Roulette" . You might get lucky with the next one. Remember - be nice about it.

 

[rtt2]

ViP222 Does not have a USB port on the front while the ViP622 does.
---how strange, I wonder if they forgot to indicate on the specs or if it actually does not.

 

[navychop]

Would the modulated RF output really be of less PQ than the composite? I'm counting on it being better.

 

[halsan40]

RCA video can be run over much longer distances for less expense than S-Video. Further, with today's televisions and today's tuners, the digital filters used to display RCA composite video make it virtually indistinguishable from S-Video. The cost of S-Video for the few who can use it correctly on TV-2 was likely not worth it.

Right now I have 2 tuners. On TV2 I run S VHS to the set. Years ago I ran a composite link from TV1 to TV2 but never used it. If I get the 622 and use the composite link (about 60' long), will there be a significant degradation in PQ over the current second tuner S VHS hookup? TV2 is a Phillips 32" thats about 3 years old.

 

[iKramerica]

Would the modulated RF output really be of less PQ than the composite? I'm counting on it being better.

depends on the length of the run. the longer the run, the more composite degrades. also, the RG6 signal can be sent longer distances with a simple signal amp, and RG6 cable is far less expensive to run at high quality.

It also depends on the tuner at the other end of the circuit on the RG6. If your TV has a great tuner and great color decoder, the picture will look fantastic. I have not complaints with my modulated 721 picture, and "agile" modulators are more advanced and SHOULD provide better picture quality than mine.

 

[shanewalker]

Those of you using your two DVR reciever tuners to run to two rooms/sets...don't you find that it cripples recording a bit versus using them both on the main set, since you can't record two sat channels/shows at the same time (thats the reason I've not done a two-room wiring off my 942)? Or are you doing a workaround where you only output the same viewing source to the 2nd room and use the RF only when in the other room. Or am I missing something and it doesn't impact recording in that way. Just curious.

 

[SaltiDawg]

Those of you using your two DVR reciever tuners to run to two rooms/sets...don't you find that it cripples recording a bit versus using them both on the main set, since you can't record two sat channels/shows at the same time (thats the reason I've not done a two-room wiring off my 942)? ...

In Dual you can record two different satellite shows simultaneously... and even an OTA transmission at the same time. You can even be watching two different previously recorded shows on the two TV's. Or better yet, the two TV's can be viewing the same previously recorded show at different points in the broadcast.

 

[gdarwin]

And... It dosen't cripple the recording..

 

[AdamGott]

I doubt it, and worse, they are crippling the HD by using the extra 70GB for Dish on Demand programming that gets downloaded without you asking it to. I hope they introduce a way to reduce the space used for this "feature" or turn it off completely, or at least to specify what kind of programming it offers you. If it downloads every crappy PPV movie just so i can have it "on demand" when most PPV movies are playing every 1/2 hour or so anyway and I can record them in the middle of the night and watch them anytime I want (how I do "on demand" at the moment), that is a lame use for my HD space, considering how much space HDTV takes up. Yeah, that's a long sentence, but it makes sense.

I agree! What kind of moron is going to watch an overpriced 'on demand' movie when they can record anything they like on their DVR and watch it whenever they like?

 

[monsterHDfreak]

VIP222 and VIP622 connected via USB to home network?

I was looking at the inputs on these two and they have a USB port. Question for those of us who use only cell phones and don't have LAN line, can these new receivers be connected via a home wireless network like TIVO can or is the USB a pointless input? I ask because there is nothing that refers to the useful intentions of the USB ports other than the part that says they are there, which we can plainly see with our own eyes. Anyone with info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[monsterHDfreak]

RCA video can be run over much longer distances for less expense than S-Video. Further, with today's televisions and today's tuners, the digital filters used to display RCA composite video make it virtually indistinguishable from S-Video. The cost of S-Video for the few who can use it correctly on TV-2 was likely not worth it.

In my opinion, though I know you didn't ask for it, anyone that can find component cabling should use that on more than one HDTV. When Dish figures that out they might figure some other things out, like customer service for example, but then... hell has to freeze over twice first so I'm wasting valuable fingertip energy here. Let's see... OTA improvements they'll never get right... dual HDMI outputs (not that i've found an HDMI cable longer than 12' yet but who says it can't happen, eh?), dual component outputs... customer service.... anyone else thinking Charlie Chat on March 13th? I am! I guess we can at least pray that the founder and CEO of the company might think about making those changes. Should have made them this time around... eee gads!!!!!!

 

[rtperryal1]

DISH 622 vs DTV H20

This may not be the most appropriate place to post this reply, but I guess it is a good place to start.

I currently have the 921 receiver and am thinking of upgrading to the new 622 April 1 (to get the $200 rebate). However, I have been comparing some of the features of the DISH 622 with the upcoming DTV H20 HD-DVR receiver. Please see if I have the following correct.

The DISH 622, like the current 921 and 942 receivers, can record 2 HD broadcasts, but only one OTA HD broadcast at a time. However, the DTV H20 CAN record 2 OTA HD programs at the same time.

I know both receivers are MPEG-4 capable, so they can record network HD channels broadcast over the satellite that both E* and DTV are beginning to make available for some cities. However, Birmingham is not one of the 50 cities that DISH plans to have this service for this year, so I'm at least 1 year away from this. Besides, I understand that ALL HD sent over the satellite, including those in MPEG-4 format, have some degree of compression so OTA will always have a better signal/picture. Would most of us be able to see that small difference? If the above is true, it seems the H20 receiver might have the slight advantage, at least for what I want.

I know E* is supposed to have, or will have, the most HD programming, but I'm not sure the VOOM HD, which accounts for most of this, "greater HD content" over DTV, is that much of an advantage. Besides HD on the sports channels (ESPN, ESPN2), I think most people want to watch network/prime time HD. As for SD, the PQ is lousy on E*...is anyone know for sure if DTV is consistently better or about the same?

I hate to change from E* to DTV, but if all the above is true, I wonder if that isn't the way I should go? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[jbcheshire]

If you have any leased receivers that can be upgraded in the Dish'in it up promo... Call now and see if you can do it now.

Why would I want to utilize the Dish'n it up promo now instead of waiting till after 2/1??? If I do it now, then I would only have to wait 12 months to get an updated receiver versus 18 months after 2/1. Is this the only reason to upgrade now????

 

[Airblair]

I was looking at the inputs on these two and they have a USB port. Question for those of us who use only cell phones and don't have LAN line, can these new receivers be connected via a home wireless network like TIVO can or is the USB a pointless input? I ask because there is nothing that refers to the useful intentions of the USB ports other than the part that says they are there, which we can plainly see with our own eyes. Anyone with info on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The USB port can be used for the Pocket Dish personal video players.

They announced at CES that eventually 622 users will be able to archive recorded shows to external USB drives. When this can happen, and whether it can use off-the-shelf USB drives or will you have to purchase Dish Network-branded drives, we don't know yet.

 

[monsterHDfreak]

Huh?

No that's not what I was asking. What I was asking was... TIVO is able to use a home wireless network to download programming and software/firmware updates through the TIVO service. Are these USB ports on the DISH receiver going to be capable of the same thing or is their intention for completely different "features"? It's very convenient for those of us with cell phones only because we won't have to pay through the nose for a stupid phone line nor do we have to pay an extra arbitrary $5 a month to DISH simply because they want something else they can charge us for. It doesn't make any sense to me that they need to charge us if we don't connect to a phone line because all it's good for is PPV and I never use that anyway. I've got Netflix! It's a bunch of bullhonkey to pay extra money for no reason other than for DISH's moronic reasons. So, again, I was hoping that the USB would serve that purpose in place of the phone line so I could save the $5/month and also the heartache of having my wireless adaptor become obsolete when I sell the TIVO to make room for the new 622. Wow. So now I hope my question is more clear. My question had nothing to do with archived video, it was simply in regards to replacing the arbitrary phone line and the pointless $5/month charge for not having a phone line.

 

[Tom G]

Probably not what you want to hear, but the USB port is not going to solve your phone line issue. I believe all known uses of the port (at this time) were already detailed in the post above by Airblair.

 

[SaltiDawg]

...

The DISH 622, like the current 921 and 942 receivers, can record 2 HD broadcasts, but only one OTA HD broadcast at a time. However, the DTV H20 CAN record 2 OTA HD programs at the same time.

...

The 942 can record two satellite and one OTA digital channel simultaneously. If I understand correctly, the HR20 can only record two timers simultaneously.

Do you know if this is this correct?