Dish Hd Is Here

[kevinw]

From the AtlantaHD Forum:

It's here and live today!

Dish HD Theater Package:
- Discovery HD
- HDNet
- HDNet Movies
- ESPN HD

- Sat 110 on Dish500 (Superdish not yet required)

- $9.99 per month.
- $109.89 per year.
The SuperDish, which will look at 105, 110, 119 will be available some time in November, they are
saying - and can be had for free if you commit to another year of programming at a certain tier. All
the HD will be moving off of 61.5 by next summer.

I'm told that once you get your superdish and you are looking at 105 degrees, you'll see even more HD
on the air that they are not discussing now - rumors are InHD ppv, Encore, Bravo, Cinemax HD, as
well as offering EDTV versions of USA network, etc when they uplink an EDTV program.

[LeeS]

Good news! Now just tell me something good about the PVR921 :) Features I know, how about price and availability? Remember I asked for good.

Never satisfied, :D
Lee

[kevinw]

Last I heard 921 was going to be 1k, possibly with some short term incentives for current subscribers.:(

[LeeS]

That's half good news, better than all bad :) If they do throw current subscribers a bone I"ll probably go for it. I'm tired of running three receivers. I'd prefer a bone with a little meat on it.

Thanks,
Lee

I checked Dish's website, nothing new. Called and a nice lady said October (mid) for the rollout. Still $999 but they had no word on promotions yet. This included a non PVR receiver too, she said something about super dish. That's more info than I got two days ago.

Someone else call and see what they say?

[LeeS]

Want a HDTV PVR? Look to the sky...

Both DirectTV and Dish Network announced combination PVR/Satellite Receivers at CES this year. Both companies are trying to get a jump on Digital Cable TV providers that will start shipping new Scientific-Atlanta boxes powered by Digeo's Moxi software that they acquired last year.

Of these products the Dish PVR 921 looks the most promising, with an expected release date of 2003Q2, the software development team on site at CES was confident that they'd meet their expected delivery date of late June or early July. The 921 sports dual tuners as well support of recording OTA HDTV content (the unit is fully capable of recording 2 satellite stations and an OTA HDTV station simultaneously.) The unit demonstrated included advanced software for conflict resolution, a 14 day electronic program guide (EPG) and support of direct connections to high resolution displays via a DVI-D connection. The unit contains a 250GB hard drive that can hold approximately 40 hours of HD content or 250 hours of SD content. In cursory tests, the EPG responded more quickly than any other that I've seen (by at least a factor of 2) and the UI was consistent with previous recorders manufactured by the company. The price for the unit has not yet been set, but should be in the $1000+ range. Apparently I wasn't the only one impressed, the Dish PVR 921 won a "Best of CES" award.

With a soft shipping date that will be sometime near the end of the year, the DirectTV HD-TiVo is less impressive than it's Dish counterpart. Although the unit has TiVo's wonderful user interface, and adaptive recording capabilities, it only sports one satellite tuner, and on OTA HDTV tuner. To make matters worse, even though there are two tuners, only one may be used at a time (presumably to keep the UI simple and consistent) which makes it impossible to watch one show while recording another or to record two shows simultaneously (both features that are part of the current standard definition Direct-TiVo). TiVo has yet decide the size of the internal hard drive, or any pricing targets, which is expected for a device that isn't slated to ship for nearly a year.

Dish didn't make the July date, maybe the October date is a good one!
Lee

[LeeS]

For us techno geeks :)

http://www.broadcom.com/cgi-bin/pr/prps.cgi?pr_id=PR030109

OK, I'll stop posting about the PVR921
Lee

[kevinw]

Update from the AtlantaDTV Forum:

...they're running a sweet deal to get an additional 6000+8PSK for $199 (and another year commitment). If you've been with them for a
while (some are saying 2 - 6 years), they're likely to throw in an 8VSB and lower the price to $149....


Not sure of the accuracy but interesting if true.
Rumour has it the new 811 series will be priced about $400... So $200 for a loaded 6000 or 400 for ne technology????

[LeeS]

Called and emailed Dish today. They are not talking about the new receivers. We just have to rely on the rumors from the AtlantaDTV Forum.

They told me to watch the next Charlie Chat and gave me this LINK (http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=400) to their press releases. We're getting better info from Atlanta.

Lee :(

[LeeS]

Kevin,

The next 'Charlie Chat' or Technical Chat will be on October 13th, a Monday. I'll set the PVR to record it since I work on Monday nights :(. They are going to talk about all the new hardware. So far they have talked about deals on everything but the PVR-921.

Everything = 811 STB, 6000 STB and the Super Dish

Let us know if you hear anything on the Atlanta forum.

Thanks,
Lee

[BEAKER]

Not True. The September Charlie Chat(and rebraoadcasts) session addresses the new PVR 921 reciever. It is set to roll out along with the super dish packages around 1st of Nov. if newly launched satellite works like it should. Price was listed out as $999 for the reciever. No bone yet for that reciever that I could see. There were bones thrown for the new 811 reciever and the 6000/8 HD package. More details will be in the October Chat session. Long time in the coming.

[Scott in GB]

I posted this info in the Recorders section, but I'll add it here too. I received this via email in response to my question on it this week:


-------------------

Details of the price and availability for the DVR 921 will be announced later this year or early 2004.




Below is a list of DISH DVR 921 features:



Delivers DISH Network standard and high-definition satellite TV programming
* Outputs 480i, 480p Standard Definition and 720p and 1080i High Definition resolutions
* IEEE1394 "Firewire" or "iLink" output support for additional devices
* Includes an 8VSB tuner for reception of off-air analog and digital broadcasts
* Supports Enhanced HD programming such as Discovery HD
Two tuners for:
* Normal Standard-definition Picture-in-Picture (PIP) on any TV
* Recording two live programs at once
* Recording a live program while watching another live program
* Recording two live programs while watching another recorded program
DVR features at no monthly charge include:
* Pause live TV
* Up to 250 hours of standard-definition recording capacity; up to 40 hours of high-definition recording capacity.
Records Dolby Digital (when available) and off-air broadcasts.
* Skip forward 30 seconds
* Skip back 10 seconds
* 4 fast-forward and 4 reverse speeds (4x, 15x, 60x, 300x)
* Sow motion and frame-by-frame
7-day Electronic Program Guide (EPG) with search capability
On-screen Caller ID
UHF/IR 4-component universal remote control with PIP functions
Supports DISH Pro Technology



Additional features include front panel jacks for future use with still or video cameras for capturing images to attach to e-mail, and additional USB connections for future interface with peripheral devices like printers, cameras, CD writers, etc. Standard functions include V-chip type technology for parental controls and an optical Dolby Digital output. Like all DISH Network satellite TV products, the DISHDVR 921 is software upgradeable via satellite which provides consumers new capabilities instantly as they become available.
----------------------------

[kevinw]

I have read that the deals on 6000 are from Dish itself and not merchants. I have yet to confirm.

Does anyone know the real differences between the 6000 and the new 811?

[LeeS]

BEAKER,

I'm not sure who the 'Not True' was addressed to or about. The September Charlie Chat didn't offer any deals on the 921 that I was aware of and I was watching very closely :)

I check Dish's website and my local dealer everyday. Calls and emails to Dish get the same response that Scott in GB gets. I actually get more info from Dish retailers on the web than I do at Dish's site :( but that is not surprising. We should get more info during the October 13 chat as I said in my earlier post. My local dealer is not hopeful about any deals on the 921 but I remain optimistic. I'll have one deal or not.

Scott in GB, thanks for the post. I'll refine the review I started in the review section. People have been talking about Dish's new HD PVR for about as long as I've been a member.

The 921 is getting close and I am getting impatient :D

Kevin,

DISH 811 HDTV Satellite Reciever

The Dish 811 is basically a replacement for the Model 6,000 with the following features. Its scheduled for release early fall or by the end of the year..

A. Dishpro Technology
B. Open Tv Software
C. More Memory, Faster EPG
D. Integrated 8VSB and 8PSK Tuner Cards
E. Firewire, DVI and component outputs. (Please note that the VGA output is no longer supported)
F. Silver Chasis
G. Lower Cost than Model 6,000

Lee

[LeeS]

Kevin,

This image of the 811 info card did not attach to my last post.

Lee

[kevinw]

Called DISH to confirm 6000 deal for current subscribers and it is pretty good-6000+8psk+8vsb(if you ask for it)=199-delivered.
Good deal if your Tv does not have DVI or Firewire. If it does wait for 811-see Lee's post above on differences.

[LeeS]

Scott in GB,

What site did you get your PVR921 info from? Could you post a link?

I've been updating my review with your info.

Thanks,
Lee

[Scott in GB]

Originally posted by LeeS
Scott in GB,

What site did you get your PVR921 info from? Could you post a link?

I've been updating my review with your info.

Thanks,
Lee

Hi Lee,

That info came from an email response. I emailed the question to customer support at the main dish network site since I couldn't find any decent info on the 921.

Scott

[jmc98]

what pricing info have you heard on the superdish for existing customers

[LeeS]

what pricing info have you heard on the superdish for existing customers
The next Charlie Chat, November 10, will discuss the deals for existing customers.

The chats are on at 6pm Pacific (channel 101 I think).

Lee

[pradike]

Here's the "official" latest on SuperDish:

SuperDish launch (http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/031030/1427001595_1.html)