# DBSTalk DVR-942 Feature Requests



## Mark Lamutt

This thread is to be used to request new features for the DVR-942. Please do not post bugs in this thread. There are other threads already set up for that.


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## Jerry 42

I think most of these have been stated some place already but 

1) Ability to change aspect ratios for digital non HD broadcasts

2) Ability to get full screen on TV2

3) Ability to get analog OTA stations


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## Gutter

Also the ability to get program data not from the analog channel for the digital OTA. In my area, the PBS stations broadcasts the PBS HD channel all day long. Different programming from regular PBS feed and rarely duplicates. I know my market is not the only one with this problem. Don't think it is a bug but to fix it would make it better


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## vahighland

As you’ll be able to infer from my suggestions, I have come from TiVo land. I do like the Dish 942, especially the fast menus and guide; however, there are a few TiVo features I really miss:

1) Option to specify NEW episodes only when setting up a DishPASS event.

2) Option to specify how many episodes you want to keep when setting up a DishPASS event. This is great for something like the news, where you only want to keep the last one.

3) Increase the 15 character limit for searching/DishPASS to 30 characters.

4) Option to filter searches/DissPASS events based on theme (Movies, Biographies, Sports, etc.)

5) Display an entry in the schedule history when a program fails to record, so that you know you missed a show and why (like when it can’t acquire a satellite signal). Also, display full information (program name and description) for a historical entry. 

6) Display a "HD" indicator in the Guide to identify which shows are filmed in high definition, just like VOOM. Also, provide a HD theme.

7) Display a graphical buffer/time remaining bar when the user presses Play. This is a minor thing I noticed. When you're watching a live or recorded show on TiVo, you can press Play and TiVo displays a graphical buffer bar with the time remaining on the bar itself. The 942 only displays a graphical buffer bar with the time remaining when you choose Pause, Rewind, Fast Fwd. I realize that you can press Select and the 942 displays the time remaining in numerical format in the upper right-hand corner of the screen, but this is not as intuitive as TiVo, because the user has to focus on different area of the screen for this information. Like I said, it’s minor.


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## gilber

To be able to rename a Manual Timer.

With all the current problems many people is reporting getting guide data for their OTA channels (which is being discussed in another thread), we have to rely on Manual Timers for recording stuff from those stations. But since it's not possible to rename them, we end up with a bunch of DVR events called just "Manual Timer".

Of course, if the program guide issues are resoved (crossing fingers), this request would become less important.


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## Scott Greczkowski

I request a screen like the 921 had where you could select a bunch of shows you wanted to clean up off of your hard drive at once, without having to delete them all one by one.


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## sampatterson

Default the DVR record "Options" button to the last value the user entered.

It always comes up with "1 minute before, and 3 minutes after". I would like it to keep whatever the user changes it to as the default" (I use 0 before, 0 after)


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## Mark Lamutt

Scott Greczkowski said:


> I request a screen like the 921 had where you could select a bunch of shows you wanted to clean up off of your hard drive at once, without having to delete them all one by one.


Uh, Scott...it's called the EDIT option, from the DVR screen.


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## softwiz

1) If you were watching a channel and say 20 minutes into the show you decide to record, it would be nice if it would record from the beginning of the show. (UltimateTV did this and I think Tivo does too)

2) The ability to specfify the number of recordings to keep when setting up a series timer. The oldest one is scrolled off when a new one is recorded and the set number of recordings have been reached (UltimateTV did this)

3) Ability to add USB hard drive to increase available recording space. 25 hour of HD is limiting now let alone when lots more HD becomes available


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## softwiz

The guide needs to display HD for high def shows and DD when it's in Dolby Digital. I miss this from the Voom days.


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## audiomaster

As I have said before, the ability to receive IR commands for both main and second zones.
Also a DC 12 volt trigger when powered up to trigger a projector or screen. And if your going to put "aux" inputs on it, at least one should be either component , DVI or HDMI.
Optional rack mount ears would also be nice. And making future receivers a standard rack mount height (3-1/2 or 5-1/4 inches. How about a black or silver option for faceplates?
Now, if its going to have a built in off-air receiver, how about a built in rotor controller that will interface directly with Channel Master or Radio Shack rotors so the antenna will go to the selected station automatically? Heathkit had a tv set with this built in 25-30 years ago!


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## srbigbutt

The ability to choose what tuner to record on in dual user mode or an easy way to switch it to the other tuner when there is a conflict.


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## Scott Greczkowski

Mark Lamutt said:


> Uh, Scott...it's called the EDIT option, from the DVR screen.


Sorry my wife typed the question, she will be happy when I tell her.


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## BFG

srbigbutt said:


> The ability to choose what tuner to record on in dual user mode or an easy way to switch it to the other tuner when there is a conflict.


this one already exists as well.

When the dvr screen comes up it asks which tv to record on...


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## Paradox-sj

Scott Greczkowski said:


> Sorry my wife typed the question, she will be happy when I tell her.


Scott, you had to go and blame it on "the women"...were going to start calling you Adam from now.


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## Paradox-sj

Unless I am being like Adams (I mean Scotts) wife tonite...I know there WAS a feature where you could turn of the Timer Icon that appears in the lower left hand corner and counts down to a schedule timers.

I had it turned off in 224 but I guess 225 didnt retain that setting and now I can even find where to turn it off at. 


So if they took it out please put it back.


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## TVBob

sampatterson said:


> Default the DVR record "Options" button to the last value the user entered.
> 
> It always comes up with "1 minute before, and 3 minutes after". I would like it to keep whatever the user changes it to as the default" (I use 0 before, 0 after)


Me too! This one is definitely on my list! I'm frustrated by the hard coded default values of 1 minute early, 3 minutes late, for all recordings. With few exceptions, I change _everything _to 0, 0. The ability to use negative offsets (start late, end early) would also be useful in many situations, especially when you have a lot of back-to-back recordings.

Here's another EASY one I'd love to see: *Display the Critique Rating (Star Rating) in the text box at the top of the screen*, whenever you highlight a movie in the Guide, DVR list, or Schedule. As it stands now, the only way to see the critique is to press *Info*, and that's pretty inconvenient when you're trying to find a good movie to record.

ReplayTV has had this feature since the 4000-series in 2002 (I added the code myself, so I know how easy it is). There's plenty of room to show 1/2 to 4 stars up there. For un-critiqued shows (non-movies), the text box would just be the same as it is now.

For that matter, a way to *search *for all upcoming movies with 3 or more stars, say, would also be a very nice feature.


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## srbigbutt

BFG said:


> this one already exists as well.
> 
> When the dvr screen comes up it asks which tv to record on...


No it doesn't. Well atleast it doesn't do it every time. It occassionaly does it when you are on TV2 and choose to record something you are watching. Unless you figured out a way to do it everytime.


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## deweybrunner

My second tv is widescreen hd. would like to watch hd on second set as well?


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## Mark Lamutt

softwiz said:


> 1) If you were watching a channel and say 20 minutes into the show you decide to record, it would be nice if it would record from the beginning of the show. (UltimateTV did this and I think Tivo does too)


You can do this now. And, you don't even have to rewind back to the beginning of the show anymore. At least that's the way it worked when I was writing the review.



softwiz said:


> 3) Ability to add USB hard drive to increase available recording space. 25 hour of HD is limiting now let alone when lots more HD becomes available


Coming later this summer. Already been announced.



paradox said:


> I know there WAS a feature where you could turn of the Timer Icon that appears in the lower left hand corner and counts down to a schedule timers.


There has never been an option to turn the countdown timer off. And, it doesn't appear all of the time - just when the channel on the tuner you are currently watching will be changed in order for a timer to fire.



deweubrunner said:


> My second tv is widescreen hd. would like to watch hd on second set as well?


Ain't gonna happen with the 942...


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## Moridin

Sort of a tiered feature request...1 would be nice; if not 1, then 2; if not 2, then 3.

1) Pass through the native program resolution without scaling...SD comes out as 480i (or 480p), HBO as 1080i, ESPN as 720p.

2) The ability to cycle through resolutions with a single button.

3) Say my resolution is set to 1080i and I want to watch ESPN. If I press Menu-6-8-Left-Left-Down to switch to 720p, let me press Select to say I'm done rather than making me press Right-Right-Select.


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## cclement

This is a little feature that seems to be on all the receivers except the 942, when "Browsing" shows, all the receivers tell me how much time is left of the current show. But the 942, tells the time frame the show is on (2:00-4:00 pm). I like knowing how much time is left, without doing the math in my head.


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## Pat A

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1) I would like to be able to have the option to toggle between single and dual mode from via the remote.

2) I would like to be able to set timers for dvr program playback that would be used to archive programs to a vcr/dvd recorder. For example, you could select an event to to play sometime when you are not watching tv. The timer could send a record command via IR to the vcr, start dvr playback, and then send an IR stop command to the vcr when the event is finished. This very useful feature could be added to all dish dvrs.


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## sampatterson

Forgot a couple:

Add folders to let us organize our DVR content into different folders

Networking (USB or powerline since the 942 has both) allowing me to watch a DVR event on my other 942s. That way you could record on any 942 and access that content from any other 942 in the house.


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## TVBob

I'd like to see the *Recall* button jump between a live channel and a recorded show, like a ReplayTV (or TiVo?) would.

Here's the scenario:


You're watching a recorded movie and when you notice the time, 11:17 p.m. You know that's when your favorite channel broadcasts the local weather forecast (or local sports results).
You press *007-01*, say, to watch the 3 min report live.
Now you want to go back and watch the end of the movie. The *Recall* button should take you back to where you were in the recording, but it doesn't. It jumps to the last channel you were watching before you tuned to 007-01. That's fine if you're jumping between two channels, but not cool when you're watching a recording.
Yeah, you could

Press Pause
PIP
Swap
007-01
Position (so you can see the weather map)
Swap
PIP
PIP again (to make it disappear)
Play
but that's way too much trouble. Your Dolby Digital audio may go away (a known bug), and it you can't do this in Dual mode.

Also, if you make the PIP window disappear while watching live, the paused show you were watching won't come back if you press PIP again. It will show whatever is now live on some other tuner.

An *Intelligent Recall Button* *(IRB)* would save us all a lot of steps. It should recall the last thing you were watching, be it another live channel or a recording.


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## Foxbat

As the proud owner of a 22h58m DVR event (see the bug posts), I would like to be able to go into a recorded event and delete unwanted parts, say like the 20 hours that are mostly infomercials, PSAs, etc.

Another thing I'd like to see is the ability to save any customizations, timers, DishPasses, etc. to a USB memory key. Just in case.

Cool news about the upcoming external USB capabilities. The 942 keeps on getting better.


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## Justin

Have a way to tag shows as "Okay to delete" by viewer 1 and viewer 2. That way I know what I can delete because my wife has already finished watching it.


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## dathead2

1) would like to have a 30 second "skip" button, how else are you supposed to
get thur commercials!? 4x is too slow and 12x is too fast. panasonic e80
dvd recorder has this feature (it is 60 seconds though which is too much,
i'ld prefer 30 as breaks between tennis sets is 90 seconds!)

2) when you press stop current DVR recording it really should prompt you
with "are you sure?"


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## BFG

dathead2 said:


> 1) would like to have a 30 second "skip" button


Was this a joke? Do you really not see the button on your remote that skips? That's one of Dish's best features. It's already there


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## djmav

softwiz said:


> 1) If you were watching a channel and say 20 minutes into the show you decide to record, it would be nice if it would record from the beginning of the show. (UltimateTV did this and I think Tivo does too)


I second this one. This feature to me would be the most beneficial.


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## Bichon

BFG said:


> Was this a joke? Do you really not see the button on your remote that skips? That's one of Dish's best features. It's already there


I don't think he was kidding. In another thread, he didn't realize that multiple presses of the "guide" button allows you to select an active favorites list. I'd suggest that dathead2 give the users manual a careful read, who knows what other features he's missing out on.


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## Gutter

Bichon said:


> I'd suggest that dathead2 give the users manual a careful read, who knows what other features he's missing out on.


You are right about that. I have read the manual several times and always find new things when I use it with the 942 that I didn't realize before. If he is like me, he probably doesn't ask for travel directions either.


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## Creeceman

I have looked for info and played around with the Dish Pass trying to find out how to get the Dish Pass to record a selected show. For what I see there is no way to select/control how to record a show as; New, Once, Weekly etc... It automatically populates the recording mode to "All Episodes". I may be missing something here, so correct me if I am wrong.


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## Bichon

softwiz said:


> 1) If you were watching a channel and say 20 minutes into the show you decide to record, it would be nice if it would record from the beginning of the show. (UltimateTV did this and I think Tivo does too)


The 942 already has this feature. When you press the record button and "record remainder of this event" window comes up, pick options, then pick "Record entire event".


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## dathead2

Gutter said:


> You are right about that. I have read the manual several times and always find new things when I use it with the 942 that I didn't realize before. If he is like me, he probably doesn't ask for travel directions either.


my dog chewed up my manual  is there one available in pdf online?

re: direction asking: i do ask for directions, but being a man it is only when i see a state boundary sign that i was
not expecting! :lol:


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## M492A

Enable entering the star (*) and pound sign (#) into the phone dialing prefix.


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## biggestdave

For the record after 20 minutes problem I would recommend rewinding to the beginning then hit record and you will catch the whole thing.


For an additional feature I would like to see the ability to queue up as many events as you like from your recorded history and play them in sequence (good for kids!).


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## Paradox-sj

I request that the Sort Option for the DVR events NOT default back to what ever its default is and STAY with the option you want as default (sort of like the 508 etc does)

i.e.
Choose your own DVR event Sort Option


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## Paradox-sj

I request FOLDERS so you can group show.


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## Pepper

How about this: enable PIP and SWAP to work in DUAL mode, so parents in one room could spy on what the kids are watching at the other end of the house. An optional lockout of the feature so the parents could keep the kids from doing the same thing to them. Same feature, different scenario: The spouse runs in from the other room "you've just got to see this!" - would be nice to be able to hit swap to see what they are talking about instead of having to get up & walk, or change channels from what I was watching.

Most of these suggestions, except the HD-specific ones, would be improvements on the 522 as well.


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## Foxbat

Another suggestion for the "let's record this" crowd: When you press "Record" during an event, how about making one of the options "Stop Recording in xxx minutes"? It's one thing to extend a recording by xx minutes, but as I found out with the OTA digitals (in which the current event is nine days long) that just fills up the hard drive if you don't stop it manually.

I had an old Mitsubishi VCR that had a "QTR" (Quick Time Record) button. The first press of "QTR" started the VCR recording whatever you were watching for 0:30, and each press added another 30 minutes. At first I thought it was pretty useless, but when I realized that you could start recording a program you were watching when your friends called and said, "meet us at Moondog's in fifteen", I thought it came in pretty handy on such occasions.


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## dparker

You can tell I come from Tivo land too. My feature request list:

1. Preserve live TV buffers. For instance, when I'm tuned to a channel and decided to watch a previously recorded show and then go back to live TV, the buffer for that channel is gone. Along this line, if I pause one tuner and swap to the other, when I come back to the first one, the show is un-paused and caught up to 'live TV'.

2. Improved Conflict Resolutions. The only options are automatic or manually adjust priorities. I would like to see an option like "record next non-conflicting showing".

3. Ability to set default timer options. I also find it annoying that every time I set a timer, that if I don't want to start the recording one minute early and end 3 minutes late, I have to manually change it. I would rather see a place where I could set the default behavior. If not this, at least have it smart enough to know that if two shows are back to back, that it should record on the same tuner with no overlap.

4. Improved DVR Transport Button Behavior. I would like to see the the play button bring up the time remaining bar when you are watching a recording. As it is, if I want to see where I am in a recording, I have to pause the show and then press play again. Also, I'd like to see the FFWD and RWD buttons take into account reaction times. When I'm FFWDing, see where I want to start and press play, I have to rewind a little to get to where I wanted to start.

5. Out of Market OTA guide data. I would like to see a way for people who pay for the locals to get their neighboring markets local guide data.

6. User Defined or Native Resolution Pass-thru. I prefer my TV set's stretch modes over the 942's. I'd really like to see the ability to define what each resolution should be output as. For example, my TV can output 720p so I'd like to have 720p output at 1080i. However, I'd still like 480i output at 480i.

7. Folders. Have folders so that every re-occurring timer has one.


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## Paradox-sj

Priority List

As it is now:
If you look at the Priority list you will find the same program listed several times as the event timer progresses through its schedule in decending order of priority. The show appears again and again.


Changed to:
Priorities should be based on the show NOT the event timers schedule AND the show. i.e Shows would only appear once is the list and their priority will be static.


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## jpetersohn

It would be nice if "Browse" and "Search" wouldn't show channels that I don't receive. As it stands, I have tons of red listings that are no use to me. Ideally it would obey the current favorites list in effect.
Alternatively remove unsubscribed/unable to receive channels from the list. Also an option to kill PPV events from the list would be nice.


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## Mike Johnson

I primarily use my 942 in Single mode and distribute the TV2 output throught the house. This is really handy as I am working around the house in different rooms. Occasionaly, I'd like to use dual mode, but I manually have to push the front panel button to change modes, so I seldom use it.

How about if the 942 would switch to dual mode when it received a power command from the TV2 remote and switch back to single mode when TV2 was turned off? 

This would take some adjustment of how the two different remotes are used to control the unit, but it would sure help me benifit from both modes.

A mode change button, sequence or menu accessible on the remote would work, too, and I've seen that mentioned, but this was another possible solution that occured to me.


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## audiomaster

I don't think we are ever going to see all these things in the 942, but when we get done designing this thing it is going to be an awesome receiver! Think Charlie can get it out by Christmas?? :backtotop


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## flashram

Bichon said:


> The 942 already has this feature. When you press the record button and "record remainder of this event" window comes up, pick options, then pick "Record entire event".


This option is often greyed out on mine. Very annoying. I will try the rewind trick someone else mentioned to see if it will record the whole buffer.


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## Bichon

flashram said:


> This option is often greyed out on mine. Very annoying. I will try the rewind trick someone else mentioned to see if it will record the whole buffer.


If you've been watching the show from the beginning, the button should not be greyed out. If it is, you probably didn't tune to the show until it was already in progress. If you tuned in late, rewinding the show will allow you to record as much of the show as you have in the buffer.


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## Bichon

Feature request:

Picture position and size adjustments on the HDTV output.

Many televisions, especially CRT based RPTVs, have significant overscan. This causes part of the info bar, EPG, and even some program material to be cut off.

1. Picture position. This feature, which I had on my Dish 6000, allowed me to reposition the HDTV picture right/left/up/down. This feature allowed me to center the picture on the screen, or to intentionally displace it when overscan was causing sports score graphics and such to be cut off.

2. Picture size. Would love to be able to adjust horizontal and vertical picture size, to reduce or eliminate overscan.


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## cebbigh

Original post requested add video on demand to list. Editing to remove as a request. Didn't realize that it would just use memory from the box. Thanks Bichon.


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## Bichon

cebbigh said:


> My 942 is on order so I don't have the manual yet, but I've read that the 942 is capable of doing video on demand with a future upgrade. Some posts that I've read on the 625 indicate that it really isn't all that much to talk about. Still it might be nice to have as an option if it evolves into something bigger.


I'd vote to make this feature optional. Satellite isn't capable of true video-on-demand; all this fake VOD will do is to download PPV movies and specials to your box ahead of time, taking up space on the hard drive that could otherwise be used for storing your own shows.


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## cebbigh

Bichon said:


> I'd vote to make this feature optional. Satellite isn't capable of true video-on-demand; all this fake VOD will do is to download PPV movies and specials to your box ahead of time, taking up space on the hard drive that could otherwise be used for storing your own shows.


Did not realize that's how it works. If it is stored on your own box then I see no value in it either. I retract it as a request.


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## flashram

As discussed in this thread, I would like to be able to have the choice of which tuner to record to when scheduling a recording.

I would also like more info on scheduling conflicts. It would be nice if the DVR told you what the conflicting programs are then give you the option to either cancel the previously scheduled program and record the new one or give the option to leave the schedule as-is.


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## TVBob

I'd like to see a "Save to VCR" feature that disables menus, timer pop-ups, caller-id pop-ups, channel changes, etc. when you're trying to archive a movie to a VCR or a DVD Recorder. The only way to cancel the Save to VCR operation would be to turn off the unit with the front power button. Ideally the 942 would automatically issue the "record" and "stop record" commands to the VCR / DVD recorder via the IR Blaster.

If the VCR save operation could be _scheduled _(say, for 2 a.m.), that would be even cooler. The 942 would wake up, issue the VCR record command, wait a few seconds, play back the entire show, issue the VCR stop command, and turn off. A VCR timer does all that today, but it has to be done "live." I'd like to see it work "delayed."


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## cebbigh

Regarding the USB hard drive to increase available recording space that was mentioned earlier as being available later this summer. Is that the mini-monitor that was refered to on the tech chat, or is there something in the works to just attach to the 942 for the main purpose of expanded memory (and if so, how much memory)?


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## dathead2

i would like to be able to extend the end time when using "dish pass"
the "stop over" (or whatever it is called) is grayed out in the options menu.

this is handy for instance for tennis tournaments. the guide data says 
something is on from say 1pm to 4pm but often due to unknown length
of the sporting even it will run to 4:30pm. 

i know you can set manual timers, but again for tennis using dish pass is
optimal for use during a major grand slam tournament (two weeks of daily coverage)


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## madjimtihing

really like the 942 just need an hdtv....

1. FOLDERS FOR DVR EVENTS

2. SAVE YOUR PREFERRED METHOD TO SORT EVENTS


3. PASS THROUGH RESOLUTIONS OR MAKE IT A QUICK SWITCH ON THE REMOTE

4. NAME MANUAL TIMERS

5. SHOW HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT IN A SHOW IN GUIDE

6. SHOW HOW MUCH TIME IS REMAINING IN THE DVR WHEN YOU SKIP AROUND 

7. MAKE A QUICK RETURN TO DVR EVENT TO LIVE TV TO DVR EVENT

i AM GETTING ota ANALOG STATIONS have been for a month. 

does anyone know if the hdmi cable passes dd 5.1??????


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## Bichon

madjimtihing said:


> i AM GETTING ota ANALOG STATIONS have been for a month.


No, you aren't. You are seeing your satellite locals being remapped to their original channel numbers. To prove it to yourself, tune to one of those supposed "analog locals" and disconnect your terrestrial antenna.


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## Tyralak

One thing I've wanted for a long time on Dish recievers would be a comprehensive "zones" type feature like ReplayTV uses. Where you can select a specific genre and sub-genre (i.e. Sci-Fi -> Sci-Fi B-Movies) Instead of the ultra broad and virtually useless "themes" feature it has now.


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## Tom-Tx

I would like to see the Blue Light come on whenever tuner2 is recording and the Red Light whenever tuner1 is recording, regardless of what mode the unit is set to. Also wish there was another color light for the OTA tuner.


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## Bichon

cebbigh said:


> Regarding the USB hard drive to increase available recording space that was mentioned earlier as being available later this summer. Is that the mini-monitor that was refered to on the tech chat, or is there something in the works to just attach to the 942 for the main purpose of expanded memory (and if so, how much memory)?


No, the portable player is a different product. For backing up stored programs, they said that they would be putting out a list of compatible USB hard drives. If you aren't familiar with that type of device, here is an example of one that could possibly show up on the list: http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/M...ves/OneTouch II Family/Maxtor OneTouch II USB


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## madjimtihing

i may be wrong but i have 2 sets of locals 1 set is the dish #ed locals and the other actually have the local channel numbers and show up right next to the ota hd channels. the 2nd set showed up after a i scanned for analog channels using my new ota atennae. 

i will try to unplug my atennae to test it. i really don;t know why i would be getting 2 sets of locals from dish mapped separately and that they would be mapped this way after i scanned for analog stations.

i guess it doesn't make much difference at this point to me.


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## madjimtihing

i don't get analog ota, i stand corrected. but i do have 2 groups of locals.

sorry for my confusion.


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## cebbigh

Bichon said:


> No, the portable player is a different product. For backing up stored programs, they said that they would be putting out a list of compatible USB hard drives. If you aren't familiar with that type of device, here is an example of one that could possibly show up on the list: http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/M...ves/OneTouch II Family/Maxtor OneTouch II USB


ALRIGHT!!!


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## ctreptow

Hi All

I just moved to Dish from Directv. I used the Ulitmate TV for 4 years and love it. Little did I know that the switch to the 942 would be so painless and the PQ is the best I've seen. 

Requests for features.

I would like to see a jump to date/time in the guide so I could setup recordings.

Setup how many episodes to record in timers. That way I don't fill up the hard drive with Scooby Doo...

Folder View

and make it easier to delete timers and events.

Chris


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## cnacht

audiomaster said:


> As I have said before, the ability to receive IR commands for both main and second zones.QUOTE]
> 
> I agree with this. It would help with the use of my MX-800 remotes.
> Chad


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## mdellis33

I would like to be able to change the PIP channel instead of the main channel and/or be able to only swap the audio when PIP is active.


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## Stewart Vernon

Regarding the future potential to connect a USB hard drive to the 942...

Does anyone know anything about the intended use for this? On the Tech Chat I saw, it sounded like they were saying you would connect the drive so you could archive recordings from your PVR, then erase them from your PVR so you could record other things.

I was not clear on whether you would have to then copy those programs back to your 942 in order to watch them... OR if you would be able to watch them directly from the USB hard drive while connected to the 942.

IF it is just archive storage... I'm not sure how useful that feature will be, since archiving things just creates a mess where you still have to keep room on the 942 to copy things back and watch...

BUT if you can actually watch the programs from the USB drive itself, that would be a big plus!


----------



## ctreptow

More record and search options.

I would like to be able to select channels on Dishpass. 

Example Record CSI new episodes only on CBS. 

Chris


----------



## scott simley

just not sure why with a uhf 942 reciever that you cant make tv 1 uhf also..... I have mine in my theater room with a ceiling mounted projector and all of my equipment is in the mechanical room... the 322 and the 522 you are able to make #1 uhf is this someting that can be done or possible with software upgrades in the future?


----------



## Bichon

ctreptow said:


> I would like to be able to select channels on Dishpass.
> 
> Example Record CSI new episodes only on CBS.
> 
> Chris


Unless I'm misunderstanding your feature request, it already does that. On the Dishpass setup screen, pick options, tick "Set Channel", and enter the channel number.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

ctreptow said:


> More record and search options.
> 
> I would like to be able to select channels on Dishpass.
> 
> Example Record CSI new episodes only on CBS.
> 
> Chris


You can define the channel now.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

scott simley said:


> just not sure why with a uhf 942 reciever that you cant make tv 1 uhf also..... I have mine in my theater room with a ceiling mounted projector and all of my equipment is in the mechanical room... the 322 and the 522 you are able to make #1 uhf is this someting that can be done or possible with software upgrades in the future?


This probably will be possible in the future, with a different TV1 remote.


----------



## DVDDAD

scott simley said:


> just not sure why with a uhf 942 reciever that you cant make tv 1 uhf also..... I have mine in my theater room with a ceiling mounted projector and all of my equipment is in the mechanical room... the 322 and the 522 you are able to make #1 uhf is this someting that can be done or possible with software upgrades in the future?


I use two UHF remotes, but I'm in Single Mode. I don't think you can do this in dual mode yet.


----------



## DVDDAD

Bichon said:


> Feature request:
> 
> Picture position and size adjustments on the HDTV output.
> 
> Many televisions, especially CRT based RPTVs, have significant overscan. This causes part of the info bar, EPG, and even some program material to be cut off.
> 
> 1. Picture position. This feature, which I had on my Dish 6000, allowed me to reposition the HDTV picture right/left/up/down. This feature allowed me to center the picture on the screen, or to intentionally displace it when overscan was causing sports score graphics and such to be cut off.
> 
> 2. Picture size. Would love to be able to adjust horizontal and vertical picture size, to reduce or eliminate overscan.


I second this! It's very annoying to have half of the last entry on my EPG cut-off!


----------



## ewingr

Not a biggie, but I'd like to see the DBR recorded stuff displayed like this:

All same titles grouped together, alphabetically. For example:

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Westwing (2)
Who's Line is it Anyway (7)

This would indicate there is 1 episode of CSI, 2 of Westwing, and 7 of Who's Line. Selecting Westwing would present the 2 Westwings, sorted by date recorded, oldest at the top.

Like I said, not a biggie, but it does allow for a compressed, 'easier to see what's there' menu of recordings.


----------



## cebbigh

I know it was mentioned before but the one big thing for me is being able to resize the ota channels. I hope that is in the works.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

cebbigh said:


> I know it was mentioned before but the one big thing for me is being able to resize the ota channels. I hope that is in the works.


It's coming...


----------



## EvanS

dparker said:


> ....4. Improved DVR Transport Button Behavior. I would like to see the the play button bring up the time remaining bar when you are watching a recording. As it is, if I want to see where I am in a recording, I have to pause the show and then press play again.......


dparker - I agree that pressing "play" while watching a recording makes sense, but with DISH you press "Cancel" for this function. Actually "Cancel" brings up the banner in any viewing mode. Press cancel again to remove the banner info...


----------



## Bichon

EvanS said:


> dparker - I agree that pressing "play" while watching a recording makes sense, but with DISH you press "Cancel" for this function. Actually "Cancel" brings up the banner in any viewing mode. Press cancel again to remove the banner info...


Pressing "Select" also brings up the same banner, which includes "time remaining". It goes away by itself after a few seconds.


----------



## jetskier

Features I'd like to see at least for now...

1) enable IR on TV2 (for us with whole house A/V and IR systems)
2) correction for overscan to fix chopped bottom edge (occurs on composite TV2 and on TV1)
3) enable IR on TV2
4) discrete off command
5) enable IR on TV2


----------



## dathead2

how about at least some core editing functions such as:

1) delete from beginning to selected point

2) delete from selected point to end

actually you should be able to delete from any selected point A to point B

3) it would also be really nice if you could put some ID markers within a program,
i'll watch a sporting event and i want to later show a friend certain great plays
and would love to be able to just go to a pre-defined point.


----------



## ewingr

I second Item 3 above.


----------



## mdellis33

I would like to see a feature to allow you to turn off the parental locks until you shut down the receiver after you input your code. It gets annoying to have to keep inputing the code when you are channel surfing, using PIP, etc. I have to keep the code in because I have kids but would like this option just as with the DP 7200/7100's.

Mike


----------



## HDjunkie

Just to make sure it's been noted...

*Please make the thing remember the chosen default sort option of DVR events.*

And, enable the USB achive drive.

And, Send me a breifcase full of $100 bills.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

HDjunkie said:


> Just to make sure it's been noted...
> 
> *Please make the thing remember the chosen default sort option of DVR events.*
> 
> And, enable the USB achive drive.


Both coming soon.


----------



## Mike D-CO5

Mark Lamutt said:


> Both coming soon.


But it will cost you that briefcase full of $100.00 BILLS to get it. :lol:


----------



## bthom73

Is it possible to make the onscreen controls timeout
and disappear after a few seconds when you hit the 
pause button? 

It's entertaining to see exactly what happens during
quick scenes by stepping through them but the
onscreen controls are in the way on the lower half
of the screen if you completely stop the scene.

-Brian


----------



## Beer Kahuna

I know others have mentioned folders for recorded events (or expandable trees for like events).

How about when you display recorded DVR events, they are listed by the channel favorites used to create them? For example: my favorites are called Dad. When I display the list of recorded shows, just show the events I requested to record. I don't need to see the 10 Pokemon episodes my son recorded. If you browse DVR events from "All Subs" it could display them all.


----------



## Stutz342

I'd like to see two timer-realted features:

1. Give us a button somewhere on the timers screens to have the 942 rebuild the timer scheduled events list based on the created timers and the current guide data. This is the process that runs after a switch check and/or guide download, where it searches the guide data for everything we've requested be recorded, and sets up the events. I would love to be able to trigger it by itself, as it would give me an excellent work-around to the OTA guide data problem. Whenever the data appears, I could re-run the timer searches to get the local record events created. It would also be useful when used in concert with request #2.

2. Have the timer scheduled events build in priority order. Right now the priority is only used when two events are scheduled for the same time. I sometimes schedule the same show on two channels (HD primary & SD backup for example) and right now I have no control over which one will record, and which one will show up as "duplicate event." If it folowed the priority when building the event list, the higher priority timer would create an event, then the lower priority one would be flagged as a duplicate. If the First one isn't there, the second one would record. That would be brilliant!


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Stutz - for what it's worth, you do have control over which (or both) duplicate events record, but you have to manually intervene to make it happen. All you have to do is go into the skipped duplicate event and restore it, and it will record.


----------



## Stutz342

Yes, and that's what I'm doing now. It would just be nicer if I didn't have to review it's plan for each day. With a little more smarts behind the scenes, it would be much closer to "set it and forget it" which is what I hoped to gain from NBR.


----------



## cebbigh

Because SD images look best when viewed as 4:3 #2 and HD images look best at 16:9 it would be nice if the box could remember preferences between SD and HD to eliminate the need of going back to reset the screen. OK so I'm lazy.


----------



## waltinvt

cebbigh said:


> Because SD images look best when viewed as 4:3 #2 and HD images look best at 16:9 it would be nice if the box could remember preferences between SD and HD to eliminate the need of going back to reset the screen. OK so I'm lazy.


I don't think that's being "lazy". Even with it programed into a couple of macros, it's a big distraction. I'm guessing this would be in the top 5 of a "please fix it soon" poll.


----------



## Jason Kragt

I'm not a 942 owner, so I don't know if this is true or not, but I think I read somewhere that you cannot view OTA digital channels on TV2. Is this correct? If so, it would be an important feature for me. I watch our UPN affiliate (8-2) and weather radar (8-3) on subchannels of our local NBC station (8-1). Only the main NBC channel is retransmitted on satellite. I would like to be able to view all of them on both TVs.


----------



## Bichon

Jason Kragt said:


> I'm not a 942 owner, so I don't know if this is true or not, but I think I read somewhere that you cannot view OTA digital channels on TV2. Is this correct?


It's true in dual mode. The 942 has only one OTA tuner, and it's assigned to TV1. In single mode (where the TV2 output is a mirror of TV1), you can tune OTA channels fine, although due to a bug, 16:9 programming appears horizontally squished.


----------



## cschang

Sorry if this has been mentioned before....

When watching a show and deciding to record it, hitting the record button causes you to lose what was in the buffer. It would be nice if if captured the buffer as well. TiVo does this.


----------



## Mike D-CO5

IF you rewind back to where the program started and hit record and then fast forward to live tv , you will have the entire program recorded at least where you began watching .


----------



## Bichon

cschang said:


> Sorry if this has been mentioned before....
> 
> When watching a show and deciding to record it, hitting the record button causes you to lose what was in the buffer. It would be nice if if captured the buffer as well. TiVo does this.


It has been mentioned before, but no biggie. In addition to the solution Mike D offered, if you've been watching since the show started you can hit record, choose options, and select "record entire show".


----------



## cschang

Thanks guys!


----------



## DVDDAD

I miss the "unlock receiver until power off" feature that the 7100/7200 series receivers have. I keep me receiver locked and it's a real pain to always have to enter your password. When I unlock the receiver completely, I've sometimes forgotten to lock it again. This would be great on the 942.


----------



## Mark S.

Not sure if this has already been suggested...

I know there has been rumors of an add on external hard drive or disk expansion for the 942. If this is in fact the case, could you possibly make a suggestion that the 942 offer the ability to download the previously recorded show info either to the external hard disk or maybe even to a USB jump drive? Then if the user ever needed to dispo their receiver for any reason, they could offload the list of previously recorded shows to the jump drive or add-on hard drive. Then when the replacement receiver was received, they could then plug the jump drive or hard drive into the new unit and upload the list of previously recorded shows from the original unit. This would then keep the receiver from re-recording all the shows that were previously recorded on the first unit. 

I could also see a use for this utility if a subscriber got a second 942 or whatever the new MPEG4 receivers will be called and didn't want the second unit re-recording previously recorded shows from the original unit. Maybe they could make this into a utility that would work between several different models that have USB and NBR like the 522, 625, and 942(provided the 522 and 625 have USB). I think I heard that they are all basically running on a similar platform. 

Let me know what you think Mark and thanks for all you do here. Also, sorry if this has already been asked or suggested.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

It's not yet clear, Mark, how Dish is going to handle external drives. We're in the very early stages of testing on it, and there are a lot of issues that haven't been finalized, or even addressed yet.


----------



## Mark S.

Mark Lamutt said:


> It's not yet clear, Mark, how Dish is going to handle external drives. We're in the very early stages of testing on it, and there are a lot of issues that haven't been finalized, or even addressed yet.


Just to clarify Mark, I am only making reference to having the ability to archive the programming/show info from shows previously recorded, watched, and deleted from the hard drive to either an add-on external hard drive or possibly a USB jump drive so they are not re-recorded again should the unit ever be dispo'd. Also possibly adding this utility so the programming/show info could be archived from the 942 another receiver (942, 625, 522) or to the newer MPEG4 DVR when it is released thus keeping it from re-downloading previously viewed shows as well.


----------



## Foxbat

Mark (the Admin Mark, not the AllStar Mark),
I'm looking forward to being able to extend recording time on the 942. Do you know if the intent is to support "approved" external USB 2 drives, or will Dish sell a "Dished" drive that can be used with only the 942?

Also, on the "Would be Cool" list, support for USB Ethernet dongle, allowing Electronic Program Guide info, firmware updates, etc., to be downloaded using Home Broadband connnections.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

No idea yet, Roland on the drives supported, but I seriously doubt we'll ever see anything remotely like a USB ethernet dongle.


----------



## Scott C. Edwards

sampatterson said:


> Default the DVR record "Options" button to the last value the user entered.
> 
> It always comes up with "1 minute before, and 3 minutes after". I would like it to keep whatever the user changes it to as the default" (I use 0 before, 0 after)


I agree wholeheartedly. It's a pain having to go into options and change from 1,3 to 0,0 all the time. Set the default to 0,0.


----------



## vahighland

Scott C. Edwards said:


> I agree wholeheartedly. It's a pain having to go into options and change from 1,3 to 0,0 all the time. Set the default to 0,0.


I like having the default settings of 1,3. I used TiVo for years. TiVo's default is set to 0,0. Consequently, I often missed either the beginning or end of a show unless I manually padded. Maybe the Preferences menu should include a user-selectable default setting.


----------



## Dr. Collect

cebbigh said:


> Because SD images look best when viewed as 4:3 #2 and HD images look best at 16:9 it would be nice if the box could remember preferences between SD and HD to eliminate the need of going back to reset the screen. OK so I'm lazy.


Huh? Mine displays everything in their correct ratio automatically. Am I misreading this somehow? What's 4:3 #2?

Anyway, as for features, I think these are a must:

-color coding watched events
-automatic deleting by watched>priority>date recorded
-ability to specify maximum amount of specific timer to keep 
-a smarter system that detects wether a show is first run or repeat
-automatic recording of shows system suggests based on viewing patterns
-color coded differentiation between favorites and one-time recordings (and system suggested recordings, assuming the above feature is implemented)
-create timers by actors/people
-a system that doesn't display a timer in progress by default upon powering on, spoiling part of the show

Basically, I want this to be mainly a DVR, not a satallite reciver w/ lite DVR features as a bonus.


----------



## bthom73

I'm not trying to be negative but a lot of what you're describing would depend on whether that info is even available in the data stream, for example whether a show is a first run or a rerun or whether two shows are of similar interest. 

Your requests are valid but I'd be curious to know whether they're even possible. Anyone know what additional info is built into the program guide database besides what shows up when you press the info button?

-Brian


----------



## Dr. Collect

bthom73 said:


> I'm not trying to be negative but a lot of what you're describing would depend on whether that info is even available in the data stream, for example whether a show is a first run or a rerun or whether two shows are of similar interest.
> 
> Your requests are valid but I'd be curious to know whether they're even possible. Anyone know what additional info is built into the program guide database besides what shows up when you press the info button?
> 
> -Brian


Would it be impossible to amend their guide database with more information? Why should the free Zap2it have more comprehensive program data than a commerical service that pioneered interactive program guides? Don't get me wrong - the Dish guide isn't all bad. I've never seen any other guide that displayed the year aired of just about every program listed, and that helps with my TVLand and Boomerang timers, but for the most part their guide is pretty skimpy.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Scott C. Edwards said:


> I agree wholeheartedly. It's a pain having to go into options and change from 1,3 to 0,0 all the time. Set the default to 0,0.


You'll be able to in the next release.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Dr. Collect said:


> Huh? Mine displays everything in their correct ratio automatically. Am I misreading this somehow? What's 4:3 #2?
> 
> Anyway, as for features, I think these are a must:
> 
> -ability to specify maximum amount of specific timer to keep


Added in the next release.


----------



## Jerry 42

Re: !st run & repeats

First, do't get me wrong, I really think the 942 is a good machine some things could be improved but over all good. 

Second, TiVos can be set to record 1st run only or 1st run & repeats. It is based on an episode number that's inbedded in the program data they get from the Tribune service. I like the feature but can/am living without it. Sold my 2 TiVos now have 2 - 942s.


----------



## bthom73

I'm not really sure if this is a feature request or a bug but
the Menu-5-8 "Hide Locked" doesn't completely hide locked 
events. It would be better if they didn't show at all instead
of showing as "Locked Event". Out of sight, out of mind...


----------



## lakebum431

This has probably already been talked about, but I would like the automatic jump back while fast forwarding (like the TiVos have). Where if you are fast forwarding and then hit play it will jump back a few seconds to so you don't have to then rewind to get to the end of the commercial break.


----------



## Bichon

lakebum431 said:


> This has probably already been talked about, but I would like the automatic jump back while fast forwarding (like the TiVos have). Where if you are fast forwarding and then hit play it will jump back a few seconds to so you don't have to then rewind to get to the end of the commercial break.


You are using the FF key to skip commercials? The skip-forward key is FAR more effective.


----------



## lakebum431

Yeah, but then you still have to rewind, and that is a PITA. With TiVo it much simpler to use the FF key and hit play right when you see the show come back. I guess old habits die hard. What can I say, I had the Tivo for 3 years.


----------



## Paradox-sj

lakebum431 said:


> This has probably already been talked about, but I would like the automatic jump back while fast forwarding (like the TiVos have). Where if you are fast forwarding and then hit play it will jump back a few seconds to so you don't have to then rewind to get to the end of the commercial break.


It already does this. Now it may no jump back as far you like BUT the rest of us just you the SKIP button instead of FF to accomplish this and it works very well.


----------



## mfrodsha

I would love to have PSIP data so we could have guide data on the sub-channels. Why is Dish refusing to do this? I know it's an old question that never seems to get answered.


----------



## Altaman

I think what would be a excellent feature to add is the ability to pause a recording you are watching, switch to the other tuner and watch a program and be able to switch back to the previous tuner and resume watching.

As an example I was recording a football game and decided to start watching it, the family wanted to watch another show. I did not want to lose where I had finished watching and start over from the beginning or FF though the program, so I paused it.

After the show the family wanted to watch was over I figured I would go back and continue where I left off. Well the recording had switched over to live portion of the recording and I lost where I was in the program.

Alt


----------



## lakebum431

Paradox-sj said:


> It already does this. Now it may no jump back as far you like BUT the rest of us just you the SKIP button instead of FF to accomplish this and it works very well.


Really? I guess my reflexes aren't very good then. All well, I am trying to get used to using the skip forward button, but I just can't get used to it. I'm sure I'll learn. Great product though! I really love it so far!


----------



## robbers

TIVO has an excellent feature that, as most of us know, is missing on the 942. That is the fast forward/rewind feature that automatically compensates for the lack of precise timing by the user in terms of stopping the fast forward at a specific point...such as the resumption of a show after fast forwarding through the commercials.


----------



## robbers

Would love for the 942 to allow alternate placement of the PIP screen. The current choices all take up way to much of the primary screen. It'd be nice to have the option of moving the window much closer to the edge of the entire viewing area, thus opening up more of the primary screen.


----------



## bjb236

I second the PIP window placement request. I never use the feature because it takes up too much room. Would even be nice to have an option to view side by side 4x3 pictures for those of us with widescreen TVs.


----------



## Sundance

Look at the ReplayTV DVR by Sonicblue. Copy it, it works almost flawless. The BEST DVR ever made and still puts the 921 and 942 to shame in many areas.


----------



## Tyralak

Sundance said:


> Look at the ReplayTV DVR by Sonicblue. Copy it, it works almost flawless. The BEST DVR ever made and still puts the 921 and 942 to shame in many areas.


Especially when it comes to their "Zones" feature, where you can look for movies and shows by type, genre, and sub-genre. That's far more useful than the almost useless "Themes" feature in Dish recievers. "Movies" is as specific as it gets, and then it pulls up several thousand listings at a time.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

For those of us that don't have Replay boxes, and have never seen or used them, care to be more specific?


----------



## vahighland

Tyralak said:


> Especially when it comes to their "Zones" feature, where you can look for movies and shows by type, genre, and sub-genre. That's far more useful than the almost useless "Themes" feature in Dish recievers. "Movies" is as specific as it gets, and then it pulls up several thousand listings at a time.


I never had ReplayTV, but I did own TiVo. This sounds similar to TiVo's search/wishlist capabilities.


----------



## Moridin

This past Friday a ferocious rain storm (3.5" in half an hour) caused loss of signal, which meant the final 10 minutes of Sg-1 and the first couple minutes of Atlantis weren't recorded for me. I have timers for both set up to record all episodes.

If signal is lost while recording an event, it would be Very Nice if the next airing broadcast of the same program would be un-skipped.


----------



## MrC

Moridin said:


> This past Friday a ferocious rain storm (3.5" in half an hour) caused loss of signal, which meant the final 10 minutes of Sg-1 and the first couple minutes of Atlantis weren't recorded for me. I have timers for both set up to record all episodes.
> 
> If signal is lost while recording an event, it would be Very Nice if the next airing broadcast of the same program would be un-skipped.


Absolutely agree!!!!


----------



## Stutz342

Moridin said:


> If signal is lost while recording an event, it would be Very Nice if the next airing broadcast of the same program would be un-skipped.


That would be SWET!

Yes, please, can we have that?

Pretty-please?


----------



## Tyralak

mpeltz said:


> I never had ReplayTV, but I did own TiVo. This sounds similar to TiVo's search/wishlist capabilities.


I think it's the same kind of thing. That would be incredibly useful. I don't know why more people aren't clamoring for it.


----------



## vahighland

From what I know, I don't think that any of the Dish receivers ever had advanced type/genre/sub-genre search filters, so unless you had used TiVo/ReplayTV, you wouldn't know what you're missing.

I would love to have those capabilities, but Dish needs to address the reliability/stability issues before adding any new features.


----------



## jpage4500

TVBob said:


> I'd like to see the *Recall* button jump between a live channel and a recorded show, like a ReplayTV (or TiVo?) would.
> ...
> An *Intelligent Recall Button* *(IRB)* would save us all a lot of steps. It should recall the last thing you were watching, be it another live channel or a recording.


I absolutely agree with this one!!

If I'm watching a DVR recording and switch channels (eg: I'm watching a show and want to check the score of a baseball game), when I hit the Recall button I don't go back to my recording. Instead I go back to the channel the recording was on but in live mode. This is really a pain.. Even worse, when I enter the DVR menu and select the recording I was watching it doesn't let me Resume.. only Start Over!! So, I've got to manually find where I left the recording off... ughh.. I've tried to use the Stop button but instead of stopping the playback it asks me if I want to Stop recording (which I don't) so I'm kind of stuck...

3) Just as bad (for me anyway) is the ease of which it is to go Live on a recording that you're watching on a delay. Right above the jump ahead is the Live button and I'd really like it to ask me if I "really want to go live?". It's not so bad for a TV show where you can reverse back to where you left off but for sports it's terrible.

I love to record a baseball game and start watching it 30-45 minutes after it starts. That way, I can skip commericals which I'd imagine many people do. But, the last thing I want to do is go live and see the score which really takes away from the experience. So now, if I A) press Live TV by accident instead of Skip Ahead or B) change the channel and try to change back, I go LIVE...

I guess to me, in general going Live makes more sense when I paused TV. But, when I play back a recording the whole Live concept doesn't seem necessary (or at least so easy to do)

j


----------



## Justin

In the DVR Event screen (after you select a show from the list of recorded shows) it would be great to have a button that would allow you to adjust recording timers for that particular show. If there was no existing timer it would allow you to create one.


----------



## JR_Baas

I am using the 942 in dual user mode. I have the RF connection from TV2 to my distribution wiring in my house. I also have the TV2 output connected to my main TV with the composite outputs so I can use the TV's built in PIP mode. I would like to see the TV1 remote be able to control TV2 with the AUX setting.


----------



## TVBob

Mark Lamutt said:


> For those of us that don't have Replay boxes, and have never seen or used them, care to be more specific?


On a ReplayTV in addition to simple text search you have a "Replay Zones" button which is really like the "Themes" feature on Dish, but with very useful and detailed _subcategories_. I agree that Dish's "Themes" feature is quite useless because each choice returns way too many listings.

Some examples of useful "Zones" I've used often with my ReplayTV:


Sports
Baseball

Football
Hockey
Olympics

Movies 
Comedy 
Documentary 
Star Rating **** (4 star movies) 
Star Rating ***+ (3 or more stars) 

Series
Premiere
Season Premiere 
Season Finale
Series Finale

So in general, Dish really needs a more advanced search capability, starting with more-detailed themes under each major theme category. All of the data is available to Dish; they just have to start using it.

Along these lines, I repeat my earlier feature request that I'd really like to see Dish put movie star ratings (critique) in the info banner at the top of the Guide and DVR screens. Burying movie critique under the "Info" button makes it really hard to find a quality movie, especially with the bare bones Themes feature working the way it does today.


----------



## UpOnTheMountain

I would love to be able to list priority skips only.

That way I can zoom in on shows that I epxected to record (because they are not repeats) and resolve the issues.


----------



## Stutz342

I need more timer slots, and way more event slots! I'm finding that I tend to run out of event slots, even when I've only got 80-85 timers.

For those that don't already know, we're limited to 96 timers, and 288 events created by those timers. The problem is that skipped duplicates count toward the 288 events. That means that shows on channels like SciFi and Discovery, which repeat a LOT, end up creating up to a dozen (mostly skip) events per week. with limits at 96 & 288, we can only average 3 events per timer. I'm averaging around 4.

If the slots fill up, there can be timers that don't get events created! (It doesn't go through in priority order when creating events, so there's no telling what timers will be missing events.)

They need to at least increase the limits. I'd suggest 5x as many events as timers, instead of 3x. I think the number of timers is a little light as well. I think 150 timers and 750 events would work reliably.

Better yet would be having event creation not just stop when the slots are full. They could check to see if the event that's going to be created is sooner than the one that's farthest in the future, and if it is, kill that one to make room for the new one.

Also, I still say the event creation should go in priority order as well. That one change would add all kinds of control capabilities for the user. For example we could create timers for a show on both an OTA HD station, and on the SD Sat station, and the priority would guarantee that the HD one would be preferred, and the SD one would only fire if the HD one wasn't there for some reason. Right now there's no telling which one will be marked "Duplicate."

But, I digress. More timers (150) and events (750) please.


----------



## Justin

I think that I mentioned this before. A way to flag a recorded show as "watched" by multiple people. Even something as simple as "TV1" and "TV2" would be fine to start. That way I know what I can delete because my wife is done with it and she knows what I've finished with.


----------



## drapp1952

Mark Lamutt said:


> It's not yet clear, Mark, how Dish is going to handle external drives. We're in the very early stages of testing on it, and there are a lot of issues that haven't been finalized, or even addressed yet.


It's good news it's in testing, even if early. However, I am not sensing that an anticipated release date is forthcoming from the tone of this status report.

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Dan


----------



## HailScroob

&#8230;which means I'm a total noob with the 942, but I've had a year's worth of "fun" with the 921, and after reading this thread and then going back to my new box and playing around, I can see where some of the ideas here would make a totally awesome box even more so. I see where some of suggestions in this thread have already be implemented, but there are still some great ones left outstanding; specifically:



mpeltz said:


> Option to specify NEW episodes only when setting up a DishPASS event.
> 
> Increase the 15 character limit for searching/DishPASS to 30 characters.





Dr. Collect said:


> a smarter system that detects whether a show is first run or repeat


It would be really cool if the "New" option (or maybe a different "New" option) on both regular and DishPASS timers would look for the words "New," "Premiere" and "Finale" at the end of the show info and only record those. Try setting up a daily timer for "The Daily Show" with the New option selected and see the dozens of duplicate, decidedly non-New, episodes that show up in the daily schedule. I know "New" on the 942 means "new this year," but when I see "New" on the options menu, I think of the shows where the program guide info says "New." or "Season Finale." or "Series Finale." or "Series Premier." and so on.



Moridin said:


> If signal is lost while recording an event, it would be Very Nice if the next airing broadcast of the same program would be un-skipped.





mpeltz said:


> 5) Display an entry in the schedule history when a program fails to record, so that you know you missed a show and why (like when it can't acquire a satellite signal).
> 
> 6) Display a "HD" indicator in the Guide to identify which shows are filmed in high definition, just like VOOM. Also, provide a HD theme.





Moridin said:


> The ability to cycle through resolutions with a single button.


Now this would rock. Since the 942 has no S-Video out, and I get a flashing marquee lights effect around bright, solid-color objects using the RCA jack, I'm watching SD through Component set at 480i, so that my TV's SD-mode line doubler and "Natural Wide" stretch mode are active. But this also means that switching between HD and SD is now, like, a 20 step process. It was a button on the 921's remote.



Bichon said:


> 1. Picture position. This feature, which I had on my Dish 6000, allowed me to reposition the HDTV picture right/left/up/down.
> 
> 2. Picture size. Would love to be able to adjust horizontal and vertical picture size, to reduce or eliminate overscan.


Good grief! Picture position: a cool feature the 921 has that the 942 doesn't??



TVBob said:


> I'd like to see a "Save to VCR" feature that disables menus, timer pop-ups, caller-id pop-ups, channel changes, etc. when you're trying to archive a movie to a VCR or a DVD Recorder. The only way to cancel the Save to VCR operation would be to turn off the unit with the front power button.


Obviously (even to me, with just two days experience) the 942 is a really nicely done DVR, certainly on a par with the HD Tivo. After repeated crap software updates, I was totally fed up with my 921 (which started out pretty good and got progressively worse). Kudos to Dish for stepping up and exchanging that boat anchor with a 942. It's really nice to be able to dream about enhancements like these, instead of having nightmares about what new disaster is waiting to hit.


----------



## scottchez

I really like the 942, best thing ever.

But I really think they should FINISH THE PRODUCT first before adding new features.

Things not finished yet:

1. OTA Analog (its says in the menu it supports it so finish it)

2. Turn on USB, yes I know we have seen this before, but why put a port there if your not going to use it. There is one in the front and back. The Front I guess is for the Archos dishplay so the back must be for external drives, just finish the product and turn both on please.

3. Finish Dish on demand. It was advertised so lets see it turned on, yes $4.99 is kind of high for a PPV, maybe they will lower it to $3.99 once they see no one ever orders em. Again finish the product.

4. Finish that Anntena thing, it was advertised that the OTA ant connector would support that ant rotator thing (cant remember the name) finish this please.


Again, I like the 942, I love it, but Dish should finish what they start.


----------



## jsanders

We could improve the themes and search without even going that far.

Those corporate greed decision makers need to stay out of the development.

When I hit themes, and select movies, I get 500 channels that I don't subscribe too, highlighted in red, and crossed out. Lame! It is like they are trying to get me to subscribe to more channels or something. What appears to be greedy decision has rendered the function useless. If they insist on doing this, give me a choice the same way the guide does, All channels, All I subscribe to, Favorites, etc.. 

Better yet, don't show me the themes in time sequence mode, just show me the unique movies that will play. I want to see what is on, *then* I want to see when it is on. Show me the movies that will play in the next 9 days, if I select a movie, then show me when it will be airing!

I want to see the different movies HBO is showing, I don't care that they are showing them on Tuesday at 5pm, Tuesday at 8:30pm, Friday morning at 5am. Let me look at the *list* of *unique* movies to choose from, *then* let me see when that movie plays when I select it! Don't show me a stupid time based schedule with every movie that Dish has which I don't subscribe to. It couldn't be more useless that way!


----------



## jsanders

When I am in the guide on the 942, I have not found away to change the channel in the preview window while remaing in the guide.

The 921 actually has the 942 beat in this arena. On the 921, you move the cursor to the far left, actually over the channel identifier, and hit select. Doing this will put that channel in the preview window of the guide. It would be great to have this functionality in the 942.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

scottchez said:


> I really like the 942, best thing ever.
> 
> But I really think they should FINISH THE PRODUCT first before adding new features.
> 
> Things not finished yet:
> 
> 1. OTA Analog (its says in the menu it supports it so finish it)
> 
> 2. Turn on USB, yes I know we have seen this before, but why put a port there if your not going to use it. There is one in the front and back. The Front I guess is for the Archos dishplay so the back must be for external drives, just finish the product and turn both on please.
> 
> 3. Finish Dish on demand. It was advertised so lets see it turned on, yes $4.99 is kind of high for a PPV, maybe they will lower it to $3.99 once they see no one ever orders em. Again finish the product.
> 
> 4. Finish that Anntena thing, it was advertised that the OTA ant connector would support that ant rotator thing (cant remember the name) finish this please.
> 
> Again, I like the 942, I love it, but Dish should finish what they start.


1, 2 and 3 are coming. 4 has been abandoned.


----------



## jsanders

scottchez said:


> 3. Finish Dish on demand. It was advertised so lets see it turned on, yes $4.99 is kind of high for a PPV, maybe they will lower it to $3.99 once they see no one ever orders em. Again finish the product.


Isn't that the "feature" where Dish decides what to record on your DVR?? Is it something you can turn off? I've only got less than 25hrs of HD recording, I don't want to waste it with something I am going to be charged to view. I don't want Dish deciding what to record for me either. There has to be an off switch, otherwise, they are a bunch of loosers for trying to copy the cable company. I would prefer if they didn't finish that.


----------



## HailScroob

jsanders said:


> Isn't that the "feature" where Dish decides what to record on your DVR?? Is it something you can turn off? I've only got less than 25hrs of HD recording, I don't want to waste it with something I am going to be charged to view. I don't want Dish deciding what to record for me either. There has to be an off switch, otherwise, they are a bunch of loosers for trying to copy the cable company. I would prefer if they didn't finish that.


I'll second that!


----------



## Altaman

I bellieve there is already a portion of the 250 gigs reserved for VOD so it won't take from you current recording space. I personally would like to gain back that space that is reserved as well!

Alt


----------



## Dr. Collect

Again, collapse multiple episodes of shows on the recorded list into one instance that can be expanded or entered like a folder. It's ridiculous that one of the largest capacity DVR's out there doesn't have this feature. You have to scroll through 11 episodes of Leave it to Beaver and 17 episodes of Moesha just to get to the most recent Pepper Ann! And, of course, I should be able to tell just by looking which of those multiple episodes I've watched already (especially with the shows that don't come with episode information, like Animaniacs).


----------



## MrC

Dr. Collect said:


> Again, collapse multiple episodes of shows on the recorded list into one instance that can be expanded or entered like a folder. It's ridiculous that one of the largest capacity DVR's out there doesn't have this feature. You have to scroll through 11 episodes of Leave it to Beaver and 17 episodes of Moesha just to get to the most recent Pepper Ann! And, of course, I should be able to tell just by looking which of those multiple episodes I've watched already (especially with the shows that don't come with episode information, like Animaniacs).


I totally agree. My wife has dozens of episodes of her favorite programs, totalling something like 150 shows - its a royal pain to scroll through each and every one of these to get the oldest shows!


----------



## bthom73

Dr. Collect said:


> Again, collapse multiple episodes of shows on the recorded list into one instance that can be expanded or entered like a folder. It's ridiculous that one of the largest capacity DVR's out there doesn't have this feature. You have to scroll through 11 episodes of Leave it to Beaver and 17 episodes of Moesha just to get to the most recent Pepper Ann! And, of course, I should be able to tell just by looking which of those multiple episodes I've watched already (especially with the shows that don't come with episode information, like Animaniacs).


Well worded and I completely agree.

Another related issue has to do with the 5-8 "Hide Locked" menu option. Any recorded programs from locked channels should completely disappear from the recorded list when the option is set.


----------



## LtMunst

It would be nice if you could do a search by channel. Currently, If I want to browse History channel for programs to record, I have to do it thru the guide which is very cumbersome for browsing several days out. If they added channels to the search function, you would be able to page down thru the results, which is much faster and easier than the guide.


----------



## TechnoCat

Some of these have already been covered before, but here is my 942-wish-list:

*Separate TV2 from the Aspect Ratio* 
TV2 is the whole house output. When in Dual mode, it's 4:3 SD. When in Single mode, it bizarrely throws away SD resolution and letterboxes the video to match the TV setting in the HDTV setup area. TV2 is RF and Composite _only_, so it should _always_ be 4:3. Yeah, we can change the aspect ratio but it impacts BOTH TVs AND, on the RF output, it always looks like crap. See next item, but basically a 16:9 compression of 4:3 to get the side bars in and then stretching via zoom back to 4:3 makes for some lousy blocking artifacts over RF.

This is important because we don't have right now...
*IR Control of TV2* 
TV2 is the whole house video. And great, it comes with a UHF remote. But I have three URC-200/300 remotes with IR-RF-IR and my own channel modulators already; I want to use THOSE remotes. And I cannot with TV2.

This would be less of a problem if the system could be used in Single mode and still get SD video in SD format by default on TV2. But you can't. If the TV is set to 16:9 because that's what the HDTV on TV1 is, that's the default in Single mode for TV2. SD is squeezed and then, depending on the aspect (zoom), apparently stretched. Looks terrible.

*Don't come up in System Info mode so often* 
Got no idea why it does this, but my 942 regularly comes back to life in System Info screen. Not always. It'd be nice to be able to turn this off.

*Add Storage* 
Let me add another hard disk, either internally or via that USB port. 30 hours of space isn't much.

By and large I like the 942. Great work on it. The RF quality kinda-sucks compared to my (rather expensive) modulator, but most of the right ingredients are there.


----------



## JimD

It would be useful to be able to enter some phone number / name pairs into a table. When someone you know calls, but only their number is provided in the caller ID, then the name you entered previously is matched to that number - and that name is displayed.


----------



## LtMunst

It would be nice to have an option to record HD in downconverted SD. Sometimes there are shows on Voom or HDnet I want to record but plan on watching on TV2. Since they will be shown in SD anyway on TV2, you could save hardrive space if you could optionally record the program in SD.


----------



## Bichon

TechnoCat said:


> Got no idea why it does this, but my 942 regularly comes back to life in System Info screen. Not always. It'd be nice to be able to turn this off.


I believe that happens when you press the channel-up or channel-down buttons on the remote while in standby. I'm not sure whether it's an intentional feature.


----------



## M492A

It sure would be nice to get back the ability to press the Cancel button on a paused screen to have all DVR graphics (i.e., the progress bar) cleared from the screen. Sure would make it easier to read and see stuff at the bottom of the picture. 

I recall this worked in one or more releases previous to L229.


----------



## LtMunst

M492A said:


> It sure would be nice to get back the ability to press the Cancel button on a paused screen to have all DVR graphics (i.e., the progress bar) cleared from the screen. Sure would make it easier to read and see stuff at the bottom of the picture.
> 
> I recall this worked in one or more releases previous to L229.


I'll second this request. It is aggravating to pause a screen to look at a kool special effect only to have the progress bar in the way.


----------



## Bichon

M492A said:


> It sure would be nice to get back the ability to press the Cancel button on a paused screen to have all DVR graphics (i.e., the progress bar) cleared from the screen. Sure would make it easier to read and see stuff at the bottom of the picture.


If you press the skip-ahead or skip-back buttons while playback is paused, the DVR graphics are cleared from the bottom of the screen.


----------



## LtMunst

Bichon said:


> If you press the skip-ahead or skip-back buttons while playback is paused, the DVR graphics are cleared from the bottom of the screen.


That works. Thanx for the tip.


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## M492A

Bichon said:


> If you press the skip-ahead or skip-back buttons while playback is paused, the DVR graphics are cleared from the bottom of the screen.


Nice!! Thanks!


----------



## pdxsam

Jerry 42 said:


> Re: !st run & repeats
> TiVos can be set to record 1st run only or 1st run & repeats. It is based on an episode number that's inbedded in the program data they get from the Tribune service. I like the feature but can/am living without it. Sold my 2 TiVos now have 2 - 942s.


In my opinion the biggest downfall of the 942... everything so far for me is great... I just wish that "NEW" didn't mean this year it meant NEW.

It's nothing that I can't work around now.. but it would be nice to have 
that functionality work right.

Sam


----------



## LtMunst

pdxsam said:


> In my opinion the biggest downfall of the 942... everything so far for me is great... I just wish that "NEW" didn't mean this year it meant NEW.
> 
> It's nothing that I can't work around now.. but it would be nice to have
> that functionality work right.
> 
> Sam


The problem is that the guide does not have a repeat flag. On Tivo, a non-new episode had "R" for repeat in the guide data. There is no such flag on Dish's guide. This could be easily programmed into the 942 if Dish simply overhauls their guide to include the repeat flag.


----------



## ccwf

LtMunst said:


> The problem is that the guide does not have a repeat flag. On Tivo, a non-new episode had "R" for repeat in the guide data. There is no such flag on Dish's guide. This could be easily programmed into the 942 if Dish simply overhauls their guide to include the repeat flag.


 TiVo ignores the presence or absence of any "(R)" in the epiode description. That is there for the benefit of human beings only. TiVo decides whether or not an episode by comparing its original air date with the current date (plus fall-back strategies where no episode original air date is available).


Bichon said:


> If you've been watching the show from the beginning, the button should not be greyed out. If it is, you probably didn't tune to the show until it was already in progress. If you tuned in late, rewinding the show will allow you to record as much of the show as you have in the buffer.


 I'm going further off-topic here  but thought I would underscore this point since the best strategy for recording the live buffer is exactly the opposite of TiVo's. As recommended here, for shows joined in progress, the best 942 strategy is to rewind and record.

For most TiVo DVR models: 
Rewinding and pressing record yields the least watchable content (half hour minus the thirty-odd seconds it took to rewind)
Just pressing record is easiest and better (records and allows watching up to the past half hour)
Best of all is to press TiVo+7 and manually record the current channel starting more than half an hour in the past.


----------



## LtMunst

I would like to see the ability to toggle between Single and Dual Modes added as a menu option. Currently there is no way to switch modes at TV2's location without physically going to the box. Even then, you often have to have TV1 on so that you can accept from the dialog popup box.


----------



## elbyj

Just got the 942 installed this AM -- immediately noticed one thing that can be improved for recording -- don't know if it has been mentioned be. 

While we can do by name recording on a specific channel, we have no way to specify a time. A good example is my wife likes to record All My Children on 188 at midnight on a daily basis. However, on two days a week, another Soap appears at that time so she has to delete it the next day (Boo Hoo!).

I know as we use the 942 more might come up with more. I really like the OTA search feature. I was impressed! Didn't know we had so many digital OTA channels in the area.


----------



## spaceopera

The biggest thing that I would like to see is more storage. 25 hours is just not enough. And with the threat of the defrag issue you really only have like 18 hours before you have to start watching programs. I agree with the post above let us add a hard drive or added to the usb port please....


----------



## Bichon

elbyj said:


> While we can do by name recording on a specific channel, we have no way to specify a time. A good example is my wife likes to record All My Children on 188 at midnight on a daily basis. However, on two days a week, another Soap appears at that time so she has to delete it the next day (Boo Hoo!).


Is the guide data incorrect? If the guide correctly lists the name of alternate soap on the two days that All My Children isn't shown, then the 942 shouldn't be recording them.


----------



## LG811User

I would like to have the ability to turn closed-captioning on/off via the remote with a single discrete IR command.

Why? Because I would like to have a single "mute" button on my remote that mutes my Home Theater and puts the 942 into closed-captioning mode. Going through the setup menu is too ugly for this.

Existing TVs do this (i.e. closed-captioning on when mute is on) but this only works for SD input.


----------



## elbyj

Bichon == yes, you are correct if you are using "by name" recording; however, you don't have the option to select the time. When it goes out and searches for the shows it finds them all, regardless of the channel and time. Yes, you can skip the ones you don't want to record, but that is just another step you shouldn't have to take. Just give us the capability to select a time when using "by name".


----------



## LtMunst

elbyj said:


> Bichon == yes, you are correct if you are using "by name" recording; however, you don't have the option to select the time. When it goes out and searches for the shows it finds them all, regardless of the channel and time. Yes, you can skip the ones you don't want to record, but that is just another step you shouldn't have to take. Just give us the capability to select a time when using "by name".


If you set up the timer as a Daily, it will look for the program at a given time slot each day plus or minus a couple of hours. This should do what you are looking for.


----------



## Juan916

It seems the 942 is capable to scan analog / digital / and both now!

" I thought this would be looked over for much longer than it did."

Thank you Dish Development Dept or whoever made this happen.


----------



## Juan916

It seems dish has activated the option for the dvr 942 to scan analog channels as well as digital channels finaly and that is great... However I am finding that there are still bugs in this area. I cannot get the 942 to reconize Modulated Cameras on any particular analog channel. Rest assured I am not posting a bug!

I would like to request the follow through of making this option work in its entirety. I called dish and they're advanced tech dept said they are finding glitches in the feature and working to fix them. well thats great, if they actually do this in a timely fasion. 

-Juan916


----------



## Illan

Please E* on your next reciever remote control please put an ALT Audio Button on the remote.i beg you


----------



## zephyr

My Sony TV has a better scaler than the 942. I notice that others also either have external scalers or would prefer native resolution to their TV's, projectors, etc. A 'native' setting for OTA would be appreciated (not sure what 'native' would be for satellite).


----------



## LtMunst

zephyr said:


> My Sony TV has a better scaler than the 942. I notice that others also either have external scalers or would prefer native resolution to their TV's, projectors, etc. A 'native' setting for OTA would be appreciated (not sure what 'native' would be for satellite).


You just be me to it. I second this request. There should be a setting to allow native passthrough on ALL channels.


----------



## zephyr

LtMunst said:


> You just be me to it. I second this request. There should be a setting to allow native passthrough on ALL channels.


I read your other post and thought this was a good place for it. I'm happy to give all author credit.


----------



## Fabric8r

LG811User said:


> I would like to have the ability to turn closed-captioning on/off via the remote with a single discrete IR command.
> 
> Why? Because I would like to have a single "mute" button on my remote that mutes my Home Theater and puts the 942 into closed-captioning mode. Going through the setup menu is too ugly for this.
> 
> Existing TVs do this (i.e. closed-captioning on when mute is on) but this only works for SD input.


Ditto that!

One of the most used features of our old 7200 receivers. 942 NEEDS THIS!

If you didn't understand what someone said, you hit the rewind button, or the 10 seconds back button, hit the mute button and read what was said. Great feature.

Also, when the phone rings, or someone knocks on the door, or my kid wants to ask me a question, I can hit mute, my Wife can keep on watching, by reading the closed captioning.

Please incorporate it into the 942!


----------



## dnelson

Would like to be able to switch from TV1 to TV2 if there is a conflict.


----------



## lakebum431

dnelson said:


> Would like to be able to switch from TV1 to TV2 if there is a conflict.


What do you mean? Doesn't it already do this? Or are you talking about the 2nd TV in dual user mode?


----------



## auburn2

Here are a few requests:

1. Ability to change resolution and screen ratio (4:3 #1, 4:3#2, 16:9) with a single button without going to the HDTV setup menu.

2. Ability to pass native resolution

3. Switch between single to dual mode from the TV1 remote

4. Ability to chose which tuner to record a program off of on the create timer page without going back to the record plus menu.


----------



## dnelson

I want the choice to to record to to TV1 or TV2 no matter what Tv I am watching.


----------



## BlackHitachi

Program guide info even if you don't sub to locals pak!!!!!!!!


----------



## bthom73

I think Discovery Channel (182) might have just set a record for the longest commercial break ever... 

My guess is that Discovery has decided to start using commercials not as an advertising tool, but as general-purpose filler for when they're lacking enough real program material to build a full length episode.

Watching "Punkin Chunkin" right now from the video buffer, I used 8 minutes of the buffer (16 skip-forward presses) just to get through one commercial break. This leaves me with 24 minutes of video left in the buffer given that prior to that I had already used 28 minutes of the 1hr buffer skipping through prior commercial breaks on the same channel.

I just noticed that there's two episodes of MythBusters coming up next but it's doubtful whether I'll make it through both of them without catching up to live TV.

A larger buffer would really be handy. It's the sort of thing where I wouldn't have known to specifically record "Punkin Chunkin", but it was an interesting documentary and enjoyable to watch just once. Although, I wouldn't have been able to sit through the whole thing if I wasn't able to skip forward through the breaks.

If we could rewind, say 24 hours, and then watch whatever looks interesting, skipping through commercial breaks and jumping over boring episodes, that would be ideal. The controls already provided are adequate (10 sec skip-back, 30 sec skip-forward, up to 300x rewind/fast-forward). The only remaining issues stopping this from working are that the buffer only holds 1hr of video and the video buffer is cleared when the receiver does its 2am update.

I realize this has been requested in the past but it might not have made sense why a larger buffer would actually be beneficial. Hopefully the above helps clarify. It doesn't seem like a major change to allow one to be able to set the buffer size through the menu instead of it being fixed at 1hr, but I guess only the programers would really know... 

An alternate idea would be, since my receiver is set to update at 2am, allow the video buffer to rewind back as far as the last update (2am) or the last channel change (either of which clear the video buffer) instead of only being able to buffer 1hr of video. That would avoid having to add any new menu options.

Thanks,
Brian


----------



## ibooksrule

I think the whole look needs changing on the 921 it had the look from the 721 and that is at least better and seems more pleaseing then the way it looks now. 
I have wondered why they changed the look from the 921 to the 942 anyone know?
oh yes i 4th or 5th the native resolution pass through.
dishpass name based recording with new or repeat episodes.
true name based recording as like tivo
the interface again is just not as slick or nice as it could be i love the tivo interface and wish dish would make something simler
repeat and new recordings as it should be like if i want to record only new episodes or new and repeats.


----------



## LG811User

Another vote for native resolution


----------



## Gary Murrell

The thing I want/need the most is the basic picture shift feature, this would help alot of folks out

native resolution would be nice also

-Gary


----------



## asarhan

Here is my list:
- native pass-through
- pressing the play button while a watching a recorded show should display the time/progress bar at the bottom
- DishPass should work on the any packages you're subscribed to (NHL Center Ice, NBA Seaon Pass, etc.)


----------



## bthom73

bthom73 said:


> I think Discovery Channel (182) might have just set a record for the longest commercial break ever...
> 
> My guess is that Discovery has decided to start using commercials not as an advertising tool, but as general-purpose filler for when they're lacking enough real program material to build a full length episode.
> 
> Watching "Punkin Chunkin" right now from the video buffer, I used 8 minutes of the buffer (16 skip-forward presses) just to get through one commercial break. This leaves me with 24 minutes of video left in the buffer given that prior to that I had already used 28 minutes of the 1hr buffer skipping through prior commercial breaks on the same channel.
> 
> I just noticed that there's two episodes of MythBusters coming up next but it's doubtful whether I'll make it through both of them without catching up to live TV.
> 
> A larger buffer would really be handy. It's the sort of thing where I wouldn't have known to specifically record "Punkin Chunkin", but it was an interesting documentary and enjoyable to watch just once. Although, I wouldn't have been able to sit through the whole thing if I wasn't able to skip forward through the breaks.
> 
> If we could rewind, say 24 hours, and then watch whatever looks interesting, skipping through commercial breaks and jumping over boring episodes, that would be ideal. The controls already provided are adequate (10 sec skip-back, 30 sec skip-forward, up to 300x rewind/fast-forward). The only remaining issues stopping this from working are that the buffer only holds 1hr of video and the video buffer is cleared when the receiver does its 2am update.
> 
> I realize this has been requested in the past but it might not have made sense why a larger buffer would actually be beneficial. Hopefully the above helps clarify. It doesn't seem like a major change to allow one to be able to set the buffer size through the menu instead of it being fixed at 1hr, but I guess only the programers would really know...
> 
> An alternate idea would be, since my receiver is set to update at 2am, allow the video buffer to rewind back as far as the last update (2am) or the last channel change (either of which clear the video buffer) instead of only being able to buffer 1hr of video. That would avoid having to add any new menu options.
> 
> Thanks,
> Brian


Another frustrating issue I keep running into while using the 1hr video buffer is that when I get caught on the phone and have to press the pause button, sometimes I start to miss out on what I was watching.

For example, if I'm watching the Discovery Channel 45 minutes delayed and then press the pause button because the phone is ringing, I can only talk on the phone for up to 15 minutes before the pause button no longer works and it kicks back into play mode automatically. I then either have to hang up, which doesn't work very well for work related calls, or give up on watching whatever it was I was watching at the time the phone rang.

It's also slightly disruptive when taking a business call and the TV audio kicks back on because I was talking for too long. The intuitive response of pressing pause to quiet it down again doesn't work because the 1hr buffer is already used up.

-Brian


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## lakebum431

bthom73 said:


> Another frustrating issue I keep running into while using the 1hr video buffer is that when I get caught on the phone and have to press the pause button, sometimes I start to miss out on what I was watching.
> 
> For example, if I'm watching the Discovery Channel 45 minutes delayed and then press the pause button because the phone is ringing, I can only talk on the phone for up to 15 minutes before the pause button no longer works and it kicks back into play mode automatically. I then either have to hang up, which doesn't work very well for work related calls, or give up on watching whatever it was I was watching at the time the phone rang.
> 
> It's also slightly disruptive when taking a business call and the TV audio kicks back on because I was talking for too long. The intuitive response of pressing pause to quiet it down again doesn't work because the 1hr buffer is already used up.
> 
> -Brian


If you are going to be that long, or if you realize that you have left it on pause for awhile just hit the record button. After all it is a DVR, you can always delete it.


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## bthom73

lakebum431 said:


> If you are going to be that long, or if you realize that you have left it on pause for awhile just hit the record button. After all it is a DVR, you can always delete it.


Good suggestion. Until you mentioned it and I just tried it, I didn't realize that could be done quietly while the program was already paused. That does solve part of the issue but it takes a little forethought. It doesn't really solve the panic of pressing buttons that sometimes occurs when the audio unexpectedly comes back on. Thanks anyway though. Your suggestion does help. I guess I just need to train myself to think ahead...

-Brian


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## Thor263

LG811User said:


> Another vote for native resolution


Same here!


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## dtaubert

Another vote for native resolution.

I'd also like to be able to disable recurring timers without deleting them. It would come in handy when you're away on vacation for a week or so and you really only care about recording one or two specific events during that time.

Derek


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## cleblanc

When using an HDMI connection, the full 5.1 digital audio should be passed. Currently we are getting 2.0 channel audio through this connection and must also hook up an optical digital cable in order receive full Dolby Digital sound.


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## zephyr

dtaubert said:


> Another vote for native resolution.
> 
> I'd also like to be able to disable recurring timers without deleting them. It would come in handy when you're away on vacation for a week or so and you really only care about recording one or two specific events during that time.
> 
> Derek


You can disable the timers without deleting. Go to the daily schedule or timers page. Highlight the timer itself. Hit enter, then there is a menu choice that will disable without deleting.


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## FrequentFlyer

PIP Enhancement Request:

Please add one more PIP setting (upon the third press of the PIP button) to split the screen vertically so that the two programs can be viewed side by side. For sports this is much more useful than a sub-window.

Due to aspect ratio, it may be necessary to have some bands at top and bottom of the split screen result but that is not a problem.


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## Altaman

External hard drive support via Usb before 942 support gets put to the side in favor of Mpeg4 receivers.

Alt


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## InDashMP3

cleblanc said:


> When using an HDMI connection, the full 5.1 digital audio should be passed. Currently we are getting 2.0 channel audio through this connection and must also hook up an optical digital cable in order receive full Dolby Digital sound.


Yes, please allow the 942 to pass 5.1 digital like the optical cable does.


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## Mike D-CO5

I just want my dolby digital sound to work on Both tuners. Hell Having any sound working on Both tuners would be nice. I still can't fathom how Dish can create a receiver like the 721 and the 921 where both tuners work with the sound issues, and both are discontinued. Now the flagship receiver - the 942, can't work as well as the old discontinued 721/921 receivers, in regards to the sound issues. Dish needs to work from one software platform and work to improve it . Not create multiple receiver platforms that compete with each other and stretch the software writers till all their receivers work badly . 

The Eldon group that worked on the 921 software must be working on the 942's since the last update. Today for the second day in a row , the timer for my wife's soap opera "Passions" recorded channel 101 - Dvring made easy from Dishnetwork. Both times their was no show in the list recording and she missed her shows. It showed on the schedule as Passions and showed a red dot for recording. I rebooted and eliminated the timer and recreated it for tomorrow. I hope this stops . The reliablilty of this receiver is starting to match the 921.


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## LtMunst

Mike D-CO5 said:


> I just want my dolby digital sound to work on Both tuners. Hell Having any sound working on Both tuners would be nice. I still can't fathom how Dish can create a receiver like the 721 and the 921 where both tuners work with the sound issues, and both are discontinued. Now the flagship receiver - the 942, can't work as well as the old discontinued 721/921 receivers, in regards to the sound issues. Dish needs to work from one software platform and work to improve it . Not create multiple receiver platforms that compete with each other and stretch the software writers till all their receivers work badly .
> 
> The Eldon group that worked on the 921 software must be working on the 942's since the last update. Today for the second day in a row , the timer for my wife's soap opera "Passions" recorded channel 101 - Dvring made easy from Dishnetwork. Both times their was no show in the list recording and she missed her shows. It showed on the schedule as Passions and showed a red dot for recording. I rebooted and eliminated the timer and recreated it for tomorrow. I hope this stops . The reliablilty of this receiver is starting to match the 921.


The 942 must have a built in prejudice against Days and Passions. I have been struggling with mysterious misses on these timers for awhile. I have tried Dish Pass, M-F DVR and even Manual timers. Still, about once a week one or both of these shows does not get recorded. Very odd. Lucky for me I have my 625 tape these as well or else the wife would have had me ditch Dish weeks ago.


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## JimD

Incorporate the ability to retain mutliple releases resident on the HD. Let the user choose from a menu which one he or she wants to run. We could test any new release, and if we don't like it we could revert to one we do like. The machine could remember that the current spooling release has already been loaded but has been backed out, so it does not reload it again.


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## voripteth

I'd like to see some search mode enhancements.

1) Filter search results based on guide mode. Press a button to filter by:All channels, Subscribed channels or favorites list

2) Each result in the list should be unique. If the same show appears several times it only shows up once in the list. View when it's on with 3.

3) Clicking on a result in the list brings up the times that the show appears.

4) Allow navigation backwards so I can go from 3 to 2 to 1 and change filters without losing the original search results.


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## barrsurf

Just saw in the paper today Tivo is launching TivoToGo. It will play on Ipod and PSP. It would be a great feature for the 942 to be compatible with something besides Dish portable machines. I already own a PSP and Ipod, and can't rationalize another portable electronic gadget. Plus, I'm on the road 200 or more days a year, and I never get caught up with my dvr programs. Oh yeah, usb hard drive asap. I only get to watch my beautiful HD plasma screen on live programs. No way 25 hours HD is enough storage


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## lakebum431

Tivo-to-Go has been active on Tivo's for many months. It is a pretty cool feature, but the time to transfer shows is painful. I also would love to see this feature on the 942, but I don't see DISH allowing transfer to any devices other than the PocketDish.


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## Doggfather

I would like to see the ability to search DVR events and not just EPG, I would also like to see the ethernet over power option enabled to save dialing in. Why cant it just send this over a home network!!!??? Why put hardware in the 942 that you dont use.... I would also like to see it remember using the HD which channels are in HD and what format.. i get tired of having to change to 16x9 all the time in HD channels and back to 4x3#2 for regular. Why can it not remember our choices with a HD, eeprom and tons of other storage mediums!!! I would also of course like the add on HD ability as im always full.

-Doggfather


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## Rob Glasser

Not sure if it's been mentioned here already or not, but if not, how about show over run protection like Tivo has implemented.

i.e. if a show runs over 5 minutes, and you have another show set to record, instead of cancelling that second show (or first show, depending on priority), take the show that has the higher priority and record the whole thing and then have the DVR record the rest of the other show. This way you only lose that over run difference on one recording instead of one recording not firing at all. Of course this would only work on NBR capable receivers.

A prime example of this was Lost last week. Normally my timers for Wednesdays look like this:

8:00 - E-Ring
9:00 - Lost
10:00 - Law & Order

All Hi-Def via OTA Tuner on my 942.

Last week lost was "super-sized" and didn't end until 10:05, and guide data showed this. Because of this my recording of Law & Order was set to skip because Lost interfered with Law & Orders time slot and Lost had priority. Instead it would have been great if at 10:05 when Lost ended, the DVR would have started my Law & Order recording. I ended up doing this manually with a one time manual recording.


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## CABill

robglasser said:


> Not sure if it's been mentioned here already or not, but if not, how about show over run protection like Tivo has implemented.
> ...
> Last week lost was "super-sized" and didn't end until 10:05, and guide data showed this.


I really like your suggestion - record as much as you can rather than skip the recording. When I have something that is going to be skipped because of a conflict, I can usually add the west coast version but it annoys me that the skipped event causes the added event to be a "duplicate" and defaults to also be skipped. You can restore it, but can't they default it to record when the existing event is skipped?

DISH has other problems with overrun - they round off all start and end times to multiples of 5 minutes. Lost didn't run until 10:05 - that is just what DISH displays. It really ended at 10:04 and their online guide indicates that. This is a little hard to describe, but if you go to http://dishnetwork.tvlistings.zap2i...details.asp?prog_id=5434326&series_id=5423181 it will complain your session as ended. If you then click on the "Dish Network Program Listings" link, select All Channels instead of AT120 and Go, you then have a session and can get to the above URL to see Invasion that followed Lost started at 10:04. Even if you didn't have a conflict but wanted to record Invasion, you lost the 1st minute of the show because DISH chooses to only start and end on 5 minute boundaries. A 10:03 start loses the 1st two minutes. I'd really like to see DISH use the actual published start and end times (TiVo and DirecTV do).


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## kspeters

This may have been mentioned before but I would like to see a "30" speed in the fast forward steps. 15 is too slow and 60 is way too fast sometimes. I just think a step in between the 15 and 60 would be nice. Actually, maybe it would also work to have the steps work backward once it hits the top speed to slow down. For example, you are searching for a spot in a movie and you speed up to 300. After getting close you click again and it slows down to the next speed available, another click,,,,,another step down. See what I mean? I do this a lot and would find that feature very desirable.


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## ottokrat

Here is my wish list. I have been a long time 721 user. The 942 is a great improvement! Keep up the great work! I especially like the preferences for program guide - I use the "extended-partial guide with video".


In the *Program Guide*: Change channel being viewed w/o exiting the program guide. (Workaround: go back into the guide after selecting channel.) NOTE: The 721 had provided this feature by selecting the channel name/number itself (the row header).
In *My Recordings*: Ability to see at a glance if each event is HD or SD (Workaround: look at the channel name/number.)
In *My Recordings*: After deletion of an event, this screen goes back to the top/latest event. I'd prefer that the list stayed in place. It uses a triangle indicator to show which recording is currently being played. I'd like to see it use a triangle indicator (maybe different color) on the next event after one that is deleted. Upon re-entering the My Recordings screen, I'd like to have it show this next event (or the current playback event) instead of always starting at the top of the list.
In *Menu*, probably in System Setup, either Installation or Diagnostics: Provide a (soft) reboot via remote. (Workaround: use the front panel switch.)
In *CallerID Popup*: Format the phone number (say, nnn nnn nnnn) instead of just nnnnnnnnnn. This may need a set of choices for preference (e.g. internationalization).
During *Playback*: Have the play button show time/progress bar. (Workaround: use pause twice, this works ok because the audio comes back really quickly on the 942 as compared to the 721.)
During *Recording*: Let me use the term overlap for consecutive recordings where one or both wants to record a bit extra (i.e. the former the extra at the end, the latter the extra at the beginning). When such overlap exists, if the channel of both recordings is the same, it should be true that two tuners are not required - somehow you'd need to make both recordings share a few minutes from the same tuner. When they are on different channels, provide a general preference for whether both tuners are used (limiting other recording and live watching capabilities) or instead the overlap is shortend by trimming (supporting more simultaneous recording or live watching).


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## frossie

ottokrat said:


> In *My Recordings*: After deletion of an event, this screen goes back to the top/latest event. I'd prefer that the list stayed in place. It uses a triangle indicator to show which recording is currently being played. I'd like to see it use a triangle indicator (maybe different color) on the next event after one that is deleted. Upon re-entering the My Recordings screen, I'd like to have it show this next event (or the current playback event) instead of always starting at the top of the list.


I wholeheartedly agree. Actually if you are just deleting an event it doesn't back up, but if you delete an event from the "stop" screen (ie delete the one you were just watching) it does. So it is inconsistent as well as inconvenient.

Aloha,

Frossie


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## bhodgins

I agree with the comment to not jump back to the top of the recordings after deleting one. I'd rather see it stay on the next item in the list. I also like the caller id formatting comment.

But MUCH, MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY ... seeing that you can have three things recording at once (1 OTA and 2 satellite), I'd like to see the OTA tuner have a purple <O> for "over the air" whenever showing the tuner number (e.g. showing what is going to record or is actually recording). It drives me ABSOLUTELY NUTS to see the OTA tuner and the 1st satellite tuner sharing the same same green <1> tuner mark. (AGH!!!!!)


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## treiher

I apologize if any of these have already been mentioned, but this thread is so long, I didn't want to read through all of them!

1. Pressing TV/VIDEO button while in SAT mode would cycle through 480p --> 720p --> 1080i each time you press the button. Even better, after 1080i, you would have "auto", which meant the receiver decided which resolution to use, depending on the signal it was receiving including OTA. But if that is too complicated, just being able to quickly switch between the different resolution modes without going through the menu would be real nice.

2. Split screen (two pictures equal size) as another PIP mode.

3. Screen saver like the 721 has for paused programming.

4. Allow it to be paused for 2 hours if paused on standard program (like the 721) and only 1 hour buffer for HD programs.

All I can think of for now. I like the 942 much, much better than the 721. Never got a 921 to compare it to. However, there are a few features on the 721 I miss.


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## larryw33

Message title says it. Example - Have friends over and want to listen to Sirius while in a different room. Timers switch the tuner to record other events. Have a very simple option to temporarily disable all timers. No having to skip, skip, skip, skip.


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## gdub

Maybe this has already been mentioned but how about a way to choose the day you want displayed in the EPG. Sure would make setting future timers like having an "EASY BUTTON":lol: Had my 942 for a week and it has performed as advertised 

Gary


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## kevin d

gdub said:


> Maybe this has already been mentioned but how about a way to choose the day you want displayed in the EPG. Sure would make setting future timers like having an "EASY BUTTON":lol: Had my 942 for a week and it has performed as advertised
> 
> Gary


 The skip fwd and skip rev buttons will change days in the guide.

Kevin D.


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## gdub

kevin d said:


> The skip fwd and skip rev buttons will change days in the guide.
> 
> Kevin D.


Thanks Kevin!!

Gary


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## M492A

M492A said:


> Enable entering the star (*) and pound sign (#) into the phone dialing prefix.


Just want to reiterate this. If this were implemented, those of us with Vonage service could enter *99 into the dialing prefix and quite probably the 942 would then be able to dial out and connect successfully.


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## wkomorow

I'd like to be able to choose a particular favorites list and have the themes feature limit its search to that list. I would also like the themes feature to have an advance option that allows you to limit by rating. In other words, I'd like to see what PG, G and PG-13 movies are available over the next 24 hours. It would make it much easier choosing a movie to record for the family to view.


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