# Upgrade a 522 to a 942 or 625?



## adv_dp_fan (Sep 5, 2004)

I currently have a 522 and an 811 on my main tv with SBC|Dish. I noticed today that they offer the 942 now but charge an "upgrade fee" of $250. I'm pondering upgrading but have a few concerns, mainly about paying the $250 and then having to upgrade again when mpeg4 comes out. There are some advantages to upgrading and some disadvantages. I also see they now offer the 625. My question is do people think it's worth going ahead and getting the 942 paying the fee or continue to wait? Also if I don't upgrade to the 942, would swapping for a 625 be worth it? The extra space doesn't make me much difference but was wondering if the 625 had a little more horsepower to it maybe that might help with a/v dropouts or something. How is the 625 and 942 overall compared to the 522?


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## boba (May 23, 2003)

The 625 has the same amount of consumer usable recording space as the 522. The 522 and 625 run the same software what would be gained by an upgrade. The 942 by previous DISH history would be a very bad investment with the need for MPEG4 on the horizon. DISH has always charged for upgrades even on equipment they own, they have also put limits of 1 or 2 receivers can be upgraded per year as a customer leasing their equipment.


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## Kevin Brown (Sep 4, 2005)

Newbie alert: I've had the 522 since May, but what exactly are the 625, 942, and 811? I'm guessing one is high def? (I need to start learning about these because theoretically, I want to switch next year as the prices hopefully drop a little and the technology becomes a little bit more mature.)


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

811 is a Hi def, 942 is a hidef DVR


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## DVDDAD (Dec 21, 2002)

adv_dp_fan said:


> I currently have a 522 and an 811 on my main tv with SBC|Dish. I noticed today that they offer the 942 now but charge an "upgrade fee" of $250. I'm pondering upgrading but have a few concerns, mainly about paying the $250 and then having to upgrade again when mpeg4 comes out. There are some advantages to upgrading and some disadvantages. I also see they now offer the 625. My question is do people think it's worth going ahead and getting the 942 paying the fee or continue to wait? Also if I don't upgrade to the 942, would swapping for a 625 be worth it? The extra space doesn't make me much difference but was wondering if the 625 had a little more horsepower to it maybe that might help with a/v dropouts or something. How is the 625 and 942 overall compared to the 522?


You should upgrade to the 942 ONLY if you have a HDTV set. If not, stay with the 522, which is an excellent receiver. The 625 will be the same as the 522, except it will give you some Dish Video on Demand Movies (limited selection of movies that you have to pay extra for)


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

Excellent reciever?! This piece of crap has been nothing but headaches since I got it, less than a year ago, and it gets worse with each software upgrade. To add insult to injury, I Emailed Dish, to complain about it, and they completely ignored me. Put it THIS way: Cable is starting to look good!


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

He actually said the 522 was an excellent receiver, not the 942.


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## adv_dp_fan (Sep 5, 2004)

Well I do have an HDTV, use the 811 for HD right now. I was hoping they had upgraded the processor or memory or such in the 625 that might help with some of the problems in the 522 but I guess not. As for the 942, I guess I'll continue to wait. I want a DVR for my HD shows but can hold out until mpeg4 is out and running I guess. Lots of other things that I can be taking care of while I wait.


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

Ghostwriter said:


> He actually said the 522 was an excellent receiver, not the 942.


 That's what I'm talking about. That's what I have: the 522. It's shear garbage. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.


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## greatwhitenorth (Jul 18, 2005)

Racerx said:


> That's what I'm talking about. That's what I have: the 522. It's shear garbage. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.


Had my 522 for well over 18 months now, no problems. Sorry you're having trouble with yours. It is a great machine and very reliable overall. BTW, I think you meant "sheer", not "shear". "Shear garbage"would be what's on the floor after a haircut.


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## Kevin Brown (Sep 4, 2005)

Well... I also have a 522, and while for me, it is "OK", it does have the timer bug if you try to hook it up to two TVs. And I do really think that the audio and video dropouts have gotten worse with each release of software...

Plus, I am also now convinced that there are additional problems if you try and playback old recorded shows on a *different* version of software than what they were recorded during.

So now I'm kind of wondering if the 942 (thanks GW) is any more or less problematic than the 522.


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

Well I wasw about to purchase a 942 until I visited the support forum and it seems since the last release it has been hell. I just decided to hold off on the HD DVR until MPEG4 is launched. Don't feel like dropping $700 on a receiver that is technologically surpassed in a matter of months and I do not see DNetwork saying "Hey here is a free/acceptable upgrade to a MPEG4 HD DVR to replace your 942."


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

greatwhitenorth said:


> Had my 522 for well over 18 months now, no problems. Sorry you're having trouble with yours. It is a great machine and very reliable overall. BTW, I think you meant "sheer", not "shear". "Shear garbage"would be what's on the floor after a haircut.


 LOL! Yeah, I know, I made a note to NOT type the wrong "sheer", and I STILL did! This cold is making me loopy! :grin:


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## Mickey (Oct 26, 2005)

> I noticed today that they offer the 942 now but charge an "upgrade fee" of $250.


On Dish's website it states that the lease deal is only for new customers. Did I miss something? Are they now offering the lease deal to existing customers also? I've read about some people begging the right people at Dish and getting the lease as an existing customer, but I don't know who the "right people" are. Has anything changed on this front?


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## Mickey (Oct 26, 2005)

From Dish's site regarding 942:

Available to new and existing customers. Existing customers may only purchase through one of our participating retailers.


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## lakebum431 (Jun 30, 2005)

Ghostwriter said:


> Well I wasw about to purchase a 942 until I visited the support forum and it seems since the last release it has been hell. I just decided to hold off on the HD DVR until MPEG4 is launched. Don't feel like dropping $700 on a receiver that is technologically surpassed in a matter of months and I do not see DNetwork saying "Hey here is a free/acceptable upgrade to a MPEG4 HD DVR to replace your 942."


I really wouldn't let that hold you back. The other software releases have been great. And the new release will be out shortly (and should fix the problems that everyone is seeing). The ability to record HD is truly worth it. Also, (this is only speculation) I really think that DISH will provide those of us with the 942s a free/inexpensive option to upgrade to the MPEG4 DVR (962?). There have been several people who have quoted E-mails they have received from DISH saying that they aren't officially saying anything, but that in the past they have followed this pattern.


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## adv_dp_fan (Sep 5, 2004)

Mickey said:


> On Dish's website it states that the lease deal is only for new customers. Did I miss something? Are they now offering the lease deal to existing customers also? I've read about some people begging the right people at Dish and getting the lease as an existing customer, but I don't know who the "right people" are. Has anything changed on this front?


This is through SBC|Dish, not Dish. SBC is offering it for lease and a $250 upgrade fee.

Think I've pretty much decided to pass on the "deal" for now. I'll wait for mpeg4 to finally hit and then check my options.


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## Ghostwriter (Oct 11, 2005)

Lakebum (or anyone else) could you please give me some examples where dish provided a free/inexpensive upgrade? IME they have given me nothing so far. I had to purchase everything so far and I really don't want to be stuck with a 942 and be asked another 1000+ for an MPEG4 HD DVR. Not saying they never did, I've just never exp. it. Thanks. Maybe you can talk me into getting a 942


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## robert koerner (Aug 20, 2005)

Dish offered to send me a 522. 

The deal was to lease it to me for $5 a month and pay $50 to install a second feedline from the LNB.

This was one of their solutions to get me a reliable 510.

I pointed out that it would be cheaper for me to switch to Direct.

Bob


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## hxl7 (Nov 10, 2005)

Hello ... I'm new to this forum and I recently purchased an HDTV so am new to that also.

I live in a remote are with no OTA so will need either Dish or Directv and their HD PVR/DVR.

Could anyone recommend which way I should go ?

Thanks very much for any help.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

hxl7 said:


> Hello ... I'm new to this forum and I recently purchased an HDTV so am new to that also.
> 
> I live in a remote are with no OTA so will need either Dish or Directv and their HD PVR/DVR.
> 
> ...


Hello Hxl7,

To better answer your question, how important are your locals? If Locals are important to you I would start by seeing if your particular DMA and the services you desire are available on both providers. Then start your comparisions.

Jason


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## greatwhitenorth (Jul 18, 2005)

Welcome, hxl7!

As the pevious post mentioned, the first place to start would be to compare programming packages overall, and see if there are any channels you can't live without, including your locals. I work for E* (Dish Network), so I'm biased, but programming is the key. Right now we offer more HD channels than D* (DirectTV), but they are different so that might play into your decision. Our 942 HD DVR is available to new customers for a $250 lease upgrade fee. I'm not familiar with D*'s offerings, but I'm sure someone here will chime in. Good luck, and let us know which way you go. Cheers!


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## hxl7 (Nov 10, 2005)

Thank you Jason & greatwhitenorth for your replies!

Re/programming, I could go wither way.

Any comments re/ the hardware -- 942 vs. HR10-250 ?

Are there any new HD receivers due out soon ?


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## litefoot sr (Nov 24, 2005)

adv_dp_fan said:


> I currently have a 522 and an 811 on my main tv with SBC|Dish.
> 
> Are you telling me you have both receivers on one HDTV set. I've talked to Dish Reps twice and they both told me "you can't have two receivers on the same set, if you want HD and DVR on one TV you have to purchase the 942 for $699".
> Is this BS or am I missing something? BTW, I am a current subscriber.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

:welcome_s to DBSTalk!

It's partly BS. In the pre-dual tuner days I had a 501 and a DISHPlayer hooked up. You certainly can have an 811 and a standard DVR connected to the same TV. The part that isn't BS but apparently didn't get explained well is that the standard DVRs (501/8/10, 522/625, 721, 7x00) won't record HDTV programming so you would need an HD DVR like the 942 or 921.


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## litefoot sr (Nov 24, 2005)

Excellent! Now that I can understand. Thanks Charles. So since I'm not concerned about recording HD programing yet, I should be able to get the 811 for HD and the 522 dual DVR and use on my new Plasma. All I care about for the time being is using the DVR for skipping commercials and recording a TV program while watching another one. I don't want to buy the Dish 942 now because we know the 962 will be out sometime soon. Now I just have to convince the Folks at Dish to lease me the equipment. Wish me luck.


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