# Should I send 921 back and get 942?



## kspeters (Aug 12, 2003)

I am nearing the end of the "buyers remorse" period and trying to decide if I should go for the 942. i would love NBR if it worked right and hopefully the 942 would have better software. Can the people who have switched to the 942 give some insight on this? I guess it would cost me an additional $400 or so to with the 942. It kind of scares me that dish could just let the 921 die on the vine and we would be out any further software development. Your opinions would be appreciated.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Absolutely. That's my opinion, after using both extensively.


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## kspeters (Aug 12, 2003)

Thanks Mark for your reply, hopefully others who have it will chime in. I guess I have not had any major issuesd yet as I'm still playing with it but if it does go bad I'll have a problem. Hate to spend another $400 but if it records well it will be worth it to me as I time shift everything and rarely watch live tv.


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## jtallon (Nov 7, 2004)

I agree as well. I've used both a Tivo Series 1 and Series 2, SA 8000 and 8000HD with Time Warner, spent a little time with a ReplayTV, used a Dish 522, and now I have the Dish 921.

The Dish 921 is the least stable, most bug ridden, un-user-friendly DVR I have ever worked with. I'm a 'bleeding edge' type of technology guy myself, and a software developer to boot, so I should be as patient as they come with something like the 921, but it has been a LONG time since I've seen a piece of hardware come out as undeveloped as the 921 is. Heck - and I bought it a year after it was released, so I really feel sorry for the poor people that spent $1000 on it when it first came out...

Not to mention the fact that the 921 doesn't have name based recording. I don't know if it was ever promised or not, but this is a fatal flow in my book. I didn't notice when I bought the 921 that it didn't have name based recording - I just assumed it was there. Sort of like a power switch or a remote control. Heck - I can't even begin to understand why the 921 was designed without name based recording in the first place. Tivo (a much smaller company) has had this since DAY ONE, over 5 years ago. EVERY other DVR on the market that I know of has it. Every single one (I'm probably forgetting some DVR that doesn't have it, but I can't think of any offhand). 

Anyway, based on the initial review of the 942 here, I would swap your 921 for a 942 in a heartbeat. That's my humble opinion


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## invaliduser88 (Apr 23, 2002)

Any details leaked out yet for a the plan to allow existing 921 customers to transition to the 942?

Hopefully its a good one, else I'm waiting for mpeg4 hw.


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## BobMurdoch (Apr 24, 2002)

Ditto.


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## M492A (Nov 18, 2004)

Ditto everything jtallon said. I've used TiVo Series 1 and 2 with a Dish 311, and a 921. The 921 is egg and a black eye on the face of Dish. 

I eagerly await the arrival of my 942!!


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

I agree with mark, send it back and get a 942 you will be much more happier.

It's a shame as the 921 could do everything the 942 does, they just chose not to support the 921 anymore.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Scott Greczkowski said:


> It's a shame as the 921 could do everything the 942 does, they just chose not to support the 921 anymore.


Actually, that's not entirely true - the chip used in the 942 can do significantly more than the chip used in the 921. Hence the HD PIP, handle up to 5 HD streams at the same time, etc...


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## StevenD (Nov 6, 2004)

Exactly how many 921's are out there? You'd think Dish would save a bunch of money if they just replaced all the 921's with 942's and severed their ties with Eldon. Not to mention all the support call costs they are incurring.

My 921 (once again) will not take a software download. I should NOT have to pull my 921 out of the armoir, remove the seperator and install a splitter every time new software comes down.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

> and severed their ties with Eldon.


They own Eldon. If I recall correctly they designed and developed the 301 receiver among others. They can do some things right, although it sure appears they goofed on the 921.


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## dturturro (Nov 24, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Actually, that's not entirely true - the chip used in the 942 can do significantly more than the chip used in the 921. Hence the HD PIP, handle up to 5 HD streams at the same time, etc...


5 streams?


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

dturturro said:


> 5 streams?


In Dual User Mode, you can record 3 HD programs at once (2 from satellite, 1 from OTA), plus be viewing HD DVR recordings on both TV1 and TV2. Granted, the TV2 viewing is downconverted, but that's a total of 5 streams in the pipeline at the same time.


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## dturturro (Nov 24, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> In Dual User Mode, you can record 3 HD programs at once (2 from satellite, 1 from OTA), plus be viewing HD DVR recordings on both TV1 and TV2. Granted, the TV2 viewing is downconverted, but that's a total of 5 streams in the pipeline at the same time.


Never heard it described that way before. Usually the outputs are not counted with the inputs.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I'm not really thinking about inputs and outputs here. I'm thinking about the number of different HD program streams that are being handled internally at the same time. The 921 can handle 3. The HDTivo can handle 3. The 942 can handle 5.


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Actually, that's not entirely true - the chip used in the 942 can do significantly more than the chip used in the 921. Hence the HD PIP, handle up to 5 HD streams at the same time, etc...


Mark the Hardware on the 942 is better.

However certain features found on the 942 COULD be put on the 921 but Charlie is to much of a tightwad to make his programmers actually work for their paychecks.

Stuff like Name Based Recording, the enhances fast search, and Open TV can be put on the 921, Dish is just chosing not to.

Stuff like DishCom and outputing a seperate program to another TV the Dish 921 will never be able to do because of the hardware.

Again the software features could all be there, but they will never be because quite frankly Charlie don't give a rats ass about his 921 customers.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

That much is true (except for the OpenTV part), I agree.


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## Bagman (Aug 14, 2004)

I am a little confused. I have a 921 that I paid the full grand for. You indicated that the 942 would cost you another $400. The Dish website lists the 942 at $699. Am i missing something? Can you purchase the 942 for $400?



kspeters said:


> Thanks Mark for your reply, hopefully others who have it will chime in. I guess I have not had any major issuesd yet as I'm still playing with it but if it does go bad I'll have a problem. Hate to spend another $400 but if it records well it will be worth it to me as I time shift everything and rarely watch live tv.


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## tech_head (Dec 8, 2004)

Send it back. Send it back.
Had I known what I know now the 921 would have never entered my house.
Since I'm not under contract Dish might lose a customer.

As for NBR, Dish blew it and linked the 921 description to this URL.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/receivers/hd/index.shtml

Now click on the "more" for the 921 and you will get to this URL.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/products/dvr/index.shtml

It's the same as the 942. They still advertise the 921 as being able to do NBR.

JERKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Send the 921 back. it's an orphan.



jtallon said:


> I agree as well. I've used both a Tivo Series 1 and Series 2, SA 8000 and 8000HD with Time Warner, spent a little time with a ReplayTV, used a Dish 522, and now I have the Dish 921.
> 
> The Dish 921 is the least stable, most bug ridden, un-user-friendly DVR I have ever worked with. I'm a 'bleeding edge' type of technology guy myself, and a software developer to boot, so I should be as patient as they come with something like the 921, but it has been a LONG time since I've seen a piece of hardware come out as undeveloped as the 921 is. Heck - and I bought it a year after it was released, so I really feel sorry for the poor people that spent $1000 on it when it first came out...
> 
> ...


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## srrobinson2 (Sep 16, 2003)

What do you mean "Send it back?" I paid $1000 for mine too. If I called and complained enougha nd sent it back--would they refund the difference between the two units? Based on my experiences to date, why should I think they would like to start taking care of a customer?


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## kspeters (Aug 12, 2003)

By "sending it back" I mean I am at the end of the "buyers remorse period". I could send it back and get a refund. I now have it listed on ebay so I won't be sending it back. In fact this could turn out good for me depending on what it ends at. I bought the 921-tv combo and this could help lower the price I paid for the tv. I have a 942 ordered with Mark and hopefully in a few weeks I have a new 942 in my grubby little hands.


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