# Should I cancel My 921 Order??



## Tomos (Jan 16, 2005)

Wow,

After reading all the info about the 921 I,m wondering everyones opinion on whether I should cancel my unit. I will be a new Dishnet subscriber and I wanted the 921 for my living room unit, but after reading about the problems with this unit I think canceling may be in my best interest. Maybe going without that unit for now would be better.
What do you all think?

Tom
Newbe to dishnet and this forum


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## Allen Noland (Apr 23, 2002)

Although the 921 still has a few issues, it is 1000% better now than when I purchased my nearly a year ago. I use my 921 as a pimary receiver now. It may not have been worth it a couple of months ago, but now I think it is.


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

I love my 921. Don't forget that this is a support forum, so you will see only the "complaints and problems" here. That's what the support forum is for. It doesn't mean that all 921s are broke or have problems.


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

Cyclone said:


> I love my 921. Don't forget that this is a support forum, so you will see only the "complaints and problems" here. That's what the support forum is for. It doesn't mean that all 921s are broke or have problems.


 What he said... The Threads are rare where someone brags about thier product... I have had mine for a couple of months and love it...


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## Harkonen (Jan 5, 2005)

Agreed. I love my 921... positives FAR outway minor annoyances.


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## homer1 (Dec 27, 2004)

I have had mine for 3 weeks now and the only problem I know is I should had ordered it earlier. I don't see any problems so far out of the machine, I really like it and I really like a forum dedicated to the 921 itself!


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## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

You should compare all the options.

I think the HD Tivo from Direct is the best- it has 4 turners (two over the air and two Sat).

Also in some cable markets the $15 a Month HD DVR from Cox is the best deal out there at around $150 a year it is a fraction of the price of a 921, 942 from dish or a HD Tivo, plus you do not have to worry about the MPEG 4 missing issue.

With cable you can get the most current bo every year (if they have a HD DVR).

Compare all and decide. 

Myself I would avoid the discountinued 921 at all costs and get something more current.


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

Ummm.... with D*s announcment of mpeg4 too is not the Hd tivo as much of a dead horse as the 921?...I mean the Hdd is upgradeable in the Tivo where it is not for the 921 but....


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

dfergie said:


> Ummm.... with D*s announcment of mpeg4 too is not the Hd tivo as much of a dead horse as the 921?...I mean the Hdd is upgradeable in the Tivo where it is not for the 921 but....


I asked D* and while their CSR could be blowing smoke, they said there would be a plan to upgrade or swap out current HD-Tivo customers. Who knows if that's a line or not, but I felt I couldn't buy for a year from now, I wanted HD timeshifting NOW.

I'm one day into my DirecTV and HD-Tivo experience, and so far I'm happy with it.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I have not one but two 921's. Yea they have their problems but guess what, ALL SAT recievers do. Even D* receivers. Bottom line is they work pretty well, even with the bugs, and thanks to this forum you will know all the bugs and a work around for most all of them.


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

Capmeister said:


> I asked D* and while their CSR could be blowing smoke, they said there would be a plan to upgrade or swap out current HD-Tivo customers. Who knows if that's a line or not, but I felt I couldn't buy for a year from now, I wanted HD timeshifting NOW.
> 
> I'm one day into my DirecTV and HD-Tivo experience, and so far I'm happy with it.


Hey any way to archive HD rocks...be it D* or E*s offerings...who knows maybe Charlie will offer upgrades too...(holds breath) and crosses fingers...


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## Tomos (Jan 16, 2005)

I appreciate all the help I can get and do understand what many are saying.
I have not many choices for TV at this point. I was a previous c-band man for many years untill my equipment got old and cable came through. My c-band years were good and it was worth it for sure having the same system for almost 15 years with little problems to speak of. But the cable is a different story, well it's terrible at best and to top it off i cannot even get digital or HD for a loong while or as they put it "maybe late 2005" last time they told me maybe was 20 years ago for cable and we just got it 3 years ago. 
So I dunno as yet, I'm thinking of giving the 921 a try as the choices in the near future aren't much better anywhere else but still the fact that a piece of equipment has it's own support forum scares me.
A comparable unit from Dish is close to the same cost and comparable units and channels from Direct are way out of the price range. Still dont know but with all the help I see here it will at least be an informed choice. Many thanks for what everyone has posted so far.


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## UT_Texan (Dec 9, 2004)

I contemplated getting mine for a yr and just got it about 3 weeks ago and am pleased. The HD is unreal, being able to record two shows at same time is great. and getting HD ota is also cool. Sure it has a couple of minor bugs every once in awhile but you learn the tricks as you go. mpg4 isn;t as big a deal right now as some might say i think. 

my advice is if you don't mind spending $540 then get it. If you don't then you could be waiting another yr or more and will wind up spending more also.


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## nuts4scuba (Jan 11, 2003)

This place http://www.vssll.com/dslgaming.html has the 921 for 249.00 for new customers.
At that price you wouldn't be out much over a year period.


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## Jerry G (Jul 12, 2003)

Cyclone said:


> I love my 921. Don't forget that this is a support forum, so you will see only the "complaints and problems" here. That's what the support forum is for. It doesn't mean that all 921s are broke or have problems.


OK. But when there is one program each week that I just don't want to miss and the 921 fails to record it because of a widely experienced flaw with the latest software, it becomes completely useless to me.

The 921 is fine, as long as the user won't be disappointed if it fails to record a show that the user really wanted to watch.


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## iceshark (May 7, 2004)

Have never had a recording problem yet! this is an awesome reciever!!!!


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

If you have a show each week you really, really don't want to miss then sit down and watch it. Don't rely on technology 100% to be there because as soon as you do it will rise up to bite you in the butt (sooner or later) regardless of what you are using to timeshift programs with, even a VCR.

Then have a 2nd backup source to timeshift is always another good idea!



Jerry G said:


> OK. But when there is one program each week that I just don't want to miss and the 921 fails to record it because of a widely experienced flaw with the latest software, it becomes completely useless to me.
> 
> The 921 is fine, as long as the user won't be disappointed if it fails to record a show that the user really wanted to watch.


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

Jerry G said:


> OK. But when there is one program each week that I just don't want to miss and the 921 fails to record it because of a widely experienced flaw with the latest software, it becomes completely useless to me.
> 
> The 921 is fine, as long as the user won't be disappointed if it fails to record a show that the user really wanted to watch.


Thats pretty expensive to buy a 921 for just one show.


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## balcy (Dec 1, 2004)

iceshark said:


> Have never had a recording problem yet! this is an awesome reciever!!!!


I didn't either until the last software update (L211). Now I have to reboot several times a day or put up with various quirks like the picture aspect locking on stretch in HD mode, caller ID working sometimes, the guide picture having weird colors and most recently having only one tuner available while recording (that was a killer since that is the very purpose of a DVR).

I knew going in this was a "work in progress" but having spent $1000 and seeing Dish discontinue the receiver only a few months later I am royally pissed. I would return it in a heartbeat if I could get even some of my money back (which I can't). Selling is not even an option now since Dish slashed the prices of new receivers when they discontinued it...


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

Supposedly both Dish and Directv will swap out these mpeg2 hd dvrs for hd mpeg4 compliant dvrs come this fall or end of the year when they switch to mpeg4 for hd. This was put out to the public at the CES in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. They said they would do this for little or no cost to the existing customers. 

Lets hope this wasn't just talk. I have invested over $1000.00 in the 921 and I don't want to change sat providers till they compensate me by swapping out to a mpeg4 compliant hd dvr receiver.


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## tedhny (Jan 23, 2004)

...when there was no other choice, and I've rarely missed a recording in that time. I watch almost exclusively HD - other than John Stewart and my kids cartoons - and always on my time, not the broadcasters.

I'm led to believe that Dish HD quality is better than Direct - who uses more compression.

If that's true - I've definitely made the right choice.

In any case, its always pricey to be an early adopter of new tech.


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## JerryLA (Dec 29, 2003)

I've had mine for about 8 months now and have never missed a recording. My favorite piece of equipment. My only complaint is the cost of the unit has dropped by about $450 since I got mine. But you know, you pay the price for being first in line. I have no complaints and would do it again.


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## Avillant (May 21, 2004)

I have had my 921 since the price drop and I love it! True there are still some minor problems to be worked out, but even DTV has problems too. A friend of mine has the regular SD TIVO so I have had a chance to directly compare the two as far as the user interface goes. TIVO has a much better search function, but other than that, I prefer the DISH interface. Also, the TIVO program guide is unbearably SLOW!

The only reason I would like to have the DTV HD TIVO is that it has two OTA tuners. I think it would be one of the best improvements DISH could make if the would put in another OTA tuner. I am fortunate in that I live between Miami and West Palm Beach, so I get a double set of all the network stations. There are many times, I wish I could record two OTA HD programs at the same time. 

I do think it is a disgrace that it has taken DISH a year to work out the major bugs, but right now, the unit works good if certainly not perfect. I think that the 'name based recording' fuss is making a big deal about a feature that to me has very limited usage. If they could correct to problems that cause programs to be shuffled because some sports event ran over time, that would be a great feature, but they don't!


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