# Disappointed But Determined



## rdopso (Jan 26, 2004)

Have had the new 921 up and running with Dish HD and OTA HD for about a week now and while my wife and I are thrilled with the HD, I must express some disappointment that there are still so many software bugs in the 921. We swapped our trusty and very minimally buggy 721 for the 921 after waiting years so the software bugs would be worked out. We have been Dish customers for over six years and will stick it out at least for a while longer, but its rather disappointing to log onto this forum and find the 921 is still plagued with way too many bugs (we have had ZSRs and screen aspect issues) and that the new 942 appears to also have many software issues. Although we have been and will continue for at least the near term to be Dish users and supporters, we strongly suggest Dish spend more time debugging software for their receivers rather than conscript unwitting purchasers as unpaid beta testers. That job gets old fast. If this history of selling buggy receivers continues I suspect many of us loyal Dish customers who are forking out big bucks for them will turn elsewhere for our visual entertainment. In the meantime, we will perceiver with our new 921 and hope Dish can sort out the bugs with a few more software revisions. Sorry to sound like a whiner -- I really dislike those types -- but we are simply a bit disappointed.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Welcome to the HUGE club of pissed-off 921 owners.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

So what the hell were you doing for the first few months while you were here?? Reading the comics instead of posts?? I have no, zero, nada sympathy for anyone who's been here as long as you have, with all of the posts on 921 problems, to be pissin' and monan' about 921 issues.

Get real.


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## jcord51 (Feb 1, 2003)

rdopso said:


> Have had the new 921 up and running with Dish HD and OTA HD for about a week now and while my wife and I are thrilled with the HD, I must express some disappointment that there are still so many software bugs in the 921. We swapped our trusty and very minimally buggy 721 for the 921 after waiting years so the software bugs would be worked out. We have been Dish customers for over six years and will stick it out at least for a while longer, but its rather disappointing to log onto this forum and find the 921 is still plagued with way too many bugs (we have had ZSRs and screen aspect issues) and that the new 942 appears to also have many software issues. Although we have been and will continue for at least the near term to be Dish users and supporters, we strongly suggest Dish spend more time debugging software for their receivers rather than conscript unwitting purchasers as unpaid beta testers. That job gets old fast. If this history of selling buggy receivers continues I suspect many of us loyal Dish customers who are forking out big bucks for them will turn elsewhere for our visual entertainment. In the meantime, we will perceiver with our new 921 and hope Dish can sort out the bugs with a few more software revisions. Sorry to sound like a whiner -- I really dislike those types -- but we are simply a bit disappointed.


 :nono2: I feel your pain. Since you recently acquired the 921 can you not return it for the 942? If not contact Dish and let them know how you feel...they may give you 10 free PPVs. Then again just keep the 921 and hope that Dish swaps it out when MP4 format hits the air. I have a 921 and yes it is buggy but I've manage to get it to work, BTW I paid a $1,000 for it and had to wait a full year (payment was made in advance).


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

rdopso, well said. I found your post polite and intelligent. Anyone who has a 921 has the right to complain and express their feelings as they have paid the price having bought the 921. The 921 should have worked properly months ago. When it first came out problems were expected with expectations that they would be corrected. It has gone way beyond that point. Maybe it's time to start whining more frequently but rather than whine here, whine directly to E*. Hopefully L214 will settle our concerns so we won't need to whine.


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## rdopso (Jan 26, 2004)

JM Anthony

Thanks for the nice feedback my man.

Until my post above I have not been to this forum for awhile, and as was the case with my 721 after the first year, I naively assumed the majority of more recent complaints where likely just the whiners and DishNetwork beaters coming out of the woodwork. We did purchase the 921 with our eyes open (we were seduced by the $489 price at Costco), but incorrectly believed most of the bugs surely had been worked out by now -- I should have checked this forum before the purchase, but overall we are OK with it at this time -- just a bit disappointed with the bugs which I do think Dish should sort out on a priority basis -- jeez the thing has been out for a very long time now. 

Hey man, I'm a very nice laid back retired person -- no need to go into auto flame mode.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

rdopso said:


> . . . Hey man, I'm a very nice laid back retired person -- no need to go into auto flame mode.


Sorry if you thought I was over the top, but I get a little tired of hearing 921 tales of woe from forum subscribers who just recently purchased 921's because they thought this was now a mature product.


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## rdopso (Jan 26, 2004)

JM Anthony said:


> Sorry if you thought I was over the top, but I get a little tired of hearing 921 tales of woe from forum subscribers who just recently purchased 921's because they thought this was now a mature product.


No problem, sir. As I stated above, we did assume (I think reasonably so) that 921 software bugs would be minimized by now. I don't think that's asking too much from E* in view of how long the receiver has been on the market. But we are long-term customers and supporters (at least a dozen folks we know have subscribed to DishNetwork because of our positive reviews) and we will hang in there with the hope that bugs will be fixed with a few more software updates. Hey, wanna buy a nice reliable 721?


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

rdopso said:


> . . . Hey, wanna buy a nice reliable 721?


 Gotta pass. I'm one of those who's patiently waiting for L214 and optimistic that it will take care of most (but not all) of the significant 921 bugs. Then I'm going to sit tight and see: (a) what E* comes up with for the MPEG4 offering, and (b) how they take care of their long term subscribers, particularly those who suffered through the 921. That will be their moment of truth, at least for me as one of their customers.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

rdopso said:


> we were seduced by the $489 price at Costco


You should consider returning it and spending the extra $200 to get the 942. You'd get Name-Based-Recording in the process. You can use the PIP with HD. And, there was also hinting of possible future USB2 hard drive expansion.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

I jumped at the $549 price, so I have less to complain about than those of you that paid $1000 and are now out of warrenty 

E* has "done right' by me in the past - they even gave me a refurbed 4000 back in '99 when I purchased a used one that had a case of the "blinkies". They did not have to do that since the used unit was out of warrenty (I did have to pay shipping one way). I'm counting on L214 to be a "major fix". The fact that it's deployment has been delayed shows that they do not want to deploy another "fix one bug cause two new bugs" s/w release.


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## conner65 (Jan 26, 2004)

Michael P said:


> I jumped at the $549 price, so I have less to complain about than those of you that paid $1000 and are now out of warrenty
> 
> E* has "done right' by me in the past - they even gave me a refurbed 4000 back in '99 when I purchased a used one that had a case of the "blinkies". They did not have to do that since the used unit was out of warrenty (I did have to pay shipping one way). I'm counting on L214 to be a "major fix". The fact that it's deployment has been delayed shows that they do not want to deploy another "fix one bug cause two new bugs" s/w release.


I wouldn't count on the 214 being the miracle fix. The last 3 fixes have taken a ridiculous amount of time and there are still major bugs. That is the main reason most people are fed up with dish. The Eldon team and dish have slapped a big chunk of high end HD customers right in the face with the 921.


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