# 921! How is it working now?



## Altaman (Sep 7, 2004)

I have been watching the 921 support/bug threads for some time now. It seems that the bug reports/support questions have gone down extremely. I live in Canada and the reason Bell stated they were not bringing in the 921 was that there were too many bugs and were going to bring in the 942 instead.

So my question is how is the 921 working now, are people satisfied with its functionality now? I really think that not bringing in the 921 is a mistake on Bells part as the 942 being a new machine is destined to have problems/bugs more so than the state of the 921 today.

Also has anyone heard if there are any plans to turn on the firewire port?

Thanks,

Alt


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## sampatterson (Aug 27, 2002)

I am satisfied and have 2 of them as my primary receivers. All new 921s shipping don't even have the firewire port on them, so there is no way to turn the firewire on.

There are still some bugs but I am not a "power-user" and just use it to time-shift mostly satellite broadcast (and a few OTA). I think OTA still has issues for some users, but not the way that I use it.


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## Slordak (Dec 17, 2003)

At this point in time, the 921 works in a generally satisfactory way. With the various software hacks that Dish has in place, you no longer have to manually reboot it or pull the power cord on a regular basis. There are still a few quirks and bugs, but for the most part a normal person can now use it without having to take into account the various work-arounds previously required.

The unit still needs a lot of polish, though, both in terms of fixing these more minor bugs and in terms of adding some of the more important missing features. It can still be obnoxious about its OTA channel handling and tuning, and it's pretty sluggish compared to a 508 / 510, but it's getting there.


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

It pretty much performs flawlessly for satellite recording provided you put the unit in standby overnight when you are done viewing it (so it can do its nightly reboot). OTA your milage will vary depending on what the TV station is putting out for PISP information.


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## IamtheEggman (Sep 21, 2004)

Put in standby??. I have always shut off my recievers at night, others don't?. I realize its not removing power totally as the unit is still on but it seems funny that one would leave it on.
So far my 921 has performed flawlessly. I don't watch that much tv so I doubt I test every function or make it work to hard. I've recorded OTA by using manual timers. I've recorded HD and SD off Sat.
I am disappointed in E* HD. My C Band Motorola 920 has a better picture in either analog or digital and HD on CBand just blows it out of the water.I do like the quality of digital OTA though. Just wish I could get all the locals that way but I don't believe thats the 921s fault.


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## moviegoerman (Aug 18, 2004)

Altaman said:


> So my question is how is the 921 working now, are people satisfied with its functionality now?


I'm still very disatisfied as when I got mine back in July. None of the bugs I've seen have been fixed. All features and functionality are still not complete. I've seen one update from L187 to L188 which didn't fix any of the following issues:

1. OTA guide does not exist!!! Impossible to setup timers via the guide.
2. Can't add OTA channels to favorites.
3. Preview picture in the guide doesn't always display properly.
4. "0" Second length of recorded shows. i.e. missed timers.
5. Fails to lock into local OTA channels sometimes with 95%+ signal.

If you are expecting OTA support, then this is not the DVR for you. If you only use satellite channels, then you might be satisfied as some others are, but it still has issues.


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## deweybrunner (Feb 8, 2004)

Works great, records with no problems/. Highly satisfied. Be glad when can add ota to favorite list. Think this will be on the next software update(which I assume will be this month). Have around 15 hd stations here, and locks on all fine.However, you must remember you must have a proper antenna to get a strong signal.


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## mwgiii (Jul 19, 2002)

Mine works fine, a couple of problems here or there, but overall getting better.

My one big gripe is OTA locals don't show in favorites list.
I only use a favorites list (to weed out the "garbage channels").

From Mark's hints, the next software version (due this month) will correct many of the remaining problems.


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Works good, but not good like a $1,000 reciever should. Play with a HD Tivo unit and you will see what I mean.

It IS getting better, but the improvements are slow and few and far between.

I do understand that OTA Guide testing for the 921 will begin soon. So there is hope. 

My major problem with the 921 is the majority of HD stuff I record is OFF AIR. And with no titles for these shows it is hard to find the shows you are looking for.


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## badkclark (Aug 12, 2004)

Agreed with Scott. Most of my recordings are OTA. It will be nice when the OTA guide is available. Otherwise, I haven't had many problems with it. Yesterday was the first time I'd ever had a Timer fail. Hope this doesn't become a trend (Knock on wood). Will be cool when Charlie gets more "compelling" HD content. Then the $1000.00 will have been worth it.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Scott Greczkowski said:


> Works good, but not good like a $1,000 reciever should. Play with a HD Tivo unit and you will see what I mean.
> 
> It IS getting better, but the improvements are slow and few and far between.
> 
> ...


 A bit more than hope at this point, I'd say...


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

Thats good news Mark! There may be hope afterall.


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## Jim in Michigan (Oct 12, 2004)

I have had the 921 since mid-August and have been generally happy with it. I am not a power user but have recorded, time shifted and PIPed it without any problems. The OTA guide is probably the only feature I am waiting for to complete the system.

The only minor annoyance I have with it so far is when I attempt to switch from a satellite channel to an OTA channel, I have to go through the guide to do it, I can't just directly go to the channel because I have to choose which OTA channel to view (ie channel 7 has 3 channels 1 digital and 2 analog). There probably is a way to program the system around that but I haven't figured it out yet.

Other than that it is a sweet set-up and the HDTV pictures (both satellite and OTA) are stunning on my 7 foot front projected screen!


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

Jim
To got to directly to the OTA channels type in the appropriate 5 digit number.

example.
for channel 7 subchannel 2 type 00702.


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## Jim in Michigan (Oct 12, 2004)

Kevin,

Thanks! I'll try that tonight.


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## badkclark (Aug 12, 2004)

I guess, other than OTA guide completion, the other thing I'd like to see is COMPLETED fixing of pressing stop on the remote while recording and not stopping the recording. Also, warnings would be good, when you do this, if it IS going to affect your recording (see 508 model which does this to perfection).
I know there have been fixes regarding stopping a recorded show, and accidentally stopping a record in session, but it's still not complete.
Lastly, I'd like the View TV button to actually DO something, like go to the currently tuned "LIVE" station, rather than bringing up information.


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

That is the current problem with Dish. They have to many software teams working on different platforms. The 721 platform is exactly like the 921 but two different teams do the software. The 500 series of dvrs ,501/508/510 is different platform than the 522 /322 and the basic receiver the 301 is different than the 311 . It is ridiculous. 

They should have just 2 platforms and stick to it. A sd dual tuner dvr and a hd dual tuner dvr. Now whether it goes to two different tvs is anybody's guess. IT is stupid to have all these different receivers which use different software teams to write them. Simplify and use less resources and make the two you keep work the best and everyone would be happy.


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## garypen (Feb 1, 2004)

That makes an amazing amount of sense. Perhaps they should keep a basic single tuner non-pvr model, as well?


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

Count my family and me into the "satisfied, but not blown away yet" camp. We're not power users, but for us, it works fine. Getting the OTA guide squared away will be a big relief for us as like Scott and others, that's where we do a lot of our HD watching. Now if E* would give us more content to go along with the next round of s/w enhancements. . .


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> That is the current problem with Dish. They have to many software teams working on different platforms. The 721 platform is exactly like the 921 but two different teams do the software. The 500 series of dvrs ,501/508/510 is different platform than the 522 /322 and the basic receiver the 301 is different than the 311 . It is ridiculous.
> 
> They should have just 2 platforms and stick to it. A sd dual tuner dvr and a hd dual tuner dvr. Now whether it goes to two different tvs is anybody's guess. IT is stupid to have all these different receivers which use different software teams to write them. Simplify and use less resources and make the two you keep work the best and everyone would be happy.


Hey Charlie! Can you spell
M-O-D-U-L-A-R
P-R-O-G-R-A-M-M-I-N-G
No, of course not. :nono:


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Very satisfied as well here. Timers are firing 100% these days. 

Things I want fixed ASAP:

1) OTA program guide info
2) OTA channels added in Favorites List
3) Fix BUG with htiting the STOP button while watching one recorded show and recording a show in progress kills the record in progress as well as the show your watching.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

I'm with Scott. It mostly works, but there are still some annoyances there.

There are some basic usability issues (Stop button, Pads, etc), that have been around since release and haven't been addressed (but the box is generally more stable).

(but the biggest stability "fix" has been an automatic daily reboot - kinda weak).

But reports and complaints are down because there is nothing new to report, we have learned to work around the annoyances, and don't bother re-reporting what has been seen so many times before.


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

1)Please fix the blue/green/red line down the middle of the screen while watching sd programming. 
2)Please fix the stop button - stopping all recordings on that tuner when you are watching prerecorded shows. 
3)Please add ota guide information so we can use the sat guide for recordings rather than manual timers. 
4)Please allow us to add our ota digital/analog channels to our favorite guides. 


I can work around most of the above but the blue/green/red line thing is really unacceptable for a hd receiver that is supposed to provide the best picture quality available.:nono: :nono2: :eek2:


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## FarNorth (Nov 27, 2003)

Mine is near flawless. I don't use any OTA so issues 3 and 4 don't apply. I started having trouble with issue 1 but a poster here told me that an occasional power cord jerk/reboot will fix it and it does. Issue 2 is a nuisance and is supposedly going to be addressed in an update due very soon.

I am so used to using my 921 and it works so well, I would hate to think about going without it.


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## sroach (Apr 6, 2004)

We've been pretty happy with it overall, but it is only locking on 2 out of a possible 6 OTA stations. We also see the red/green line on some SD content. And one bug I haven't heard anyone mention yet is that when you first power it up, with the TV connected via DVI, there is no picture until after you push the HD/SD button twice on the remote. (That work around took me a long time to figure out) After that, it works fine.

The HD content looks great, especially football on ESPN. The Olympics were very impressive as well.


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## Tweeterhead (Oct 25, 2004)

A fix until the OTA guide gets here would be to devide the (Local Digital Station) info in the guide into 30 minute or 60 minute increments. Then you could at least set timers easily. Even if you had to set multiples to get a show longer than what is decided upon. The do it on the HD Preview channel and pay per view channels where the info just repeats all day.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

My satisfaction is decreasing. I'm coping with existing problems that should be fixed by now. There are some terrific benefits to the DRV, the ability to digitally record on a hard drive HD content. DVR functions are so cool. Only if the bugs or whatever they really are were gone! Having to reboot frequently to get the unit to function properly is unacceptable. If you get the 921, your going to be impressed in some respects.


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## Spartan (Aug 7, 2002)

My 921's performance can be described with the following four words: Sometimes, Holds, Intermittent, Transmissions. See if you can come up with a good acronym.


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## Scott Greczkowski (Mar 21, 2002)

And the best way to describe most features that were adverised to be on the 921 but are not available yet (a year after its release) such as OTA Guide Data, OpenTV Interactive... is "Coming SOON" (No word on how long SOON is.)

Come on Dish Network give us what was advertised and what we paid for.


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## lionsrule (Nov 25, 2003)

You mean to tell me that the 921 STILL DOES NOT HAVE AN OTA GUIDE!!??!!

Wow, I can't believe you guys have put up with this. I was considering getting a 921 now that it has dropped to $549, but it's not worth it to me if there is no guide for OTA HD stuff. DVR ability has changed the way my wife and I watch TV. We NEVER watch shows when they are actually on. I was REALLY hoping to get a 921 so we could "tivo" our shows in HD to watch on our time table. For the amount of money this equipment cost as well as the monthly cost of programming it is a joke that a customer would have to use "work arounds" or manual timers to simply record LOST or ER or ALIAS or the SUPERBOWL. What the hell happened to ease of use or one button recording. I can't believe these things haven't been fixed. It is COMPLETELY clear to me that the 50% drop in price is simply dishnetworks way of throwing their hands up in the air and admitting defeat in their fight to fix the problems their 921 has. I've read many other posts in the last 2 days of people bitterly complaining that they have been ripped off due to paying double what it is going for now.....the rip off people is that the damn thing doesn't work as advertised...AT ANY PRICE!!


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## moviegoerman (Aug 18, 2004)

lionsrule said:


> You mean to tell me that the 921 STILL DOES NOT HAVE AN OTA GUIDE!!??!!
> 
> Wow, I can't believe you guys have put up with this. I was considering getting a 921 now that it has dropped to $549, but it's not worth it to me if there is no guide for OTA HD stuff.
> {snip}
> I've read many other posts in the last 2 days of people bitterly complaining that they have been ripped off due to paying double what it is going for now.....the rip off people is that the damn thing doesn't work as advertised...AT ANY PRICE!!


I didn't wait! I went out and got a DirecTV Tivo 10-250 HD-DVR after the 2nd day of owning a 921 back in July. I haven't seen a firmware update since the guide was promised by Mark as "SOON" back in July, August, September, October, and now it's November... I'm still waiting for this thing to work! Even at best it is still 2 software updates away. And that is if they can figure it out. I don't think their implementation will even come close to being successful.

They couldn't even give these things away... My 921 still loses timers, corner picture in the guide is frequently black with audio, favorites don't work properly (you can't store the OTA channels), pressing stop on a different show stops all recordings, and of course NO OTA GUIDE!

Now that they have lowered the price... It is such a blatant ripoff of all existing 921 consumers. We've lost half the value of the box and no chance of puting this thing on E-Bay anymore... All probably because they can't sell it and they are losing customers to DirecTV. I feel like I bought a Yugo!

Maybe they should fire the Eldon team and get someone to finish the box properly. But, that would make too much sense. My 10-250 has been awesome!!! It has done everything as advertised. Two OTA tuners with a working guide, name based recording, and doesn't miss timers.

The only thing the 921 has over the 10-250 is a faster guide, but with no OTA guide support it's a losing feature. I'd spend another 1k on a 10-250 before I sunk a dime into another 921.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Bfd


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