# 721 'safe' to buy?



## bennej (Sep 13, 2002)

Hey-
I went out and bought my 501 right as it was released, boy did I have problems, bugs, quirks, whatever you call em. Now it is 'stable', so........I want the 721 but figured I'd wait a month or two to let a few updates get sent to correct the initial problems.

So is it 'safe' to buy the 721? Are the most of the quirks out yet? I can live with some, but can't with things like it rebooting itself. 

Thnx,
John
:hi:


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by bennej _
> *I can live with some, but can't with things like it rebooting itself.*


Then you don't want the 721.


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## sampatterson (Aug 27, 2002)

The 721 is much more stable than the first version of the 501 was. There are a few quirks but I believe it is even more stable than my 6000 (reboots on local channel changes at times), no information on programs 30 minutes out half the time. 

The 721 with L103 is more stable than my 7100 (that has had a multitude of upgrades).


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## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

Rebooting has been a fairly small part of the bugs I've seen with the 721. The most common issue is the timmer not recording a program. Every now and then a timmer will just stop working. I delete the timmer and recreate it with the exact same info and it works again.

The product is average to above average for most new PVR products. When I first got my STB Tivo it certainly had it's own quirks. And as much as we complain about wanting various bugs fixed Dish seems to be correcting them in a similar time frame to other PVRs out there.


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## thomasmaly (Jul 7, 2002)

I have had my 721 for over 2 months. I have made over100 timer events and never missed a recording. All hace been one time only recordings...so go figure!!!


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2002)

Ive NEVER had my 721 reboot.

I feel the 721 is a safe buy. It DOES have its quirks, but I love my 721. 

_(BTW this message was written by Scott Greczkowski... I acidently posted from my wifes laptop) 

Whoops!_


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## SParker (Apr 27, 2002)

Mine only reboots now when I tell it too. I reboot mine daily. I figure "A reboot a day keeps the doctor away"


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## LarryH (Jun 10, 2002)

I too owned a 501 from day one. The 721 is much more stable. There are still many kinks that need to be worked out in SW, but most of the bugs are minor (with the exception of the missed timer bug). The only bugs that I think need "urgent attention" are the "missed timer" and "bounce back to live" bugs. As soon as Dish fixes these two bugs, the 721 will be a very usable product.


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## marshalk (Jun 9, 2002)

I like my 721, and that is with the issues raised above, plus some of my own, like the EPG is only available on the 110 sat. Even given that I would not hesitate to buy one again...even if it is a bit on the spendy side and uses time based, as opposed to program based, events. Either way, still a good product.


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## SParker (Apr 27, 2002)

I wonder if E* will come up with a program name based recording, that isn't trademarked or copyrighted is it?


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## mjz (Jul 27, 2002)

I Don't Think it matters if it is trademarked or copyrighted: remember we are talking about echostar here


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## DmitriA (Aug 6, 2002)

I don't know if it is just me but I am not a huge fan of the 721 interface - compared to the 501, I think it's pretty awful. Particularly that purple system menu - who the hell came up with THAT color? Why couldn't they have just used dark green that they used elsewhere?


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

I wish they would have had the second tuner to where you could watch a different show on two different tv's at once with a second tv out. The 110 only and 119 not showing up was a HUGE problem in which is now fixed. The receiver's bugs have been worked out for the most part compared to at first and I like the product but channel 495 is STILL blacked out when it should not be, a software issue.


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## Lightnin1 (Apr 23, 2002)

What are you doing wanting to watch channel 495 anyway. It will make you go blind in short order:sure: :rolling:


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## steveT (Jul 12, 2002)

I know alot of people refer to the "back to live" as a bug, but in the end it only causes inconvenience, not loss of data. You can always go back into the show. The #1 bug has to be the missed timer events. It concerns me that Dish is now talking about new features in the next software release. I'd like to see them clean up major bugs before adding in new features.

I'll second thomasmaly as well: if you get a 721, don't use anything other than one-time event timers until they fix that bug!


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## marshalk (Jun 9, 2002)

I try and do a reboot each night when I turn my 721 off and the timers work fine. This is a bug in my opinion, just not a critical one...but one that needs to be fixed. 

As for the program name based event timers, I am not sure but I do think that the Tivo folks own that "intellectual property". I assume that since Tivo and DirectTV are working together, and since E* is trying to merge with DTV then E* doesn't want to mess with the issue until the merger is done. Post merger they will own whatever they need in terms of rights IF those rights from Tivo come along with DTV. But this is pure speculation.


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## zimm0who0net (Aug 27, 2002)

ReplayTV & UltimateTV both have features that achieve program based recording. Unless there were bunches of cross-licenses it's likely there are no patent issues to contend with.


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## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

E* has a habit of pushing the limits of patents. They never paid Gemstar a nickle for the older (Pre OpenTV) Guide/GUI stuff. Gemstar sued and lost.

I think the big patent books go to Replay and Tivo for name based recording.


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## TerryC (Jul 18, 2002)

My only real issue is that Mon-Fri recordings are not reliable. It misses one or two a week. The work-around that I've used is to set up a weekly timer for each of those days. Weekly and once-only timers are reliable 100% of the time for me. I'd recommend this receiver to anyone. Go for it.


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