# Odds of getting 921 features added?



## dave148 (Oct 2, 2004)

Does anyone know the odds of getting features added in the future via software
updates? I just got my 921 last month for the Olympics, and while I am generally
happy with the purchase, there are some gaping feature holes:

1. It appears there is no way to direct 480i to the component outputs of
the device. This means I am forced to use the scaler built-in to the 921. No offense
to Dish, but there are much better scalers than the one built-in to the 921.
I think it's great they included one in the system, but it has pretty bad artifacts,
and it is significantly worse than even the five year old scaler built in to my
projector. My scaler, as well as many outboard scalers, will automatically set
to bypass mode unless their input is 480i.

2. There is no "pass-through", or "hands-off" mode that will pass the native
resolution. It seems the engineers for this product have
assumed everyone has a fixed pixel display, and always wants the same output
from the 921. There are several reasons why this is a bad assumption. First,
I have a multi-synching display that will accept 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i, or any
of many other inputs. Second, even if I did have a fixed pixel projector, in
most cases, I would prefer to use a smaller portion of the screen for the lower
resolutions so that the seating distances remain optimized. Finally, I am
forced to use the Dish scaler again on all programming material that does not happen
to be the same resolution as the one I picked in the menu. It should be trivial
for the 921 to just output the same resolution of the incoming signal with no
scaling.

3. As far as I can tell, there is no way to delete part of a program. This suggestion
was very obvious during
the olympics where one program was 6-8 hours long. I could use-up the entire
disk when recording just 3 HD programs. I realize it's much easier to write
software to delete a single file, but with some work I'm sure the software
could be upgraded to allow deleting certain time segments of a program.
During the Olympics, my disk filled-up very quickly, and I was under pressure
to watch this material instead of being able to wait until the weekend as I
originally intended. Yes, NBC's terrible job of programming organization was
part of the problem, but partial deletions would allow me to be able to get
around some of NBC's problems.

I sent Dish something similar to the above 3 suggestions, but I wasn't sure
if this would get me anywhere, or if I was just wasting my time.

Dave


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

#1 - ain't gonna happen. It's a hardware limitation (I believe).

#2 - great idea for people that want it, but it would kill me. I don't have a projector, and my television downconverts a 720p signal to 480p. I want the 921 to only output 1080i for me. A choice may be offered in the future, down the road sometime.

#3 - can be done now if you have 1 timer set to record multiple shows. This might be able to be extended into deleting parts of one program. Once again, maybe sometime down the line.


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

As far as #2 goes it would be nice to choose what you want to happen with each format:

1. Pass 480p
2. upconvert 720p to 1080i
3. pass 1080i
4. upconvert 480i to 480p

If you could pick what you want to happen for each of the 4 formats (480i/480p/720p/1080i) individually it would be super nice.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

You forgot 

5. upconvert 4801/p to 720p
6. upconvert 480i/p to 1080i
7. pass 720p
8. upconvert 1080i to 720p
9. downconvert 720p/1080i to 480p or even 480i

and a number of other combinations of the form "leave mode x alone, but convert anything else to x".

-Chris


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

How about using the IR blaster to send Antenna Rotator codes to turn the antenna when recording timed OTA broadcasts? 

There is only a single Channel Master IR Remote controller. All software.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Cyclone said:


> How about using the IR blaster to send Antenna Rotator codes to turn the antenna when recording timed OTA broadcasts?
> 
> There is only a single Channel Master IR Remote controller. All software.


That would be a dream!


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

4HiMarks said:


> You forgot
> 
> 5. upconvert 4801/p to 720p
> 6. upconvert 480i/p to 1080i
> ...


Mine was just an example. It would be nice to specify for each of the 4 inputs what you want done with it.


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## jeslevine (Jul 21, 2002)

Am I correct to also assume that they won't ever activate the firewire interface?

Thanks for any input


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

jeslevine said:


> Am I correct to also assume that they won't ever activate the firewire interface?
> 
> Thanks for any input


Yeah - they $#@fted us on that - just like they've done to 721 useers on internet access, and ... how many other examples of Charlie's total disregard for his customers do you want?


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## 21stCentMan (Oct 5, 2004)

I'd love to be able to add a 2nd disk drive - there is apparently a free space for one, so I could record more HD. I love HD, but it just uses so much space!

Mark


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

21stCentMan said:


> I'd love to be able to add a 2nd disk drive - there is apparently a free space for one, so I could record more HD. I love HD, but it just uses so much space!
> 
> Mark


I understand that Dish is reluctant to let people add there own drives. But since the slot is clearly there, I see now reason why they might not add the ability to add another, DISH approved, disk drive. As long as they don't add to much to the cost of such a drive, many of us would welcome such an option.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

I was just in contact with the folks over at weaknees.com. They do hard drive upgrades for TiVo's, Replay's, and UltimateTV's. I asked if they ever planned on offering them for the 921. They said "Nope - that unit can't be upgraded. Have you considered switching to DirecTV? "

FWIW,

-Chris


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

Chris- They told you correct at Weaknees. The 921's hard drive is part of E*'s security system, the way their engineer describbed it to me. While it may be possible to "hack" something it would be akin to how some hackers have reprogrammed the cards to get illegal programming. If you want a DVR with tivo and DirecTV supported 3rd party drives swap, get the HDTIVO. 

The std drive bay in the 921, while it may be used to add a second drive by E* development company, it was really intended to be used for an optical disk drive which was in the list of original options for future development. Personally, I doubt they will ever develop any of the promised upgrades for the 921. What we see today is what we will have. They are working on NBR and OTA guides but that may be a reality only by next year at this time. Beyond that, ah... My personal opinion is that the "future proof 921" will be obsoleted with less than 3 years on the market.


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## bytre (Sep 10, 2003)

There is also a second ATA connector in the 921.


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## David_Levin (Apr 22, 2002)

Unfortunately, I'm afraid Don is probably right.

Dish could provide 2nd hard drive support if they wanted to - but it doesn't seem like they care enough about thier customers to allow it.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep sending those E-Mail's to [email protected] to ask for it (I've sent 3 or 4). After $1000 and the broken firewire promise, they should do this for us.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

David_Levin said:


> Unfortunately, I'm afraid Don is probably right.
> 
> Dish could provide 2nd hard drive support if they wanted to - but it doesn't seem like they care enough about thier customers enough to allow it.
> 
> That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep sending those E-Mail's to [email protected] to ask for it (I've sent 3 or 4). After $1000 and the broken firewire promise, they should do this for us.


David, better than that I think that we should all be issued a rebate check for $400. Because they didn't provide what was expected, this is the least they should do.


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