# Have a 301 - should I get a 508 or a 721?



## Markus (Sep 25, 2002)

I apologize if this question has been asked before, but I didn't find anything similar elsewhere is this forum. 

My question is this: I have a 301 unit right now, but really want the features of a PVR. I'm wondering if I should buy a 508 or a 721. 

Here's a little background to help with your answers: 

I have the 301 and a VCR currently hooked up on a plain old RCA 27" stereo TV. I also have an S-Video connection from my PC to the TV so I can watch DVDs (I have a DVD-ROM drive on the computer). The TV has PIP capabilities, but I can't really use them right now because I only have the one satellite tuner. 

I really doubt that I would be recording more than one program at the same time, but would like to use PIP from time to time and also be able to watch a program while I am recording another. 

Will I be able to accomplish this with a 508? Am I limited by the fact that I am already using the S-Video in? 

Any and all suggestions and input would be appreciated as I'm certainly far from a master with hooking up all of this stuff!


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## scriabinop23 (Oct 8, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Markus _
> *I apologize if this question has been asked before, but I didn't find anything similar elsewhere is this forum.
> 
> My question is this: I have a 301 unit right now, but really want the features of a PVR. I'm wondering if I should buy a 508 or a 721.
> ...


Yes, you'll be able to still use your PIP - since thats a funciton of your television.

But with any pvr 508/501, you will only be able to view one satellite signal at once, and if you're recording it, you can't view any other at the same time. You could of course view your dvd's from your pc while you're recording the satellite signal on the 508 though.

you can still watch the antenna or any other source while the 508 is busy doing its thing with the satellite. The pvr function is to merely take the mpeg2 signal coming off air and copy it to hard disk. There's actually no encoding process going on, so it won't record any other sources besides the sat. signal which is already mpeg2 encoded.


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