# 921 as a replacement for the 721 + Satellite HD as a bonus



## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

Would those who have had experiance with both say that the 921 is a good 2-Tuner SD DVR upgrade to the 721 just on the basis of it's SD feature set and operational reliability?

Or, are there still problems with the 921 simply when used as a 2-Tuner SD DVR? 

Does the satellite HD DVR aspect of the 921 work reliably well to record and time shift satellite HD only (HBOHD, SHOHD, and the HD Packages of channels)- not local OTA HD?


Murray Kerdman


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

mkerdman said:


> Would those who have had experiance with both say that the 921 is a good 2-Tuner SD DVR upgrade to the 721 just on the basis of it's SD feature set and operational reliability?
> 
> Or, are there still problems with the 921 simply when used as a 2-Tuner SD DVR?
> 
> ...


The 921 is better than the 721 for SD as it has greater recording capacity. It provides for more video options.

There are still problems with the 921. Personally, I still get "0" timed recordings, even for SD channels.

I can not see the difference in the quality of recorded vs. live satellite HD or OTA HD. HD is exceptional. It is a viewers dream come true. There are flaws respective to reliability when recording SD/HD/OTA. I have had no problems with trick play for satellite SD/HD recordings. I have had problems with trick play for satellite SD on my 721.

If you research some of the current threads, it sounds like the price of the 921 is dropping.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

boylehome said:


> The 921 is better than the 721 for SD as it has greater recording capacity. It provides for more video options.
> 
> There are still problems with the 921. Personally, I still get "0" timed recordings, even for SD channels.
> 
> ...


boylehome

Are you saying with the 921 that some of your scheudled recoridngs on both HD and SD channels come up empty with "0" minutes recorded?

That seems unacceptable.


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## rjenkins (Jul 18, 2002)

mkerdman said:


> boylehome
> 
> Are you saying with the 921 that some of your scheudled recoridngs on both HD and SD channels come up empty with "0" minutes recorded?
> 
> That seems unacceptable.


I have both a 721 and a 921. I still occassionally get 0 minute recordings on the 721 as well. It seems to happen for the same reason as the 921 recordings. (One timer activates on a tuner, then another gets activated on the same tuner almost immediately.) I think the 921 would make a good replacement for a 721.

The 721 still has some lurking bugs on the satellite recording, as does the 921 (both SD and HD). The 921 is a little buggier than the 721 at this point, however. The one bug I've seen the most on the 921 is the "pressing stop while watching a pre-recorded event stops any other event that's also recording on that channel" bug. The 721 has a similar bug, but it doesn't present itself as often. Mark has a pretty good thread here on the STOP bug. He found 5 (I believe) cases where it presents itself on the 921. The 721 only does it on 1 of those cases. I've just gotten into the habit of fast-forwarding to the end of any recording I'm watching instead of pressing stop.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

mkerdman said:


> boylehome
> 
> Are you saying with the 921 that some of your scheudled recoridngs on both HD and SD channels come up empty with "0" minutes recorded?
> 
> That seems unacceptable.


It is unacceptable but I strongly believe that this issue is fixable. It is a known issue and I think that the software developers will fix it in the near future.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

boylehome said:


> It is unacceptable but I strongly believe that this issue is fixable. It is a known issue and I think that the software developers will fix it in the near future.


I wonder how much software dev. there will be when the 921 is disc. and the total universe is only 3-4,000 units.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

mkerdman said:


> I wonder how much software dev. there will be when the 921 is disc. and the total universe is only 3-4,000 units.


Developers will continue to fix bugs as long as customers are using the units in their abodes regardless if they are still being manufactured or are discontinued. I've been with Dish for almost seven years now and I'm still getting software fixes for units that are no longer being made.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

boylehome said:


> Developers will continue to fix bugs as long as customers are using the units in their abodes regardless if they are still being manufactured or are discontinued. I've been with Dish for almost seven years now and I'm still getting software fixes for units that are no longer being made.


Yes, the thing about the 921 that's dfferent is it will have the smallest universe of units of any model they ever made, and, AFAIK it does not share development code with any other reciever since this was developed by Eldon in the U.K.

Murray Kerdman


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

mkerdman said:


> Yes, the thing about the 921 that's dfferent is it will have the smallest universe of units of any model they ever made, and, AFAIK it does not share development code with any other reciever since this was developed by Eldon in the U.K.
> 
> Murray Kerdman


Very true, but like some other units, Dish can always use some other developers, who may turn out to be better that the current developers.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

boylehome said:


> Very true, but like some other units, Dish can always use some other developers, who may turn out to be better that the current developers.


Now that may not be too hard.

Murray Kerdman


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

In all fairness, it may not be the current developers that are the problem, but the original designers certainly were.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

SimpleSimon said:


> In all fairness, it may not be the current developers that are the problem, but the original designers certainly were.


Is there a new dev. team on the 921?


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

mkerdman said:


> Is there a new dev. team on the 921?


(Oops, I see where this is going.) That's a good question but I have not seen anything that would suggest it. In this thread we just mentioned software "dev." That may be a good question for Tech Talk on Monday night


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Yo, boyle - you started it (post #9). 

I haven't seen anything that would suggest it either - just wishful thinking on my part.


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## mkerdman (Mar 10, 2004)

SimpleSimon said:



> Yo, boyle - you started it (post #9).
> 
> I haven't seen anything that would suggest it either - just wishful thinking on my part.


It would be nice to believe it.

Murray Kerdman


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