# External Drive 622 When?



## bkushner (Mar 17, 2006)

Any more word on something like this might be available? 25 hours is hardly enough.

Brian


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Demand from Dish to make customizable VOD/nonVOD chioce by _us_ and you will have 50% more space [100 GB].


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

It will be easier to get North Korea to turn over all of it's weapons. 

BTW: The total hours of VOD programming would not reflect a 50% increase in DVR space. They must be using that partition for other things than VOD.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Also worth keeping in mind that the larger the space, the easier it is to get behind in watching things! I know I find myself waiting until the hard drive is full before catching up on viewing... but if you have 25 hours of stuff to watch, when do you find the time to watch it?

If you aren't careful, you end up in a death-spiral where you keep recording more and more and never have the time to watch anything... which sort of defeats the purpose of recording it.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

James Long said:


> It will be easier to get North Korea to turn over all of it's weapons. .


Oh boy !  You killing me !:eek2:



James Long said:


> BTW: The total hours of VOD programming would not reflect a 50% increase in DVR space. They must be using that partition for other things than VOD.


 :nono2: 
For sure I know the partition size is 100 GB and using for VOD now, only. Nothing else.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Then there must be a monster chunk of unused space. I've only got 13 movies totalling 26hrs on VOD (movie lengths ranging from 81 to 188 minutes) yet there is more that 52 hours of DVR space on my 622. (A lot more.)

If there is space for more movies, why not use it?


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Nothing new on the external hard drive front.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

My guess is that 100GB is planned for VOD so to provide a healthy dosage of content otherwise that feature would not be of much use. Yes it would be nice to provide an option to disable this feature and it has been mentioned before a number of times. 

As for any status change on support. I have also not heard anything about a projected release date for this feature. Even if I did, I would take any release date of a feature like this with a grain of salt.


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## dude2 (May 28, 2006)

James Long said:


> Then there must be a monster chunk of unused space. I've only got 13 movies totalling 26hrs on VOD (movie lengths ranging from 81 to 188 minutes) yet there is more that 52 hours of DVR space on my 622. (A lot more.)
> 
> If there is space for more movies, why not use it?


How do you get 13 movies of video on demand on the hard drive. It says they only last 24 hours and then gone. Are you sure you still have those movies or did you loose them after 24 hours.


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

dude2 said:


> How do you get 13 movies of video on demand on the hard drive. It says they only last 24 hours and then gone. Are you sure you still have those movies or did you loose them after 24 hours.


When you 'rent' them you can only view them for 24 hours, however, as long as they are in your list of movies available to rent they are on your hard drive.


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## dhclaypool (Oct 29, 2005)

How big is the 622 HD? My old 721 had 120GB and allowed ~100 hours of SD; my 622 reports about twice that much for SD. Logic says it's got to be a 250GB drive, so what's this about 100GB reserved in a partition?


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I believe the 622 hard drive is 300GB.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

320 GB Maxtor 6L320S0.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Ah, that's not what was in my first one, but I did have one of the first red board units. May very well be what's in the one I have now, though. I haven't looked inside this one.


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## Miles69 (Dec 24, 2005)

bkushner said:


> Any more word on something like this might be available? 25 hours is hardly enough.
> 
> Brian


Also when not if your 622 dies I lose all the recordings I want to keep. That's why I will do with out HDMI.:nono2:


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## mwsmith2 (Nov 15, 2004)

I can bet you that dish will *never* allow VOD to be turned off, because that would represent lost revenue stream to them. Personally, I have never bought PPV, and will never do VOD. I'd much rather spend a few bucks and get a DVD off of ebay or the local pawn shop and have it to watch as many times as I want. Of course, dish doesn't understand this.

I have likewise low expectations for using the external HD. It represents no immediate change in their revenue stream, so I'm sure it's a the the bottom of the barrel in terms of priority. Never mind the fact that more people would buy the unit if they were allowed off-receiver archiving. They can't see past the end of their nose with that kind of stuff.

For more insight, please refer to my avatar. 

Michael


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

mwsmith2 said:


> I can bet you that dish will *never* allow VOD to be turned off, because that would represent lost revenue stream to them. Personally, I have never bought PPV, and will never do VOD. I'd much rather spend a few bucks and get a DVD off of ebay or the local pawn shop and have it to watch as many times as I want. Of course, dish doesn't understand this.
> 
> I have likewise low expectations for using the external HD. It represents no immediate change in their revenue stream, so I'm sure it's a the the bottom of the barrel in terms of priority. Never mind the fact that more people would buy the unit if they were allowed off-receiver archiving. They can't see past the end of their nose with that kind of stuff.
> 
> ...


Excuse my ignorance, but what's an avatar?


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

lujan said:


> Excuse my ignorance, but what's an avatar?


The picture below your name.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

"I can bet you that dish will *never* allow VOD to be turned off" - you know water under pressure can cut rocks.
If Dish will have a lot of complains they will change the software.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Thanks Jim!


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## mwsmith2 (Nov 15, 2004)

P Smith said:


> you know water under pressure can cut rocks.
> If Dish will have a lot of complains they will change the software.


Yep. And without pressure, water is just a bunch of drips. 

Sure, removing the VOD makes perfect sense to you and I, but I can assure you, some misguided, hardheaded exec has convinced himself that "by god, it's in there and it's going to stay. Even if they buy 1 movie in the next 10 years, that'll be one more more dollar we make than if we took it out."

Honestly, big corps don't listen to the public unless it affects their bottom line. It's a case that is more like "how much can we tick off our customers without driving them away" rather than providing excellent service and features that existing customers want. I, unfortunately, have personal experience in these very things with companies I work/have worked for. Which is why, sadly, I won't be holding my breath for this, just like I didn't for promised (and published!) features for the 921.

Michael


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

Ok guys, this is a 622 support forum, let's keep the thread on track. If you want to vent about DISH please move the discussion to the general DISH forum.

Thanks


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## mwsmith2 (Nov 15, 2004)

Eep. Sorry about that. My apologies.

Michael


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## iaw4 (Apr 15, 2005)

* is there something productive I can do to nudge dish to enable connecting an external hard drive to the 622?

* I am also a bit concerned about hard drive death. I understand that they want to tie recordings to one location, but could this not be better accomplished by scrambling with respect to my access card, rather than with respect to the hardware id code of a specific receiver?

* I have not tried this, but can the 622 output HDTV recordings through the antenna, the same way that an OTA signal comes into it? (that would allow me to archive recordings another way, given that I won't have an external HD for a while.)

sincerely, /iaw


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

*no, *no, *no


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Pretty much exactly what he said...


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## mitch672 (Feb 28, 2006)

There *IS* a way to hook an external hard drive to the 622, its called a Pocketdish. Yes, I know, I don't really want one, but, it is currently the *ONLY* way to backup video from the 622 onto an external device, then that can be transfered to your PC. 

I have connected a USB Flash drive to the 622, and, this feature SHOULD be supported on any device, but of course, it isn't.

I really have no desire to buy a $340 40GB HDD with a 7" screen, just for the purpose of transfering and backing up my video's to my PC.

Are you listening dish?

BTW, that ethernet port on the back COULD be used to support FTP or TFTP to be able to do the same thing.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

You cannot transfer HD to the PocketDish... and you cannot transfer from the PocketDish to anything else... so I'm not sure what you mean here involving the use of a PocketDish.


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## mitch672 (Feb 28, 2006)

I'm not sure about the HD content, but, I am pretty sure you CAN transfer the videos from the pcoketdish to your PC, as the pocketdish acts like a USB HDD...

http://www.pocketdish.com/connect_computer.jsp

Mitch



HDMe said:


> You cannot transfer HD to the PocketDish... and you cannot transfer from the PocketDish to anything else... so I'm not sure what you mean here involving the use of a PocketDish.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

You can connect a PocketDish to a PC and download from the PC to the PocketDish. But, you can not upload from the PocketDish to the PC.


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## mitch672 (Feb 28, 2006)

Then what good is the pocketdish? The dish CSR said that content COULD be archived on your PC... anyone who actually owns a pocketdish care to comment?

Mitch

QUOTE=ChuckA]You can connect a PocketDish to a PC and download from the PC to the PocketDish. But, you can not upload from the PocketDish to the PC.[/QUOTE]


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

The good of the PocketDish is the ability to copy pre-recorded stuff to it and then take the portable PocketDish with you on a trip or somewhere else where you will not be at home with your Dish equipment... and you can watch stuff on the road.

Not a big thing that I personally need... but I know a lot of folks (especially ones with kids to occupy them on a long road trip) like that.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

sling box works for me! I use it with my laptop connected to Verizon EVDO and I have used it with my XV6700 PDA/Cellphone. Far more programming at any time with both VIP622 and HDTIVO access for a fraction of the price of the pocket dish.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

You can copy Dish Network video files from your pocketdish to your PC. They're just files in a folder accessible with Windows Explorer. But, there's no way (that I know of) to play those files from your PC. 

And, there currently isn't any way to transfer video files from the pocketdish back to the 622.


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## HD Steve (Jul 12, 2006)

DonLandis said:


> sling box works for me! I use it with my laptop connected to Verizon EVDO and I have used it with my XV6700 PDA/Cellphone. Far more programming at any time with both VIP622 and HDTIVO access for a fraction of the price of the pocket dish.


Could you briefly explain your sling box setup? I have a VIP622.


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## mitch672 (Feb 28, 2006)

Try VLC, if it can't play the files, pretty much nothing will..
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Let us know the results, I don't have a DishPlayer to try it.

Mitch



Mark Lamutt said:


> You can copy Dish Network video files from your pocketdish to your PC. They're just files in a folder accessible with Windows Explorer. But, there's no way (that I know of) to play those files from your PC.
> 
> And, there currently isn't any way to transfer video files from the pocketdish back to the 622.


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## iaw4 (Apr 15, 2005)

Mark Lamutt said:


> You can copy Dish Network video files from your pocketdish to your PC. They're just files in a folder accessible with Windows Explorer. But, there's no way (that I know of) to play those files from your PC.
> 
> And, there currently isn't any way to transfer video files from the pocketdish back to the 622.


...which makes pocketdish useless as a substitute for an external hard drive or ethernet (for archiving). does anyone know whether there is a dish plan to enable either for archiving, at least in the future?


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> You can copy Dish Network video files from your pocketdish to your PC. They're just files in a folder accessible with Windows Explorer. But, there's no way (that I know of) to play those files from your PC.
> 
> And, there currently isn't any way to transfer video files from the pocketdish back to the 622.


I know this isn't the correct forum, but does anyone know if there is a forum for the pocketdish? I just bought one and was mis-informed by the Archos technical support. They told me you could transfer downconverted HD material and then I find out you can't transfer anything that comes from a digital station. I'm thinking of returning it. I only have 14 days to return it and I already have an RMA number.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I don't know of any specific pocketdish forums, as there just isn't enough demand for one. I'd suggest using the general Dish Network forum here for pocketdish discussions.

I can pretty much guarantee that VLC won't be able to play the Dish downloaded files from a pocketdish, as the downloaded video is encrypted. The pocketdish is not and never was intended to be an archival device. But, if I get some free time, I'll try it.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

lujan said:



> I know this isn't the correct forum, but does anyone know if there is a forum for the pocketdish? I just bought one and was mis-informed by the Archos technical support. They told me you could transfer downconverted HD material and then I find out you can't transfer anything that comes from a digital station. I'm thinking of retuning it. I only have 14 days to return it and I already have an RMA number.


Technically you can transfer downconverted HD material...just not via usb.  You can play the HD program into the PD using the RCA cables.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

LtMunst said:


> Technically you can transfer downconverted HD material...just not via usb.  You can play the HD program into the PD using the RCA cables.


How would you do that? It would be in real time, right? In other words, if the movie is two hours long, it would take two hours to copy it over to the pocketdish. If I decide to keep it, I will have to make sure anything I want transferred via the USB is an SD program on a non-digital station. Problem is, about 90-95% of what I watch now is HD.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

lujan said:


> How would you do that? It would be in real time, right? In other words, if the movie is two hours long, it would take two hours to copy it over to the pocketdish.


Exactly. I have read in other forums that Archos stated they are working on a software update to allow downconverting of HD over the USB. Time will tell.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

Do you have an older receiver, besides your 622? I purchased a PD but don't have it yet. I have a 311 receiver that is only used in my travel trailer at certain times of the year. Since the PD has it's own timers I plan to use it with the non-DVR 311 to record things I specifically want on the PD, when the 311 would otherwise not be used. I'll have to see how that works out. 

I agree it is going to be a real pain to not be able to copy HD stuff that is already on the DVR via USB. It makes using the PD much more difficult and requires you to really plan what you want on the PD and makes it a more time consuming process. I expect there will be times when I have an HD recording on the 622 and have to re-record the same program in SD just to be able to do a quick copy to the PD.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

LtMunst said:


> Exactly. I have read in other forums that Archos stated they are working on a software update to allow downconverting of HD over the USB. Time will tell.


That sounds encouraging but you know about how statements like this never come true in the end. Now, I'm still debating as to whether I should keep it or not.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

ChuckA said:


> Do you have an older receiver, besides your 622? I purchased a PD but don't have it yet. I have a 311 receiver that is only used in my travel trailer at certain times of the year. Since the PD has it's own timers I plan to use it with the non-DVR 311 to record things I specifically want on the PD, when the 311 would otherwise not be used. I'll have to see how that works out.
> 
> I agree it is going to be a real pain to not be able to copy HD stuff that is already on the DVR via USB. It makes using the PD much more difficult and requires you to really plan what you want on the PD and makes it a more time consuming process. I expect there will be times when I have an HD recording on the 622 and have to re-record the same program in SD just to be able to do a quick copy to the PD.


I only have the 622. I have a 510 but I don't have it activated. I will only use that if the 622 craps out.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

HD Steve said:


> Could you briefly explain your sling box setup? I have a VIP622.


HDSteve- The original point of this thread was to discuss the upcoming USB hard drive accessory for the 622. Pocket dish was suggested as a temporary alternative but then that discussion evolved to a way to dump video archives onto a PC. But Pocket Dish wasn't intended for that purpose. It was intended to be a way to take your DVR content with you and watch it anywhere. That works and I just offered that what I do is an alternative to pocket dish. Here is what sling box does--
You connect the sling box to the 622 with the audio and video cables (Yellow, red, white) Sling box also has an IR blaster that you position in front of the 622.
Next you connect the sling box to your internet router with ethernet. Do the auto configuration and downl;oad the player software on any PC or cell phone / PDA with broadband connection. You will need a speed of 180 kbps minimum to watch TV. Connections like T-Mobile is about 70 kbps so that doesn't work but Verizon EVDO is average 350 kbps and works very well. So, anywhere you can get internet, you can watch any content on your 622, either live or prerecorded, plus you can set up timers and do your house keeping of your hard drive from the remote location. IT is required that you have a solid broadband connection and you can only have one computer connect to the sling box internet IP at a time. However, you can add several sling boxes for simultaneous device streaming. One guy I know has 4 sling boxes connected over an 8mbps cable modem that has 1.5 Mbps upload speed. I only have 756kbps upload so I probably would max out with 2 sling boxes. I only have one. While Sling only has virtual remote control for the HD TIVO the DishNetwork VIP622 wasn't supported last I checked so you will need to use the PVR921 remote which works OK for most functions. 
Sling box is strictly a way to watch any A/V content you have at home from anywhere in the world. It is NOT an additional hard drive storage. Nothing is stored on the receiving computer. Having said this, the only advantage pocket dish has over sling box is pocket dish can be watched anywhere, you don't need an internet connection but you can only watch the content you downloaded ahaead of time.

Note- I covered the details here so let this go as it is really off topic. If anyone has more specific questions regarding sling box, you can PM me. Besides, I'm really interested in keeping the discussion on topic for additional hard drive for the 622. This is really needed and I encourage E* to get this going ASAP. It was one of the key reasons I went with the 622, the other was Dish's excellent HD selection now.


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