# Still having 811 problems?



## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

I wanted to find out how many that are still reading this 811 forum are having various problems with their unit vs. how many are not. Please briefly describe your 811 problem.

Thanks,

Ken


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Since I am listed as the moderator. I try to scan it daily. However, Since my 811 was replaced by a 622 and I have my 811 as a back up if my 622 should ever completely die It is very hard for me to keep up with the updates. 

As to answering your poll, I can't since I switch to the 622 not because of issues, but because I really dig what a DVR gives me in functionality. At the time of the change I had no major issues with my 811.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

The utter lack of participation in this poll, topic & forum proves my point! Why should Dish take the time to continue to support equipment that noone either still has or cares about!!! 

Ken


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I think a lot of people have moved on to the 211 or 622 Ken. Though I still have my 811, I have placed it on the unactive list and replaced it with a 622.


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## robill (May 13, 2005)

Still use my 811 daily and still regularly see the no-info problem......
I'm guessing it's because I use it 90% on OTA channels. I try to make sure it's turned off at night, etc.... I guess after all these years I've given up hope for a fix.
If Dish can't fix this problem after this long why would I even think of giving them more money for a new can of worms....


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## Freckles (Jun 13, 2005)

I use the 811 daily when I'm home and haven't had much problem with it. Went thru the no info thing and it still says that and downloads the guide occasionally, but not as often as it used to. I've noticed this forum is pretty quiet and assumed that most have upgraded. I can't remember when my current contract expires, but don't really want to change until then since I don't know what I want to do. 

I guess I needed another polling option: I still use the 811 and like it OK but don't want to upgrade. I don't necessarily love it. It has developed a recent irritating problem wherein the text on the guide kind of "jumps" and loses definition continuously as if it were on the verge of hashing--don't know how to explain it.


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## DougRuss (Oct 16, 2005)

I still have troubles with it Freezing up. Was a "Crash Test Dummy" for this 811 Receiver...won't make that mistake again with a 211 or 622 !:nono2:


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## StoshP (Mar 25, 2006)

As soon as Indy gets HD locals, this 811 is toast! I get the periodic smart card error and my OTA receiver won't pick up UHF (no, it is not an antenna problem...).


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## Freckles (Jun 13, 2005)

Freckles said:


> I use the 811 daily when I'm home and haven't had much problem with it. Went thru the no info thing and it still says that and downloads the guide occasionally, but not as often as it used to. I've noticed this forum is pretty quiet and assumed that most have upgraded. I can't remember when my current contract expires, but don't really want to change until then since I don't know what I want to do.
> 
> I guess I needed another polling option: I still use the 811 and like it OK but don't want to upgrade. I don't necessarily love it. It has developed a recent irritating problem wherein the text on the guide kind of "jumps" and loses definition continuously as if it were on the verge of hashing--don't know how to explain it.


Sorry...I should not post in the middle of the night. My text looked terrible and was in and out of focus because the TV input was through my Accurian DVR. The DVR content looks better than the 811 output thru the DVR. The pq is back to normal now that I'm actually using the 811 component output...


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

My 811 hasn't given me any problems for months. Yeah, I get a EPG download now and then, but that's minor. My 211 doesn't do that, but the caller-ID doesn't work as well as it does on the 811. Neither one is perfect, but both give me good HD. Maybe the lack of response to this poll means the 811 has reached a level with the general public where it's taken for granted (that's a good thing).


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

Well, I do thank those of you who did participate here and offered your experiences/opinions. I am disappointed that more didn't vote however. I am very surprised that noone selected the 3rd option (upgraded to a different model due to 811 problems). From posts I have seen over the past several months, most users have stated they have done this. If Dish really does read these threads (and takes them seriously), I just can't imagine them investing time or money in hardware that no longer really has active participants. Being taken for granted (in this case) would not be a good thing as I feel it simply means users are tired of complaining and/or have gone on to something better (or different)... 

Ken


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well having spent a lot of time in the past on the 811 forum, I got the feeling that a majority of the users that had 811s a year ago where not having a lot of problems. I was one of them. For my use case and scenerious my 811 worked fine. 

But I have also seen a number of users that have had issues for a while and some continue to experience issues with the 811. Not sure why that is, possible the issues are type to externel factors, possible tied to locaiton, use case, etc. I personally have tried to put a finger on it and have not been able to. 

My guess is the reason for the lack of response to the poll is not because all these disgruntle users have given up. I personally think it is a combination of things including but not limited to. 

1) Move to the 211 for the VIP features (There was a pretty good trade up deal)
2) Move to the 622 for VIP features and to step up to the DVR world. 
3) Their 811 has stabilized for their given configuration and no longer are monitoring the forum. 
4) Have accepted the level of the stability for their given configuration. 
5) Have given up. 

Since a lot of users on here tend to be blending edge types and power users, my guess is a lot of them have done 1 & 2. The 921/942 forums have also slowed down a lot and that would make me feel it is for the same reasons. 

I use a product ACDSee.. They have forums for both 7 and 8 version. The 8 version is a lot more active than the 7 and my guess is that the majority of people that hang out on forums tend to jump to newer technology pretty quickly. 

I personally would not read much into this poll other than an indication that a lot of people have changed their 811 outs for new technology and my guess is that the main reason (As mine was) for the VIP features and not because my 811 was performing sub par.

Well that is my 2 cents.....


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Ken, I agree with Ron's assessment. Especially the bleeding edge comments. I am sure a good chunk of them moved up to the next platform just to be able to sub to a metal package.

Now, I still have my 811. It runs strong, I still have my lowest OTA that auto locks itself when you use the locks feature, but other than that it is a very stable receiver for my case.


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## julesism (Feb 25, 2004)

my parents still have an 811 and when I go to visit, I run into "No Info" and a lock up at least once a day. A few times my dad has called me because he does not know what to do. I have him yank the plug, wait, then it's fine until next time. 

I have not been able to convince them to upgrade. Their reasons are:

1) They are not that interested being less tech-savvy than most of us.

2) They don't want to fork out the $200 up-front even thought I have explained that they will get $20 credit for 10 months. "Why can't they just send it free and not give us the credit?" I reckon that's a valid reason, but I assume Dish makes money with the up-front then credit policy.

3) They don't want to deal with sending the old receivers back which may include being charged until Dish receives them. Way too many horror stories. I guess they could mark them inactive???

4)Not sure on this one, but if it requires a 12/18/24 month commitment, then no way.


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## DougRuss (Oct 16, 2005)

Ron, you forgot one !!

Some 811 Users believed that Dish Finally introduced a Good(?) , Bug Free Reciever(s) and Went with the Trade in,only to find out they are still Stuck with New Buggie Receivers and paying more to do so ! :eek2:

* Guess this could be considered #5 though ?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well I did say.. "but not limited to" .... Oh... and there is no such thing as a Bug Free Receiver ... All receivers have bugs, however it is the quantity and the level of severity of each defect that distinguishing lies. The gotcha is that quantity and level is different with each and ever user.


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## carmangary (May 8, 2006)

I used to have an 811 but it gave me too many problems and in the end I switched to DirecTV. The receiver I got with DirecTV picks up the OTA HD channels much better than the 811. I'm not saying that DirecTV is better but I am saying that the 811 is junk compared to newer receivers.


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## Donp (May 2, 2006)

I still have and use my 811 and I voted in the poll earlier. I don't plan to upgrade yet because there are no problems with my 811 except the occaisional guide thing. I can live with that. It's only a minor annoyance. A 27" Proscan TV the zooms in and out on the HD channels suites me fine for now.


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

Would a moderator please tell me why this thread was moved from the 811 forum? This was/is definately 811 related and the problems associated with why I started this poll have nothing to do with the HD forum. (where it is now)..I wanted this topic (related to the 811) to get Dish exposure..Again the 811 problems have nothing to do with HD..

Ken


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Ken... I am not sure why ... I will move it back to the 811 forum. It is possible it got moved by mistake or another moderator had a reason, but I do see your point.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Wasn't a mistake, I moved it because I felt it was a conversation/opinion thread and not a request for technical support discussion.

I left a redirect so people could find the thread. The thread is in plain view in the appropriate general discussion forum for dish hd products and is not closed. 

When the conversation turns to general discussion, and non technical support related, it gets moved to a general area. That is the criteria that, for the most part, has been used since the 811 support area was opened.

Best regards,
Jason


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## hnl469 (Dec 8, 2004)

I still have an 811. I still have bugs. Get the no info, and the card not programmed error message once a week or so. But I only get about 10 hd channels. I guess I have the old programing package? I don't even see it listed on their website and I'm afraid to call them becasue they might remove it. Not to go too far off topic, but do I need to get a new dish to get all the other HD channels? and do I need a different receiver? Not sure it's all worth what I see on the website for prices!


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## khearrean (Mar 24, 2004)

hnl469 said:


> I still have an 811. I still have bugs. Get the no info, and the card not programmed error message once a week or so. But I only get about 10 hd channels. I guess I have the old programing package? I don't even see it listed on their website and I'm afraid to call them becasue they might remove it. Not to go too far off topic, but do I need to get a new dish to get all the other HD channels? and do I need a different receiver? Not sure it's all worth what I see on the website for prices!


Like me, you are getting one of the older programming packages. I have the Dish Everything + HD Pak + the original VOOM which includes only about 15 HD channels which are MPEG-2). My understanding is that now, since the inception of MPEG-4, you can only downgrade to something lesser. But if you wish to increase the # of your HD channels, it will require upgrading to a MPEG-4 receiver along with a Dish Metal package of your choosing. I also understand you will need a Dish 1000 set-up. Someone else please confirm that I am telling him correctly..

Ken


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

My 811 is as stable as it ever was. Now it turns itself off at night even though I have the option disabled and the EPG is often either blank or frozen so I usually end up rebooting it after I wake it up.

I have no reason to upgrade since the 811 works well enough and I have no interest in the new HD packages. The HD enable fee (even though I sub to all of the original mpeg2 HD) keeps me away from the VIP boxes.

I figure my 811 has a lot of life left. I'm not going to worry until they have real mpeg4 on the "pre-mpeg4" channels. Even then they will probably convert the original voom before doing any of the stuff on 110.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

kb7oeb said:


> ...
> I have no reason to upgrade since the 811 works well enough and I have no interest in the new HD packages. The HD enable fee (even though I sub to all of the original mpeg2 HD) keeps me away from the VIP boxes.
> ...


Is the HD enable fee just for the 622? I've had the 211 since February, and I've never had the HD enable fee on my statement.

The lease fee is $1/month more than the fee for the 311 that I replaced, but the $5/month HD promotion credit more than offsets that. All told, I guess I'm paying $5/month more for the 211 and HD-Gold, but I get ESPN2, Worldsport, Filmfest, and a lot more.


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## kb7oeb (Jun 16, 2004)

Mikey said:


> Is the HD enable fee just for the 622? I've had the 211 since February, and I've never had the HD enable fee on my statement.
> 
> The lease fee is $1/month more than the fee for the 311 that I replaced, but the $5/month HD promotion credit more than offsets that. All told, I guess I'm paying $5/month more for the 211 and HD-Gold, but I get ESPN2, Worldsport, Filmfest, and a lot more.


The HD enable fee is for not having at least Bronze. I sub to HBO/Showtime/ $10 HD Pack and $5 voom.


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## mike1002 (Oct 11, 2002)

I guess I'll add my two cents to the thread here. I would love to upgrade to the 622. I currently have a 508 and an 811. The 508 has finally gotten to the point it should have been when I got it 4 years ago. Its stable and although we never got NBR with it (as was promised) it does its job as a basic recorder fine. The 811 still has the problem with occassional reboots and the No Info in the EPG. But it is usable and I will not jump on the beta bandwagon with the 622. I get these things to watch TV not spend my time troubleshooting some comapany's equipment. They should give those beta testers a break on the pricing if they are going to do that. When I hear that the 622 has gotten usable I will replace my 811 with one but until then I will use the 811 for watching TV. I really do miss the ability to time shift my HD programs though. *sigh*:nono2: 

Mike


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## audiomaster (Jun 24, 2004)

I get the "no info" screen 2-4 times per week. Otherwise it is working ok. My last one got fried by a nearby lightning hit.

I am waiting to get a 622 until the Charlotte HD locals are up. I hope by then, they have figured out how to fix the HDMI connectors problem and cleaned up the software a bit more.


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## mike1002 (Oct 11, 2002)

I don't really care about the HD locals. After dish has compressed the locals to cram them into the space on their satellites it has to look bad. I will just record the locals OTA. My local affiliates already compress the feed from the network and cause blocking to show up in fast motion or complex scenes. I don't want to record an even more compressed signal after it has gone through Dish's compression too. Its one of my pet peeves that we have to have both satellite services duplicating the effort of having all locals rebroadcast and take up valuable transponder space where it could be allocated to providing a better experience with the other programming. But then, I'm just one lowly subscriber. What do I know? 

And to stay on topic, after leaving my note I flipped on my 811 and got the downloading the program guide screen. After it ended I went to the EPG and got the same thing again. I had to eventually reboot the receiver to get it to download the guide for real. Luckily it doesn't happen often. I will enjoy the 811 and its almost-functioning rather than buy into another product too early in its development life.

Mike


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