# 921 Sucess Story



## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

Well, with all the problems and frustrations with this unit being discussed here I thought I'd share a positive experience. We had a superbowl party with about 35 guests and everybody was expecting the HD experience I'd been bragging about. I've only had my 921 for about 3 weeks and have a couple of glitches but nothing too serious. I've had to re-boot it twice becuase of freezes. Saturday night I noticed it just wouldnt tune OTA Fox HD. I tried all the usual stuff like scan DTV, deleting the channel and the adding but nothing seemed to work. All the other OTA HD channels worked perfectly it was just Fox that was awol. Finally, in a panic, a few hours before the game I did a re-boot and Fox returned to duty.

We time shifted the game 2 hours and started watching about 7:20. The 921 worked perfectly and recorded it all flawlessly. The HD image on my screen looked absolutely stunning on my Samsung HDTV and the Dolby digital sound iced the cake. In the end the 921 saved the day. I had lots of comments (mostly from men) about how great it looked and sounded.

If I ever part ways with my 921 and Dish Network I've learned a few things. Namely that I could always just add a stand alone HD tuner and get a great picture absolutely free.

BTW - the half time show was 10 times better than last year!

Robert


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## Leroy (Jan 21, 2005)

Hey Texas dude
Glad to here your 921 did well during the Superbowl. I too had a great experience with the show. Thanks to all the folks on this website I have learned about all the little glitches and work arounds which makes it easier to bear. When it works right it is the best on the market.

It sounds like more and more of the bugs are getting worked out and in the near future we will have a more reliable machine.

Oh yeah I agree the halftime show really rocked coming through my Onyko surround system too!!

Leroy


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## dawson5 (Feb 1, 2005)

ntexasdude said:


> The 921 worked perfectly and recorded it all flawlessly. The HD image on my screen looked absolutely stunning on my Samsung HDTV and the Dolby digital sound iced the cake.


Robert, I haven't had any troubles with the OTA tuner with the 921, it's all been the satellite portion of the unit. I lost lock again last night and it caused a momentary loss of signal on the OTA, but it came back. Keep sending these success stories, though, they *are* boosting my morale, LOL!

Kim


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

ntexasdude said:


> ...
> 
> If I ever part ways with my 921 and Dish Network I've learned a few things. Namely that I could always just add a stand alone HD tuner and get a great picture absolutely free.
> 
> ...


Yes, you could get a stand alone HD tuner but you would not have any of the trick play features (rewind, ff, pause, etc.). If you don't care about those, then by all means go a get the stand alone HD tuner.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Robert, thanks for the story. It's nice to hear a positive experience with the 921 once in a while to remind us that regardless of the headaches, it can work pretty well at least some of the time.


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

Yes, Lujan I know I would lose the DVR functions and all that with a standalone tuner. But, I'm new to the HD game and I was just amazed at the OTA picture and sound quality that's available for free. If I ever grow weary of paying $70+ a month to Dish I could always get some high def for free. Of course I'm willing to pay the fee because I want all the channels and the 921 DVR. I've had my hdtv for 18 months but never had it hooked up to a HD signal. Even then it made everything look better, cable, Directv, DVD's and Playstation2 since it upconverts to best possible rez.

I know this is starting to get off topic a bit. When I dropped Direct and signed with Dish I knew I wanted the 921 DVR from researching their web site. It never occured to me that my Dish locals would be in compressed SD. Futhermore, it never occured to me to actually use the built in OTA tuner with an antenna to get free HD locals. I got that idea from this forum. I just figured I would never use the OTA tuner because I subscribed to Dish locals. I didn't even know my local local stations broadcast digital until I checked antennaweb - another suggestion from this board. Within a few days of getting the 921 and reading this forum (found by a Google search for DVR 921) I began to realize the free OTA possibilties. I'm an engineer who has never been shy about technology and computers. I was just unaware of what's out there. 

Back to the original topic - the 921 rocked last night and provided me and my guests a great evening.

Robert


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

ntexasdude said:


> ... Futhermore, it never occured to me to actually use the built in OTA tuner with an antenna to get free HD locals. I got that idea from this forum. I just figured I would never use the OTA tuner because I subscribed to Dish locals. I didn't even know my local local stations broadcast digital until I checked antennaweb - another suggestion from this board. ...


Also off topic.

Sounds like your Dish retailer dropped the ball. Nobody should ever sell a HD receiver without going into ALL of it's capabilities.


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## ntexasdude (Jan 23, 2005)

Actually they didn't. I called a local retailer and told them exactly what I wanted. They freely told me that they had only installed a few 921's and weren't all that familiar with it's operation. They were however up to date with the installation requirements such as 2 RG6 runs and the correct switch.

Since I was a new customer I only paid $300 plus tax and had to agree to a 1 year contract. That's all I had to pay and I'll own the equipment after a year. That included the 921 and two other 301 receivers installed. They spent over 6 hours at my house running all new cables and installing everything. I thought it was something of a bargain considering the circumstances.

My whole Dish experience started when my wife bought me a stand alone Tivo for Christmas. I took it back to Best Buy and exchanged it for a DirecTV Tivo. When I called DirecTV they told me that just to activate it I would have to sign up for another year which I wasn't willing to do. I got to researching Dish and wound up here with a 921.

So far so good

Robert


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## RobbinMerritt (Jan 29, 2003)

Thanks to my 921 I enjoyed the Super Bowl more than any other -- I was able to record it and watch all the new commercials without having to deal with that stuff that Fox was showing in between!


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## gunawo (Aug 17, 2004)

Mark Lamutt said:


> Robert, thanks for the story. It's nice to hear a positive experience with the 921 once in a while to remind us that regardless of the headaches, it can work pretty well at least some of the time.


I've had my 921 since for just under one year, and I've followed this forum
since then. I'm very happy to say that I have not experienced one single
problem that I've been reading about, no jitters, no ZSR's, no problems receiving scanning or receiving the OTA channels in my area (of course I don't get the OTA guide but that's not the 921's fault). I am perfectly happy with this receiver.
E needs to take this one back and clone it.
Jim

SW Version: L211 HECD-N
Boot Version 140B


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## cpufixer1 (Jun 10, 2003)

Also would like to add that I could no longer live without my 921. Love that one device that controls everything and handles everything for me. OTA HD for free and Discovery HD is best part.


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