# DVR 942 Avail?



## SDiego

Just was wondering if anyone has heard when the 942 will be available for sale, or lease? Looks like a great box to have, and I could do away with my 721 and 811 setup.


----------



## DVDDAD

It would be an excellent replacement for your 721/811. But the latest rumors around the boards are saying March. With E*'s reputation of releasing their receivers after they are announced, we are lucky if we see the 942 before the summer, but that's only my guess.


----------



## SDiego

Wonder if it will be available as a lease as I would return my 811. The price of $749.00 is to much for my blood.


----------



## **pinke_13**

only lease and lony available for new customers $250 lease up grade dha only and free for all $600


----------



## SDiego

well I am leasing my 811 now. so maybe I could upgrade to the 942.


----------



## Paradox-sj

Why would anyone pay 250.00 up front to lease (beta test) a box + 5.00 lease fee +5.00 DVR fee. ? It makes no economic sense.


----------



## **pinke_13**

well my roommate works there and he told me whats up and yes only new customers not old not yet not for a while and yes $250 for new customers with dha and $600 for free for all promo



Paradox-sj said:


> Why would anyone pay 250.00 up front to lease (beta test) a box + 5.00 lease fee +5.00 DVR fee. ? It makes no economic sense.


----------



## Scott Greczkowski

Paradox-sj said:


> Why would anyone pay 250.00 up front to lease (beta test) a box + 5.00 lease fee +5.00 DVR fee. ? It makes no economic sense.


You also forgot the required $9.99 a month HD package that you must take as well. Yes the are forcing you to take the HD package even if you don't want it.

Thats $20 a month extra to get a 942, and that initial payment of $250 is non refundable.


----------



## Bob Haller

no refund on the $250 thats insane.

Leasing? I NEVER lease anything.....

Somehow someway it ALWAYS costs more

Fellow leases a 942 gets tired on bugs and drops E. He is out the lease fee and must returen the box.......

At least when you bought its possible to recover some bucks by selling it off..........


----------



## garypen

Bob Haller said:


> Leasing? I NEVER lease anything.....
> 
> Somehow someway it ALWAYS costs more


Maybe with Dish. But, it's not the case with the Comcast HD DVR. ($0 upfront. $10/mo. for lease fee, DVR fee, add'l receiver fee, and HD programming.)

Also, for people that would buy, and finance, a new car every three years, it is cheaper to lease. (especially of you have a business, where lease payments are deductible.)


----------



## boba

Don't forget it takes DISH "Notwerk" a year to almost debug new software so the 942 won't work till 2006 no mater when they finally release it!


----------



## Bill R

Bob Haller said:


> Leasing? I NEVER lease anything.....


Neither do I but it appears that us customers that don't like to lease won't have any other choice in the future. Both DISH and DirecTV are moving toward "the cable company model" where all equipment is leased. DirecTV is suppose to announce their plans in a couple of months.


----------



## SimpleSimon

In fact, leasing receivers is better for all concerned due to the rate of change in technology.

E* is simply being @$$holes with the $250 fee. If no one pays it, maybe they'll get the clue, but I'm guessing that they have done some homework and know that there's still enough idiots like me out there. Yeah - I'm an idiot - I paid $1000 for my 921.


----------



## SDiego

Well, then maybe I will have to go ahead and buy a 921. Then I can return the 811 and keep or sell the 721.


----------



## the_bear

I am in a similar situation, 811 and 522. I figure eventually the 942, or something better will be available for upgrade.


----------



## JohnMI

Paradox-sj said:


> Why would anyone pay 250.00 up front to lease (beta test) a box + 5.00 lease fee +5.00 DVR fee. ? It makes no economic sense.


Same reason thousands paid $1000 for the 921? Because they want it. Period. Heck, I almost bought one -- was on the waiting list and, if other things hadn't changed before it came into stock, I'd own one too! And would likely be quite happy about it.

It would take 12.5 years for the $5/month plus $250 to equal the $1000 that lots of people happily paid for the 921. People will pay it for the 942 just fine.

The ONLY reason they might not is because it will be for new subs only (at least to start with, it appears). Brand-new to Dish people might be less likely to pay that upgrade fee. But if it was offer to existings subs as a lease for $250 plus $5/month, I'm sure many, many would jump at it.

- John...


----------



## Jacob S

Its not so much the $250 cost its the fact that MPEG-4 is coming out and that the box will not be any good once everything is converted over toe the MPEG-4 standard. It would be worth the $250 is if it was something that was going to last a while (such as MPEG-4).


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Mark at Dish Depot sent out a mailer over the weekend saying that Dish Depot will be selling the 942 for $699 when it's released.



> The New HD 942 DVR Receiver should be available in March, MSRP $699. This is a Dual Tuner, Dual Output High Definition Recorder. The second output is SD only.


----------



## SDiego

If the 942 was mpeg 4 compatible, I would buy one from dishdepot.


----------



## MarkoC

garypen said:


> Maybe with Dish. But, it's not the case with the Comcast HD DVR. ($0 upfront. $10/mo. for lease fee, DVR fee, add'l receiver fee, and HD programming.)


So, you are saying that $10 covers all the HD costs on Comcast? There are no additional HD package prices? How much for the minimum required Digital Cable programming in order to get the HD channels? What is the HD channel lineup on Comcast?


----------



## Anthony Falcone

Since the 921 is so bug ridden, will NOT get NBR (as promised) , and will be slowly abandoned by Dish because they don't want to throw any more time/money at it, they should offer an EVEN swap for a 942 .


----------



## SimpleSimon

Anthony Falcone said:


> Since the 921 is so bug ridden, will NOT get NBR (as promised) , and will be slowly abandoned by Dish because they don't want to throw any more time/money at it, they should offer an EVEN swap for a 942 .


 Why? So we can get a box that will have even MORE bugs, and still won't support MPEG-4?

No thanks.

What they need to do is offer a REBATED swap for a reasonably bug-free box that won't be obsolete in a year or so. I say rebated because I doubt that the MPEG-4 boxes will ever be offered for sale - just lease (which, IMO, is a smart move on E*'s part). So they need to pay us for the loss of ownership. Service credits will be acceptable.

Of course, it's all a pipe dream because E* is simply incapable of producing a box that actually works properly - until it's obsolete and discontinued.


----------



## Anthony Falcone

SimpleSimon said:


> Why? So we can get a box that will have even MORE bugs, and still won't support MPEG-4?
> 
> No thanks.
> 
> What they need to do is offer a REBATED swap for a reasonably bug-free box that won't be obsolete in a year or so. I say rebated because I doubt that the MPEG-4 boxes will ever be offered for sale - just lease (which, IMO, is a smart move on E*'s part). So they need to pay us for the loss of ownership. Service credits will be acceptable.
> 
> Of course, it's all a pipe dream because E* is simply incapable of producing a box that actually works properly - until it's obsolete and discontinued.


Hey, we ALL want bug free up to date MPEG-4boxes . I don't know if they will EVER be capable of providing this. But until then, the 942 is at least based on the same (newer) software as the 522, which I'm sure they will allocate more resources to . The 921 is their illegitimate child, a box that will get minimal attention in the future . Plus, I like the NBR on my 522's, I'd like my main, and most expensive receiver to have this .


----------



## David_Levin

It makes no sense for Dish to swap your 921 for a 942 this year, then swap the 942 for an mpeg4 box next year.

Hopefully, there will be some kind of deal when mpeg4 is finally ready.


----------



## boylehome

SimpleSimon said:


> Yeah - I'm an idiot - I paid $1000 for my 921.


I disagree SimpleSimon. You are a FRONTIERSMAN for the 921! The only thing that we need to figure out, is how to get out $1k (monies worth) out of the 921


----------



## invaliduser88

I'm not jumping to another receiver until the mpeg4 dust as settled and we have a receiver that is guaranteed to support it available that has all of the capabilities that my current hw has.

Dish is going to have to make some major concessions to existing customers when it is time to start swapping the hw or many will jump ship. My feeling is that dish should provide, at no charge, a unit with mpeg4 support and the same features as the customers current hw has.

I am very much looking forward to mpeg4. If you have seen what mpeg4 based codecs (such as divx and xvid) on the pc have done to compress video files compared to mpeg2, you would be looking forward to it as well.


----------



## SDiego

Well I think, they will just add programming that requires a Mpeg4 reciever. So if you want that programming, you will buy or lease a Mpeg4 reciever. Otherwise keep running the older recievers, until you see to justify the cost.


----------



## SimpleSimon

I'm afraid you're right SDiego. 

Look at E* history of treating their high-end customers, and you'll see why I say that.


----------



## jmbrooks

garypen said:


> Maybe with Dish. But, it's not the case with the Comcast HD DVR. ($0 upfront. $10/mo. for lease fee, DVR fee, add'l receiver fee, and HD programming.)
> 
> I called Comcast and this was what they quoted me:
> 
> Choice classic (I think) $57 p/m
> HD box lease $10
> DVR fee $10
> 
> Total $77 plus taxes
> 
> Oh and their HD box could only record 7 hours of HD programming
> 
> Forget it, I'll stick with E* for now.


----------



## Navy_Chief

Jacob S said:


> Its not so much the $250 cost its the fact that MPEG-4 is coming out and that the box will not be any good once everything is converted over toe the MPEG-4 standard. It would be worth the $250 is if it was something that was going to last a while (such as MPEG-4).


This is perhaps the most frustrating of the issues surrounding the DVR 921.

I purchased my first 921 through a local dealer that Dish referred me to. They installed the 921, but couldn't seem to get the cabling correct. $1400 and 30 days to get it right. Two days later Dish announced the drop in price. I purchased a second 921, at the new price, then Dish announces the move to MPEG4, which 921 hardware can't support.


----------



## the_bear

Anyone know which OTA chip-set the 942 will use? I am wondering what the OTA performance will be like compared to the 811 and 921?


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Slightly better performance than the 811 and 921.


----------



## SimpleSimon

"Slightly?" That figures.

They probably stepped the main processor up from the 800MHz crapper in the 921. It's probably all the way up to a 1GHz Celeron now. 

That'd be about right - Use a chip that was already obsolete a year before they started designing the box.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

Has nothing to do with main processor - the answer was directed to the OTA chipset performance.


----------



## P Smith

SimpleSimon said:


> "Slightly?" That figures.
> 
> They probably stepped the main processor up from the 800MHz crapper in the 921. It's probably all the way up to a 1GHz Celeron now.
> 
> That'd be about right - Use a chip that was already obsolete a year before they started designing the box.


Not exactly, you missed the key of the line DP322/DVR522 and DP922 aka DVR942 now - the Broadcom chips.

"The BCM7038 is an advanced dual channel HD video/audio/graphics and personal video recording (PVR) chip that enables manufacturers to economically incorporate high-quality HDTV capability and PVR features into digital televisions, cable set-top boxes, satellite receivers and HD-DVD players. The chip's dual video/audio channels simultaneously support dual televisions, with independent picture-in-picture support on main and secondary. Advanced video and graphics features, such as on-chip 3D Y/C separation circuit multi-frame de-interlacing, and quad video scalars with single pass processing, significantly improve the HD picture quality, by removing unwanted noise and artifacts from the television image. The chip supports common PVR functions such as pausing live programming, recording, and forwarding and reversing through recorded programs, as well as incorporates software drivers to support industry standard PVR platforms, including TiVo® and XTV™.

The BCM7038 incorporates a 300 MHz 64-bit MIPS® CPU, along with floating point processor, which has a very fast path o 400 MHz DDR system memory to support the high-performance needs required by advanced applications. Numerous other cost saving features have been incorporated into the chip, enabling manufacturers to be more competitive in the HD market."

http://www.broadcom.com/products/product.php?product_id=BCM7038&category_id=11


----------



## SimpleSimon

OK. Maybe there's some hope - but I'm still not holding my breath.


----------



## the_bear

My personal preference would be for a slower clock on the main CPU. That fan kicking in on silent scenes is quite annoying.

Although, it would be nice if Dish also threw in a BCM7411.


----------



## xsailor

the_bear said:


> Anyone know which OTA chip-set the 942 will use? I am wondering what the OTA performance will be like compared to the 811 and 921?





Mark Lamutt said:


> Slightly better performance than the 811 and 921.


Mark (or anyone),
Does anyone know how the 942 OTA Guide Data will be incorporated. Will it be like the 921 (requiring Dish Locals subscription and only the one local DMA) or like the 811 (no Dish locals subscription requirement and Local and Neighboring DMA's listings)?


----------



## P Smith

the_bear said:


> My personal preference would be for a slower clock on the main CPU. That fan kicking in on silent scenes is quite annoying.
> 
> Although, it would be nice if Dish also threw in a BCM7411.


For sure, ppl seen there also BCM3520 and BCM4500.


----------



## Mark Lamutt

xsailor - from what I've heard, yes the local guide data will be like the 921, not like the 811. You wll have to subscribe to your dish locals package to get the guide data, and it will be only for the DMA that your dish locals come from.


----------



## SimpleSimon

I understand why extended EPG needs to refer to E* locals, but it ain't brain surgery to suck down data for ANY of the scanned locals that exist in the E* system. 

This is simply another E* RIPOFF.


----------



## garypen

That's one of the things I like about the upcoming 2Wire box for SBC Dish. It only gets programming from Dish. The guide info, and all of its interactive and home media features, use SBC DSL. (It may even work with other broadband connections, I do not know.) So....14 days of guide info and no "acquiring signal/downloading guide info" bullship to deal with like on my 811. :hurah:


----------



## xsailor

Mark Lamutt said:


> xsailor - from what I've heard, yes the local guide data will be like the 921, not like the 811. You wll have to subscribe to your dish locals package to get the guide data, and it will be only for the DMA that your dish locals come from.


If true, this is a real shame! :nono:


----------

