Any word on 222K EHD yet?

[jsq]

I thought I heard on a Charlie Chat a while ago, that an external hard drive would be available by the end of the year. Anyone hear anything yet. Only 30 more days to go until the end of the year.

[Jim5506]

I sincerely doubt there will ever be EHD for the 222k because it would functionally make it the same as the 722k.

The 211/211k/411 has no competition as a single tuner DVR, but the 222k with EHD would be competition for the 722k.

[DishSubLA]

Actually it's not about competition among Dish STB's because external HDD for recording like the 211K would SAVE Dish quite a lot of money. Dish spends major $$$ now on RMA's for internal HDD boxes whose HDD has died, but is otherwise in good working order. Dish's RMA facilities are MASSIVE, and expensive, and the RMA of DVR's is the most expensive of all boxes. Manufacturing non-DVR boxes is also less expensive for Dish. Believe me, providing the subscriber with a less expensive to produce box and letting the subscriber carry burden of the the HDD costs, both to purchase and replace when they die, is something Charlie loves, not hates. It won't be for everyone because many people are not techies and they just want a DVR that comes with an installed HDD for ease and less intimidation or hassle.

Now, it is true that on the last Charlie Chat, the one with the live tailgate party promoting sports and NFL Redzone, Charlie did say, in response to a question, that currently some single tuner (you know the ones--ViP) NON-DVR STB's are the only ones that can be turned into a DVR by recording to an external HDD.

Then he went on to say that all they have to do is send a software update to the 2 tuner models to enable the same feature, but as Chuck was saying this, Jim started talking over Charlie, as if to somehow stop Charlie from saying what he was saying. Charlie again, mentioned that the 2 tuner boxes would also become DVR's recording onto external HDD, but they had to send the software update to this. Again, Jim seemed to try to interrupt Charlie, but to no avail. Consider that on that same chat, Charlie referred to Dish packages by the "America's Top" moniker and not the precious metal monikers that were instituted many months (maybe a year?) ago. That was funny.

So, yes, Charlie says DVR functionality coming to 2 tuner ViP NON-DVR boxes, but why was Jim constantly trying to interrupt or talk over Charlie whenever the CEO started to talk about this? I really don't know what to believe now that it has been this long.

One concern about the the DVR functionality for applicable the 2 tuner STB's is that it may come with limitations compared to the internal HDD DVR's or even not at all because Dish made a decision to use USB 2.0 for this implementation, most likely for its ubiquity and low cost, as there is no other high speed port for an external HDD to connect on Dish boxes. The problem is that while eSATA, ports on TiVo and Direct TV HD boxes, can easily handle full multi-tuner/multi-stream functionality for an experience just like that of the internal HDD 2 tuner (+OTA tuners) DVR's, USB 2.0, just doesn't have the bandwidth to make a full 722-like experience possible, unless I've missed something. That is probably the cause of the delay of this feature: Dish has been trying to solve this with USB 2.0 for a very long time and keeps hitting the wall. I bet they really regret eschewing eSATA now, but that would have cost more money per box to produce. You get what you reap. Unless Dish can somehow pull a rabbit out of their engineering hat (and there may be a technical solution that none of us mortals know about) those who claim it is vapor ware may be closer to the truth, or it will be a diminished 2 tuner DVR experience lacking some, perhaps, significant capabilities compared to the internal HDD 2 tuner models. I hope not, but it has been an eternity for I and others who have been waiting for this feature to be activated.

Please, Dish, just tell us now that USB 2.0 was a mistake (because it was CHEAPER than eSATA and more common) and that fully functional 2 tuner DVR using external HDD is not going to happen, or please tell us that you do intend to make this happen, and let us know where you are in the process so we can count the months into 2011 for this software update. Only time will tell.

[MikeInAlaska]

The 722k must lay down some serious data when recording dual OTA and dual satellite. I would be happy with a 222 that was limited to only recording on 1 sat tuner -OR- OTA at a time. Most people with 222 now with NO recording capability would probably agree, no?

[Rangers484]

I sincerely doubt there will ever be EHD for the 222k because it would functionally make it the same as the 722k.

The 211/211k/411 has no competition as a single tuner DVR, but the 222k with EHD would be competition for the 722k.

I have read that argument on this site before. I thought the 211 was the equivalent of a 612 other than the DVR part?

How is the 211 with EHD not direct competition for the 612 then?

[KAB]

How is the 211 with EHD not direct competition for the 612 then?

Only one tuner.

[jsq]

The 722k must lay down some serious data when recording dual OTA and dual satellite. I would be happy with a 222 that was limited to only recording on 1 sat tuner -OR- OTA at a time. Most people with 222 now with NO recording capability would probably agree, no?

Yes, I agree, I wouldn't mind it at all if it was only on the main tuner.

[jsq]

Dishsub, thanks for your detailed answer. Very informative, but doesn't sound to good for us getting the EHD. If we don't get it, maybe I can con them into another 722, (which I have on my other T.V.) next year when my contract is up.

[cditty]

Agreeing with DishSub on this one. I'm sure they would love to do it, but there is no way right now they could do 4 stream record and 1 stream playback via USB 2.0. I suppose that this might be more of a possibility on EA, because of MPEG4, but once you bring in OTA locals, those are full bandwidth MPEG2 streams and they can't change that. They could do 2 streams via the sat tuners and ignore OTA for DVR functions, but my guess is that they will not do it at all because of the technical limitations. I would imagine upcoming boxes will have eSATA and even USB 3.0 as the chipsets become cheaper. Personally, I would be happy if they made the internal SATA bay a removable tray for all receivers... Want a DVR, add your own internal drive. That would be lovely.

[DishSubLA]

I have read that argument on this site before. I thought the 211 was the equivalent of a 612 other than the DVR part?

How is the 211 with EHD not direct competition for the 612 then?

The ViP 612 is a 2 sat tuner box. However, it has a smaller HDD than 722 & K; it has no PIP, and no independent TV 2 viewing experience. It does have an RF 3/4 out but will transmit the same as what is being viewed on the TV. It is, essentially, an HD version of the old 721, but without the PIP.

Dish produced the 612 as a lower cost HD DVR that Dish could afford to lease up to 4 612's to address households with 3 or more HDTV's. so that customers could view true HD on all those TV's. A friend of mine got all 4 of his leased for all 4 of his HDTV's, but things have changed since then. I understand, now, that Dish will only cover up to a 3 TV install, meaning only 3 612's leased per household. Too bad. 4 was better.