First Look: DISH 381 Receiver

[jcrandall]

Seems like a STUPID business decision. Sell an HD product that will not get the HD offerings they sell for $20/mo more!

Clearly just a way to rebadge the 811 inventory as a SD product. I would expect to see the 942 rebadged (392 maybe?) as a dual tuner SD DVR, and hey, it can get OTA locals too

I think they would be better selling off to Canada and getting the MPEG4 product in homes, futureproof the customer for an HD upgrade when the get an HD set, and lock up the $20 extra revenue.

[gammadude]

DVI output and not HDMI? This must be an older design. I would think a "newer" design would have an HDMI output with a converter cable for those who need a DVI connection.

[DWS44]

DVI output and not HDMI? This must be an older design. I would think a "newer" design would have an HDMI output with a converter cable for those who need a DVI connection.

811s do not have HDMI...they are DVI only.

[ScottChez]

Some are not getting it.

There are NO SD Locals on any SAT (dish or direct tv) at all on several DMAs. My relatives have to switch the TV inputs over and then use a rabbit ears to get there Standard Def Locals. There is no guide data.

Forget HD, this thing will do SD locals OTA, and as an added bonus it does HD Locals OTA. If they down load Guide data they will love it more.

I predict Thousands will be sold (leased).

I grew up in the middle of Nebraska, every one has Dish, everyone there will want and beg for this recevier.

Not all products are for the big cities.

[Foxbat]

811s do not have HDMI...they are DVI only.

Which just proves that these are 811s (trade-ins from ViP 211 lease deals?) with the trailing "1" covered in silver paint and a leading "3" added to the model number (well, and new firmware, natch). Will Dish get in trouble if they sell these as "New" instead of "Refurbished" or "Remanufactured" receivers?

[gdarwin]

E* is going to have a real big problems with these picking up HD OTA... My old 811 and current 942 have big time problems rebooting when multi-path problems appear... Unless they figure out a software solution...

[digiblur]

It's actually a pretty good idea! Re-brand the 811's and change the firmware to show a 381 and unable to view E* HD streams. Now you are putting more 8PSK capable receivers out in the field. It might be a while but one day you'll see more than just HD in 8PSK streams. Possibly changing an entire DMA to 8PSK in an effort to increase the quality? Possibly change out all the big package customers as the first stage and move some of the premium channels to 8PSK TP's? Keep in mind this is might be quite some time away but you do have to start some where.

[bytre]

Why put in HD guts when you can not watch Dish HD? If you don't want Dish HD, don't pay for it!

Because they will soon turn around and advertise it as the receiver that shows True HD (when they downgrade the rest of the HD channels to HD lite)

[mike123abc]

This is a great way to get rid of a lot of the 811 returns... The 921s should be smashed, but the 942s could be rebadged too. People would love OTA HD recording without having to pay for an HD package. Most of the HD I record is OTA.

[BFG]

Tis a shame Dish feels the need to pretend they have switched to MPEG4 because they had to for more room, when except for local markets, the need for MPEG4 and its use is still not their. Dish could've provided a true customer service and added these chanels to existing HD packs, but no they had to play the money game and switch receivers and create new packages for channels that aren't mpeg4, except for nfl and starz which could be mpeg2 if they want as well, but they insist as using them for a miserable.

Ok this was just another miserable rant brought out by the marketing of this receiver