EXCLUSIVE: Dish Vip 622 & Vip 222 Specs

[Stargazer]

Notice there are no second numbers that go beyond 4. They have 5-9 yet to go. With the third number they have not gone past 5 with the exception of the 501/508/510 series. The 501/508/510 series could be coming to an end or redone with the second number to change. What is next, only two digit numbers followed or preceded by a letter or two? The 10 series, the 20 series, etc. each unique in its own way. Or perhaps the 3HD42. Perhaps they should have changed the coding of the boxes again like they did when they went from legacy to DishPro going from four digits to three digits.

 

[Dishtech]

622

Guess I will hold onto the 522 a little bit longer

 

[Tweakophyte]

Who's got the over/under. I'm thinking Jan07, then the debugging phase/


I'm all set for something like this. I've got coax and a vid.dist. amp. to run two HDTVs, plus my RF dist. system in my utility closet. The dual-output, stereo agile thing is pretty cool, too.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The thing I love about these units it that it looks like it modulated both tuners on two seperate channels. So a user can switch to channel 30 to watch whats on tuner 1 then switch to channel 31 to watch whats on TV2.

I am really excited by the 622 and want one for my house.

Again as I stated earlier I do not expect to see them at retailers until at least summertime.

 

[GeorgeLV]

Dish Network model numbering is insane.

It's much easier (for now) to figure out which receiver does what and the newest model with the scheme DirecTV swicthed to.

D-series = Digital -- models D10, D11 (5lnb compatible)
R-series = Recorder -- models R10 (Tivo), R15 (non-Tivo, DirecTV "Plus")
H-series = High-definition - models H10, H20 (mpeg 4)
HR-series = High-definition recorder - model HR10 (HD Tivo)

 

[Stargazer]

That is a great feature of the 622. I hook mine up with the A/V cables though to increase picture quality though so I just switch the inputs on the television since it accepts two A/V inputs plus the S-Video. I can connect another through the A/V inputs on the 721.

 

[gpflepsen]

I just use 2 CAT 5 cables to run run my HD and sound to my second HDTV. Works great. Same as Gefen system but I made my own, so HD output for TV2 would be great

Any more details you could share on implementing your solution?

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

I just use 2 CAT 5 cables to run run my HD and sound to my second HDTV. Works great. Same as Gefen system but I made my own, so HD output for TV2 would be great

How do you finish those Cat5 cables? DVI? Component? HDMI? And how long have you run them?

Come to think of it, Cat5 cables aren't that expensive. They're comparable to RG-6 coax, though the ones I usually see on the market are for indoor use. If someone makes durable ones for outside use and can terminate with DVI, component, or HDMI, that'd be great! That'll make 2nd HDTV output definitely doable within the realm of a standard professional installation. And better yet, newer homes these days have Cat5e/Cat6 run in many of the rooms and that can definitely help on not running new Cat5 cable for the HDTV output. Great ideas!

 

[cclement]

Any more details you could share on implementing your solution?

Yeah, I was wondering that too. I just bought a 20 m (66 ft) HDMI cable and ran it from my 942 to the 2nd LCD HDTV upstairs. I know cat 5 is MUCH cheaper than the $150 HDMI cable I just bought.

But it doesn't matter now, I now have HD-PVR on the second TV, which makes the wife very happy- so she didn't even blink at the cost of the cable.

 

[ocnier]

Something strange about the unit I still don't get is why did they still only include one OTA HD tuner?.... very bizarre from a product planning standpoint.

 

[BobaBird]

CJPC, the receivers you list as "no smart card" do in fact have an actual card in the slot.

I've thought the numbering to be series, number of tuners, number of outputs.

The series desgnation seems completely broken, with a 2 having more features than a 3 or 4, and the 6 replacing the 9 unless the 9 line is to be retired or maybe replaced with a dual OTA and dual HD out version ::drool:: .

For tuners, 0 or 1 = 1
The 942 with 2 sat tuners (3 with OTA) is the exception, and should have been called "922."

For number of outputs, 1 = Single mode only, 2 = Dual mode
The 508, 510 (both Single) and 625 (Dual) break the pattern, but all are based on the 501 and 522 which fit.

It's nice that the numbering matches the features but as we can see by the exceptions, variations require new model numbers which are not as informative.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

Something strange about the unit I still don't get is why did they still only include one OTA HD tuner?.... very bizarre from a product planning standpoint.

It's not that bizzarre because they're assuming that you're going to install this receiver to ONE HDTV and ONE SDTV. I think only the HD TiVo has 2 OTA tuners. The 942 also has only ONE OTA tuner. I guess you may want 2 OTA tuners to record one while watching another but DISH doesn't think that's necessary as none of their HD DVR's have that feature.

 

[CJPC]

CJPC, the receivers you list as "no smart card" do in fact have an actual card in the slot.
It's nice that the numbering matches the features but as we can see by the exceptions, variations require new model numbers which are not as informative.

Indeed, seems there isnt a pattern that fits w/o exceptions! BTW I was talking about an embeded smart card (as in no plastic card, but its inside the box on a chip)

 

[DishSatUser]

You could slap a $40 hard drive in the old dishplayer and limp along until you are ready to switch, if HDD failure was the cause. The 7100/7200 were popular since you could swap hard drives easily.... they phone home and rebuild the software (I never did it, but there is a how to located here.....)
http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/dishplayer.html

Yep, I know about the HD swapping (done several over the years), but it's something else. Wont even POST (thats turn on) regardless of the drive installed. So something else let out the magic smoke.

Thanks for the suggestion though! It was buggy and it some times drove me nuts, but I loved the old Dishplayer 7100/7200 interface. Ah well.

 

[BobaBird]

In addition Dish will be releasing the ViP 322 which is a dual tuner NON DVR receiver.

It is MPEG 2/4 SD / HD (Tuner 2 is only 480i)

Stargazer already asked but I think the question got lost. Does this really mean Tuner 2 will not get satellite HD channels, or is it supposed to say TV2 output is 480i only (HD downconverted like the 942 does)?

 

[Airblair]

The specs I have list 180 hours of SD and 25 Hours of HD which does not seem correct to me.

Maybe the extra HD space is for PPV or "on-demand" content Dish wants to offload to the players...

Thats what I was thinking but I did not want to say it.

Anyone else getting irked that with all of E*'s recent advances in video compression technology, with all the new programming and the new satellites coming online, the one feature that hasn't moved forward is the amount of recording time?

I find myself constantly battling the surging amounts of HD I have recorded on my 921; with my new OTA antenna and all the new channels coming online (that hopefully I'll get to watch without having to wait for an upgrade : ) there will only be more and more stuff to record.

Dagnabbit, the DVR was supposed to give us flexibility with our TV viewing--how can it do that if the missus and I have to watch 3 hours of TV every night just so there's space for the 3 hours of TV we want to record the next night?

 

[BrettTRay]

They need to release a software update that will activate the usb port so that it will accept a external hard drive. I just don't see why they haven't yet. It doesn't make any sense.

 

[LER]

read that as RIAA/MPAA meddling, BrettTRay.

 

[BrettTRay]

What is RIAA/MPAA? Sorry I don't understand.

 

[LER]

RIAA: Recording Industry Association of America
MPAA: Motion Picture Association of America

both of which have "intellectual property rights" issues.

I suspect that may be the hold up.