new 522 owner, and very happy so far
I just had the 522 installed yesterday, and I'm very excited with it's performance so far. I'm a convert from Digital Cable, so I'm not familiar with other DISH receivers, but here are my initial impressions....
1. It's much cheaper than cable. I was paying $70+/month for digital cable with two tuners. With the Amer. Choice 120 package, I'm paying $44 after taxes.
2. This is my first experience with a PVR and I love it. And, having two tuners built-in allows me to set up two independent recording sessions. I'm sure this is old hat to you experienced PVR owners, but it's a godsend to newbies.
3. The picture quality of DISH is definitely superior to digital cable. I'm not sure how much of that quality is due to the S-video or the signal itself...but I don't care--it's simply better.
4. The guide is much more robust. Searching is easy, and it remembers your search strings for easy "re-searches" in the future.
5. I spliced the TV2 output to run to my bedroom and a second input on my living room TV to allow for true PIP on my main TV.
6. I like the fact that all recorded shows are accessible from either tuner. So, when I record on TV1 in my living room, I can watch it on TV2 in the bedroom.
My only complaint so far is that if I'm watching TV1 in my living room and I want to set a timer for TV2, I need to get the TV2 remote from the bedroom and set the timer. Is it possible to use the TV1 remote to schedule timers on TV2?
I'm sure I'll find some other annoyances as I use it more, but I'm thrilled with it so far.
Another question...there is a USB port on the back of the receiver. Can it be used for anything? I'd love to access the hard drive with it to download content to my PC and burn to DVD.