522...is anybody happy with theirs?

[mrschwarz]

I have Vonage and don't have a problem with the 522 and the phone line. I have had better luck rebooting it each morning, even though it still crashes later in the afternoon.

There's a lot of bugs, but from what I have read here, Dish's usual plan is to release equipment early and then work the bugs out over a year or two.

Even with all the problems, it's not a bad device.

 

[dishman007]

make sure you shut the 522 off from time to time (at least 1/2 hour) for the unit to
upgrade software.alot of people will leave this unit on 24/7 because they are recording

 

[mrschwarz]

I almost never turn mine off and I always get updates on time. Just make sure the automatic updates option is enabled.

 

[tnsprin]

I almost never turn mine off and I always get updates on time. Just make sure the automatic updates option is enabled.

You really should turn it off. As long as one tuner is free updates and quide information SHOULD work. However if you keep them tied up, and one is tied up if the receiver is on and not viewing a previously recorded channel, and both are tied up if in the normal 522 outputting two sets, then no tuner is free for downloads/guide.

 

[Bizzach]

tnsprin: No, you DON'T have to turn it off at all. Read the post above yours... "Just make sure the automatic updates option is enabled."
That means at a pre-determined time each day (for example, mine's set for 4:30am), the box will turn ITSELF off and download the appropriate guides, updates, and do the disc check. I NEVER turn my receiver off - I can tell you firsthand this does work.

 

[TuxCoder]

I second that firsthand. I've seen that "you have to leave it off" posted on here numerous times.

Now, as a side note, the more you do leave the receiver (both tuners) off, the longer it should last. If your 522 is functioning properly, the hard drive will not be doing any more writing (at least not near as much) when the tuners are off. And less heat will be generated. I also believe it reduces the occurrence of some of the many bugs in that software, if you do have it off when not using it. But, to repeat, that does not increase your chances of getting updates as long as the automatic updates option is enabled.

Bizzach, I've wondered about something but never gotten around to trying it out... do you know if it still goes through its automatic update routines if you had left the receiver on and in a timeshifted state when the update time comes around? I seem to remember reading on here a long time ago that it will just bring up the window saying it needs to return to live tv to do the requested operation. Pretty pointless at 5am in the morning.

 

[ocaddict]

I bought a 522 on ebay but Dish would not activate it for me. They said they only activate them for new accounts. No matter how much I bitched, or how many managers I asked for, they would not budge. This even after I called initially to confirm they WOULD activate a 522 if I were to buy one. Needless to say I was livid! I just resold the 522 on ebay and picked up a 721. Of course I don't get the ability to run to my 2nd TV in the bedroom (which is why I originally wanted the 522) but the 721 is a DAMN good receiver, and I moved my old 311 to the bedroom so at least I have DVR function in there. Mostly pause and such for when I need to roll out of bed to take a piss. Damn I love DVR! And PIP works awesome on the 721. I do like the "software" based PIP's as it is much easier to work with.

 

[timandheike]

From the DSLReports.com forum I have heard that Vonage will work with Dish. From what I've read, it seems to be about the only one. I use voicepulse's 15.00/month plan. And I've read many posts lamenting about it not working with voicepulse. I would say that with the exception of Vonage, it would be quite risky getting Dish if you're on VOIP. Perhaps they need to rethink their method of confirming that you're keeping the receivers in the same place ... use an integrated gps transceiver or something like that.

I do have a question. I rented a ppv, "Garfield", last weekend. I recorded it to my 522 DVR as it was playing. Will it stay there until I delete it? Do I get charged each 24 hour period that I view it? With Time Warner the PPV's would expire in 24 hours from the time of purchase. The kids wanted to view it again today, and I wouldn't let them for fear that I would incur an additional charge.

- Tim

 

[Pepper]

Not sure about PPV on the 522, I haven't bought any PPV on that one yet, but I see no reason it should behave any differently than the other Dish PVR/DVR units, meaning as long as it's on the hard drive you can watch it for no additional cost.

My 721 (currently deactivated) has several PPV on it that are many months old. Even deactivated I can still watch the recorded stuff.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I second that firsthand. I've seen that "you have to leave it off" posted on here numerous times. ...

It's just that some (most?) of us aren't yet used to the one (two?) receivers that have the auto-shutdown-to-update feature.

 

[bcshields]

Doesn't the 522 timers fire when the rcvr is shut off? I know the 721 does. Shutting things off when you aren't using them tend to make them last longer.

 

[mrschwarz]

The PPV should last as long as you have room on the reciever. You only pay once to record it. You can watch it as many times as you like. If you want to keep it indefinately, 'protect' it.

If, however, the unit decides that the hard drive needs to be cleaned, you will still lose it.

If you really, really want to keep it, record it off onto something else.

 

[Barry Erick]

I don't see anything different in the bugs of the 522 that I have not seen in broadcasting's video servers over the last 7 years. One unit would break up when a record channel started or ended. This was fixed in 1998 by increasing the buffer size. Seems the 522 needs this. Another would get out of a/v sycn if the unit was start/stopped/recued.. All that was done to fix this? Dump the contents of the buffer except for 20 frames in each direction at the pause. New info was put in then. This was on the same unit in 1999. Other units had similar problems and were fixed in less than a week by telling the company about the previous problem with a different unit.

Those are the only two bugs I have seen on the 522 in one month of use.

 

[wobbie]

Tim, if you recorded the Garfield movie on the 522 you can watch it as many times as you like, heck you if you wanted to, you could record back onto your VCR and save it for the kids.

 

[timandheike]

Thanks for the information on Pay Per Views. At least I know how the PPV's work on Satellite in contrast to Time Warner's.

It would be great if Dish would put in the buffer fix that Barry mentions on the 522's.
However in contrast to Barry, these are not the only 2 issues I've seen with the 522. The scheduling thing is a real problem. My wife has had alot of trouble getting her recordings of "My Family" from the BBC, and some others as well. She'll tell it to record a show, and then something else shows up on the recorded list when she checks it on a later day.

I'm really worried about the upcoming new season of "24" .... if I miss an episode due to a recording mistake on the 522, I'll be devastated. ;-) As I mentioned before, the DVR would probably work better if it recorded the shows by name, and not necessarily by time. Since it is possible that their schedule of shows by time might not be as accurate as they should. I didn't have this problem with recording on Time Warner's DVR. - Tim

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

You guys might be happier later this week when the new software comes out with name based recording.

 

[BFG]

Oh wow, talk about stirring excitment

 

[Pepper]

You guys might be happier later this week when the new software comes out with name based recording.

Today isn't April 1 is it? Are you yanking our chains?

p.s. Scott, I sent you a PM this weekend, did you get it?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No I am not yanking your chains. It could be here this Wednesday.

As far as your PM goes, I am still going through them all, I got almost 100 of them over the weekend.

 

[ocaddict]

Doesn't the 522 timers fire when the rcvr is shut off? I know the 721 does. Shutting things off when you aren't using them tend to make them last longer.

Not necessarily. As with lightbulbs, the heating and cooling over and over of electronics can be harder on them then leaving on 24x7.