921 is a Disaster!

jain

Member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2005
5
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We have had a 921 for 4 1/2 months, or I should say we've have 3 different 921's for 4 1/2 months, and have had nothing but trouble. The first one had a bad hard drive. So they sent us another one. The last two that we've had have each had different problems. They include: picture freezing; no picture at all, even though there is sound; timed events record anywhere from 0 seconds to 30 seconds; no response to remote commands; necessity to reboot two or three times a day until we just give up and watch another TV; and this last one even refused to take the software downloads. The tech support people have been very patient until recently, when they've started to get defensive. They sent a service person out for the first 921 but have done only over-the-phone diagnosis since. We now have a service person coming next week.

Has anybody else had these problems? We are very frustrated!

jain
 
How often do you shut off the receiver? Is the receiver set to take upgrades automatically? How is your 921 placed? By itself or packed in between other components? Is all of the cables, and barrels rated? I have had a 921 for over a year and have had no problems
 
Thanks for you quick response.
We shut off the receiver whenever we're done viewing, including in the evening and, yes, the receiver is set up to take upgrades automatically. It is on a component rack, open on all sides and a 5" clearance above it. The cable is RG6 Quad Shield with all the highest quality connectors. There are no barrel connectors because everything is a homerun to the multi-switch.

Any more thoughts?
 
nope you got it covered. Sometimes you can't tell if a poster has the knowledge or not, you do. Sorry but you got to start with the basics
 
No problem...I find it hard to believe that we've had THREE lemons!!! When it works, we love it! But boy can it be frustrating when it doesn't. No one else make a dual tuner DVR for Dish, right?
 
We should have listen to our local dealer who said he's had nothing but trouble with them and actually didn't want to sell it to us. The 721 we have had for two years and it's been great!
 
Don't feel alone I am on my fourth 921. This one has none of the problems exibited by the first three and has the best OTA tuner I have encountered.
 
I have my original 921 from January 2004 and have had some problems but I would never consider sending in my receiver (for a rebuilt) unless it was totally dead. I guess I've been lucky :) . I would insist on a new 921 form Dish!
 
jcord51 said:
I have my original 921 from January 2004 and have had some problems but I would never consider sending in my receiver (for a rebuilt) unless it was totally dead. I guess I've been lucky :) . I would insist on a new 921 form Dish!

You can insist ALL YOU WANT you will get a refurbed every time.
 
I think that E* takes pride in sending malfunctioning returned 921's to others to just to see if the receivers really have problems. Usually, they send a refurbished unit. I would like to know what E* defines as refurbished?
 
jcord51 said:
I have my original 921 from January 2004 and have had some problems but I would never consider sending in my receiver (for a rebuilt) unless it was totally dead. I guess I've been lucky :) . I would insist on a new 921 form Dish!

I have had my original since January 2004. No major problems. But I never used OTA.
 
Other than losing the first week of the MLB package, that was paid for :mad: , and the occasional S T R E T C H bug reboot my 921 has worked as advertised and transformed the way I watch Dish for the better. I would say I'm very satisfied.

When I read threads about people nitpicking at the 921's flaws and harping over the lack of Firewire (get over it already) and whatnot I think back to my four plus years with a JVC DVHS unit and smile at the fact that I"m in the here and now.

I hope you get a unit that works.
 
CRB said:

"When I read threads ... harping over the lack of Firewire (get over it already)"

Get over it?

Tell you what. I'll make you some promises, you give me $1,000, and then I'll only deliver on about half those promises. Sound good? If not, then you need to get over it.

Dish claims HD leadership while I got four more HD channels (INHD1 & 2, ShoW & HBOW) PLUS all my HD locals moving to Time Warner. Dish sells equipment that takes three months from release just to include some of the features originally promised, much less actually make the things work more than three days without a reboot. Dish makes hypocritical "pig" comments about cable just before they raise their own rates, just like they do every single year. Pay them $250 just for the "privilege" of leasing a high-def DVR? Well thank you, thank you, please let me get down on my knees and lick your boots and kiss your tail, your majesty Charlie.

Why should anyone have to spend their hard-earned money and then "hope [they] get a unit that works"? It doesn't have to be that way -- when you leave DishWorld.
 
Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions! I'm sure one of the units was a "refurbished" unit because of the way it was packaged. The other one appeared to be brandy new! I will see how our service visit goes on Wednesday. I tend to agree with you, CRB. I expect when I buy something new I shouldn't have this many problems with it, especially when you spend this much money.

Jain
 
jain said:
Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions! I'm sure one of the units was a "refurbished" unit because of the way it was packaged. The other one appeared to be brandy new! I will see how our service visit goes on Wednesday. I tend to agree with you, CRB. I expect when I buy something new I shouldn't have this many problems with it, especially when you spend this much money.

Jain

I'm on my 3rd and each one they send is a refurb no matter what they tell you. I sent last one back for refund and bought oen at Costco because of the great return policy. This one has less bugs, but bugs none the less. SD is B/W frequently requiring a unplug of power to reset, front button reset does nto work. Occasionally I go to record an event, OTA or Dish Channle and it tell em event is blacked out(which it is not) and start recording anyway, but it never stops reciording unless I do a reboot! Frequent OTA bugs with dropping sound, yet rewind and replay it and the sound is there! By far the worst electronics I have ever owned. As soon as end of TV season comes in about 4 weeks, this thing goes back and I get Comcast and wait until DirecTV has their MPEG 4 receiver. D* Support is horrible you try to walk them through the problme so maybe they can forward it to the developers to maybe fix it some day, nope they are not interestedm reboot if bug goes away it is fixed! I bet the developers don't even know some of the bugs! They just want you off the phone!
 
The easy way to tell if a unit is a refurb is to closely inspect the stickers on the plastic wrap encasing the unit. All of my replacement units have said had a "refurb" abbreviation somewhere on the label.
 
It took three 921's and a real live tech to even get mine working.

Just keep rebooting it, you will have less problems. I reboot mine right before some recording that I don't want to miss is about to start. This reminds me of the first windows software version, just plain buggy.

The less you expect the better it works.
 
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