922 R.I.P.

[MikeD-C05]

Since DISH has removed the 922 from the market and from their website, I thought we should have a thread on its demise. Anyone want to share their thoughts on the brief life of this receiver?

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, 922 to Hopper. Maybe it is more like receiver reincarnation.

 

[Jhon69]

Since DISH has removed the 922 from the market and from their website, I thought we should have a thread on its demise. Anyone want to share their thoughts on the brief life of this receiver?

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, 922 to Hopper. Maybe it is more like receiver reincarnation.

I would believe that a receiver is dead when you can't find it anymore(or DISH says they will not support it anymore) which you still can buy a 922 and DISH still supports it.Solid Signal,Amazon,EBay(check receiver#!) you can still find the 922s and buy one(I did).

The one good thing the Hopper will do is to make the selling price of the 922 a little cheaper because everyone will want a Hopper.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The 922 is NOT dead... if it was they would have stopped charging you an extra $4 a month for having one.

Let's just say its on extended life support.

 

[TheForce]

Scott- can you answer this- How many had to buy a 922 vs. got them on lease from Dish? Gets expensive, doesn't it?

Hopper will go this same route in 2 years. Seems that's the pattern at Dish if one just looks at history. So, if you buy a Dish technology, better amortize it over 24 months. My 921 did last 3 years.

Oh my gosh, I just realized that my 722k will be 2 years old this summer!!!!???? But at least Dish owns them. Guess I better get prepared for one of their incompetent installers calling on me to install a Hopper and take back my 722s and totally screw up my system again. What am I going to do when I can no longer climb up and fix my dishes

 

[FearTheVoices]

I got the 922 the day it was released...it just died about 10 minutes after the Super Bowl ended...Imagine how pissed a die hard Giants fan would have been if was before or during the Super Bowl?

I cant believe its almost been 2yrs since i got it...It still seems light years ahead of comcast and directv in the user interface IMO.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No I dont think Hopper and Joey will be phased out in 2 years. They are sinking everything into its future.

 

[DustoMan]

Oh Mike.... such a hater.

Until the updates end- It's not dead yet. There is supposed to be a plan to bring portions of the hopper software back down to the 922 and vice versa. According to the lead software engineer, there are some aspects of the 922's software that are ahead of the hopper. Blockbuster On Demand is still supposed to be coming too, but he said that on the 922 it was "hard to do" which is why it's taking so long.

But Scott is right, the hopper and joey are the future which is why they pulled all their engineers off whatever other things they were working on to focus on shipping those products. Which it suprised me when S116 was dropped after CES. Wasn't expecting that.

 

[lern4483]

Still have my 922. Jumped on it when it came out.
Its been a rock solid machine for me.

No issues. Great looking guide- i love my 922.
But id have no issues going to the Hopper and Joeys.

 

[JM42]

No I dont think Hopper and Joey will be phased out in 2 years. They are sinking everything into its future.

I hope the Hopper is the new standard like the 622 was.

The 622 has been around for 6 years and is still viable. The 612, 722, 722k are really just the 622lite, 622.1 and 622.2. There will no doubt be similar incremental upgrades to Hopper/Joey.

The 922 birthing pains were unfortunate, but honestly the unit never appealed to me. Hopefully the lessons learned will help Hopper.

 

[TheForce]

the(insert latest product) are the future which is why they pulled all their engineers off whatever other things they were working on to focus on shipping those products.

This is the same line I've heard since the demise of the 5000. At what point does one just smile and think: "Liar Liar Pants on fire" For me is was the 921 when that was said to be the "future proof DVR that would never ever need to be replaced because it could be upgraded with plugin boards." So, I spent $1000 on one and 2 years later they killed it!

Hey, I don't mind if Dish wants to replace a leased box as I didn't buy my 722 stuff. As long as they don't screw me over and delete all my Ext Hard drive archive programs. Whatever they replace needs to play those Ext HDD programs. But for you 922 suckers ( no offense with that) I feel sad that once again you fell for their shallow promises and claims like we're now hearing about the Hopper. At least you didn't pay a thousand bucks for the time bomb.

In MY opinion there is no reason to kill the 922. Dish needs to keep it's word and make the box do as they originally promised for all you who purchased it on the basis of their promises. This kind of thing smells of a class action suit in the making.

 

[TheForce]

No I dont think Hopper and Joey will be phased out in 2 years. They are sinking everything into its future.

Scott- Thanks for the tip on the second part. As you know I often trade Dish stock but with the knowledge that they will be putting all eggs into one basket tells me the new management isn't very smart. I was thinking of buying a few hundred shares but with this news I think I will wait. I like companies that diversify. With BB movie pass moving into "It sucks" mode and now this. I think from an investment angle it would not be good. I'll buy more Apple!

 

[mike123abc]

No I dont think Hopper and Joey will be phased out in 2 years. They are sinking everything into its future.

I think standalone receivers are are on the way out. I suspect before long the 211k may be the only one made, just for those that cannot take the hopper for one reason or another (like RV or tailgater). What will come out from now on are improved hoppers and joeys. This is not to say that the VIP line will not be around for a long time as they have millions of them in circulation and can referb them for another 5+ years, but that we will not see any new ones come out.

Scott- Thanks for the tip on the second part. As you know I often trade Dish stock but with the knowledge that they will be putting all eggs into one basket tells me the new management isn't very smart. I was thinking of buying a few hundred shares but with this news I think I will wait. I like companies that diversify. With BB movie pass moving into "It sucks" mode and now this. I think from an investment angle it would not be good. I'll buy more Apple!

I mean really, a hopper could be viewed as a 933. Why would Dish want to make another multi tuner VIP DVR that was not able to serve other TVs in HD? Why would Dish need to diversify as you say? They could (and probably will) come out with hopper 2.0 eventually, perhaps with more tuners or abilities not available in the Hopper 1.0. It can always be a standalone box replacing the 722 or the 922, it has more features.

 

[navychop]

I think standalone receivers are are on the way out. I suspect before long the 211k may be the only one made, just for those that cannot take the hopper for one reason or another (like RV or tailgater). What will come out from now on are improved hoppers and joeys. This is not to say that the VIP line will not be around for a long time as they have millions of them in circulation and can referb them for another 5+ years, but that we will not see any new ones come out.


I mean really, a hopper could be viewed as a 933. Why would Dish want to make another multi tuner VIP DVR that was not able to serve other TVs in HD? Why would Dish need to diversify as you say? They could (and probably will) come out with hopper 2.0 eventually, perhaps with more tuners or abilities not available in the Hopper 1.0. It can always be a standalone box replacing the 722 or the 922, it has more features.

Interesting. After the Hopper has been out for a while, we may be able to discern the writing on the wall.

 

[gdarwin]

I got the 922 the day it was released...it just died about 10 minutes after the Super Bowl ended...Imagine how pissed a die hard Giants fan would have been if was before or during the Super Bowl? .

Mine died 3 weeks before the Super Bowl....

 

[MikeD-C05]

I had a couple of 922s before I gave up on the entire thing and traded it back in for a brand new 722k back in November of 2010. The straw that broke the camel's back was the damn sling feature itself didn't work for about 3 or 4 days. The very thing you wanted the 922 for and it couldn't even sling. I also paid $1000.00 for the 921 that was a total disaster .Should of learned the first time after sinking all that money into that box. The lessons learned from these experiences : Don't pay to own , just lease instead. The way DISH comes out with a "new cutting edge "receiver just about every 2 years , it simply doesn't make sense to own anymore. I hope the Hopper is everything the 922 wasn't, but I won't get my hopes up till I hear from some of ya'll who actually upgrade to one. Something else I learned: Don't be the first to upgrade. Let someone else do the beta testing for a change.

 

[356B]

I had one of the first 922's in my area, March of 2010. It died 10 days ago, I called and got another one the next day, no charge.

I will be moving to Hopper and Joey when available though.....call me a glutton for punishment......The only thing that bugs me is how the Joey is going to work with multiple TV's....or not. Presently with the Vip units we can manipulate to other sets through splitters or whatever.
From what I read Joey could be only good for a single TV. Those of us with several TV's could either have to keep our present stuff for now, or pay additional fees for additional Joeys...which seems like a step backwards if not very short sighted for Dish, but it is about the money isn't it?

 

[TheForce]

Mike- you're funny! 933? Maybe it's the 900 series that is bad luck. why not call it 733 since it seems the 700 series works flawlessly and the 900 series is what gets doomed by the name.

Frankly, if predicting the future, I'd say the satellite TV technology is going to die anyway as it doesn't seem to be able to compete with IPTV. The entire function of satellite programming is hopelessly flawed when comparing to the features we get with IPTV. Satellite TV is a better cable TV. But IPTV can give us every program ever made, on demand, when we want it with infinite storage in the cloud. As internet gets faster and faster and lower and lower in price the costs of satellite technology, the way it is done will need to either change from transponder / tuner design or die as it will never compete with IP. In my daughter's young generation of friends, none of those families have cable TV nor satellite TV anymore. Everyone of them has a Roku box and cable modems. They have TV's with only wifi connection, no antenneas at all. They have Netflix, and Hulu+ which seem to be the two main popular choices. A whole generation of paradigm shift, households using a new way to see TV for family entertainment. TV in every room? No, a couple TV's but mainly ipads and iphones with TV aps on them. Frankly, I'm considering moving in that direction soon too and saving $150 a month on satellite. IP is so much cheaper.
Scott may need to change his name to "IPTVGuys". Will satellite TV and Cable cost themselves out of business before the end of the decade? Change or die! Satellite TV is like land line telephones. And, as costs come down, hard wire as the fastest internet connection will get replaced with wireless grid over the entire planet. broadband everywhere!

 

[JM42]

Frankly, I'm considering moving in that direction soon too and saving $150 a month on satellite. IP is so much cheaper.

The move to IP is no secret. It is cheaper for now, subsidized by the "legacy" cable/sat/etc.

Providers are willing to take a cut in margins now to seed the market, but long term the fees will equalize. They are going to get paid one way or the other.

At the end of the day we'll end up with something like netfilx/hulu/amazon instead of comcast/direc/dish. There will be more al-a-carte choices, but a large number will still end up with bronze/silver/gold type tiers.

 

[Hall]

In MY opinion there is no reason to kill the 922. Dish needs to keep it's word and make the box do as they originally promised for all you who purchased it on the basis of their promises. This kind of thing smells of a class action suit in the making.

What features did Dish say the box would have that it doesn't have today ? More importantly, how did they phrase or market the plan for these possible features ?

As for a class-action suit, the number of owners is too small.... It will never happen.

 

[Jhon69]

The move to IP is no secret. It is cheaper for now, subsidized by the "legacy" cable/sat/etc.

Providers are willing to take a cut in margins now to seed the market, but long term the fees will equalize. They are going to get paid one way or the other.

At the end of the day we'll end up with something like netfilx/hulu/amazon instead of comcast/direc/dish. There will be more al-a-carte choices, but a large number will still end up with bronze/silver/gold type tiers.

Man you hit the nail on the head!(excellent post!).Just like every new thing that comes along.Watch for bandwith caps at home when there gets to be what the providers consider enough(like cell phones now).