CSR News Flash - New HD DVR

[Eric_C]

Take this news considering the source.

I called today about getting a dual tuner DVR. We have a single tuner and our local retailer didn't explain to me that we had our choice of DVR's

No option to turn in my single and upgrade. I even offered to lease an additional dual unit and put the single in another room and they told me no...stupid policy IMO, unless you are a brand new customer they will not give you a DVR at all.

I have an open ended contract and was getting ready to start putting some pressure on them when I figuired I would ask about leasing a 921.

She said no lease on the 921, but the new unit, the 94x will be available in a few weeks, $250 up front plus your normal lease price.

This is the important part, I pay $250, they mail me a new 94x and I mail them back my 811 with only a 4.95 a month price increase to cover the DVR service.

To me, this is a great deal, its basically $250 to upgrade and I stay with a leased piece of equipment.

We'll have to see....

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes the 942 will be available soon, and while they are saying it should be available by the end of February, I would not be surprised if we see it before July.

Do a search for 942 we have done a few reviews of this unit since we saw it last May. We were also the first site to mention and show the 942 as well.

 

[korsjs]

am i reading this right? you have to pay 250 to upgrade, but you still do not own it? if that is the case, that blows.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Take this news considering the source.

I called today about getting a dual tuner DVR. We have a single tuner and our local retailer didn't explain to me that we had our choice of DVR's

No option to turn in my single and upgrade. I even offered to lease an additional dual unit and put the single in another room and they told me no...stupid policy IMO, unless you are a brand new customer they will not give you a DVR at all.

I have an open ended contract and was getting ready to start putting some pressure on them when I figuired I would ask about leasing a 921.

She said no lease on the 921, but the new unit, the 94x will be available in a few weeks, $250 up front plus your normal lease price.

This is the important part, I pay $250, they mail me a new 94x and I mail them back my 811 with only a 4.95 a month price increase to cover the DVR service.

To me, this is a great deal, its basically $250 to upgrade and I stay with a leased piece of equipment.

We'll have to see....

How is paying 250.00 + 5.00 a month DVR + 5.00 lease fee a good deal? You're kidding right?

 

[BFG]

yup, that was the terms that were given to us by folks before. I'm not sure what my take is

All they really are is just discounting it $440 bucks, which is still pretty expensive. They way I figured $440. Is that the MSRP is $750, you pay $250 upfront, then $10 a month (figure it will suit you for 6 months = $60) $440.
But if you bought the box it would be $750 and you'd still be paying the $10 a month fees, so this $250 discount may be a good deal. Not much good you'll get out of owning the box anyways, so save yourself the money.


And the 942 will be ready for february. Folks are already testing it and software is being sent out...

 

[Juan]

How is paying 250.00 + 5.00 a month DVR + 5.00 lease fee a good deal? You're kidding right?

lets see the 921 was 1000 bucks..now down to 500 + So figure 3 years before you get to the cost of 921..Both units will be obselete in a year(supposidley) when they upgrade to me peg 4 you mail in your 942 and get the comprable replacement(its leased)..not sure if you can do that with 921....it seems like a pretty good deal for a hd receiver thats gonna be obsolete in a year to me..total cost of 942 should be around 300 bucks and your not stuck with an expensive boat anchor in 12 months

 

[korsjs]

good point. 300 bucks is probably what it cost to make them.

 

[BFG]

Yeah it's not that bad. I don't really see the point of owning it. Unless of course you want to get below AT packs.

You can lease the 942 for 3.5 years before it costs you the price to own the 942 ($750)

If you pay for the 942 ($750) after 3.5 years you'd would've payed an a extra $500 in fees. So either way the leased box will always save you $500

 

[Smith P.]

I think we will see only DVR922 soon, not the 942.

 

[BFG]

I've never heard of this 922 you keep brinign up, only the 942.
So either they changed the name
Or just mixed up the name to begin with and now there's 2 models floating around.

 

[Eric_C]

The problem with buying equipment is, MPEG4 is coming.

Plus I am in a open ended contract, I can cancel anytime, so if there is every a point where they charge to upgrade from a 942 I have some leverage.

I'm already paying for my 811, so all I'd pick up is my 2nd DVR service which is another 4.95. They swap out my 811 and take it back.

So yes, to me its a great deal. Rather than spend 500 or more on a HD DVR, which may end up being obsolete or not as supported, I spend 250, a 50 percent savings, plus 4.95 a month, or nearly 48 months to match the price of the DVR.

Granted, I do not own it, but what do you think they will be worth in 2 years?

Plus I factor in money versus time saved. Our current DVR is great, its a huge time saver for us and the only time we don't use it is when we wanted to watch something in HD. Its a bigger time saver for us when we have the HD DVR.

 

[earth station]

One problem I see already with the 942....

Customer calling CSR: "Can the 942 feed two rooms?"

CSR: "Yes it can"

Customer: "So I can watch HD in my bedroom too?"

CSR: "Oh yes!"

--------------

Customer gets 942..... *(&*()(#*&$#*(#@$#&($!

END OF STORY!

 

[jdsabin1]

And the 942 will be ready for february. Folks are already testing it and software is being sent out...

Bryan, when this happens, you are suggesting that they will most likely meet the February date then? That sounds promising as February is only a week away and I am an existing Dish customer who is just now getting into HD throughout the house.

As a sidenote, even with the 921 today, does anyone know if their 'free installation' of their HD PVR includes an install where they use a switch instead of running another line to the dual tuner receiver? There is just no way they can run another line inside my house based on the way it's setup.

TIA.

 

[BFG]

Well someone passed along that a software update has been tracked in the stream but it was labeled for the 922. So either thhey changed the name or something. But it really should happen in February.

Either way no, I don't think the DPP44 switch is used in basic installation setups, the thing is pretty expensive. But you can request it for some more money probably...

 

[long_time_DNC]

I could see leasing a 942 for $250 + the monthly fees. I don't need the capability of feeding a signal to multiple rooms, so that's not a concern. I had considered buying a 921, but the fact that's been causing people so many problems and with the possibility of MPEG-4 looming, I figured why buy a boat anchor?

Leasing a 942, while it's also a dead-ended box, at least there's an upgrade path to whatever receiver replaces it whenever MPEG-4 comes along.

Something to ponder...

 

[BFG]

I just hope the 942 is upgradeable. So far in their leasing program it's been you're stuck with what you get at signup, so they better as heck do upgrade the 942...

 

[The Big Wood]

I'm already paying for my 811, so all I'd pick up is my 2nd DVR service which is another 4.95. They swap out my 811 and take it back.

So yes, to me its a great deal. Rather than spend 500 or more on a HD DVR, which may end up being obsolete or not as supported, I spend 250, a 50 percent savings, plus 4.95 a month, or nearly 48 months to match the price of the DVR.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of the 811 that gets traded in, unless you got it free for signing up. It cost you $149 or $199 if you were already a E* subscriber, which pushes the $250 to $400 or $450 when that is added to the total cost to "lease".

E* must have gotten this idea from the auto makers' leasing agreements. Do you have a certain amount of "mileage" to keep the unit under, or pay extra for any "mileage overages" incurred? Is there a buyout option at the end of the lease?

 

[korsjs]

i wonder if you will have to pay anything to upgrade the 942 to the new mpeg4 receiver?

 

[boba]

Now lets look at the software history on the 522 and the 921. Both were introduced over a year ago, both still have software glitches. 942 introduced Feb 2005 usable software should be due in March 2006 or later. WHERE DO YOU SEE A BARGIN IN THIS RECEIVER AFTER YOU PAY $250?

 

[BFG]

Hey now. Don't start giving it bad luck before it's even out. I say that they got this thing right for a change.

Except that it still only has one firggin OTA tuner, what a waste, the most important thing to me is watching a network while recording another, and ya can't do that.

But it is a bargain if you never got the 921. This is only $250 versus $550.

It will have the nicer interface of the 522 and 322.
The interface on the HD output will be 16x9 enhanced!
It will come with NBR
It will come with local OTA guide data
It has an SD output to the second TV, so you can deactivate another receiver and get 2 for the price of one! (on both mirror an DVR fees)