Death of my Beloved 721 - HELP !

[Maddog1646]

After 5 years of faithful service my 721 has died. E* only said sorry, we can't help. Is anyone aware of I can obtain service (the hard died) so that I'm not forced to lease a receiver?

 

[cincyguy2k4]

You could try Ebay....

If your hard drive died there are other places on the internet you can google that might be able to help you put in a new hard drive in the box.

Only certain models work in the 721's if I remember correctly.

There are options... just remember that Dish is in the process of moving some parts of the country off MPEG-2 boxes. Your days may be numbered with that box to begin with.

 

[LER]

couldn't you add DHPP, and have them replace it under that?

Why did they say "we can't help" AFAIK, 721's are still supported. Hell, even 4900's are still supported.

 

[RandallA]

LER has a good suggestion. Sometimes even the CSRs suggest that, add DHPP and call back to tell them your receiver died.

 

[Maddog1646]

I never even thought about adding the DHPP and then reporting the problem with the receiver. Another question with regard to E* moving away from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 what happens to folks that own their MPEG-2receivers?

 

[navychop]

I am on the sixth 721 to flow thru my house. Five years? That might be a record. I've had HDDs die, and power supplies.

They definitely ARE supported. If mine dies tomorrow, I expect they'll send me another refurb'd unit. Of course, I'm one of those with DHPP. Even without, I'd expect them to replace yours at a reasonable price. Play CSR roulette. The next one might know what he's talking about.

I hear from a little birdie that there is a possibility that owners of MPEG-2 receivers that move to Eastern Arc in May or a bit later might be offered some sort of trade up deal to a nice MPEG-4 receiver. I'm hoping to swap out my 508 and/or 721 then.

OTOH, there's one on eBay (sold) for $26.13. I've seen them go for around $100.

For those NOT moving to Eastern Arc, one day there may be some sort of trade up program. Maybe. Or the older service might be left to wither on the vine.

 

[Claude Greiner]

dishstore has a few factory referbished 721's still wrapped in the origional plastic when we got them from DISH for $229

 

[Lazerace]

I'm debating on selling my 721. It's been a good unit, so good it was a tough decision to go to the 722. No regrets. It's funny, cause the 721, from what I understand, was supposed to be the flagship receiver. Those plans did not last very long. I'd give it up for $125 shipped.

 

[curttucker]

The best part about the 721 is there is no DVR fee! Maybe I'm cheap but, I definitely like that feature. I've had mine since they first came out, run it hard, and it continues to serve me well.

Do you think E* will continue to "grandfather" my waived DVR fee if they force me to move to a newer model DVR? I doubt if for some reason$$$

 

[Zero327]

Do you think E* will continue to "grandfather" my waived DVR fee if they force me to move to a newer model DVR? I doubt if for some reason$$$

No.

 

[neljtorres]

I have a 721. And about a year ago I had a problem with it and called dish and one of the CSR told me that the 721 was dead. But I did this trick that ThomasTrain indicated me to do and I did it and it's working here is the trick:

There is a little trick for these 721 receivers that "might" work for you and it basically forces the unit to reinitialize the hard drive.

1) Unplug power from the unit and remove the cover
2) Unplug the hard drive ide cable from the main board (Do not remove the hard drive as this will break that little 'hard drive warraty' sticker, only unplug the IDE cable from the main board connector.
3) Plug the unit back in a wait for the failure message about the hard drive
4) Unplug power from the unit again and plug the hard drive IDE cable back in and replace the cover.
5) Finally, plug power back in a let it run for about 30 to 45 minutes.

This will force the unit to completely wipe the PVR partitions on the hard drive and rebuild and reformat them.

WARNING: this procedue will ERASE all recordings and timers. One of my units did this to me and it resolved my problems with it.

The nice thing is that this doesn't void you warranty since we are simply using the recovery features that are build into the unit.

 

[Maddog1646]

I took LER's advise and added DHPP to my account yesterday, contacted them today and they had me go though about 5 minutes of trouble shooting. Next thing the CSR says "This receiver will need to be replaced you just added the warranty so there will be no charges for this." Issued me a RA # and tells me the replacement receiver will be shipped via 2 day service.
THANKS to ALL for your help!!!
HAPPY EASTER !

 

[RandallA]

I took LER's advise and added DHPP to my account yesterday, contacted them today and they had me go though about 5 minutes of trouble shooting. Next thing the CSR says "This receiver will need to be replaced you just added the warranty so there will be no charges for this." Issued me a RA # and tells me the replacement receiver will be shipped via 2 day service.
THANKS to ALL for your help!!!
HAPPY EASTER !

You owe LER a cold one. Oh, I forgot he said he doesn't drink.

 

[LER]

You owe LER a cold one. Oh, I forgot he said he doesn't drink.

Dr. Pepper works......

 

[Maddog1646]

I'll more than happy to provide LER with his beverage of choice.....
THANKS AGAIN for everyones thoughts and help with this

 

[Faw]

You could have replaced the hard disk. 120GB disks are very cheap now. I had a 721 and after some tests was able to install a hard disk in my 721 and made a HOWTO for it.

I did love my 721, all the other receivers I've owned had their problems (5000=horrible interface, Dishplayer=great UI but sometimes problematic, 522 =almost as good, liked the 721 UI better). I would still have it but one of the tuner cards died. Throwing it in the trash was very painful.