What didn't work was where to use it, isn't that the case ? Other than typing a show name in the search box, I don't currently see the need for a full keyboard with Dish's receivers.
This was the biggest disappointment I had when I bought the 922 dvr. I waited through all the bugs and glitches because I thought I would get Tv 2 in hd using the extender. When they quietly announced that they weren't going to release it , I traded my buggy 922 back in for a 722k. I really think you are right , they were never sure how they could charge a fee for it. DISH never met a FEE they didn't like, or charge for, if they could.
YES I suffered through this pvr as well. I kept it on a surge protector with a on/off switch that I had to do a hard power reboot at least once in the morning and once at night to make sure it recorded my shows at night . But the 942 dvr that they came out with after this one was wonderful. I had two of these and they worked great.
I think Echostar still makes cable set-tops, albeit no cableco in the US uses them (well, maybe some small, small operation does). As you say, just because they put the "Echostar" name on it, it's still Dish Network and no one will buy equipment from their competitor. Whoever at Dish thought they would had illusions of grandeur !
