Dish swapping my 811 for 381 receiver?

[smooth28la]

My 811 receiver was rebooting and freezing intermittently. Since I have 'warranty service' on my account, Dish is sending me a 381 receiver instead.

What kind of receiver is that? It'd better be a HD receiver with OTA enabled.

Does anyone have a 381 to verify?

Why don't they send me a 211 instead?

 

[n0qcu]

The 381 is the same hardware as the 811 but since all satellite HD is mpeg 4 it is now considered a SD receiver so the name was changed to 381. Yes it still does OTA.

 

[smooth28la]

"Same hardware" as identical? There's absolutely no improvement to fix whatever bugs there were for the 811?

 

[Mr Tony]

nope they just renamed the model

same issues and glitches as before

 

[navychop]

I don't recall reading much bad about the 811. It seemed to be liked. Doesn't it do PSIP? Certainly not a 921 or 942 grade receiver.

 

[Mr Tony]

The 811 can do a EPG on OTA even if you dont subscribe to locals through Dish...the guide is only for channels that Dish carries (or has EPG info for)

 

[smooth28la]

Has anyone gotten DISH to send an 211 to replace the 811?

 

[Mr Tony]

do you have HD on the account?

 

[smooth28la]

No HD content (yet)..just international programming.

I can certainly 'add' HD program but won't get anything in reality!

 

[nsafreak]

Without HD content then they have no reason to upgrade you to a 211 receiver. Keep in mind that even if you did add HD content getting a 211 receiver may not necessarily be free.

 

[smooth28la]

Since I own or purchased the 811 receiver, how much will the 211 cost me if were to add HD programming?

I don't wanna swap the purchased receiver into a leased one.

 

[nsafreak]

If you don't want to swap it to a leased one then you'll have to purchase one. You can purchase a 211k from Dishstore.net for $119 and if you want you can pay a one time fee of $40 to enable DVR functionality and hook up an external hard drive for that use.

 

[boba]

You can buy 211s for about $100. If you are a good shopper you can find bargins on eBay I've got a VIP 612 coming for about $90 including shipping and according to DISH it is clear.

 

[dishcomm]

My 811 receiver was rebooting and freezing intermittently. Since I have 'warranty service' on my account, Dish is sending me a 381 receiver instead.

What kind of receiver is that? It'd better be a HD receiver with OTA enabled.

Does anyone have a 381 to verify?

Why don't they send me a 211 instead?

A 381 is an 811 WITHOUT HD capability..The 811 is an MPEG 2 receiver.
If you want HD Capability at the 811 location, you had better call Dish and get this straightened out.
BTW, the 381 is a boat anchor.

 

[navychop]

The 381 is about as exact of a replacement as there is. It certainly provides the functionality he was actually using. Anything else would be an upgrade. Surely they would consider some sort of deal to upgrade him, but probably not totally free.

OR- he could accept the 381, assuming he will own it, and if not happy with it, sell it. And buy a ViP211 etc etc.

BTW, I must strongly disagree with your last statement. It would make a lousy boat anchor!

 

[smooth28la]

What's boat anchor?

Well, the receiver IS an OTA receiver, with or without the subscription to DISH. So I guess it's good for something!

 

[getstuff4less]

Yeah, check on eBay! I recently offered $44.99 for this 211k and it works fine.
BTW: In amateur radio and computing, boat anchor is a slang term used to describe something obsolete, useless, and cumbersome.

 

[boba]

I wouldn't describe the 811/381 as obsolete/useless/cumbersome, I have 2 and they work very well with my series 1 TiVo. Ihe TiVo with IR emitters can control the 811 and give me access to OTA recordings from the ATSC tuner. Seeing Series 1 TiVo allows manual recording there is no cost other than original purchases.