Echostar Press Conference Recap

[navychop]

New customers only. I believe "after Feb 1."

 

[PowerMax]

That feature is in the works.

I have lots of pictures to send up but internet access here sucks. I will try tonight or tommorow morning.

Now there is somethin a tivo can't do and that is a great feature!

Any idea if the 211's will pull via IP from the 622's anytime soon Scott?

 

[Airblair]

I think it would be great if we could take that USB drive, plug it into our ViP211 receiver, and watch HD/SD content off the drive.

If they figure this one out, it will be a great feature for those of us with multiple 622/211.

In the past there had been some speculation that having multiple ViP series receivers would allow them to watch shows off each other(presumably through the ethernet port). Has this speculation been completely dismissed or is it still a possibility in the future? (I understand that you could possibly archive something off a 622 with a HDD and then restore it to a 612/211/222 from Scott's comments) Thank you.

Personally, I think the next HD battleground among the content providers will be to see who can provide a whole-house solution first. As HDTVs keep dropping in price, more and more households will own two or more HDTVs. And people are going to wonder why their DVR'd shows have to be tied to one TV.

Now, I can say this: Having to move a USB enclosure from one TV to another will be a pain in the butt.

Dish has to come up with a way to network their DVRs throughout the house. And they need to come up with a standard that can work reasonably well at pushing the large amounts of data in HD shows, throughout wiring in millions of houses that could be in great shape or about to fall apart, while maintaining its copy protection.

I don't see the USB enclosure as a solution to this. It's a solution for additional storage space, sure. But the long-term answer will come from a home network architecture that leverages both hardware (STBs and cabling) and software (Isn't Dish a shareholder in the company that makes Slingbox?).

Simply making the shows stored on a USB drive attached to a 622 available to all the other 622's and 211's in a house would be the simplest way to go, wouldn't it? I know Echostar is a member of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, but I haven't heard much from them. Similarly, the ViP receivers have Powerplug chips in them allowing them to put data over powerlines, but as I understand it the data there tops out at 8mbps, not enough for HDTV. Of course there's ethernet, but that has to give the content providers the willies, even with the copy protection standards in place. And wireless seems to be too unreliable.



I don't really know why I spend so much time thinking about this. I can't even afford a second HDTV yet.

 

[Stargazer]

By networking the whole house together only one hard drive is needed. This makes it closer to the one box does all solution. Would be nice to be able to run all wires to one room on an install then plug the rest of them in to the power or phone outlet to access the programming.

 

[gdarwin]

Anyone want to trade a 211 for a 411????

 

[PowerMax]

Tens of thousands? The way people bitch about E* here and on DBSt@!k you'd think there were maybe a dozen brand loyal customers at most!

I don't write code any more. I had forgotten about the PocketDish. In that case at least some of the interface is already written. But even if Charlie wrote it himself in a half hour in his bath robe after an all night poker game - it still belongs to E* and they can charge whatever they like for it.

$5 a month, $100 one time - whatever. Perhaps they will make it free or at a very low cost just to drive customers to the 622 or 612. I'd probably do it if it were free, probably not for $100 plus the cost of the hard drive. My 721 is nearly full, but I haven't come close to using up the 622 HD yet. I'm more interested in it to archive season long shows like "24", and to back up recordings if the 622 has to be RA'd.

I would have rather just heard you say you were wrong.

 

[Foxbat]

Anyone want to trade a 211 for a 411????

I think there's one for sale in the Classifieds.

Now, I can say this: Having to move a USB enclosure from one TV to another will be a pain in the butt.

True, I'd rather be able to pull up programming via the Home LAN, but think of this advantage: You can record content that you don't want your younger family members to know about (say South Park or The "L" Word) and don't want to leave these programs around on the DVR for inquiring minds to see. Sure, there's Parental Locks, but those recordings can still be Info'd and may have explicit descriptions. Much safer to take them into the bedroom, nudge-nudge, say no more ...

 

[temesgen]

Positives:

External USB, use almost ANY off the shelf USB HDD for storage or playback - This means we can use our own. Get ready for those USB Enabling fees.

The 1 TB external usb hard drives will work with a released software update.

Portable Media Recorders - No additional fees

Charlie says they can change the limits on what is reserved for VOD (prediction - additional fee for additional storage).

Homeplug ease of installation. I wonder if HD content will work with this. If so then it would be a solution for distributing HD content throughout the house.

VC-1 support.

Negatives:

Still has SD for second tv output on the 222 & 622 dual tuner HD receivers. They should have the second tuner with HD outputs as well.

They are chiming around charging a "small" enabling fee for the External USB hard drives. I bet $4.99-$5.99 will be small enough according to Charlie. No problem Charlie, I will just remove one of the additional DVR's that I have to make up for it and sell it since I use an extra DVR for extra content. I wonder if this fee will be per account or per receiver. I doubt they could do it per hard drive since we would just use our own.

Not looking promising for CourTv being added. It was stated that those that switched services because of it already done so which basically means they do not stand to lose much more by not having the channel.

622 free only to new subscribers = customers going to Directv when they launch their HD services and a loss of existing subscribers. No since in paying Dish $199 just to lease it when I am sure Directv will be more than happy to offer it free as well with LOTS LOTS more HD content.

I am going to add a new signature "Its about time" TO CHARGE MORE MONEY

OINK OINK OINK OINK OINK, the pig keeps getting fatter. The fat pig lady is singing some higher notes.

Charlie goofed when saying it would be $79.99 for AEP, its going to be $89.99 he goofed before.

I just got back from CES, the reps were not able to answer the question regarding free upgrade to 622 for existing costumers, at one point a senior person walked over and suggested that there would be a fee somewhere between 100.00 and 150.00 to get the 622 thru DVR advantage. With respect to external hard drive support the reps were not very committal either the best I could get out them was that it would be an off the shelf solution. The cost was a big question mark but the rep did say he thought it would be a one time activation and movable throught the house between receivers.

On a side note the rep did say that VIP was going to be used for VOD and that at some point in the future it would be used to link content between receivers... I am not really sure what all the complaining is about, granted Dish does have a lot of delays but the technology is better than anything else and atleast they do hint at the direction they are taking. D* had girls running around in groups handing out suckers making rude comments. I tried to make it over to their both to see what was up but they were not even on the show floor, that is right they were not on the main floor, you had to go over to the Sands and even then it was in a private room. Dish was out in front with 30 TVs showing HD content and showing off their DVRs too.

Oh and BTW the rep did say that the reason for the delay with the external hard drive had to do with issues associated with copy protection in general and that Dish had main a decision to release the feature once the copy protection issue is resolved. The point here is that much of the issues we are upset about have as much to do with where we are with the techology and intellectual property rights as it does to do with Dish. Dish has made many many mistakes but personally I like the idea of choosing a hardrive that I get to choose personally.

Go Dish!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Finally catching up with this thread. I am thinking about the issue of the Enabling Fee. personally I hope it is a one-time $100 fee. That I can easily deal with, and probably not get in huge trouble with the wife about. A $5/mo. fee, however, is far more troublesome, particularly since the Platinum package is going up in price too.

I can't wait until it goes live though, and we can debate about what USB HDD is best. My big issue is cooling. The My Book 320GB drive I have does not always shut itself off, and when it doesn't it gets warm. But that issue is still probably, and sadly, down the road...

 

[Stargazer]

$100 in my opinion is OUTRAGEOUS for an enabling fee and you will see a very lengthy thread about it if they try to charge that ripoff price. $49 or less may be acceptable but will still be complained about.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

$100 in my opinion is OUTRAGEOUS for an enabling fee and you will see a very lengthy thread about it if they try to charge that ripoff price. $49 or less may be acceptable but will still be complained about.

I don't want to pay $100, but if that is the fee, I will. But yeah, $49 is better.


One question... will we have to pay a separate fee for EACH HDD we use with the receiver? I ask, because I have several external USB HDDs ready to get put to work archiving stuff. I understand, and am fine with the idea that the HDD content is locked to a particular receiver/account.

And speaking of that... I sure hope it is tied to an account and now a particular receiver; since boxes die, and get replaced. When that happens, I would not want to lose access to everything recorded on the HDD. (Kind of like my original 501 DVR; when software was updated, the HDD was wiped of all recordings).

 

[mike123abc]

Maybe the USB enabling fee will be waived with AEP+HD... Knowing Dish AEP+HD will soon become the cheapest package if you own an HD DVR... By the time you add all the new fees to any cheaper package it will cost more than AEP...

 

[Stargazer]

I think I read in a thread where there would not be a fee based upon the number of external hard drives you use but I wonder if we will be charged per DVR. This is why I say a $99 fee would be outrageous as I am sure that would be per DVR and not per account.

 

[slusig]

Any idea if the 211's will pull via IP from the 622's anytime soon Scott?

I want to know this too.

USB storage is great but I am not interested in moving a USB drive from room to room. Both receivers have ethernet. Just allow the 211 to play 622 records over IP!

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks guys for the coverage.

 

[patmurphey]

Can't a new customer get a "free" 622 now with $199 up front and $20 mo. disc./rebates for 10 months? Saying "free" is just better marketing. Incentives for new customers will always be part of the business. Get over it.

Pat

 

[roachxp]

You guys think usb flash drives will also work? I have a few 8gb and will be get a few 16gb when they come out. Good to save 1 or 2 events.

 

[minnow]

$100 in my opinion is OUTRAGEOUS for an enabling fee and you will see a very lengthy thread about it if they try to charge that ripoff price. $49 or less may be acceptable but will still be complained about.

With Dish's miserable track record in finally getting anything out to the masses on time, I really believe that we will all have this same conversation about this exact same issue at this time next year. And by then, priorities will change within the E* headquarters and we may never see this.

 

[db2]

I am not really sure what all the complaining is about, granted Dish does have a lot of delays but the technology is better than anything else and atleast they do hint at the direction they are taking. Dish was out in front with 30 TVs showing HD content and showing off their DVRs too.

Oh and BTW the rep did say that the reason for the delay with the external hard drive had to do with issues associated with copy protection in general and that Dish had main a decision to release the feature once the copy protection issue is resolved. The point here is that much of the issues we are upset about have as much to do with where we are with the techology and intellectual property rights as it does to do with Dish. Dish has made many many mistakes but personally I like the idea of choosing a hardrive that I get to choose personally.

Go Dish!

I hate to burst your bubble temesgen but I felt the same way after visiting the Dish Network booth at Cedia. I was told the point blank by a dish rep that the RSN's in HD were their, "number one programming priority," and they would go live, "very soon." I was also told the external hard drive storage feature would be available by Christmas. Boy was I excited!! Well, here we are 5 months later and nothing has happened on either front.

Just take everything with a grain of salt.

...a large grain

 

[dude2]

You can;t go by anything the dish reps or rsn;s as they raily come true.