Exclusive: Scott Reviews the Dish Player 921!

[Scott Greczkowski]

The 921 is the bad boy I was waiting to play with.

Unfortunately I saw the 322/522 first before I saw the 921, but more on that later.

The 921 is Dish Networks new HDTV DVR the first satellite HD DVR on the market.

The ease of use was good it was just like using a 721, but this could be the case because it uses almost the same exact software as a 721! in fact besides a few additional setting in the menus the only way you would know this is a HD DVR and not a 721 is because you see the HD Channels listed in the guide.

The recording and pausing of live HD on the 921 worked perfectly.

I must admit that after a few moments of playing the 921 I was disappointed with the 921 because for me it was exactly like playing with a 721, because I saw the 322/522 earlier I was hoping for a new advanced look. But don't get bummed out what the 921 does it does well, and if you like the 721 you are sure to like the 921. Again my disappointment was that it felt to much like a 721 and was not as cool looking as the 522.

The guide and the menus looked a little stretched out, and I also think the transparent guide (shown below) needs some work.

However in saying that the 921 is very good at what it does, I was able to change from HD channels to SD channels with no problems recording, pausing and playing back all worked well, because of my limited time with the 921 (About 20 minutes) I did not get a chance to do things like set timers, but I feel it will do as good a job as the 721 in this respect.

The HD looked good and was being fed to a Dish Network 40 inch RPTV (which was in need of some calibration) I am sure the picture will look even better on a properly calibrated set.

If you have been waiting for a HD DVR the Dish 921 will be available starting around November 1st. It does a great job at what it does (I would be happier with the newer Color guides like the 522 has...) but overall if your a HDTV nut like me, you will be thanking the HD gods after you get your hands on this unit.

Now for your enjoyment, some photos from the 921.

And please Remember SatelliteGuys.US is your home for Real Satellite News and Information.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

More pictures for your enjoyment.

 

[Chris Freeland]

More pictures for your enjoyment.

Any pics and additional info on 522 like how much to buy?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yes you can find my review of the 522 at http://www.satelliteguys.us/forum/viewtopic.php?t=484

It is posted in the Dish area because the 322 and 522 are basically the same software.

Enjoy!

 

[AppliedAggression]

Nice, but nothing we didn't really expect. I'm still happier about the 322/522. Like you said, something we didn't expect and I can't wait to see more of it.

 

[James]

Great job Scott!

 

[Roger]

Is there a price for the 522?

 

[rad]

Scott, on one of your screen captures it shows setup for D-VHS. Is that because this is the non GA code, is there nothing available if you select D-VHS or is Dish going to support D-VHS and the DishWire ports at GA?? Thanks

 

[csschrot]

Did you get a chance to look at anything OTA in HD. I'm curious on how the OTA side of the 921 work and looked.

Thanks

 

[John Quaglino]

Scott, any comments on the SD upconversion as compared to the 6000?

 

[JonUrban]

Nice scoop, Scott. You are definatly getting the job done! Congrats!

:-jon

 

[jcrash]

when are they going to figure out we dont need 5 inch high letters on our high definition televisions to read something.

If they'd switch to a smaller font, imagine how much guide information could be presented at once.

 

[Unthinkable]

when are they going to figure out we dont need 5 inch high letters on our high definition televisions to read something.

If they'd switch to a smaller font, imagine how much guide information could be presented at once.

Keep in mind that Dish has to appease the increasingly older generation of consumers all voicing their repeated concerns over remotes being too difficult to use and text being too small to see so they have to go with something of a compromise for everyone for the most part rightly or wrongly.

 

[aperry]

I must admit that after a few moments of playing the 921 I was disappointed with the 921 because for me it was exactly like playing with a 721, because I saw the 322/522 earlier I was hoping for a new advanced look. But don't get bummed out what the 921 does it does well, and if you like the 721 you are sure to like the 921. Again my disappointment was that it felt to much like a 721 and was not as cool looking as the 522.

Reading the posts here on this board, I think I may be the only person in the country that likes the look and feel of the 721. I like the green/blue background, and to me it looks much better than that on the 301, etc.

That being said, the pictures you showed of the interface on the 322/522 looked nice as well.

However, I hope that Dish will not eliminate the 721/921 interface...

 

[SlicerMDM]

when are they going to figure out we dont need 5 inch high letters on our high definition televisions to read something.

If they'd switch to a smaller font, imagine how much guide information could be presented at once.

Keep in mind that Dish has to appease the increasingly older generation of consumers all voicing their repeated concerns over remotes being too difficult to use and text being too small to see so they have to go with something of a compromise for everyone for the most part rightly or wrongly.

The problem is that it takes almost nothing to support scalable fonts and have the interface adjust the listing accordingly. The large font could be on by default and a menu option could allow you to change this setting. This is basic software coding and would greatly improve moving through a guide with hundreds of channels.

 

[John Corn]

I must admit that after a few moments of playing the 921 I was disappointed with the 921 because for me it was exactly like playing with a 721, because I saw the 322/522 earlier I was hoping for a new advanced look. But don't get bummed out what the 921 does it does well, and if you like the 721 you are sure to like the 921. Again my disappointment was that it felt to much like a 721 and was not as cool looking as the 522.

Reading the posts here on this board, I think I may be the only person in the country that likes the look and feel of the 721. I like the green/blue background, and to me it looks much better than that on the 301, etc.

That being said, the pictures you showed of the interface on the 322/522 looked nice as well.

However, I hope that Dish will not eliminate the 721/921 interface...

I can't say I'm surprised the 721/921 have the same interface.

aperry, I like it to!

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Hey I like the 721 interface a lot, but the 522 interface just blows this away.

If I didn't see the 921 hooked up below the TV I would have never known this was a 921 I would have thought I was using a 721 until I saw the HD channels listed in the guide.

Someone asked about SD upconversion on the 921. What I saw looked good and probably could have looked better, the new Dish TV sets were in use and they were using the out of the box settings the brightness and contrast were WAY high, so while the pictures looked ok, they could have looked much better with some adjustments of the TV set.

 

[Stargazer]

When I had my Dishplayer I LOVED the look of the interface. This is one reason I bought the 721 because it had an interface like the Dishplayer had in which is lots better than the 301/501/508.

I figure Dish Network could change the interface on the 721/921 to be like the 522 if it is in fact a better looking interface. Sometimes its good to have different interfaces because you at least get a choice from one receiver to another on different interfaces. Its nice to be able to use something different every once in a while.

 

[shot-on-goal]

Scott

How quiet/noisy is the 921 ?

My 6000 has the constant fan noise that drives me (and others as I've read) nuts, especially when the tv is not even on. I only plug it in when I'm useing it to watch hdtv.

Have they got the noise issue fixed?

I won't even blink at $1000.00 if it's as quiet as my 501.

 

[Tahoerob]

Scott,

Did they show any OTA Baltimore stations via the 811 or 921?

Any info on if they bothered to update the OTA chips from the 6000 line?

Robert