Help! Help me decide between DVR 522, 921 and 942

[gixxer]

Howdy, what an awesome forum!!! I think i'll be spending lots of time here...

Sort of newbie to DISH. My current setup is SuperDISH to DishPro 34 switch to DVR 508 (that i own) to a standard definition wide screen projection TV. No frill, just an ordinary, average setup.

Recently several of co-workers have been beating me up pretty good about getting a better DVR, i.e. one with dual tuner capability and HDTV setup. Well, i'm thinking about actually.

Whatever i do one thing is certain, i like DISH and i will continue to stick with DISH. They are good thing going.

And reading up on several posts in this forum and elsewhere i do like the idea of dual tuner capable DISH DVR. Because i do not want to add more cable lines from the outside satellite to inside of home, i've been told that i can start out by simply replace my Dishpro 34 switch with Dishpro Plus 44 switch *with* Dishpro Plus Separator. Currently there are 3 cables from SuperDISH satellite going into my Dishpro 34 switch and one cable out to inside of home. I figure i can do the swap of 34 to 44 myself and cable for cable. And inside the home i can place the power inserter close to the wall panel jack and put the separator near the whatever dual tuner DVR i decide to yet.

Is that pretty much what's involved in my new setup when replacing 34 with 44 switch?

Does it matter where i place the power inserter? If possible i would also like to put that near the DVR, but i don't mind putting it close to the wall panel where the male coaxial connector is located.

So the next is to consider whether to go with 522, 921 or 942 DVR.

First i don't have any plan to upgrade my SDTV to HDTV anytime soon, and earliest would probably be October 2005 or christmas 2005. Hopefully the prices on these HDTV's continue to drop. Cross my fingers...

Personally i like 522, mostly because of that new Name Base Recording, sort of like what TiVO and ReplayTV has in their PVRs. Very unfortunate that 921 and 942 do not support the NBR feature and they are such high-end pieces.

Does anyone know if NBR feature is available in 921 and/or 942? I don't see them being supported in their literatures.

The price of 942 is definitely out of my reach at the moment and the common feeling in this forum is that 942 isn't all that great. Supposedly 921 and 522 DVR's are well proven equipments and has been out for a while.

So i think for me it comes down to 921 and 522.

522 because price is pretty attractive enough to own it and has NBR. My contact ends in August so if i really want the 522 now i could go buy it.

I'll definitely lease 921 and i'll probably have to wait until August to replace my 508 with 921. And 921 has audio/video input so that ought to allow recording from VCR and other video source devices (right???).

So.... after long winding post, comes down to this question. What you folks think, 522 or 921?????????????????? I'm leaning toward getting the 522 now, and see how HDTV thing all pans out in DISH and later, sometime in 2006 move on to HDTV DVR from DISH, and most likely i'm thinking that 921 and 942 won't be around next year. But i hear the 522 will still be around.

Also i hear that DISH may release newer version of 522 that has larger hard disk drive to allow recording of more than 100 hours.

Lastly can somebody give me a straight scope as to what, if any, extra charges that DISH imposes on customer that is using dual tuner DVR? I hear two different stores. One is, you just pay $4.98 more for using dual tuner because the second tuner is treated as second room service, and that's it. And someone mentions that on top of $4.98 i have to pay $5 for the right to use DVR features (i.e. pause live tv, stuffs like that)? And if i elect to have my DVR connect 24x7 over phone line to DISH network then this $5 can be waived? So what's the real story here???

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jared Twomey]

Personally I would go with the 522 if you don't plan on hi-def anytime soon...
It does NBR and can do PIP and dual recording in "single mode"

As far as the fees,
you will be charged $5 for the leasing fee, $5 for the DVR fee (unless you go with the Everything Pak), and then they will also charge $4.98 for the second tuner, unless you have it plugged in to a phone line, in which case they will waive the $4.98

 

[SimpleSimon]

First, you are under several misconceptions, but do have some things right.

DP34 -> DP44. You got that spot on power inserter goes any place you mentioned.

If the 942 is based on the 522 as reported, then it will likely have/get NBR.

921 is NOT going to get NBR. And you are NOT going to lease one from E*.

As for 522/921/942 stability and such. It's all very dynamic. Sounds like you've researched it (good for you!), but maybe didn't keep track of post dates.

Nutshell: 522 is OK. 921 mostly OK - except for OTA and missing features. 942 likely to be as buggy as EVERY box E* releases. Give it at least a few months.

As for fees - you had it kinda backward. Birddoggy's post should clear that up.

Your biggest problem is that E* is still stupid enough to restrict existing customer upgrades. If you do something now, you're screwed for a year.

Overall, I say you should wait a while - see how the 942 pans out. If you're desperate for more DVR right NOW, pick up another 508 or 501 - they hold value for resale.

 

[korsjs]

welcome to the site. as you can see, two good answers were posted very quickly. visit us often and you will learn alot.

 

[bippi]

I think if you just lease, you'll probably not have any issue going with any of the options. If you were buying one...I'd say hold off for the latest and greatest. But, eventually, there will be a better one after that...and after that...and after that....

 

[sprintcarcrazy]

I just went from an 811 HD receiver on my main TV, 37in Sharp LCD to a 921. I considered the 942, but I was getting impatient and the 921 has been out long enough it should be pretty stable.

Although I have not got to use it alot, so far I like it alot. The SD picture quality is quite a bit better than the 811. It has some nice features and will work great for us.

I got it on ebay for $500 shipping included, new ! I will sell my 811, so my cost will be about $300, thats about what I paid for my 511 DVR on my 61 in Sony SD.

Also, the 811 had issues with the DVI, was fuzzy on my Sharp, so I had to use component. The 921 has a great picture with the DVI.

 

[gixxer]

Thanks everyonefor great responses!!!

I think i'm going to wait it out before i actually purchase any DISH HD DVRs,and in mean time as people suggests i'll do the lease and stay with no commitments.