I'm 95% convinced that this 522 will never materialize...

[rolandv]

Think about it, they can't even get the simple function of Video Playback to work correctly. I think there's more going on here than they're letting on to.

I'm thinking that the processor is underpowered. But, since even watching a video with nothing else going on (no background recordings, etc) still has problems, this may rule out the processor theory.

If their next update doesn't fix the video/sound glitches, then DirecTV is getting a new customer.

 

[haertig]

With the old 1.69 software, my 522 was easily able to record TV1, record TV2, and playback a previously recorded event WITHOUT and audio/video freezes. Maybe a rare brief audio hiccup would be thrown in here and there, but nothing evern remotely significant.

 

[Jahntassa]

It'd be nice if E* wasn't proud..and could go begging to Tivo to build them a box... I've had the occaisional software freeze / hard restart on my Tivo, but it's also heavily modified.

 

[Hall]

It'd be nice if E* wasn't proud..and could go begging to Tivo to build them a box... I've had the occaisional software freeze / hard restart on my Tivo, but it's also heavily modified.

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Dish, but I do have a 522 and am very happy with it, faults and all. With that, The TiVo, from what I've read, is NOT perfect, nor close to perfect either.

 

[augustaair]

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Dish, but I do have a 522 and am very happy with it, faults and all. With that, The TiVo, from what I've read, is NOT perfect, nor close to perfect either.

I too am very happy with 522. It seems some 522's have more problems than others. I have more trouble with my 721 than my 522 and even then it really isn't that much trouble at all. I think a little patients will warrant an acceptable response

 

[rhasselbaum]

Either I've been lucky or just haven't used my 522 long enough. I've had it for about a week and have had no problems. VERY occassional A/V hiccups during playback, but it's so rare and so quick, I wouldn't have noticed it if not for the warnings posted here. Knock on plastic.

 

[itsonthedish]

You obviously haven't had the numerous sound problems with the audio synchs and drop outs...

 

[rhasselbaum]

Not yet, but there's still time. ;-)

 

[mrschwarz]

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Dish, but I do have a 522 and am very happy with it, faults and all. With that, The TiVo, from what I've read, is NOT perfect, nor close to perfect either.

Having both a 522 and a series one Tivo, the Tivo is a lot closer to perfect than the 522. It doesn't miss recordings, rarely hiccups and just plain works. This is without it getting a software update in a couple of years.

 

[cheezwiz]

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Dish, but I do have a 522 and am very happy with it, faults and all. With that, The TiVo, from what I've read, is NOT perfect, nor close to perfect either.

Well I have experienced the Tivo personally. I had modded mine to 135 hours. It was a series 1 Sony. It would run for months without needing a reboot or experiencing any of the glitches so common to my 522... If you are happy with the 522 in its current state, then you are certainly easy to please.

 

[ChrisCoop]

...I have experienced the Tivo...It would run for months without needing a reboot...

Months? :shocked

I feel really lucky if I make it through a 24-hour period without a reboot.

If you are happy with the 522 in its current state, then you are certainly easy to please.

Oh, you must be a cranky perfectionist, too.

 

[Sapient]

Well, put me down as one of those people who hardly ever has a problem with the 522. I've never had a recording miss. I think I have had the color drop out twice in maybe 6 months. The only thing that bugs me is a sound hiccup that lasts a half second and happens once or twice/hour.

For the price, the 522 is an increadble steal. TIVO costs, what, $13/month just for the guide for one machine? The 522 esentially gives you 2 DVRs for $5/month with a free guide.

 

[ChrisCoop]

TIVO costs, what, $13/month just for the guide for one machine?

Well, DirecTivo costs $5 a month for ALL of your Tivo units. You could have a DirecTivo on every TV of your install and still only pay a total of $5 a month. Now, with Dish's DVR program you pay $5 a month for EACH DVR unit. So if you have a 510 upstairs and a 522 downstairs, you end up paying $10 a month in DVR fees.

The downside is that the DirecTivo unit costs money up-front ($99?), but Dish will end up costing you a lot more than that in the long run if you have more than one of their DVR units.

 

[cheezwiz]

Months? :shocked

I feel really lucky if I make it through a 24-hour period without a reboot.

Which Tivo do you have? Not all are created equal. Plus, when I upgraded mine, I put in really good hard drives as well as a variable speed cooling fan...

My Tivo did run for Months at a time (2 was the most) without a re-boot. I had it on a 900VA backup so it never lost power...

I am not necessarily a perfectionist, but when the sound quits 5 times in a one hour show, that is a bit rediculous!

 

[cheezwiz]

Well, put me down as one of those people who hardly ever has a problem with the 522. I've never had a recording miss. I think I have had the color drop out twice in maybe 6 months. The only thing that bugs me is a sound hiccup that lasts a half second and happens once or twice/hour.

For the price, the 522 is an increadble steal. TIVO costs, what, $13/month just for the guide for one machine? The 522 esentially gives you 2 DVRs for $5/month with a free guide.

Your thinking on the Tivo are way off base there as Chris pointed out.....

Also, when it comes to YOUR 522, by reading here you will see that you are the EXCEPTION... not the rule....

Even some individuals who would flame me on making negative comments about their precious 522's and E* are complaining now....

 

[kwajr]

It'd be nice if E* wasn't proud..and could go begging to Tivo to build them a box... I've had the occaisional software freeze / hard restart on my Tivo, but it's also heavily modified.

welll tivo will need someone to buy them soon but they should have locked down the patnents better

 

[RBBrittain]

Well, DirecTivo costs $5 a month for ALL of your Tivo units. You could have a DirecTivo on every TV of your install and still only pay a total of $5 a month. Now, with Dish's DVR program you pay $5 a month for EACH DVR unit. So if you have a 510 upstairs and a 522 downstairs, you end up paying $10 a month in DVR fees.

The downside is that the DirecTivo unit costs money up-front ($99?), but Dish will end up costing you a lot more than that in the long run if you have more than one of their DVR units.

But would you really need the 510 upstairs if you have a 522 downstairs? Just hook the upstairs TV to TV2 on the 522. And depending on what functionality you're looking for (i.e., DVR functionality on three TVs), you might even need THREE DirecTivos to match the 522/510 combo--assuming you can even set up three DirecTivos (which would require SIX satellite inputs).

If you only need two DirecTivos, it'll take over 3 years (39.6 months) for the extra DishDVR fee for a 522/510 combo to match the price you paid for the DirecTivos; if you need three of them, it'll take nearly 5 years (59.4 months). Odds are, whatever you select will have to be replaced with a HD-compatible unit by then--unless it's the 522, E*'s only SD DVR with 8PSK tuning (i.e., the only one likely to be upgraded to MPEG4/WMP9).

Hey, I'm a little perturbed about the 522's flaws too. But what it needs is a few more REAL beta testers--not customers turned into beta testers like you and me. Get rid of the bugs, and the 522 is a great product...

 

[cheezwiz]

Hey, I'm a little perturbed about the 522's flaws too. But what it needs is a few more REAL beta testers--not customers turned into beta testers like you and me. Get rid of the bugs, and the 522 is a great product...

Hammer->Nail->Head!

 

[rolandv]

At this point in time, the Tivo wipes it's ass with the 522!

IF the 522 didn't have all these freaking bugs while SIMPLY PLAYING BACK shows, then the features it has would make it a winner. However, sitting here and having to deal with this crappy playback when I'm using MY FREE TIME to ENJOY a tv show only to be constantly frustrated is simply not acceptable.

I had a Tivo series 2, unmodified, with current software for a year and a half prior to this 522. The number of recordings were about 3 (due to the stupid IR adapter not changing the channel on the cable box). The number of times I can recall ANY audio/video breakup of my shows, ZERO.

Don't tell ME that the Tivo isn't perfect and that the 522 is acceptable, because that is ludicrous garbage.

The VERY FIRST time I turned on my 522 I knew there would be problems. When I was changing the channels with the 169 or 196 software version, whatever it was, the info screen would pop up on it's own. I KNEW the thing was buggy at VERY FIRST USE. BUT, at least at that time the PLAYBACK functioned and there was no audio/video corruption/dropouts. The worst thing was that after unpausing there was no sound so you had to goback 8 seconds and the sound was back. I could deal with that. Unfortunately, I didn't even get to enjoy that for a week before they updated to 2.0

For those of you who seem to be immune to the problems at hand, you must not be very heavy TV watchers/recorders. One of you even said, you only have 10 hours of recording.

These problems happen at random times, but I know for sure that if you are recording a show (Olympics for example) and then you try to watch it while it's still recording, you WILL have problems.

Sometimes I'll go a few hours without noticing anything and then I'll go "Hey, it's working" but 5 minutes later, same crap. This isn't how something is supposed to function. You're not supposed to be happy that it's working, it's supposed to work all the time!

Anyway, I'm done ranting. If this crap isn't fixed with the next update then I'm going DirecTV w/ Tivo.

 

[ShadowEKU]

I dont want to dissuade you... but i havent had a single problem that a reboot didnt fix. Ive had 2 problems and had te 522 for almost 2 months. I started on 1.69. I am an extremely heavy tv watcher as its on all the time whether im working on something or jsut watching tv. I have had to clear space about once every 2 weeks becasue the darn thing gets full and i dont want arbitrary deletions. My point is I watch tv very heavily and havnt had as many problems as other ppl. But I agree if the problems with yours arnt fixed i would switch as well.