IT'S OFFICIAL NO FIREWIRE ON 921!

[markdl]

sigh... (shaking head)...

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Why, Mark? There is no reason to sigh or shake your head. Now that the news is out, people who knew, but were not saying they knew, are talking. I just got off the phone with a past source who couldn't stop himself. He spilled so many beans, I can eat off my floor for a year. There is more to this story and it will all come out. I can't wait.

Fact is, DISH has had nothing but a series of disasters the last 12 or so months and they just continue make decisions that only make matters worse. They have actively been lying to people who have called them asking about the firewire. Why not tell the truth during last night's Charlie Chat? Why not just come clean and apologise? No, they lie and lie and LIE and then issue a statement that has a big fat LIE. They cannot even be honest in their admission the Firewire is dead!!

They are a company that, in my opinion, has lost its way into chaos. They hate their own customers and are actively slitting their own throats. I cannot wait to drop them (and I never thought I would say that).

 

[davech]

Couldn't have said it better Matt. Time to "feed the pig!"

 

[tnsprin]

I believe I am going to ask Dish to take back my 921 and ask for a full refund. I purchased my 921 on the basis that it would do certain things. I have even been told by a few at Dish that the firewire code was written and ready to go it was just waiting for the OK from Legal before they could release it.

I am upset, as I believe all 921 owners should be.

...

Definitely a bummer. I have never been sold on PVR/DVR as such, but thought it might be a good way to screen programs before putting them to tape.

I have a old panasonic that I still use to place over the air programs to tape. Put its getting a bit erratic. I had a 5000 with hd/adapter but its now useless.

I was hoping the 921 would fit in replace all of this but now NO Dish equipment is available that will fill my needs.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Why the sigh Mark?

The news needed to come out. SatelliteGuys is here to help people make educated decissions on what equipment and providers are best for them.

What good would hiding this news from people would have done to the end users?

I would really love to know your logic, from the looks of things it appears you care more about Dish then the users who get stuck in messes like this.

I remember reading your glowing review of the 921 when you first got it, then when you found out others like me started getting 921's did you start to mention some of the bugs that you knew other would have mentioned. I guess I am confused why you are trying to protect Dish so much.

 

[gpflepsen]

Why, Mark? There is no reason to sigh or shake your head. Now that the news is out, people who knew, but were not saying they knew, are talking. I just got off the phone with a past source who couldn't stop himself. He spilled so many beans, I can eat off my floor for a year. There is more to this story and it will all come out. I can't wait.

I'll make it easy for you. Here's a list you can populate:

1)
2)
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4)
5)
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9)
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Go ahead and fill it out. Or just PM me, I'm a sucker for gossip

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

BTW I must add that I am getting lots of calls from my contacts, I am told that this news has caused "All hell to break loose" at Echostar.

I am told that a bunch of people were fired and I have been told more house keeping will be going on because of this.

I do feel bad about this, however by the same token, SOMEONE HAD TO KNOW THIS NEWS WAS GOING TO GET OUT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER!

I am also told that the decission to drop Dishwire was made about 2 weeks ago, with most people at Dish finding out about this decission last week.

The reason for the dropping of the Dishwire was strictly because of a hardware problem, not because of any threats of lawsuits from folks like the MPAA.

I still am upset about this news.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

BTW a good post from Mark Lamutt at DBSTalk about the problem.

Dishwire is dead. It's not possible to fix in the current generation of 921s.

I'm going to leave this thread here for a few days, and then move it to the Dish DVR forum because it's not a software problem, the developers can't do a thing about it, and it's an unfixable hardware problem without a complete redesign.

I do thank Mark for posting this.

 

[peallen]

I don't have a 921 but I would like to thank you Scott for making this known. One concern though, will you "leaking" this out hurt you in other ways with the news that you get and are able to share here?

 

[davech]

Did they fire Charlie? This all happened under his watch, and you can be assured he was directing the lies and dissembling that has been going on. Dish has lost all credibility on this fiasco. They really screwed the pooch!

 

[Mark_AR]

Dishwire is dead. It's not possible to fix in the current generation of 921s.

So that means that I and other 921 owners spent $1000.00+ for a boat anchor...

From that quote above, it seems to me that by E*'s own admission that they should be required to recall all the current 921's with a full refund to the customer 'or' replace the current 921's with something comparable that actually works. (An oxymoron in itself since there is nothing comparable and that works too)

-sigh-

 

[Mark_AR]

Did they fire Charlie?

Charlie is a puppet on a string. He may not even have a clue to what some of the things are going on in his own organization.

Its just another fine example of the head not knowing what the other end is doing....

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I don't have a 921 but I would like to thank you Scott for making this known. One concern though, will you "leaking" this out hurt you in other ways with the news that you get and are able to share here?

I have a large netowrk of connections who give me info. I talk to my sources and when 1 and 1 = 2 (Or better yet when 1 + 1 + 1 = 3) I report my findings. I also always give Dish a chance to officially answer. Its only fair to them.

I hold no alliance to any company and can get my information with or without their help. I am here to report to help you guys get the most bang for your buck. While I have met and am friendly with a lot of people at all 3 companies I believe they understand that I work for my news and report things as I see them, there are no hold barred, I report the good and bad.

Ultimately if a company does not want me reporting bad news then perhaps they should do things correct so there is no bad news to be shared.

 

[SimpleSimon]

So, it's time to consider what we should have the lawyers ask for:

1. Full Refund
2. Rebate for lost functionality
3. Replacement of functionality (e.g. USB 2.0 video output - maybe not possible)
4. Upgrade to 922 (or whatever will have IEEE 1394) - with transfer of shows on hard disk, or unlimited time to play off of the old one.

I think the choice should be the customer's any of the above.

In addition, I think Dish/EchoStar should be given a permanent injunction to prevent any future 'vaporware'. In other words, you don't announce it until it actually works. Period.

 

[Neutron]

DISH is incompetent. I got off the phone a little while ago from a CSR "Manager" who flat out told me DISH can do whatever they want and it won't violate their side of the contract. I'm stuck with a $240 bill that they didnt tell me about, and when I called to pay my remaining balance told me that my remaining balance from my last bill was all that I owed and my receivers would be released off my account. Then this shows up. DISH is very incompetent. I hope every 921 owner calls and DEMANDS a full refund for DISH's lie. DISH network is one big lie!!

Just wait until later when the Turner channels get dropped.

 

[Foxbat]

I just fired off the e-mail canceling my order for a DVR 921. My take is this: The only real advantage had over the HD Tivo was the IEEE 1394 ports and the ability to archive HD programs and make more room available for new HD timeshifted programming. Now, HDTivo's two ATSC tuners and the Tivo GUI make it a lot harder to justify the 921 unless Dish drops the price to $599 and offers refunds to current 921 owners.

And then I get all hot because I think, "Firewire is not new technology; it's been around for years! TI has been making IEEE 1394 chips for years! Apple has been putting into iMacs for years! My three-year-old Compaq PC has IEEE 1394 ports."

The 921 has been around as a concept for four years, a "product" for two+ years. In all that time, Firewire was always a "feature". Now, suddenly, it can't work. Is the CPU underpowered? Not enough RAM? What?!!?

BTW, Mark from AR, good Avatar!

 

[Neutron]

I switched to the SD Directivo from a 510 and I can tell you, the two tuners and the GUI sell it big time. The USB ports on it will actually work once the software gets updated. At least it isn't a hardware problem.

the 921 is a big boat anchor.

 

[smooth28la]

Another way to voice your concerns:

Mark Jackson
Echostar Communications
90 Inverness Circle East
Englewood, CO 80112
303-706-5035
email:
mark.jackson@echostar.com

Mark Jackson is the co-host of the TechChat.

 

[Mark_AR]

BTW, Mark from AR, good Avatar!

Thanks! I made that right after I got my 921 in January and started having problems with it. !protest

In hindsight, I would NEVER have purchased a 921 at all. I was sucked in by the HD 'and' DVR in one unit. !sadroll

The price we pay to be on the cutting edge is sometimes we get do get cut to the bone. Looks like this is going to be one of those times and you 'learn from experience'..... :river

 

[Neutron]

Thanks! I made that right after I got my 921 in January and started having problems with it. !protest

In hindsight, I would NEVER have purchased a 921 at all. I was sucked in by the HD 'and' DVR in one unit. !sadroll

The price we pay to be on the cutting edge is sometimes we get do get cut to the bone. Looks like this is going to be one of those times and you 'learn from experience'..... :river

You would think DISH would learn from their experience at making crap for products but you see the end result.