My first DVR!!!

[KAB]

As excited as I was when 8 tracks came out!!!!
Took advantage of the $100 522 upgrade offer (been a customer for three years) and actually got a 625. So far so good. Eveything working as it should. We did have to move the UHF antenna into and across the attic for our TV2 kitchen area location. Our family room where the unit lives was once a concrete walled garage...too much interference. Only slight dislike is the line output is lower than the old 301s, so I have to boost the receiver(s) volume. No biggie. Still playing with it. Toys, toys, toys!

 

[chaddux]

As excited as I was when 8 tracks came out!!!!
Took advantage of the $100 522 upgrade offer (been a customer for three years) and actually got a 625. So far so good. Eveything working as it should. We did have to move the UHF antenna into and across the attic for our TV2 kitchen area location. Our family room where the unit lives was once a concrete walled garage...too much interference. Only slight dislike is the line output is lower than the old 301s, so I have to boost the receiver(s) volume. No biggie. Still playing with it. Toys, toys, toys!

My reply was deleted when this thread was moved, so I'll post it again:

DISH's stock of 522s must be getting low. That's probably why they made the substitution for the 625.

I love my 522 (which is basically identical, except the hard drive, to the 625) as my user title suggests.

 

[digital echo]

dont forget the on demand is now on the 625.......which is useless.....lol 2 hours to download a movie...dont think so...lol

 

[DarrellP]

Your life will be forever altered, there's no turning back now.

 

[jp7794]

A lot of people will slam E* DVRs but my 522 has been great for a year and a half now.

Enjoy!

 

[bpickell]

The only thing I don't like about my 522 is the UHF remote, I have to leave the room my tv2 is in an walk down the hall to bring up the guide then I have to run back in the room and see whats on that page and then run down the hall hit the page down button, then run back in the room, etc. etc,.

Drives me batty. Oh and the stupid info screen that seems to pop up for no apparent reason.

 

[JonBlack]

The only thing I don't like about my 522 is the UHF remote, I have to leave the room my tv2 is in an walk down the hall to bring up the guide then I have to run back in the room and see whats on that page and then run down the hall hit the page down button, then run back in the room, etc. etc,.

Drives me batty. Oh and the stupid info screen that seems to pop up for no apparent reason.

What type of UHF remote is that??? :shocked

My 522 and 322 UHF remotes behave nothing like yours. My only complaint with my 522 was when the favorites went crazy and would not hold any info. Two replacements later I haven't had a problem since April....KNOCK ON WOOD.

 

[bpickell]

It says 6.0 IR/UHF PRO on the back

 

[bpickell]

I have seen on another post about people not having any range on their UHF remotes... Something about heat killing the range on these things.... However my unit is in an open cabinet and does not feel all that hot.

 

[KAB]

That's what I was experiencing. As I said, we coax'd the antenna closer to our TV2 location.

 

[magna_matt]

How did you get a 522 as a current customer?
I've called monthly for a little while now, and I only get the 510 as an available option. I've been a customer for over 4 years....and nada.

 

[KAB]

How did you get a 522 as a current customer?
I've called monthly for a little while now, and I only get the 510 as an available option. I've been a customer for over 4 years....and nada.

It is the current upgrade offer. Check the website. $100.00 installation fee (they call it a lease fee). Locally, the installers had no 522, so I got a 625.

 

[bpickell]

That's what I was experiencing. As I said, we coax'd the antenna closer to our TV2 location.

I would love to do that but the wall in my living room where TV1 is at; already has 4 coax cables sticking out of the wall. I really don't want to run another cable.

Any body have any luck with like a booster of any kind?

 

[KAB]

I would love to do that but the wall in my living room where TV1 is at; already has 4 coax cables sticking out of the wall. I really don't want to run another cable.

Any body have any luck with like a booster of any kind?

I had a coax/ant booster which we tried first. Little difference.
What's one more cable if it will make things right?

 

[SimpleSimon]

There's a couple of simple ways to improve UHF remote range without a separate coax:

• Move the antenna by using a short coax jumper and barrel connector.
• Use a better antenna - or make one. The instructions are here somewhere.
• If the TV2 feed is dedicated to the target room, use a pair of splitters to tie the remote port to the TV2 output and then put the remote antenna on the splitter at the other end.

 

[BobMurdoch]

Enjoy the new PVR. When I got my first DVR in 2000 it changed my life. No more running home to watch my shows (yes, we had a VCR, but we never seemed to have time to record it, swap tapes, etc.).

Now I go about my life and turn on the TV when I get some free time. There IS always a good show since I have dozens of hours waiting for me. The only danger? Avoiding the watercooler until I can see the shows everyone is talking about.

Suggested uses......

1. Save up a few weeks of serial shows like 24 and Alias, and watch a block of them in one sitting. Avoid the 1 week delay before you see the cliffhanger resolution.

2. Make sure to go "movie mining" and scan ahead to look through the middle of the night to see favorite movies that might be a little older and might not be on during daylight hours, but still would be on interest to you.

3.. Pad the timers for shows that are notorious for recording outside of their normal windows. ER always starts too early and Lost always ends too late. If you want to record Sunday shows on FOX or CBS, set manual timers until football season is over, as games running long screw up the schedule (unless you are on the west coast, where it won't be an issue)

4.. Record sporting events and start watching them 90 minutes into the game. Skip commercials and boring downtime between plays (the 30 second skip is perfect for jumping from 1st down to 2nd down, etc.)

Enjoy!

 

[Big Bob]

5.. Don't worry about recording shows that you don't watch. Just erase them. We have a number of timers that record every night that we rarely watch, but when there is something good on, they are there for us. We just do a clean-up every few days.

6.. Not just the water cooler, you sometimes have to avoid internet news sites that sometimes put the results of reality TV shows right on the FRONT PAGE, instead of in the story where they should be.

7.. Never consider your hard drive as permanent storage. Always assume that the show could be lost at any time due to hard drive failure, system failure etc.. If there is a show that you want keep, archive it somewhere else as soon as you can.

8.. Try out new shows every once in awhile. We became very selective viewers and now many of our favorite shows are gone. This is a good time of year to watch new things.

9.. Remember, it is only TV, so don't stress about it too much if something goes wrong. There will always be something new on tomorrow.

 

[bpickell]

I put a seperate amplified antenna on it and now I can change channels from the neighbors house. Thanks.

 

[Anole]

timer tantrums

I put a seperate amplified antenna on it and now I can change channels from the neighbors house. Thanks.

Talk about account splitting! lol !!!

As to #3, above, I learned something from recording six one-hour "episodes" of Fawlty Towers, all in a row.
Never assume they start on the hour.
Today, I set up to record a bunch of reruns of Firefly, and set a manual timer to cover the entire block!
Well, that, and I ran out of timers, too....
.