Hey guys and gals. I'm a current cable subscriber in St. Louis, MO, looking to make the leap to DishNetwork.
I have a couple of questions about the ViP 722 DVR though. What is the guide on this bad boy like? Is it similar to the Tivo guides? When you record shows, does it group shows in folders or anything like that? Can you connect the 722 to your home network at all? Can you program recordings away from your home over the internet? Thanks in advance.
I will tackle some of your questions.
1) What is the guide on this bad boy like? I am assuming you mean the TV Guide. If not, please see the post above mine for the users guide. As for the TV Guide, it shows 1 1/2 Hours at a time, and approximately 6 channels on the screen. You can then scroll through your channels for up to 7 or 8 days. It can also have a preview window, which would allow you to see the current channel while going through the guide.
As for it being like Tivo, I have never seen the Tivo guide, so someone else will need to speak about that.
2) When you record shows, does it group shows in folders or anything like that? The 722 has many different "Sorts" available for the user. One of the options is to have the recordings sorted by title, so for instance, all of "CSI: Miami" would be in one folder while "CSI: New York" would be in another.
3) Can you connect the 722 to your home network at all? The only use (that I know of at this point) for connecting to a home network would be for the "Phoning Home" to Dish so that you avoid the fee for not having a phone line connected. It also allows for Video On Demand, though most people would agree that what Dish has on VOD is overpriced and there are no free VOD items.
4) Can you program recordings away from your home over the internet? This was something that Dish Beta Tested a little while ago. They had the test run for about a week (if my memory is correct) and then they pulled it as it didn't run very effectively.
Hope that helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.
Geoff
