Opinions on the 612 Receiver and/or another box to upgrade a 3rd HDTV....

[BobMurdoch]

OK, my 15 year old son just upgraded the TV in his room to a 32" Phillips HDTV. He's whining about the 510 receiver he is stuck with now, for good reason.....

I called up E*, but since I already have 2 other HD Receivers in service (a 722 and a 622) with 4 tuners, they won't lease any more to me, I'll have to buy one.

My son doesn't need 2 tuners in his bedroom so I'm thinking of the 612 as the most cost effective HD DVR receiver to get as I can get one from (shameless plug, your welcome Scott) DishStore.net for about $270.

He doesn't use PIP, and is mostly concerned with PQ.

He has one RG6 line going to the back of the 510 right now. I'm assuming we wouldn't need another line run (all LNBs and switches were installed 2 years ago when we renovated our house, so no old LNBs or switches to worry about) and can go with the line separator, unless this receiver only needs one sat input, I'm not sure.....

My commitment expires in two months, but I'm planning on using my upgrade potential on the new Sling Enabled HD DVR Receiver coming out in 1Q2010...... I can then move my Slingbox to my upstairs TV.....

Any opinions?

 

[KAB]

Your most cost effective solution would be to purchase a VIP211 which can be turned into a DVR with an external Hard Drive. You also would not pay another DVR fee per month. You would have to pay the one time EHD enabling fee for the 211. Note: EHDs are not interchangeable between the 211 and 622/722s.

 

[BobMurdoch]

A few notes....

I have the AEP so no DVR fees for me I believe.....

A 211 runs around $200 and a decent sized external HD is probably about $60-100 so it is about a wash. I already paid for the external HD capability on my 722 and 622, so I don't think I have to pay the one time fee again unless I'm mistaken.....

I didn't realize the external HDs were interchangeable.... That's a good thing in case I have to swap out my 722 for the new 922 I plan on upgrading to when it comes out (my 722 is plagued by audio dropouts on FOX and Viacom HD channels which I hope will go away with the 922). Can the HD connected to the 722 transfer to the 622 without a hitch?

Any other opinions?

 

[jdmacor]

The cheapest solution would probably be to feed a component cable from either your 622 or 722 to your sons room, and then work out the remotes (someone I'm sure could fill you in better). Of course, then he will have to watch the same thing as tv1 on whatever receiver you choose.

 

[bhelms]

Your most cost effective solution would be to purchase a VIP211 which can be turned into a DVR with an external Hard Drive. You also would not pay another DVR fee per month...

Echo that. I have both a 211 w/ 1T EHD and a 622 (no external storage yet). The DVR operation is identical for both and seamless. I actually use the 211 a lot more due to my current set-up and space limitations. One consideration - I do find myself on occasion wishing I had a second sat. tuner in the 211. There are many times I find something I want to watch while I'm recording something else. My only option is to activate the 622 but then I have to watch the real-time show or recording in another room...

 

[BobMurdoch]

OK, so it sounds like the 211 with an external HD is the way to go..... Anyone know what the current limitations on external HDs still are? I heard that as long as it is a single platter they should work fine.... Any more word on that subject?

 

[BobMurdoch]

The cheapest solution would probably be to feed a component cable from either your 622 or 722 to your sons room, and then work out the remotes (someone I'm sure could fill you in better). Of course, then he will have to watch the same thing as tv1 on whatever receiver you choose.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I want to keep a firewall between his content and mine..... I'd lose my mind if another block of Clone Wars HD Cartoons overwrote my unprotected recordings....

He can record to his heart's content on his drive as long as he stays away from mine....

 

[KAB]

OK, so it sounds like the 211 with an external HD is the way to go..... Anyone know what the current limitations on external HDs still are? I heard that as long as it is a single platter they should work fine.... Any more word on that subject?

The official word is 1T, though many are using 1.5. A 500gb will give him a little more recording time than a 722. WD's are most popular and seem to be up to the task

 

[bhelms]

Still 1 TB I believe officially. That's what I'm using. Got a WD My Book Essentials back in March for $100 at Staples right when E* raised the max. capacity from 750GB. Should be cheaper now. The MBE couldn't be simpler to install and use. I suggest you use tech support to help you activate it however, vs. the CSR you'll get if you call the number that appears on the screen.

The MBE is not designed for 24/7 use so be prepared for the inevitable crash at some point in the future. I figure it will have a shorter life than the internal HDDs in the DVRs that are made for continual operation. 1-time events will be lost forever. I have mine about 2/3 full at this point, an eclectic mix of movies, concerts, and some shows. I use it mostly for daily / weekly RW&Ds however (Record, Watch & Dump). What's stored won't be a big loss when the thing does crash.

When this one gets closer to full, I'll simply buy another. We can only connect one at a time but there is apparently no limit to the number we can use with a given receiver (or multiples of the same model on one account) once we activate the feature...

 

[BobMurdoch]

Thanks!

 

[TheKrell]

For what it's worth, I lease two 612's for our bedrooms and we've been very happy. We never used PIP, but we definitely do record stuff while watching something else. You can't do that with a 211.

You might try "upgrading" your old 622 to two leased 612's.

 

[KAB]

For what it's worth, I lease two 612's for our bedrooms and we've been very happy. We never used PIP, but we definitely do record stuff while watching something else. You can't do that with a 211.

You might try "upgrading" your old 622 to two leased 612's.

You are one of the few who like the 612.

 

[dodger72]

i thought the 612 could not do pip. if they can how do you make it turn on?

 

[KAB]

i thought the 612 could not do pip. if they can how do you make it turn on?

It doesn't.

 

[peano]

I would definitely go with a dual tuner. He will quickly tire of the limitations of the single tuner 211 with EHD.

I have a 612 and it works perfectly fine. There is also the 622 to consider. The last one I bought new on ebay was $180.