RUMOR SQUASHED - 921 HAS NOT BEEN DISCONTINUED

[JohnnyB40]

I am receiving a strong rumor from various sources that Echostar has DISCONTINUED the production of the High Definition 921 receiver.

I am also being told that the 921 will be replaced by the new 922 receiver, a receiver was has been rumored to be available next year. I am being told that the 922 release date has been pushed UP to December of this year.

Could current 921 owners get a low cost or free upgrade to the 922? That has yet to be decided.

MORE AS I HAVE IT.

Again this is JUST A RUMOR and HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED.

UPDATE

I just got an email from Jim Defranco telling me that the 921 is still in production. This Rumor has been squashed.

Seems odd though that Sears no longer will carry it? I just called and they said they have removed the product from there line up

 

[SimpleSimon]

Seems odd though that Sears no longer will carry it? I just called and they said they have removed the product from there line up

No, not odd at all. The lowliest buyer at Sears has more brains than any manager or executive at Dish.

My thought is that they simply don't want to deal with the customer problems they'd have if they sold it.

 

[David_Levin]

You notice they have just about evacuated all channels from the 61.5 sat .

Well, they had to - many of the 61.5 transponder frequencies were 'borrowed' and were turned over to Voom.

I'm not sure what they would do with Voom. That satellite can be very difficult to get on the West Coast. Seems like they'd have to go back to mirroring to 148.

Superdish was suppose to get them the needed bandwidth. Perhaps when the new 105 sat is launched. But, now that they're jamming locals on both Superdish slots it's going to be much more difficult to put HD there.

And, the loss on the two-dish locals issue is gonna cause them more bandwidth problems (though they should have predicted this).

As has been stated before, it's as if Echostar has been running without a Rudder ever since they blew off the plan to put 50 HD channels on Superdish.

 

[JMikeF]

As has been stated before, it's as if Echostar has been running without a Rudder ever since they blew off the plan to put 50 HD channels on Superdish.

I believe that the failed merger with DirecTV took the wind out of Charlie's sails. It seems he's lost interest. Dish will never get another dime from me on equipment. I'll be watching DirecTV and Voom and make my move soon.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

For what it's worth I heard from someone at Echostar yesterday who told me that the OTA guide is NOT dead for the 921.

I was told customers will see something by August 31st of this year.

Guess only time will tell.

 

[A_Noland]

Sounds like they are sticking with there orignal plan of summer. Guess that means we'll have it just before Christmas.

 

[the_tx_dude]

Sounds like they are sticking with there orignal plan of summer. Guess that means we'll have it just before Christmas.

Or we'll have by fall 2004 and it will be working by christmas 2005.

 

[BOTWHORT]

For what it's worth I heard from someone at Echostar yesterday who told me that the OTA guide is NOT dead for the 921.

I was told customers will see something by August 31st of this year.

Guess only time will tell.

I picture someone at dish with a switch that says:
OTA Channel guide activation switch, Do not touch until August 31st.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

The switch for the Firewire activation has been superglued shut.

 

[BOTWHORT]

The switch for the Firewire activation has been superglued shut.

Ummmm ... In here (http://www.eldon.co.uk) it nicely says to
email commercial@eldon.co.uk with your specific needs.
Maybe all you 921 owners should?

 

[zubinh]

Hi All

I am an idiot and new to this forum. Can you tell me what this OTA Guide thing is and why its so important??

Does this apply only to those who cannot get locals from Dish?

Thanks!

 

[SimpleSimon]

Hi All

I am an idiot and new to this forum. Can you tell me what this OTA Guide thing is and why its so important??

Does this apply only to those who cannot get locals from Dish?

Thanks!

It applies to anyone that wants HDTV locals, non "must-carry" locals (the little guys), and probably even other situations that I'm just too tired to remember right now.

 

[schmoo]

They might as well discontinue it.

Crap is crap...whether it is released crap or discontinued crap it is still crap.

I've been waiting since November for this and CSRs don't know anything. They give me three numbers for local retailers. #1 is radio shack (throw that away) #2 is out of business and #3 is a guy who insists that I switch to D* (which may happen soon)...good thing the E* CSRs are telling me to call him!

I can handle hearing about the bugs...I am a software engineer myself and understand what kinds of pressure companies put on development teams...it is the lack of communication that is insulting. Downright insulting....used car dealers are more honest. There are reams of posts about the firewire issue so I won't go there...but even regarding the availability of this system, the future of HD, superdish...even the Viacom dispute.

My only wish is that V* had PVR or it would be a no brainer for me right now. I respect and admire Charlie's tenacity at fighting Viacom and for fighting the Victory Sports scam in my local area that the Twins are trying to shove down our throats ($3 per subscriber rate increase for the ability to watch the Twins for all viewers in Twin Cities). I really do admire the guy...but customer service, communication is killing me. So much so, I am eagerly wanting to cut the cord...just do not know who else to go to that is any better right now.

Right now, I want HD. The 921 is perfect for me, but why can't E* offer us the ability to get HD now using current receivers with the option to upgrade later without having to throw away our original investment? Doesn't that make sense? Maybe I am too practical for these folks...but why not get your subscriber base on HD and collect the revenues you need to finish the 921 and offer to each of these subscribers a guaranteed trade in bonus as soon as the 921 is released? You lock your subscriber base, you generate revenues to finish your projects, you make your customers happy and everyone wins!

*sigh*...crap is crap and I am knee high in it...

 

[mattyro]

Why is a brand new company like VOOM able to produce a program guide that contains in fo for every single OTA hd channel in the country?? Are the people smarter? Is the equipment better? Is Echostar just a bunch of losers??//question 2 -- TIVO seems to get in bed with anyone who asks-Directv/Pioneer DVD recoders/Samsung PVR/HUghes PVR. Why doesnt Charlie say: "Help me produce a HD PVR that people will actually buy and be able to use.

 

[BOTWHORT]

Hi All

I am an idiot and new to this forum. Can you tell me what this OTA Guide thing is and why its so important??

Does this apply only to those who cannot get locals from Dish?

Thanks!

Hi, "I'm an idiot", you sir, are in the right place.
The 921 as of now will not show over the air guide info. The HD Tivo will. So for recording the 921 becomes a pain as you need to set the time a show starts and finishes. And you need to find ...well you get the picture.
Also OTA HD for those who can receive it is true HD and free ( if you record and skip the commercials!) so why pay for locals in SD just stick an antenna on your roof.

 

[zubinh]

Also OTA HD for those who can receive it is true HD and free ( if you record and skip the commercials!) so why pay for locals in SD just stick an antenna on your roof.

Ok let me get this straight. My favorite show (Star Trek Enterprise on UPN) is broadcast in HD. You guys are saying that the UPN feed from DISH will NOT be in HD but the feed from my OTA Antenna will be in HD???

What do I pay Charlie for?

 

[SimpleSimon]

Ok let me get this straight. My favorite show (Star Trek Enterprise on UPN) is broadcast in HD. You guys are saying that the UPN feed from DISH will NOT be in HD but the feed from my OTA Antenna will be in HD???

What do I pay Charlie for?

Dish (and DirecTV) LocalIntoLocal channels are all SD - they are copies of the analog OTA channels. It is simply NOT possible to provide HD LIL - the bandwidth required for an HD channel is around 7 times that of SD (uncompressed). If I remember right, with compression, they can stuff close to 10 SD channels on a transponder, but only 3 HD - give or take. I think they might be testing 4 HD on a transponder, but anyway, you see the problem.

Maybe someday they'll be able to get more birds up there, tighten the spot beams and do it, but that's years away.

Meanwhile, the only HD broadcast network available is CBS - and that only if you're "allowed" to have it based upon the various and sundry rules that I don't even pretend to understand. I got my multiple network feeds many years ago using a BUD and had no possible OTA. I'm grandfathered, but still ran into trouble recently - my ABC feeds were all pulled because of the lousy S.O.B.s at KRDO in Colorado Springs. So now, I'm stuck with them for my one ABC feed - a$$h*le$

 

[zubinh]

Thanks for clearing that up Simon. Now Ive got to find a directv installer who'll install an ota antenna as well. Any particular brands work well ?