The 942 is HERE!

[satTV]

It's pretty can I have it?

 

[Altaman]

How big of a hard drive and how much recording time is the 942 supposed to have? If it's going to have vod wouldn't they have to have put a larger drive in than originally planned? Unless of course they plan on taking away recording space when they release the vod software.

Been thinking about this VOD "feature"! What if a person did not want VOD? If you bought the reciever, which also means you bought the HD inside what right does Dish have to take away drive space for their own use, be it from the original 250 gig or if the drive is actually bigger than 250 gig and they have reserved some of it for their VOD? You have paid for it and I don't think it is ethical to take space from what you bought or secretly hide space for their use that you bought. If there is 400 gigs in their you should have the right to use that for what you see fit, be it your own personal recordings or VOD. You should also have the capability to set the amount of space "YOU" want to reserve for VOD!

Alt

 

[Smith P.]

I think you answered most of them

What I've read is that the ota tuner in the 942 is a newer generation than the 811 and 921. HD PQ difference doesn't really change with the receiver, it looks the same as the others. But the menus are all 16x9 and prettier than the 811

I saw at Scott's pictures the ATSC tuner is the same as before: BCM3520 http://www.broadcom.com/collateral/pb/3520-PB04-R.pdf. What "new generation" you heard ?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Dish has always hid space on all of their DVR's reserved for only their use.

All DVR's made by Dish could have some form of VOD and it would not take up any space on your portion of the hard drive that you already have now.

 

[kevingilmore]

Got the 942 box today. After numerous fights i have everything working
however i have an hdmi issue. When connected to the sharp
lc45gx6u there is an audio glitch exactly every 6 seconds. Video is
perfect. Anyone have any ideas.

 

[VMsat]

My question is will the current recievers ie the 942 still work when they switch to MPEG 4 encoding? I understand they will start this in a few months.

 

[satTV]

I'm still waiting for Texas region to get them in so I can get my hands on one, and you guys have had them how long??

LUCKY!!

 

[srbigbutt]

I just got my 942 yesterday. They told me it was the first in Texas. I live in Houston. Love it so far. I'm new to this whole DVR thing so it was to good a deal to pass up.

 

[VMsat]

I'm a voom customer and have to change satellite companies because voom is shutting down. I'm conisidering dish network and the 942. As far as HD goes the only difference it looks like is that Dish has TNT HD and directv has UHD. My question is when they switch to MPEG 4, will the 942 still work or will I have to upgrade? If it won't work then there is no point in me getting this reciever. Voom switched to MPEG 4 about a month ago and their reciever was already compatible with MPEG 4. So what should I do?

 

[BFG]

They way both dish and directv will be handling the MPEG4 upgrade is this. Every HD channel that they have now will stay the way it is, so you'll continue to receive those channels while the upgrade is progressing. Any dish HD receiver you have will be offered an upgrade by dish anyways so it's not something to worry about. Once every HD customer has a new MPEG4 box is finally when the exisiting channels will convert.

and an FYI, voom never did change to MPEG4, they just started using an modified MPEG2 format with those harmonic or whatever they're called encoders. If voom ever did go MPEG4, a module would have had to been inserted into the receiver

 

[VMsat]

Okay, so its alright to go ahead and get the 942 now. What is your opinion as to the HD of directv and dishnetwork. The directv peolple told me on the phone that the dish network HD "is not really HD." I don't know what this means, probably just something to make me get directv instead. Also I don't know the future of these satellites programming. Directv already has plans and has announced the first regions to get local HDTV. Dish apparently has not said much about this, but they did buy the rainbow 1 satellite from Voom. So what do you think this all means.

 

[BFG]

everyone else says everyone elses HD isn't HD, it's quite funnyto hear them say it actually

I think D* and E* are a lot more even than people make them out to be.

It's a lot cheaper to go HD with E* (equipment and programming wise)

DirecTV is pushing the HD marketing very hard, but the channels they've been doing are all region based. So far I haven't seen them make any changes over E* that have effected HD viewers nationwide

 

[VMsat]

Just ordered dishnetwork America's everything with 942 reciever and HD pak of course. Hope this works well. I still can't understand why the largest nationwide satellite providers (directv and dishnetwork) do not have more HDTV stations. On voom there is cinemax HD, The Movie channel HD, Starz HD. I can't believe that Americans aren't wanting more HD. I think if they saw what HD was then it would be wanted and the satellites would be forced to offer more. I mean this is 2005. I also can't believe that my local stations are not in HD either. I also hope I made the right decision to go with Dish Network over Directv as far as more HDTV in the future, but who knows.

 

[BFG]

pretty simple. The premiums don't sell that many. Most people would rather watch a DVD on their time than be stuck to a movie channel's program.

Most people moving up from SD want to watch the programming they've been watching in SD in HDTV.

 

[shanewalker]

I did the same thing VMsat. Here's to fingers crossed that Dish and the 942 treat us ex-Voomers right. I'm excited to have a DVR (watching HD only when it's 'on' felt like a big step back, but the PQ made it worth it)...not excited at losing UHD and StarzHD, those were two channels I ended up watching the most ("Monk" and "Battlestar Galactica" looked great on UHD and StarzHD was the only one playing New Line films I dig, i.e. "Lord of the Rings"). Here's also hoping that those channels get added by E* very, very soon...May 1, anyone!?

BFG, I understand your point. I have an embarassingly massive DVD collection myself, and have been living without premium channels for 2+ years...but once I saw the flicks in HD, I had to have those premiums. All E* needs to do is offer Free HD Previews, market the hell out it, and show these folks what they're missing!

 

[seanb724]

I'm a Voomer that will likely go with Dish and the 942 as well as the last two voomers who posted, though I'm going to hold off a bit longer. My OTA works fine and I have a built in tuner on my TV so if I have no satellite for a few days/weeks it's not that big a deal.

I'm really going to miss Rush, Rave, and Equater HD, as well as all the HD movie channels. I hope all this content shows up on Dish reall soon!

I do hate the idea of getting a 942 now and having to switch out soon when mpeg 4 comes, but if the menu systems are similar enough my wife won't complain too much. She's always accusing me of changing things too often anyway!

/Sean

 

[Altaman]

Hummm...with all these voomers having to switch providers, do I smell an extreme shortage of 942's

Alt

 

[fenwah]

Hummm...with all these voomers having to switch providers, do I smell an extreme shortage of 942's

Alt

The only way I'm going to get a 942 is by winning it tonight in that candy/money in a jar contest. I think you're right...with all the Voomers having to find a new home, the 942 for existing customers (to lease) might not happen until late summer or fall. That's fine...I guess...I just want my 942 in time for football season.

 

[dlm10541]

Maybe I missed the answer on the 942 being upgadable to MPEG4. However the 942 data sheet says its software is upgradable via satellite and there is an unused Smart card receptacle behind the left hand door.

Could this mean it is upgradable?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No the 942 is not upgradable to MPEG4.

Yes the software is upgradable, but MPEG4 will be hardware based.