Was about to leave DISH for Direct. I'm not sure after doing more research.

[harshness]

there is 1 dvr fee per account, and any reciever after is $6 a month, dvr or not
the difference is each unit feeds 1 tv, so you would need 2 units possibley, for $12 a month
but they could both be dvrs and hd

The OP currently has four dual DVRs. This could feed quite a few TVs and on the DIRECTV side of things, that would mean at least two and as many as four DVRs along with the same number of HD receivers to get the same functionality.

 

[harshness]

Note of correction : Whole Home DVR is $3/month, not $4

Mea culpa. I still can't get over them raising the DVR fee.

 

[harshness]

I appreciate my WD green drive which works well with my Dish receivers and spins itself down rather aggressively, yet comes back when the receiver accesses it. My Seagate greendrive and my WD Caviar Blue, by comparison, never spin down.

I was speaking of eSATA drives used with DIRECTV Plus HD DVRs. The internal drive remains spinning even though it isn't being used and an external drive is always being used so it cannot sleep.

 

[whatchel1]

I was speaking of eSATA drives used with DIRECTV Plus HD DVRs. The internal drive remains spinning even though it isn't being used and an external drive is always being used so it cannot sleep.

I just don't understand why they defeat the internal HDD's on these units when adding an ext HDD.

 

[harshness]

I just don't understand why they defeat the internal HDD's on these units when adding an ext HDD.

There has been much speculation and whining over the last several years but no change to the policy. The only thing that's really important is that the limitation is widely understood.

 

[mdram]

The OP currently has four dual DVRs. This could feed quite a few TVs and on the DIRECTV side of things, that would mean at least two and as many as four DVRs along with the same number of HD receivers to get the same functionality.

thats why i said possibly need 2 units
he did not say how many tvs hes feeding
and i also indicated that all units would be hd
unlike the secondary tv from a duo unit

 

[Yespage]

Even when it is "off" the 722 still is on. It has been reported that th 722 draws the power of a 60 watt ligjt bilb 24 - 7.
Ventilation of these uniys was an after thought. If the unit is not out in the open, nothing on top, it will be ok. Put iy in an enclosure and u have serious potential for failire due to heat. Hence the fans

Ross

Sent from my DROIDX using SatelliteGuys

I don't think that is true. I think I'll need to do another test run with the Kill-A-Watt, but my initial test was to determine the wattage being used when everything was off/standby... and the answer was just over 50 Watts for the TV, Receiver, Blu-Ray, Wii, 722k. It is possible that at times when the receiver is in standby, it may use more electricity, but my initial test seemed to indicate the wattage varies.

 

[ronfelder]

The 722 "power off" doesn't really power off or go into a suspend mode. It continues to run pretty much at full steam. It draws around 50 watts even in "off" mode. If you go to the diagnostics menu and look for counters you can find the temperatures.

Look at this thread....

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-technical-discussions/59186-average-622-722-temperature-thread-yours-hot.html

More than a few "greens" and the Energy Star people are not happy about this. You may notice that Direct promotes their DVR's as being Energy Star compliant They actually power off.

All dvr's and actually all stb's ste on 24/7.They have to be how else would they record when you aren't there? Get guide updates, or software updates.Plus if they weren't on they'd never receive that on command from your remote.So I don't know how you can say Directv boxes turn off completely because they can't.
They might be more efficient and user less power but that's another story. I believe most of rhett heat generated is from the hard drive.It's always spinning and in use.

Ron

 

[ronfelder]

What doesn't make sense is that the Directv receivers can come back up and have buffered the last channel it was on... without using power? How is *THAT* possible?

And with the Dish Receivers.. I wouldn't be as pissed about the power, but they *dont* buffer! That means that the energy used in "standby" is 99% wasted for that 1% of its update needs. Sits there 99% of the "standby" time looking for updates to the program guide, triggered updates for firmware etc.. things that could be done at timed intervals instead, and not wasting full power

It's not possible.It's always on just as the Dish box is.

 

[ronfelder]

8 of those channels D* doesnt even carry
G4, Mav, Pixl, Veria, Epix, Epix2, Indieplex, Retroplex

Fashion TV is gone
Red Zone with D* they have been offering it in without ST in alot of cases

And these Directv has but Dish doesnt
ABC Family, Disney East, Disney XD, ESPNU, ESPNNews, GolTV, Smithsonian

Not including premiums.....so I guess it comes back to what channels you like in HD. While I would like TruTV in HD I'm not giving up ESPNU and my RSN in HD 24/7. But maybe your tastes are different

There you go.You can't get Epix on Directv.Maybe that's a channel her likes.

 

[pabeader]

why even 'turn them off"? that makes no sense to me. turn off the tv and go to bed. let the receiver worry about itself. only a small group of people 'need' to turn their receiver off, and they know who they are...

 

[TG2]

Even when it is "off" the 722 still is on. It has been reported that th 722 draws the power of a 60 watt ligjt bilb 24 - 7.
<snipped>
Ross

I don't think that is true. I think I'll need to do another test run with the Kill-A-Watt, but my initial test was to determine the wattage being used when everything was off/standby... and the answer was just over 50 Watts for the TV, Receiver, Blu-Ray, Wii, 722k. It is possible that at times when the receiver is in standby, it may use more electricity, but my initial test seemed to indicate the wattage varies.

First off .. do your monitoring with everything as it is... watch it for 5 minutes... then turn on *just* the 722k ... you might see that it uses 2 more watts ... certainly not more than 5 additional watts when the 722k is turned on.

Its been tested many times before, its been reported by multiple companies as having been 55 to 52 watts ... full power on, to "standby" power and what you're seeing with *all* of your stuff connected to the Kill-a-Watt in standby is the BULK of your standby power is consumed by the 722k!

http://stopthecap.com/2011/07/11/yo...frigerators-the-48-120-hidden-cost-of-pay-tv/
look under the picture ... 722 (yes, non-k but still!!) 55W fully on ... and 52 watts in standby ... a difference of only 5% (would you rather save 5% or 85% on your electric use for this device?)

It's not possible.It's always on just as the Dish box is.

Sorry, you missed my meaning my sarcasm ... what you're saying is exactly my point.. how COULD a Directv receiver buffer the last channel viewed ... while its turned off ... if it were not using nearly as much power as any other time ...

someone else suggested it was like an MP3 player.. to which I countered that its *not* like an mp3 player because MP3 players are dealing with static file content, not live feed data as is the Directv "always buffering" DVR does ... And since Dish does not buffer all the time ... then the sentiment is that its even more of a waste of electricity, since it sits there doing "nothing" in the "off" state but wait for you to turn it on ...

why even 'turn them off"? that makes no sense to me. turn off the tv and go to bed. let the receiver worry about itself. only a small group of people 'need' to turn their receiver off, and they know who they are...

do you leave your front porch light on 24/7/365? Do you leave all of your house lights on 24/7/365? There's a difference and an intent with those two options.. a porch light on, because you don't have a timer .. or light sensor to turn it on when it gets dark out ... is a user choice to keep power to a light that greets you when you get home and its dark out. Leaving *EVERY* light on in your house.. is analogous to the Dish or Directv receivers .... there is **NO** reason that they need to be on and nearly fully powered 24/7/365

• check for guide data
• check for firmware update
• record a show
• get a firmware update

ALL of those features can be accounted for by coming up from a very low power state, to the normal "on" power state, and then go BACK to a very low power state until the next "event" in the timer/state watchdog.

The point to all of it, is that most of us actively use these boxes 6 to 10 hours a day ... but they are running nearly full powered 24 hours a day.

From a rough dollars and cents point of view ... I have 3 boxes, 2 x722k, and 1x211k w/EHD. I pay 3 dollars a month for just one 722k to run 24/7/30 ... that means 6 dollars for two of them and if the 211k uses the same amount, that's 9 dollars a month in electric costs... or 108 dollars a year!

I could save 50% or more of that, given that my boxes are not needed 12 hours a day at full power ... that would save me 50 dollars in a year .. that's a month of regular Dish programming.

I just checked, its roughly 8 cents per kilowatt/hour of just distribution & supply (not counting taxes & fees) ... 150 watts per hour, 24 hrs, 30 days = 108,000 watt/hrs or 108kW/hr so 108 x 0.08286 = 8.94888 ... or $8.95 per month minimum based on rough 50 watts per receiver, and that's using the lower rate on electric distribution (the first 300kw is .040 per kw/hr and all above 300kw is .028 per kw/hr)

 

[Ozma]

Let's do some arithmetic. Draw of the 722 is 50 watts. Times 4 (for me) is 200 watts. Times 24 is 4.8 kilowatts.

My electric bill averages $255 a month (PG&E, Northern California). Average kilowatt hours per day are 32.8. So the "can't turn them off" DVR's consume 14.6% of all the electricity I use. So $37 a month goes to pay for poorly engineered electronics.

So why turn them off...

1. Money.
2. CO2 and all of that stuff.
3. The life of the device would be longer if it wasn't always on. A lightbulb drawing power 24x7 burns out much faster than one that doesn't.

why even 'turn them off"? that makes no sense to me. turn off the tv and go to bed. let the receiver worry about itself. only a small group of people 'need' to turn their receiver off, and they know who they are...

 

[mdram]

[*]The life of the device would be longer if it wasn't always on. A lightbulb drawing power 24x7 burns out much faster than one that doesn't.
[/LIST]

not always, theres one in california thats been on for over 110 years

 

[TG2]

not always, theres one in california thats been on for over 110 years

Yeah.. I was going to say also.. that lightbulbs burn out either at turn on or turn off .. that's because the electricity is changing states (adding "pressure" or removing "pressure"). Quick cycling of lights has proven to wear them out faster, and even florescents are said to reduce their life if you power them on/off a lot..

 

[Yespage]

First off .. do your monitoring with everything as it is... watch it for 5 minutes... then turn on *just* the 722k ... you might see that it uses 2 more watts ... certainly not more than 5 additional watts when the 722k is turned on.

I think it may be best to test it for an entire day. I may try that.

Its been tested many times before, its been reported by multiple companies as having been 55 to 52 watts ... full power on, to "standby" power and what you're seeing with *all* of your stuff connected to the Kill-a-Watt in standby is the BULK of your standby power is consumed by the 722k!

Your DVR Uses More Electricity Than Many Refrigerators; The $48-120 Hidden Cost of Pay TV | Stop the Cap!
look under the picture ... 722 (yes, non-k but still!!) 55W fully on ... and 52 watts in standby ... a difference of only 5% (would you rather save 5% or 85% on your electric use for this device?)

I'd rather save the most I can, but I have been nickeling and diming my electricity use for a while. Honestly, my electric bill has gone up (not a lot, but noticeably) since I got this receiver. May be coincidence, but the 722k may be it.

do you leave your front porch light on 24/7/365? Do you leave all of your house lights on 24/7/365? There's a difference and an intent with those two options.. a porch light on, because you don't have a timer .. or light sensor to turn it on when it gets dark out ... is a user choice to keep power to a light that greets you when you get home and its dark out. Leaving *EVERY* light on in your house.. is analogous to the Dish or Directv receivers .... there is **NO** reason that they need to be on and nearly fully powered 24/7/365

Maybe Charlie Ergen is just evil and is in on it with the electric company. When the box is on, it uses just 55 watts. That doesn't seem like a lot.

 

[satjay]

Wow I don't think I we have had such a deep discussion on electricity

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys!!

 

[TG2]

I think it may be best to test it for an entire day. I may try that.

default though for receivers is to revert to "power off" after 4 hours of inactivity.

Maybe Charlie Ergen is just evil and is in on it with the electric company. When the box is on, it uses just 55 watts. That doesn't seem like a lot.

yeah ... it doesn't.. until you think about what its doing.. at least the Directv boxes are buffering.. so you arrive home 5 minutes late.. you can turn on the box... and skip back up to an hour (or is it two with Directv like it *use* to be with dish boxes .. several years back Dish receivers would buffer 2 hours but now only do 1)

And in keeping with the lightbulb analogy ... leaving on the front porch light has a "risk" abatement to it.. but leaving nearly every light on in a house doesn't ... So say you had 100 lights in your house ... would you leave 95 of them on all the time? ... 95% of maximum energy usage or maybe keep 5 to 10 important ones on ... thereby cutting energy use down to 5 ~10% of maximum while you're not there ... And even when you are .. if you don't need light in that room/area.. do you still leave all the lights on?

Its the conceptual waste ... so even if a dish receiver went from 55 watts on (full power) down to 50 watts ... its only cutting the electric use by 10% .... while not doing anything of value. And in a multi-receiver home ... dish could have used their PowerLine communication, or even the coax through the LNB, to permit communication between receivers, set up a master/slave relationship, so one unit gets updates for both, and the slave checks in periodically with the master to see if the master got any updates ... when the slave is fully on, it could check the satellite for itself..

again just conceptual ideas on how dish/echostar *could* have done it, if they had made energy waste a priority to reduce.

 

[Dishman1978]

I feel like this should now be under technical discussion. My head hurts from reading all this.

Ill be back in 15, gotta go to the back forty and put pantyhose on the bull.

 

[Barry Erick]

I looked but found Root PT HD is only in the Premium package, which places it way above the cost of Dish.