What is the point of DVR on 211vip?

[DGRYAN1977]

I recently stumbled upon the fact that you can add an EHD to the 211 to make it a DVR. At first I was excited because I refuse to pay $200 to upgrade to a DVR. I know..dumb me for not taking it free when I signed up.
So after doing some research I discovered you cannot watch 1 channel while you record another. So that leads me to my question. Than what is the point of it?
The only point I can see is to record a show if you will not be home. Which would absolutely come in handy. However, most of the time the issue is that I want to watch one thing while my wife wants to watch something else. Sometimes there are two shows on at once I want to watch and cannot decide.
I know there is the option of OTA but I live in a rented condo and I am not about to add an antenna.

Can someone give me some good pros and cons?

 

[Mr Tony]

The 211 is a single tuner unit so if you are recording a show all you can do is either watch that show or watch something already on the hard drive. Since you mentioned not using OTA I'll leave it as that.

The one advantage of it is its only $7 a month on your bill versus $17 for a dual tuner unit. Also no DVR fee (the others have a $6 monthly fee for all DVR's on the account)
But otherwise you're right...its mainly used to record stuff while you're gone

 

[Juan]

I dunno.. to record shows while u r not at home maybe??

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys, you can catch up on recorded stuff while recording as well as the OTA option, look into rabbit ears if you are close enough as that would add another option.

 

[Lkr]

what was the point in having a VCR that could record shows since you could only watch the same show?

 

[DGRYAN1977]

The 211 is a single tuner unit so if you are recording a show all you can do is either watch that show or watch something already on the hard drive. Since you mentioned not using OTA I'll leave it as that.

The one advantage of it is its only $7 a month on your bill versus $17 for a dual tuner unit. Also no DVR fee (the others have a $6 monthly fee for all DVR's on the account)
But otherwise you're right...its mainly used to record stuff while you're gone

Wow! I did not realize there is a $17 dollar fee for a dual tuner!! Thanks for the response!

 

[Mr Tony]

yeah the dual tuner DVR's (if not the 1st receiver on the account) are $17 and can record 2 shows at once (again I'm ignoring the fact you dont use OTA)

 

[DGRYAN1977]

what was the point in having a VCR that could record shows since you could only watch the same show?

What is a VCR?
Just kidding..
Some how I remember as a kid being able to tape one channel while watching another. I could be wrong but I def remember doing it.
When I was younger I would record a band performance or something I would want to watch over and over. Now with youtube, that is not really necessary.

 

[DGRYAN1977]

yeah the dual tuner DVR's (if not the 1st receiver on the account) are $17 and can record 2 shows at once (again I'm ignoring the fact you dont use OTA)

I really had no idea. I do have a second 211 in a bedroom. I am wondering if it is worth the hassle of switching the EHD back and forth between rooms.

Thank you again for being helpful

 

[dfergie]

I really had no idea. I do have a second 211 in a bedroom. I am wondering if it is worth the hassle of switching the EHD back and forth between rooms.

Thank you again for being helpful

You could get a drive for it also & increase your recording options greatly by swapping...

 

[Mr Tony]

Some how I remember as a kid being able to tape one channel while watching another. I could be wrong but I def remember doing it.

yes you could

 

[Mr Tony]

I really had no idea. I do have a second 211 in a bedroom. I am wondering if it is worth the hassle of switching the EHD back and forth between rooms.

Thank you again for being helpful

You could get a drive for it also & increase your recording options greatly by swapping...

fergie
I forget, does he have to pay another $40 one time fee to activate a HDD for that 211 or is it a "one time" shot for all 211's on the account?

 

[Bobby]

Another useful thing about the 211 with EHD is that you can pause a program, to go to the loo or get a drink, and reverse, like in instant replay.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

A Vip 612 is a dual tuner DVR that does NOT cost $17. Its only $10 and it will Record one thing while watching live TV at the same time.
Adding a EHD as well is now no charge on the VIp 622,612,722. And they are all intercompatiable.

 

[dfergie]

Might be on the 211, the dvr EHDD options are free now..

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Some how I remember as a kid being able to tape one channel while watching another. I could be wrong but I def remember doing it.
.

You are 100% right, Atleast on the Model VCR's I owned.

You could record on one channel and still be watching something else.

 

[KAB]

FTR, $40.00 fee will still be charged for the 211, and covers multiple 211's and EHDs. As mentioned before, consider rabbit ears if you are close enough to the towers. Check at:

AntennaWeb

 

[MikeD-C05]

What is a VCR?
Just kidding..
Some how I remember as a kid being able to tape one channel while watching another. I could be wrong but I def remember doing it.
When I was younger I would record a band performance or something I would want to watch over and over. Now with youtube, that is not really necessary.

You could. You used a splitter for the coax from the cable to run one coax to the vcr and the other to the tv tuner. Viola! Watch something else on the tuner while the vcr recorded something else.

 

[reddice]

Don't know why they can't just release a 211 VIP with a build in hard drive. Not everyone wants a HD receiver with two tuners that count as two receivers when they can't run extra lines though. Also when you output to another TV the 722 VIP ext it only connects as SD. A signal tuner HD DVR would be perfect.

 

[Stargazer]

I thought it was $40 per 211 that you wanted to become a DVR by hooking up the EHD.

Here is how much somebody saves ... two 211 receivers = $7 (additional outlet fee / lease fee) vs. $7 if you only have a 722 on your account. You don't save anything going that route. Now if you are adding additional receivers to the account then you pay $7 for the second and $7 for the third 211 receiver which is a total of $14. You save $3 per month. With the $40 fee it would take around a year to make up for the fee. Not really saving anything. There is an advantage to using 211's in this manner. You would have HD at each television and you dont have to worry about hard drive failure and having to return the whole receiver to Dish Network as a result and so forth. You would have to run one wire to each receiver though but you would have to run a wire to the other room anyways from a dual tuner receiver if you had a 722. The bad thing about the 211 is that you only record one thing at a time. If you program the other 211 to record something as well you would have to go into the other room to watch it unless you wired your house up a certain way to watch the show from another room in there.