Where to start...

[ocelot_ark]

Hey guys!
I'm new to Dish and PVR. I just moved in with my grandparents who have Dish. They have America's Top 180 hooked up in 3 rooms. I have one in my room. I'm WANTING to get one of the no fee PVR units and set it up in my room in conjunction with the NBA League Pass subscription I'm getting. I'd love to be able to "network" my PVR to my pc to archive the Mavericks entire season. I don't even know if that's possible, but man that'd be cool.

After some initial reading and browsing I've seen some guys talking about different types of satellite dishes and how they affect your choice in receiver choice. Is there anything I should look out for regarding this? Should I crawl out to the side of the house and check for a model number on my dish? LOL.

Also, while looking on ebay for various PVR models I've found that everyone is quick to point out that their auction includes a programming card. What is that for? The ones we have now don't even have cards. If I get one of these units off of ebay do I need to make sure it has a specific colored card? And what happens if I get one on ebay and there is a "Balance owed?" Will I have to pay the balance before i can use the unit?

Lastly, are there any deals with Dish where I can just contact them directly and lease one of these units? Preferably a no fee unit, but I guess one with fees wouldn't be out of the question. How much does leasing add on monthly?

I know...it's like a newbie bombardment. I just wanted to get you guys' expert opinions before I went out and spent $200 on something that wouldn't even work with my current set up.

 

[mwgiii]

The only DVR's with no fee are the 501/508/721.

For all others the fee is $4.98/month.

All 501/508/510/522/721 & 921 will work with either LNB (legacy or Dishpro).

The card tells your DVR which channels are authorized. You can get the Card #'s and call dish to see if there is a balance on the receiver. If there is, you would have to pay it to add the receiver, so do this before you buy.

Call dish and ask about leasing a DVR, I think the lease price is 4.99/month.

BTW, welcome to SatelliteGuys.

 

[ocelot_ark]

Awesome...thanks for the help!

I'll just have to try to explain to my grandparents why I need their Dish Network billing information...should be a breaze ;-)

 

[Frank Jr.]

Assuming that there is an actual DishNetwork receiver in your room (301/311) and your grandparents take issue with an upgrade to a DVR you can purchase a DVD Recorder or a VCR and set timers on the Dish receiver to activate the recorder to record or just sync timers on both. Just an idea. Good luck!

 

[ocelot_ark]

I just got off the phone with Dish. She said that I can't lease a unit because our account has only been active for 7 months. Seems kind of counterproductive...but what the hell. I guess I'm off to ebay.

 

[A_Noland]

Ocelot_ark, Welcome to the Forum.

also, in the classifieds on dbstalk.com I noticed there is a guy selling a Dish 510.

Check it out here.

In the Classified here Claude is running some specials on recievers.

Read about it here.