Yet Another problem with a V.I.P. 612

KyBluze

New Member
Original poster
Jul 17, 2017
1
1
East Kentucky
Oh boy. Second box in four years. First one just shut off one night and failed to turn on the next morning. Ordered a replacement. Fast forward 19 months and the replacement starts to fall on its face as well. First, it will record with no problems, but will freeze during play back. Then, it will freeze during live tv, now it froze last night and absolutely refuses to power back on today. The lights come on ( so did the first one ) but the screen is blank. I can hear the fan. Heck, every now and then I can hear the faint clicks and whirs of the data drive seeking/writing data.
It did come on once this morning but would only play live television, wouldn't pause or rewind and was only showing the guide for an hour at a time. I powered it off, unplugged it waited ten minutes, plugged it back in and now the dang thing just sits there with the blue and green lights on. Doing nothing.
Its plugged into an outlet that's being conditioned by an electronics protecter/ conditioner, and the history on the conditioner shows absolutely no spikes or surges, and .3-.54 ohms to ground.
I ordered a replacement box but am certain it will be the same. Work fine for a while then fall flat on its face again. The CSR ( IF u want to call him that, I don't but U can..) Was completely incompetent. Kept going over the script, ya know " Push the menu button " duh...the box won't come on. " push the T.V. input button " again, duuuuuhhh the box won't come on. " Try to unplug and replug the power cord" I did that BEFORE resorting to this cruel form of punishment. " Well..ummm...errhh uhhhh I can see if I can order you a replacement, but it won't make it there for about a week." Fine, take a week off of my bill. Or come and get the dish and the box. " Well, I can see about getting it overnighted to you..."
That's fine. That's why I pay for the Protection Plan and that useless surge strip the installer recommended. ( Installer was awesome. Service guy last year was a burn out and he and his partner wreeked of pot and cheap body spray. Their eyes looked like two rectums in a snow bank...
I noticed about a week into my contract that the box was almost hot to the touch, so I plugged in a beefed up X Box 360 performance fan and located it next to the breather holes on the right ( looking at it from the front ) side of the box neither one of the boxes were ever hit after that. Its really ticks me off that all of my movies ( about 14 pay per views ) that I had recorded to watch with my kids when they get back from their summer at Grandmas will be gone and not replaced. Also all the seasons of the shows we like are now gone and not replaceable. Irksome. To say the least.
I was with Prime star for about twelve years. And was with DTV after the switch and NEVER had a problem with the DTV DVR. I just got fed up with my channels always being rearranged in the packs...Maybe I should have stayed. Idk.
Is this still a common issue? I know it used to be a thing. The early days of the 612 were plagued by freeze ups and crashes as well as over heats. What's up with a company that distributes a known defective product and refuses to FIX the issue in the first place, but would rather give loyal customers the same old equipment that's probably been returned for the same reason in the past.
Sorry for the rant. And thanks for the great forum!
 
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I understand those 1965 Dodge Darts are giving trouble, too. ;)

Seriously, as stated, you are using particularly old equipment and any replacement will be just as old. Maybe you can get a ViP722K for free. Well, with a two year contract.
 
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A ViP722k as a replacement for a ViP612 would still have the same monthly DVR fee, whatever rate you were grandfathered at. (I know that because I just did that upgrade on one of my accounts earlier this year, due to similar issues to the OP's.) An upgrade to a Hopper 3 (or any Hopper) will definitely increase the monthly DVR fee.
 
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Well, you are using equipment that was manufactured nearly 10 years ago.

Your replacement will be a refurbished unit and who knows how long it will last, especially the hard drive, since that size hard drive (320GB) has not been made for at least 5 years.
Not mention it's mpeg2
 
A ViP722k as a replacement for a ViP612 would still have the same monthly DVR fee, whatever rate you were grandfathered at. (I know that because I just did that upgrade on one of my accounts earlier this year, due to similar issues to the OP's.) An upgrade to a Hopper 3 (or any Hopper) will definitely increase the monthly DVR fee.
But you get soooo much more with the Hopper 3, it is worth the added cost.
 
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No "real" NBR. No 4x. No shifting to HWS 2 when HWS 1 tuners are busy. ( Don't tell me it was meant for H3 16 tuners. They pushed it to ALL Hoppers!). S L O W operation.

God knows what I'll find when I can reconnect my Joey 1 and test it.

And there are other failures. CUI is a dead loss. I have NEVER been upset with Dish as I am now.

New subs that don't know what they've lost- wonderful. Long time customers that have appreciated so many features- too bad, so sad.

I may buy a Hauppauge or similar and start weaning myself off Dish. Oh WAIT! I might not be able to view those recordings made off HBO or Cinemax. GEE!
 
So now back to a question on the 612 DVR's...while I already know they do NOT do PIP like the 722's, DO they though allow you to swap tuners via the SWAP remote button???
 
Yes, the 612 can do swap, it has 2 tuners but only one output.
Not in my experience. That is one of the features I missed from the 512 when I used a ViP612, and I was glad to get back by upgrading to the ViP722k. In all fairness, the question was about the swap button on the remote. If the ViP612 is recording something on the second tuner, you can swap to it by selecting that recording from the DVR list, but that is a cumbersome and clunky way to do it.
 
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I may buy a Hauppauge or similar and start weaning myself off Dish.

There are always the VIP line if you want to get that stuff back. :devilish
Not in my experience. That is one of the features I missed from the 512 when I used a ViP612, and I was glad to get back by upgrading to the ViP722k. In all fairness, the question was about the swap button on the remote. If the ViP612 is recording something on the second tuner, you can swap to it by selecting that recording from the DVR list, but that is a cumbersome and clunky way to do it.

Yup. You can simulate the swap between two live (or two being recorded, or any combination of those) programs via the recall button, but that is indeed cumbersome if your last channel wasn't the one on the other tuner. If that makes any sense. :(
 
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No "real" NBR. No 4x. No shifting to HWS 2 when HWS 1 tuners are busy. ( Don't tell me it was meant for H3 16 tuners. They pushed it to ALL Hoppers!). S L O W operation.

God knows what I'll find when I can reconnect my Joey 1 and test it.

And there are other failures. CUI is a dead loss. I have NEVER been upset with Dish as I am now.

New subs that don't know what they've lost- wonderful. Long time customers that have appreciated so many features- too bad, so sad.

I may buy a Hauppauge or similar and start weaning myself off Dish. Oh WAIT! I might not be able to view those recordings made off HBO or Cinemax. GEE!

Are you saying the Hopper 3 is slow? I was just checking, because mine are certainly not slow by any means.
Have you ever used a Hopper 3?
Don't knock it till you've tried it :)
 
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