Dish releases VIP922

[Nomo]

I just noticed today that dish network has finally unveiled it's new sling loaded HD DVR.

The good:
1TB of storage space. ( twice that of my current VIP722)

What looks to be a pretty nice GUI. ( they dumped the touchpad remote and simply went with a standard version programmable model)

Nice looking. ( better than the Christmas lights appearance of the 722)

Now the bad:
This thing is promoted as a dual tuner DVR. This would lead one to believe that it's dual TV as well.
Not the case. The slingbox feature, which allows you to watch TV on your IPhone (how exciting is that?) IS considered the second TV.
To boil it down; unless your second TV has an internet connection, you will not be able to watch recorded programs or live TV as with all of the older x22 boxes.

Stupid. IMO.

Looks like I'll be sticking with my 722. At least until Time Warner rolls out their dual TV DVR later this year.

 

[Rickster71]

Nomo, thanks for the heads up.

Do they mention anything about the hard drive, as in new and improved?
I held out hope for a solid state drive SSD.

Since the drives spin continuously, the mileage isn't so great.
We've replaced at least four in three years.
HD failure is my only complaint about Dish network. EDIT: Found a link http://www.dishnetwork.com/receivers/vip922/features/default.aspx

 

[Nomo]

Nomo, thanks for the heads up.

Do they mention anything about the hard drive, as in new and improved?
I held out hope for a solid state drive SSD.

Since the drives spin continuously, the mileage isn't so great.
We've replaced at least four in three years.
HD failure is my only complaint about Dish network. EDIT: Found a link http://www.dishnetwork.com/receivers/vip922/features/default.aspx

Forgot the link.

It's tough to find details right now.
My conversation with Dish CS ended after I asked about the 2nd TV situation.
I never even got to the point of asking "how much will this cost me?" Although it sounds like $200+ from what I've been able to find elsewhere.
I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to the 922.
Crash and burn

 

[Hi Ho]

SSDs are still WAY too expensive for that application. The only 1 TB SSD that exists as far as I know is THIS OCZ drive for a cool $3,799.

I have been through two hard drives in my 722 in under three years. It is not the fact that the hard drives are always spinning. My two PCs run 24/7 and I have NEVER had a hard drive fail. I have an old Fujitsu 6 GB drive that ran for 10 years and still works. It's not in use anymore but it never failed. I use exclusively Seagate and Western Digital these days. Hard drives can last a very long time in constant motion.

Heat can cause premature hard drive failure. Cooling is important. The hard drives in my main machine run at about 25 C in my case. I thought maybe it was heat that caused the Dish drives to fail so from day one I have had an 80mm PC case fan pulling the hot air away from my DVR in my rack. The DVR stays cool to the touch but that didn't stop two hard drives from dying. I think they're just using cheap drives. I'll bet there is a Maxtor or Samsung drive in there which have less than stellar reliability but they are cheap. I would love to open mine up and check but I don't want to void the warranty.

I think the 922 looks really nice but I won't be spending that much money to upgrade anytime soon. I too use my 722 to run two TV's but I almost never use the second one so I could give that up pretty easily.

 

[Rickster71]

Seems to suffers from the perfect storm, heat, constant use, and a less than quality drive.

I forgot to take my last one apart before I sent it back, to see what was in it.
It's true they do run hot. There is a menu option that I tried last year to check the drive temp. I tried it and the drive seemed too warm. I'll have to go see if I can find that option on the menu again, cause I don't remember the exact temp.

 

[Hi Ho]

I just looked and it is under Diagnostics. Go to "Analysis" and use the page down button to scroll. My drive, with a dedicated fan to pull heat away, is 109 F or roughfly 43 C average and 122 F (50 C). That is not hot for a drive. I'm curious what the temperature is for one with no extra fan.

 

[Rickster71]

I know I did the drive temp test last year.
Now it won't let me highlight the Hard Drive button. I have another 722, that one won't let me check the drive temp either.

 

[Nomo]

I just looked and it is under Diagnostics. Go to "Analysis" and use the page down button to scroll. My drive, with a dedicated fan to pull heat away, is 109 F or roughfly 43 C average and 122 F (50 C). That is not hot for a drive. I'm curious what the temperature is for one with no extra fan.

Mine is 134/107. No extra fan.