When it works, nice.
Written: Jan 28 '04 (Updated Jan 28 '04)
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Pros: Convenient, the ability to skip commercials!
Cons: Can't record two shows at once. Apparently pretty poorly constructed pieces of equipment.
The Bottom Line: When it works, it's pretty darn great. But I would rather have DirecTV with UltimateTV.
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| sprint_sucks's Full Review: Dish Network DishPVR 501 System |
When we were telling our real estate agent what we wanted in a house, a free-and-clear south-facing view was a requirement. We compromised on the number of bathrooms, no central heat and air, but we did have that clear southern view.
And then DirecTV installation guy came and told us that the DirecTV satellites were more "southeast" and blocked by giant trees on our property and the properties down the block.
Bummer... I thought we were going to have to go back to basic cable. But my wife did some research online and found out that DISH Network had more satellites and were more oriented more to the south than DirecTV.
It had been several years since we had seen DISH Network in action. It had been slow and its interface clumsy compared to DirecTV's. But, it seemed like it was our only choice.
So we found a deal online and installers were dispatched. They said "Oh, yeah, no problem." and quickly added a dish to our roof and ran the wiring along the outside of the house. The dish was discretely positioned where it wouldn't be visible from the street. The wiring along the house was visible, but that was to be expected. I figured that we could eventually paint over the cord.
One of the things we were really interested in was the PVR. Record shows, pause live TV, skip commercials. Watch one recorded show while another was recording. Excellent.
So we had it installed in September.
One day in mid-November, we turned it on. After a few seconds an alert popped up and said that a "serious error had been detected" and directed us to call DISH.
We were able to watch TV, but we could not access the PVR functions, all the movies we had recorded off the movie channel were inaccessible and we couldn't record anything new.
So, I called up. They made me read the error messages to them, lots of apologies for delays as they looked stuff up. Finally they decided that the PVR was broken and that they needed to send me a new one. They told me it would arrive in 3-5 business days and that I had 10 days to call them and activate the new one and 15 days to return the old one to them. They include a postage paid return address label with the replacement device. If, when they received the one I was shipping back, they decided that it was customer damage, then they'd charge me $200.
Fine. The new one comes after a few days and I go through the instructions, but then I get stuck and have to call in. Turns out that there were two sets of instructions and the one I wasn't looking at instructed me at that point to call DISH Network again. So I ended up feeling dumb, but whatever.
So, we were back in business.
Until tonight (late January). The replacement sprung the same error on me. I had to go through the process again of calling in and explaining and reading things off the screen to them. Some of the stuff should have been completely obvious to them and some of the stuff they should have already had because I had to read it to them when I activated this replacement receiver. Again, lots of delays and apologies from the guy at the other end.
Ultimately, it's decided that they'll need to send us out a new one. And by new, I believe they mean reconditioned. So, in 3-5 business days I'll need to go through another 30-45 minute process of activating a new one and then I'll need to pack up #2 and then find some time to take it to a UPS drop off location so that it can go back to DISH.
Early in the call after learning this was the second one to die, the guy did note that he would send in a report to Engineering saying that it had happened to us multiple times.
At the end of the call, the guy asked if he could do anything else. I wondered aloud if he might be able to put a note on the account requesting that they send us a good one next time. Nothing. Well, my wife did start laughing pretty hard, but nothing from the guy on the other end of the phone.
If this happens again, I'm going to ask them to send me two of them so that I can have a spare to swap in when one dies.
So, we missed tonight's installments of the American Idol rejects and my wife had to watch a bit of Celebrity Mole to get her reality fix. *shudder*
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 50
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Epinions.com ID:
sprint_sucks
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Location: Seattle, Wash.
Reviews written: 108
Trusted by: 26 members
About Me:
Crikey.
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