Rascal

Okay, I've been out of the loop with Dish and DVRs. Dishnetwork currently has a deal $99 for the DVR 510 for current customers.

Since all the search terms are less than 4 characters, nothing shows up in searches.

How does this DVR 510 model work? Is there any way out of the $5/mnth fee for it? I liked the earlier model that did not have the fee. What is the benefits with the fee?

I appreciate the help.

Mr. Salty

The only way out of the fee is to subscribe to the top programming package. On the positive side, the 510 is a lot less expensive than previous Dish DVRs that didn't have the fee, so the added monthly expense is probably a wash.

SOme of Dish's DVRs have been a little buggy. I have the PVR-721, which I love, but it hasn't been without a lot of effort on my part. I'm on my fourth one after three warranty replacements for various problems. The latest software update has a couple of frustrating bugs.

You might want to check the forum area of www.dbstalk.com, which has an area devoted to Dish DVRs. There's a lot of discussion over there, although a lot of the most vocal naysayers seem to just dislike Dish in general.

tonyc3742

Yes, if you could find a 501 or 508, they should 'never' have a monthly fee [riiiight.]
The fee is to some extent a 'because they can'. Every other DVR afaik has a monthly fee, so Dish decided to do the same. Ostensibly it will help them upgrade the software/featureset, and of course the hardware is cheaper initial outlay with the monthly fee.
I have a 501 and a 508, and while they historically have had problems reported in the past, I never had problems that weren't externally related [recording a program and having the house's power go out, for instance.]
The PVR features are rather basic--unless they've massively upgraded in the last 2 months, it's timebased recording, ie, if you want to record the Simpsons on Sundays at 8, you're actually recording Fox , Sun, at 8. If it's delayed because of sports, or if the schedule changes [as happens rather often on Cartoon Network] you'll still record Fox, Sun, at 8. That takes some getting used to, and I could deal with it when there was no monthly fee. If they're going to charge a monthly fee, imo, they need to upgrade the featureset to namebased recording [like TiVo or even the Time Warner DVR], where it records 'Simpsons' wherever/whenever it shows on the guide.
AFAIK, the 510 should be pretty much the same as the 501/508, with the changes of monthly fee, and hard drive size.

All that said, if you haven't gotten a DVR yet, and you are with Dish, I highly recommend it, even with the monthly fee. It will really change the way you watch tv. I never used to watch a lot of tv, but the DVR/PVR makes watching what I want incredibly convenient [also, my personal situation severely limits my flexibility with tv watching, so being able to watch this weeks The Office and Six Feet Under last night after 10 pm is convenient.]
Definitely go explore dbstalk.com, lot of good info, details and opinions re: the various companies and products.

Disclaimer: I was with Dish, and had a 301,501,508 [1 basic and 2 PVR's], until we moved and I couldn't get a line of sight. Now I'm back on cable, which I don't necessarily like, but I did get their DVR, which does offer name-based recording, and seems to have quite a large hard drive. I preferred Dish, however, and wish I could get a signal. Especially on our new TV, a 60" HDTV--HD signal looks incredible, but a lot of 'regular' digital cable looks anywhere from Eh to Yuck. But I knew that going in, and I'm only assuming satellite signal would look better.

Groucho

You need two coaxial cables running from the dish and a phone line?

Rascal

Thanks for the input. Without the fee, I would be very interested. But with the fee, I don't know what "extra" that provides from Dish. I did read the forums, and most think the basic features are not worth the monthly fee. and that feature upgrades are unlikely, either buy design or past history.

I was also disappointed in the fine print that I have to give up my current receiver to get this deal. I thought I owned it! I just checked the ad and it does in fact say "upgrade" in little font, so I suppose that's fair.

I did check DirecTV and they are much too expensive. So in the end, an extra $5 is still a deal. I can always give up the local channels use over the air.

Again, thanks for the input. It is helpful.

tonyc3742

True--when we got Dish, we initially went with them because the PVR didn't have an additional fee [we knew we wanted a PVR.] That wasn't the only reason, but it was a consideration. If you could find a used 501 or 508, you could use that and it shouldn't have a monthly fee [as long as it lasts.] But 508's usually run 200-300 on ebay currently. Which is a lot of monthly fees.

Would you own this new unit? I signed up under the Digital Home plan, so I'm going to have to return 2 of my 3 recievers [I own one of them.]

I don't know if this is an issue to you, but the previous models were single tuner only. I don't know if the 510 is single or dual. So on the older ones, you can only record one live thing at a time, and you couldn't record live/watch live at the same time [You could record live/watch recorded, however.]

Rascal

The 510 is a single tuner. The 712 is a dual tuner. I was interested in the 712 when it was first available, but it's still pricey. I'd rather invest that in a updated receiver or TV.

Mr. Salty

The 721 is being phased out anyway. I think the DVR-522 will have dual tuners.