Charlie Chat update for PVR + HD fans

[Ranger_Gord]

Well Charlie didn't show up (again) sent 2 of his PR types instead (you know the guys that hawk E* products at Christmas)

- all letters, emails, phone calls carefully screened so that no mention of "Thomson".

- 6000 will not work with Dishpro products (these products used for multisat/multireceiver operation) Caller was told to call Tech Support (good luck to the caller)

- complaint about record time on 501 - caller told 508 with 80 hours record time coming out. (I couldn't figure out math here as 508 to have 80GB hd)

- 721 to be released 110 GB hd, 110 hours record time, dual tuner, 2 lines in required

- 921 same as 721 except HD to be released 4th quarter - response to emailer " Fragile unit, do not drop" no mention of OTA tuner

- rest was fluff

[Rob]

And they won't be adding the second receiver fee with the 721 which can handle two TVs. If they go the same way with the moxi boxes I guess the multi receiver charge is going away in the US.

I thought it was a 120 GB HD? Isn't record time related to the compression used ?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

It sure is. Dishnetwork advertises the 501 at 35 hours, but BEV, which has lower compression, advertises it at 30 hours.

Most 5100 users report that the record time is closer to 25 hours. On the other hand, if you used it to record radio stations and their black screen, the record time would be much higher than 30 hours.

[jconnor]

It's amazing how quickly the drive fills up with stuff! Stuff that I probably wouldn't have recorded if I had to use my VCR. It's almost TOO easy to record programs now /forums/images/icons/smile.gif!

[Ranger_Gord]

I forgot to mention this the other day, but that's it for the 6000 design. Charlie has stopped upgrades etc. on the unit since it is incompatible with Dishpro hardware. He didn't say that he won't stop selling; just that design is now frozen.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>

It's amazing how quickly the drive fills up with stuff! Stuff that I probably wouldn't have recorded if I had to use my VCR.

<hr></blockquote>

I view that as a plus, actually. I deliberately record stuff I may never watch and let it get recorded over as needed.

That way if I'm watching more TV unexpectedly (home sick, wake up in the middle of the night, etc.) there is always a backlog of 15 hours or so to watch.

"Nothing on" never happens to me anymore.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I'm was thinking about purchasing a 6000. Does this mean that it will be obsolete when BEV goes multisat? If this is true when will this happen?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

All existing BEV receivers are compatible with multisat operation since all of Dishnetwork's are.

In fact, according to BEV, Nimiq-2 will be used to expand the HDTV offerings.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/Broadcast/eng/NOTICES/2001/2001-62/ctv-bell.doc