my 622 DVR Upgrade story... Happy Ending!!! (so far...)

[gwhoughton]

I had posted a couple of new threads in the past 2 weeks or so regarding my desire to upgrade my old receiver to the 622 HD DVR. Well, I finally pulled the trigger and got it done, so I thought I would post the details of my experience for those who are having similar thoughts~

First of all, I was really worried about getting the work done directly through D network, as I have read so many horror stories about the terrible installation experiences many have had... I tried to find a local installer to do the job for me, but believe it or not, in a place the size of LA, I had a really hard time even finding a local "shop"...!! I looked in the yellow pages, white pages, the Recycler, Pennysaver, and Craigs List. Only found two places that seemed worthy of follow up. One never called me back, and the other wanted me to pay $125.00 an hour to do the install!!!

I even emailed the expensive guy detailed pics of my situation showing how easy the swap would be, but never even got a reply!! (thank god~)

Ended up just calling D network customer service and ordering the upgrade over the phone. I could tell the guy was foreign, but we did understand each other, and I didn't feel as though he was clueless~ I even called on a Wednesday afternoon, and they gave me an appointment for that FRIDAY (between noon & 5PM)!!!

The price was $149.00 with a $100.00 rebate ($49.00 AFTER rebate). I have since found out there is tax on the DVR of about $19.00 or so...

Anyway, the guy showed up around 2:30 or 3:00, and he was really pretty good... He unhooked my old receiver, hooked up the new 622, then climbed up on my roof & installed a new 1000.2 on the mast where my old sat was. After tuning it in from the roof top, he came down and set up the DVR for me, showed me the different signal strengths from the various sats & transponders (all over 50, but can't remember the actual #'s) and showed me a bit about the functionality of the unit. I got mine set up as a single as I already had a SD DVR in the bedroom & wanted to keep it that way.

Everything looked great, but I noticed I wasn't getting the VOOM HD channels, or my two RSN's (Prime Ticket & Fox Sports West). I called D cust service & told the guy I was America's top 250 & I should be getting those... He agreed and turned them on within 5 minutes~

Also, although I still have my Silver Sensor set-top antenna hooked up for OTA HD, I am able to get ALMOST ALL LOCALS in HD from D...!! Keep in mind, this is without even ASKING for them!!

I have tested out the DVR, & all seems good... I have recorded a few shows, set up and used the DISH Pass to find and record some movies, used the pause and jump back features for live TV, and used the PIP function~

So.... So far, all is awesome!!!

I do notice that the unit is warm/hot to the touch, so I just ordered a laptop cooler from Frys & will place that under the DVR to (hopefully) help with any heat related problems that might arise in the future.

I hope this helps someone out there who is worried about upgrading!! I don't want to "jinx" myself, but after all my worrying, my experience was WAY better than I ever hoped for!!

[daleb]

Now you need to get an external HD. Soon the storage on the 622 will just not be enough as you stuff it with HD recordings.

[gwhoughton]

Originally Posted by daleb

Now you need to get an external HD. Soon the storage on the 622 will just not be enough as you stuff it with HD recordings.

Already have two!! An 80 gig that I got some 8mm film transferred to, and an awesome 700 gig Seagate Freeagent...

Now I just have to see how this USB activation goes after the 15th, and I'll have to see for myself if the programs are really encrypted or not. I know that there will be some way to get the programming off the dvr and burned onto DVD's or stored on HDD... That's why I didn't wait for the 722, as I felt no need for the larger HDD...