Dish Network 612 Dual Tuner Hd DVR Receiver

Had this VIP 612 DVR and VIP 722 installed 2 week ago,the 722 locked up one time in two weeks, but the 612 locks up twice a day and freezes, have to kill the power and reboot everytime, customer service was no help, not happy with the 612, I hope customer service will resolve this one day.

Both DirecTV and Dish Network suck! It's a toss up to see which one produces the worst HD DVR receiver ... I've owned them all and so far as I can tell ... Dish Network has a better DVR receiver but that's not saying much.

The DirecTV H20 lasted a week and then was replaced with the newer H21 model which only lasted about 2 hours before failing!

Dish Network ViP722 which I currently have had since 9-16-2008 is still working up until recently ... it's starting to have some problems (glitches) which means it's probably going to crap out in a month or so.

Personally, I'd steer clear of all DVR systems and save yourself the headache and some cash but if your had to choose one ... I'd go with Dish!

Why Dish .... well .... five reasons ...

1. It's cheaper than DirecTV and your get more programming for your dollar.
2. You don't need 2x B-Band converters to watch your HD programming.
3. If you install & work on your own system ... Dish Network dish is so much simpler to point, aim, & troubleshoot than a DirecTV slimline dish (no math or calculations to perform when aiming for those Ka satellites ... lol).
4. Replacement parts are easy to get and there cheaper (plus they all match up ... unlike the multiple versions of DirecTV equipment out there which aren't compatible with each other).
5. You can scroll through the guide light years faster when comparing it to a DirecTV receiver (GOD there painfully slow!).

This is coming from an installers point of view :O)

I measured it with my Kill-A-Watt meter and this satellite box uses 40 watts minimum whether it's on or off. In a year that's 350 kWhr. A Kenmore model #44123 16.7 cu. ft. refrigerator uses that same amount according to the EPA's Energy Star web site.

There is also noticeable fan noise continuously whether it's on or off.

I hate to be picky but the HDTV, Recording and Power status lights are bright enough to be distracting in a dark room.

Let me start off by saying I am not in anyway affiliated with Tivo or Direct-TV. If you go to this system from a Tivo you will hate yourself, I wanted to go HD and 5.1. It was cheaper to go to the Dish network, oops! I don't even know where to start with this thing.. The frames frequently pause here and there during the worst times and you miss key moments in the movies(That's on all 4 receivers I have). The software format isn't user friendly as the Tivo was. Another example I set it to record a show in HD and it automatically recorded it on a different channel 4 days later in low def..wth! You can't even search for shows by time you have to scroll through all the guide(you can't just go to next week, you have to go through all the shows till then)..makes it very time consuming.
After paying $300 for 4 receivers I called them after the problem started the first day of installation they said if I wanted to cancel I'd lose my money and they take the receivers back to boot. This is just a scratch of the surface with the issues with this system. As soon as the new Tivo comes out for Direct-TV I will pay to get out of my contract to switch over. Buy this system if you want a bunch of headaches and no features like the Tivo has. I'm getting the new Tivo with D-TV when it comes out.

We own a Samsung PN50A550 Plasma HDTV. When you drive a "cadillac" you don't go cheap with the peripherals; you get good quality. Anyway, we have the DISH Total HD package; nothing but HD bliss. I ordered the 612 to replace the HD receiver that we had that wasn't a DVR as well. We couldn't be more pleased. Great HD/DVR receiver at an Amazon price. My wife loves being able to pause live TV and come back to it after breaks. She also loves to be able to instantly rewind show dialog that she didn't get the first time to hear it again. The DVR HD recording is flawless; no HD quality loss whatsoever. Highly recommend however please note the 612 is only good for one TV. DISH does have other HD receivers that will work for more than one TV in the house.
Should add that you can also rent on a monthly basis this receiver from DISH but at the low Amazon price that I was able to score this at I should have it paid for in a short time. The flip side is that if you rent and anything happens to it DISH will just exchange it. I'd rather own it and pocket the savings; why give it to someone else.