Dish Network ViP622 (200-hour DVR)
Manufacturer: Dish Network Part number: ViP622 DVR
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Dish Network ViP622 and 722 are among the most fully featured and versatile high-def DVRs you can buy today.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Dish Network ViP622 (200-hour DVR) price range: $475.99
- Reviewed by: David Katzmaier
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 04/10/2006
- Updated on:02/14/2008
- Released on: 03/01/2006
The good: Receives and records new MPEG-4 AVC programming, including local and other HD channels not available on older receivers; dual-output mode for secondary TV; can record up to three HD shows simultaneously while playing back a fourth; 30-second commercial skip; exceedingly quick response time; well-designed, highly customizable interface; search function includes history; superb remote; impressive image quality; USB port enables connections to portable media players and external hard drives to expand storage capacity.
The bad: Generally lighter selection of local HD and sports channels than cable; annoying interstitial PPV page; defaults to "all episodes" for EPG-initiated recordings; uglier EPG and menu system than TiVo HD and DirecTV; no built-in networking functionality.
The bottom line: The Dish Network ViP622 and 722 are among the most fully featured and versatile high-def DVRs you can buy today.
On the outside, the Dish Network ViP622 is a fairly staid silver box, measuring 16 by 3.5 by 13 inches and weighing 11 pounds. Its most prominent feature is a row of six LEDs on the middle of the face, which light up to indicate recordings in progress, dual- or single-mode operation (see Features below), and power on or off. The front of the ViP622 comprises three similarly sized sections of subtle clear-on-silver plastic; pressing against the rightmost section elicits a soft click and lets it swing open to reveal a USB port and a set of front-panel controls. These include the major menu commands found on the remote, as well as the only button that can switch between dual and single modes.
And yes, unlike many cable company DVRs and TiVos that aren't hacked, that skip key actually jumps ahead in 30-second increments, letting you quickly and easily avoid watching the typical 4-minute commercial break in exactly 8 presses (which takes all of 2.5 seconds). If you've grown up fast-forwarding through commercials, you don't know what you're missing in a true 30-second skip. We also loved the four scan-speed multipliers, from the 4X, which seems just right for brief bursts forward; to 16X for scanning commercial breaks; to 60X and even 300X for blowing through longer programs, such as movies, sporting events, award shows, and what have you. Responses to skip, fast-forward, and rewind commands were exceedingly quick.
Menu system, EPG and recording features
The internal menu system is the single most important design element in a DVR you use every day, and the Dish Network ViP622's interface is superb. It starts with an EPG containing program listings and information on individual shows. We appreciated the choice between three text sizes with or without an inset window that shows what's currently playing. Our favorite was "Extended with Video", which showed seven channels at a time along with the window.
You can create up to four custom favorite-channel listings to complement the three default lists: all channels, all subscribed-to channels, and all HDTV channels. That's a hearty selection when compared to most cable DVRs, which shackle you to one list that often includes innumerable channels you don't even subscribe to. The EPG goes out 10 days and is completely searchable. The search function includes any combination of genres (for example, Sports), subgenres (Baseball), and keywords (up to 17 characters; Roger Clemens juice) entered on a virtual keypad or by using the number keys like a cell phone sending a text message. You can even refer to a search history--unique in our DVR experience--to quickly repeat previous searches.
The Dish Network ViP622 also does a great job of organizing recorded programs and timers for upcoming recordings, although it has one major inconvenience. The main list of recorded programs is accessed by pressing the DVR key twice. The first press calls up an annoying interstitial screen that provides access to other content too, such as pay-per-view and attached USB devices. The list itself can be organized by date, genre, title, and other criteria. It can group similar shows together to save space, and it constantly displays how many hours of standard- and high-def recording time is available. Unlike with most DVRs, you can select more than one program to delete at once, so a massive DVR spring-cleaning is completely painless.
We appreciated the Timers page, which lets you immediately see all upcoming scheduled recordings for the length of the EPG and makes managing conflicts a cinch. The timers list can be set to display skipped events--those that won't record for whatever reason, whether because they conflict with higher-priority timers, because they're reruns or because you skipped the recording intentionally. In one of our favorite features, if a show gets skipped because of a conflict, the DVR will automatically search out and set up a recording of the next available airing of that same show.
Like other DVRs, the ViP622 can record all episodes of a program; only new episodes; just once on a particular night and time; Monday through Friday; or nightly. You also get options for manual channel/time recording, for extending start and end times and for setting a maximum number of shows to keep. Dish Pass records programs that match a keyword--actors or directors, for example--and like search, it's limited to 17 characters. One more nitpick: we wish the default for timer recordings initiated from the EPG wasn't "all episodes" because that often leads to inadvertently recording numerous shows when all you wanted was one. We like the automatic extension of sporting events timers for an extra hour, though, which is designed to catch overtimes and compensate for rain delays.
Dual-mode operation
Unlike any other non-Dish DVR we know of, the ViP622 has what Dish calls a dual mode to feed two televisions. There's a second, entirely separate set of AV outputs on its back panel, which send video and audio to a secondary standard-def television (TV2) in addition to the main HDTV set (TV1). Aside from saving multi-TV households from having to buy or rent another box, the TV2 option allows a viewer on the secondary television to watch any of the recorded shows on the ViP622's hard disk (HD programs are downconverted to SD for display on TV2). In dual mode, the ViP622's three tuners are split among the two TVs: TV1 gets the OTA and one satellite tuner, while TV2 gets the second satellite tuner. In other words, you can't watch live OTA programs on TV2. The secondary television even has separate favorite-channel lists, search histories, and aspect-ratio controls from TV1, and a user on TV2 can access most of the menu settings, with the exception of closed captions, without disturbing TV1. Dish installers can hook up both TVs when the box is installed, although TV2 also works with wireless solutions; we had it running with an RF Link AVS-511 transmitter/receiver, for example, and it worked great. As we mentioned, the ViP622 comes with a second, RF remote that can control the box at a range of up to 200 feet. The main disadvantage of dual mode, besides the fact that each TV monopolizes a tuner, is that a user on one TV doesn't get full control of in-progress recordings on the other.
Other features
At the heart of the Dish Network ViP622 beats a 320GB hard disk that can store any combination of 30 hours of HD programming or 200 hours of standard-def. That's identical to the capacity of the DirecTV HR20, and bests the 20 high-def-hours total of both the TiVo HD and than the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, a typical cable company DVR. The addition of external USB archive drives (see below) can increase the 622's capacity even further, and if the main drive doesn't seem like enough, the step-up ViP-722 can store as much as 55 hours of MPEG-2 high-def.
The ViP622 is the only current DVR with the capability to record three live TV programs--standard- and/or high-def--simultaneously. Only two can originate from satellite; the third is reserved for over-the-air (OTA) antenna sources. Call us TV addicts, but we found ourselves using all three tuners on numerous occasions, especially during busy prime-time evenings.
Like all DVRs, the ViP622 records everything you watch all the time, so you can always rewind to catch something you missed. When you press pause, it stays frozen for up to one hour, buffering the show in progress for later viewing or fast-forwarding. You can also watch any recorded program while the DVR records live shows. In the Sunday night example above, we could've started watching any of the three programs being recorded from the beginning or a fourth HD or SD program that was already on the hard drive, without disturbing the three in-progress recordings.
Other highlights include complete aspect-ratio control for both standard and HD shows; a versatile PIP that can display either live TV or recordings in the secondary window (a smaller inset window and two same-sized side-by-side windows are available, but PIP won't work in dual mode); a screensaver and automatic turn-off option; on-screen caller ID with a history function; numerous parental locks; and pay-per-view and video-on-demand services. The DVR can offload non-high-def programs to PocketDish-branded portable video players via USB. There's also a Dish Home interactive TV component that lets you pay your bill, view past statements, shop, read news bulletins, and check out special packages such as the multi-window viewer that Dish and NBC created for the Winter Olympics.
External storage option
In August 2007, Dish enabled the ViP series of HD DVRs to connect to external hard drives using the back-panel USB 2.0 jack. When a drive is connected--and you pay the additional one-time upgrade fee of $40, which covers all receivers connected to the account--you can dramatically increase the storage capacity of the DVR. The feature should be compatible with most third-party drives between 40GB and 700GB, and while the capacity varies with program type, in our tests most MPEG4 HD shows took up about 3.5GB per hour--adding as much as 200 hours of HD capacity for a 700GB drive. While some cable DVRs and DirecTV's rival HR20 offer similar functionality, it's usually unofficial and unsupported by the manufacturer or the cable company. TiVo HD, with its SATA expansion option, is the exception.
There is a catch with the ViP, however. The programs must be archived to the external drive, a process that takes hours for multiple high-def shows, although you can use the DVR normally during the archiving process. We'd much prefer the addition of a drive to simply increase the overall storage capacity seamlessly, bumping up that little "hours remaining" indicator at the top of the recorded programs list. On the other hand, once the drive was connected, we were able to play back any programs stored on it immediately, exactly as if they were stored on the DVR's main drive. The transfer with our test 400GB Iomega drive was flawless, even when we selected 10 HD programs at once, although we've seen reports that multiple-show transfers caused failure in some cases. We were also able to use more than one drive after cycling the 622's power; we ended up using one as a movie server and another for the odd programs we couldn't bring ourselves to erase. For more info on the external HDD option, check out Dish's PDF brochure.
Missing Features
Even with all these capabilities we have a wish list of stuff we'd like to see. It would be nice if we could control TV2 via IR blasters in addition to RF so that we could use TV2 with a Slingbox, for example. We'd like to see the Ethernet jack turned on, which at the very least could enable people who don't have a landline to order pay-per-view and other services. Speaking of networking, some sort of TiVo To Go-like functionality (something that doesn't necessitate buying a PocketDish player), remote DVR scheduling (offered by both TiVo HD and the HR20), or even network streaming of photos, video or music would be great. The HD purist in us would also appreciate an "all native" output format selection; at the moment, you have to choose between converting everything to either 720p or 1080i resolution.
Performance
Overall, the Dish Network ViP622 receives high marks for its image quality and speed. During our initial tests in early 2006 we did encounter frequent operational bugs and quirks, but after a series of firmware updates it has operated very smoothly for nearly two years of intense use.
First things first: we had no major problems with the image quality of the HD channels delivered via the ViP622. From the NCAA championship on CBS HD to the stunning Sunrise Earth on Discovery HD to the wacky selection of Voom channels, the ViP622's HD picture looked great via HDMI, which appeared slightly sharper on our reference Panasonic TH-50PHD8UK monitor than did component video. Yes, we noticed lots of variation from program to program and channel to channel, but it's hard to blame the box for that. Standard-def varied even more from one channel to the next, although compared to our experience with digital cable and DirecTV, the Dish ViP622 more than held its own with SD video quality. Update: After comparing the ViP622 to the DirecTV HR20 for image quality, we could detect no major differences in HD channel reproduction. Some of the standard-def channels on Dish did look slightly better than some of their DirecTV counterparts, however, but the difference wasn't drastic by any means. Note that we have not compared any of the new MPEG-4 channels between the two boxes directly.
We were also keen to compare HDTV from the over-the-air antenna vs. HD local satellite channels, and honestly, we were surprised by how good the HD satellite locals looked; it was quite difficult to tell the difference between the two. An episode of 24, for example, displayed the same detail in Audrey's hair, the same fine lines on the tie of Miles Papazian, the same tiny bursts of pixelation, and the same video noise in darker areas on both versions. The other three local HD channels in our New York City area looked similar to their over-the-air counterparts--but it's worth noting that locals in other areas might behave differently.
We also came away impressed by the Dish Network ViP622's downconversion capability, which is important for TV2 watchers and DVD archiving. We recorded a few episodes of The Sopranos from HBO HD to DVD, and the downconverted standard-def picture didn't have the issues we've noticed on some DVRs; in fact, it looked pretty good, significantly better than the same episode on the standard-def HBO2 channel. In our experience, the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD, a common high-def cable box, does an inferior job downconverting HD shows to standard-def.
Response time was also excellent. The ViP622 reacted to all commands quickly, programsfrom near-instantaneous 30-second skips to super-fast blasts through the EPG. Creating a new timer recording takes only a second or two on the ViP622. By comparison, the TiVoHD is a bit more sluggish on some screens (although it's certainly tolerable) and the HR20 moves as quickly on most screens, but slower when browsing the EPG and especially when you enable its 30-second skip function, which takes an extra split-second to jump each time.
Otherwise, we had few complaints about the 622's performance. Yes, the Dish Network ViP622 can get very warm--make sure your cabinet has adequate ventilation--and we often heard its hard drive spinning up over quiet passages while watching TV, but these issues, along with a few bugs, are common to all DVRs in our experience.
Update, September 10, 2006: The following sections were written before a series of firmware updates, near the time of the box's initial launch, but we've kept them for reference. After that period we've experienced no crashes or other issues, and grade the box as a very consistent operational performer.
The Dish Network ViP622 is still relatively balky and buggy, which makes it frustrating to use as an everyday TV source and prevents it from earning our Editors' Choice award. As chronicled previously, the first review sample CNET received froze up so often that we had to have it replaced. The second sample performed much better over a month of intense use, but it still evinced more issues than we noticed on the DVR 942, the DirecTV HD TiVo, or the Scientific Atlanta 8300HD (although we did go through two 8300HDs before a third worked well).
The most persistent issue was stutter during standard- and high-def shows, where it looked like the image was skipping a few frames or slowing down, then speeding up again. During the quick zooms into the money boxes on NBC's Deal or No Deal, for example, the zoom seemed to jump in the middle. This happened often and was mildly annoying, but it could often be fixed by switching channels or simply rewinding briefly, then restarting playback. The same solutions usually fixed the relatively common lip-sync issue too; we'd notice actors mouths moving out of step with the audio relatively often and independent of the channel.
Major crashes were less frequent, but they happened often enough to annoy us. For a total of seven times during the month, the ViP622 seized up and stopped responding to remote commands, eventually restarting on its own or needing to be manually restarted--an arduous five-minute process that would leave a gap in in-progress recordings. We also experienced an issue seemingly unique to the MSG network, a local standard-def sports outlet; the program would inexplicably jump all the way back to beginning whenever we tried to fast-forward (a frequent occurrence during tedious Knicks games this year). In one recent instance, the ViP622 seemed to forget all of the timers dedicated to "new" shows for a short period, which nearly cost us a Sopranos episode. Notably, this occurred on the weekend switch to daylight saving time, and the timers behaved properly the next day. We also experienced a warning message that said we'd reached the limit of active timers at 39, but when we later went to add more timers, we were able to do so easily.
We checked around to online forums such as the excellent DBSTalk.Com and discovered numerous people who've experienced similar operational issues. Dish seemed to respond quickly to people who reported major problems, often by replacing the box itself.
User reviews
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CNET is Right this Time
by robcode on November 25, 2006
Pros: second room, speed, great guide, Great HD
Cons: Somewhat flakey, occasional audio dropouts
Summary: Listen to CNET, not the peanut gallery here. I had TiVo from the bloody beginning and DirecTV's version for years. This DVR makes TiVo look like a joke. Especially ...
Summary: Listen to CNET, not the peanut gallery here. I had TiVo from the bloody beginning and DirecTV's version for years. This DVR makes TiVo look like a joke. Especially if you have suffered all the indignities of TiVo, this is a get out of jail free card. The review is right on in almost every aspect. People rave about the TiVo remote. This one is more complicated, but it's 10x better. Took my girlfriend some time to get up to speed, but it is well worth it.
Also, if you consider velocity, it's a hands down winner. We got 0 upgrades from TiVo during the 5 year DirecTV stint. Dish has consistently improved their offering, and left the door open to seriously blowing this thing away. If they enable the networking, and allow the attachment of a drive array, this would be a perfect setup.19 out of 19 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good picture quality - annoying drawbacks
by dj928 on September 4, 2006
Pros: Good picture quality when recording HD programming, 30 second commercial skip
Cons: No way to quickly scroll down through recorded programs, no way to quickly scroll forward when searching for programs, searching for programs not as user-friendly as Tivo.
Summary: I switched from Tivo/DirecTV to Dishnetwork. What I've found is that each side has drawbacks that could be easily rectified with simple programming - or if each system ...
Summary: I switched from Tivo/DirecTV to Dishnetwork. What I've found is that each side has drawbacks that could be easily rectified with simple programming - or if each system just took the benefits of the other. Tivo is overall an easier interface to use, but there were some significant drawbacks that Dishnetwork has solved. But, there are an equal amount of drawbacks that Dishnetwork could easily solve but have not (as mentioned above). Also, the 30 hours of HD space gets filled up very quickly - to my surprise. Once you start watching HD, you find normal programming to be very poor. So, I focus on HD recordings and am always full.
The second TV recording option is a pain in the rear. It's not like Tivo/DirecTV where it will just easily record 2 shows at once and resolve what to record by priority. With this receiver, you have to pick which TV to record to (TV1 or TV2), and you have to pick it in advance most of the time (when you create the repeated-program mode). It's hard to explain, but the end result is that I often cannot record a second program depending on what TV I am watching at the time I want to record the second program. My receiver does not record 3 shows at once - HD or otherwise - and Dishnetwork has told me only 2 can be recorded at once. But, the way they have it setup, I frequently cannot accomplish this.
Another huge problem is that the HD quality programming can only be viewed on one TV with this receiver. The output to the second TV is NOT HD! So, if your watching of TV programs is balanced between your living room and bedroom, you will not be able to enjoy HD quality on one of the TVs. Huge drawback.
There is a limit on outputs on this receiver as well. With my DirecTV, I could output an extra set of audio channels for my receiver (which helps with Zone 2 or 3 outputs on many receivers). As a result, I cannot listen to Dishnetwork music through my outdoor speakers or wireless speakers anymore.
I am considering buying a second HD DVR for my second TV so that I don't run into some of the above problems. The cost is significant, however, and it's very hard to find these for sale anywhere. So, I'm inclined to wait for another model or for more availability of this one.18 out of 21 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Do not buy this product
by Jumper42 on April 13, 2006
Pros: MPEG-4 is the only good thing here
Cons: over heats contastly
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP! I have had nothing but headaches with this equipment and Dish Network in general. I have gone 3 through 622s and all had ...
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS PIECE OF CRAP! I have had nothing but headaches with this equipment and Dish Network in general. I have gone 3 through 622s and all had the same problem, they all over heat. This box runs super hot to where it can almost burn your hand. First i had the box in my cabinet, that is well ventilated, with my receiver and xbox 360. All seemed great but after just 45 minutes of watching TV a screen would appear saying the box is running to hot and I need to unplug it to have it cooled off. Next I took it out of the cabinet and put it on a shelf that was completely open; now it only over heats every 90 minutes. I called Dish and they would send me a replacement VIP 622 "free" of charge. Well I received the new box with in 5 days and sent the old one back and guess what it still over heated. Heck this thing would over heat in a blizzard and Dish was so "kind" to charge me again, $300, for this. Talked to dish again about the problem with the box and they said the would ship another replacement, and yes they have charged me another $300 for this replacement even though it is supposed to free since it is a replacement. The only saving grace in all of this is the people at sprint they have put my ONE MONTH BILL of over $1000 in dispute. I have cancelled my dish network as of 4-11-06 and tried to ask for a refund on this equipment since it has never worked which they refuse to but I have to return the box or they will charge me the full amount for the box. I have put up with Dish for 7 weeks and thank god the local cable company is now in our area so these guys no longer have me buy the short and curlies. I would tell anyone interested in Dish not to do it, unless you are into S&M.
20 out of 35 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Amazing Box, ONCE they finally debug it....
by BobMurdoch on April 12, 2006
Pros: Mpeg4, Required for HD Locals from Dish Network
Cons: Audio dropouts, Flaky Season Pass-like Timers
Summary: This will be a great box once they stabilize the code.
As a subscriber from the New York City DMA, I can get the Big 4 Networks in HD. All ...Summary: This will be a great box once they stabilize the code.
As a subscriber from the New York City DMA, I can get the Big 4 Networks in HD. All but Fox are great (the Fox feed is full of audio drops that will have you climbing the walls and switching to SD mushyvision in frustration -- at least in my area).
Large hard drive, can be hooked up to PocketDish, a PSP looking portable player that can make your recordings portable. A USB port on the front makes a handy charger for you XBox 360 wireless controller users (it is always on as opposed to the 360 which kills power to the port when the unit is off).
Lightning fast guide scrolling (Tivo users will get whiplash). Two satellite tuners PLUS an OTA tuner for those within range of their local affiliates lets you laugh in the face of sadistic network programmers who decide to put all their best shows against each other (Sunday 9pm anyone?).
HDMI output or Components, your choice.... Both look good. Can be set to output to 480i or p, 720p, or 1080i. If you have a DVI input only on your TV you will need an HDMI-DVI cable (only standard RCA patch cords and a coaxial cable are supplied - no HD unless you spring for a cable). If you want to reuse your eexisting DVI to DVI cable, you can buy an adapter to save you from having to drop another $100+ on a new cable.
All in all a good box. The score jumps to 9 if they ever get the code totally stable.
Note: Filmfest, a Voom Channel only available on Dish has gotten the rights to most of the James Bond films. Mmmmm, Bond in HD. This box is the only way you can record it (unless you use the non PVR mpeg 4 receiver from Dish)10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great DVR!
by golfgal on April 12, 2006
Pros: Almost everything about it.
Cons: Video stutter once--I skipped back 10 seconds from a live recording, so it was delayed, and no more stutter. I rarely watch anything "live" any more anyway.
Summary: This is a great box! I've had an HD-ready TV for 2 years waiting for this MPEG4, HD DVR, and it's been worth the wait. I have had ...
Summary: This is a great box! I've had an HD-ready TV for 2 years waiting for this MPEG4, HD DVR, and it's been worth the wait. I have had no restarts, no lip-synch problems, and since I almost never watch anything "live," I only encountered the video stutter once, which was easily fixed as described above. My area has no HD locals through Dish Network, and I can get only PBS and ABC OTA in HD. I haven't encountered any problems in recording these two local stations using the OTA tuner.
I have read about the problems listed in the review, but I've not had them. I record at least 2-4 programs each day, and some evenings many more.
My Pocketdish syncs up nicely via USB and is a great way to play programs downloaded from my 622, play music, view photos, or play games. It's a great companion to the 622!Updated
I've now had this receiver for exactly 7 months. Still no problems for me. I use HDMI to a 61", rear projection, HD-ready TV. With the start of the new season of shows, I'm recording 2-3 programs per hour most weeknights, so more than ever before with no glitches.
My 622 is in a cabinet, but I keep the door open. It's in my basement which is cooler than the rest of the house, but I have never had any messages that the receiver is running too hot.
I still think it's great and am glad I have it!Updated
I've now had this receiver for exactly 7 months. Still no problems for me. I use HDMI to a 61", rear projection, HD-ready TV. With the start of the new season of shows, I'm recording 2-3 programs per hour most weeknights, so more than ever before with no glitches.
My 622 is in a cabinet, but I keep the door open. It's in my basement which is cooler than the rest of the house, but I have never had any messages that the receiver is running too hot.
I still think it's a great receiver and am glad I have it!7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I wish I would have known about the HDMI problems
by nwmtrmouth on October 17, 2006
Pros: It was a great picture while it lasted. The DVR is easy to use and the over all features are great.
Cons: The HDMI connect was lost after one week. The picture switchs to zoom on its own. Runs hot
Summary: I had issues getting the 622 installed but that another story. I have been with DISH for 5 years and decided to upgrade to the 622. I had the receiver ...
Summary: I had issues getting the 622 installed but that another story. I have been with DISH for 5 years and decided to upgrade to the 622. I had the receiver hooked up to our Sony 43" CRT rear pro. at first and the picture was ok. The tv was 4:3 and set up for 1080i but only had component cable hook ups. We purchased a Sammy HL 5687W 1080p and hooked it up via HDMI. The picture was out standing. The TV was everything the reviews said it would be. The picture in HD was amazing. WAS is the proper word here. The connection lasted 3 days and then went cows udder up. It didn't go all at once it would lose signal and a little shake of the wire would restore the picture. I called and ask waass up with this thing because I thought that it was an internal connetion of the cable. But the tech told me that it was a software problem.Now it does not work at all and we are back to component cables. Dish says that it will be a month or so before the can address that software poblem. But now I read that others have been waiting for months to have the same problem solved. I should have read the review and studied up like I do on all my other purchases. I am suprised that CNET rated the piece of equipment as high as they did, when this does not seem to be an isolated problem. This really sucks big time.
6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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DISH and the ViP622 Rock
by n6rw on December 29, 2006
Pros: Great picture and audio, supports two TVs and user friendly
Cons: Doesn't account for human delay when trying to stop fast-forwarding
Summary: Hello DISH ? goodbye cable. DISH rocks and the VIP622 and VIP211 receivers are great as well. I really liked my cable company, but for several years of trying to get ...
Summary: Hello DISH ? goodbye cable. DISH rocks and the VIP622 and VIP211 receivers are great as well. I really liked my cable company, but for several years of trying to get them to add at least one German channel for my wife, I finally gave up and switched to DISH. I wanted to switch to DirecTV because I was an engineer at Hughes Space and Communications when DirecTV was being developed, plus I own a fair amount of DTV stock, but they had no where near the foreign language channels that DISH had and no German. I was worried about getting the VIP622 and VIP211 because of all the negative comments on this forum and after reading somewhere that people in California had lousy reception on the VOOM HD channels because of the bad ?look? angle to an eastern satellite.
After digesting all the negative comments and noting that the CNET reviewer had a high rating for the VIP622, I decided to roll the dice and go for it. Because of the problems people were having, I decided to take the package that commits you to 18 months, but gives you a one month trial period. After a few weeks, I have no intention of ever switching away from DISH. I signed up for the HD Platinum package along with the Southern California local channels (which includes Prime Sports) and the German channels. Now I have 31 HD channels (including the NFL Network in HD) and even a free French channel (not HD).
Because of all the channels I wanted, the installer put up a DISH1000 antenna, which is a single dish that has four feed horns to support the four satellites I needed. The VIP622 supports two TVs ? a 50 inch plasma HDTV and an LCD standard definition (SD) TV downstairs in my wife?s office. The VIP622 is connected to the wall mounted plasma TV via a 25 foot HDMI that goes through walls by way of the attic (don?t buy HDMI cables at stores ? they are much cheaper on the Internet). The HD picture is 1080i and awesome. The SD TV gets its signal through existing coax from the cable company, so I didn?t have to add any coax through virtually impossible cable runs (the RF signal goes to the VIP622 and back out for the second TV on the same coax line). The quality of the SD is as good as SD can get. The remote for the second TV uses UHF RF instead of IR, so it works throughout the house- allowing me to place the second TV anywhere in the house.
The VIP211 is in my home office. While I was waiting for Santa to bring my LCD HDTV, I used it with a CRT SD TV. The picture quality was very good ? at least as good as the cable signal. Now that the HDTV has arrived, the HDTV picture (1080i) via the 10 foot HDMI cable is awesome.
The VIP622 has great sound output. It feeds my Bose Lifestyle 48 surround sound system and I guarantee that the theater experience has not been degraded with the VIP622.
The VIP622 and VIP211 both run cool. I don?t know why some reviewers complained about thermal runaway, but both of my units are slightly warm to the touch ? no where near as warm as the DVR I was using with my cable system. Perhaps their units were enclosed in cabinets with no possible way for heat to escape. My units are in cabinets, but not sealed in with doors.
One last comment about the overall system ? our digital cable system here in Laguna Beach had occasional drop-outs on some channels. So far, through two rain storms, there has not been the slightest degradation in the perfect signal quality on any channel at any time.
I cannot comment on DISH customer service. I have not had a reason to call them.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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50/50 at best.
by maddon11 on April 30, 2006
Pros: Beautiful when it works.
Cons: Work out the kinks first.
Summary: I upgraded from a flawless 522 to the HD 622 recently and had nothing but headaches since the trade. First, installer put up a Dish 1000 next to the Dish ...
Summary: I upgraded from a flawless 522 to the HD 622 recently and had nothing but headaches since the trade. First, installer put up a Dish 1000 next to the Dish 500 satellite dish. Now I have two sat dishes aside one another (looks like Mickey Mouse ears). Tech said that I would receive the best signal this way??? I thought the 1000 would take care of that. Anyway, first 622 worked for about 20 minutes after the Tech left. I called Dish, went through all the debugs, and after about 2 hours on the phone, the Tech returned, and stated the first 622 was bad. Five days later, the 2nd 622 arrived. So far, I had to reboot this 622 once due to pixelation and pauses! Arrhhhh! I am this close to switching to DirecTV. Dish did give me one month of free service for my patience. So far, 1 week, some twitching here and there, but nothing major. One more black out or pause, I'm switching the 622 back to a 522 or going to another carrier. Good luck!
5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Outstanding system
by rayabs on August 30, 2006
Pros: Super video and sound in HD, Great SD picture too
Cons: If using this unit TV menu, you have to pay for local channels to see what is on locally
Summary: I had been using an older Directv system for the last eight years. When I wanted to upgrade Directv wanted me to pay several hundred dollars for a DVR and ...
Summary: I had been using an older Directv system for the last eight years. When I wanted to upgrade Directv wanted me to pay several hundred dollars for a DVR and several hundred more for one with HD, plus shipping! I said no. I called Dish Network and ordered the 622 for a lease fee of $200.00.
This is a Outstanding system! I was surprised how superior the video and sound were in both HD and SD. Plus local channels that I received off an my rooftop antenna came in better too. Also, recording two shows at once is great and all the menus are cool and easy to use. Plus the remote works great, works with my other units and makes channel surfing easy. Also, this has a dual turner, so it can be used for two TVs (one HD and one SD ).This saves you from paying an extra $5.00 per month lease fee!
However, if you have a rooftop antenna and don't order Dish Network local channels, then you will not be able to see what's on locally using this units TV menu guide!
Also, like others said, this unit does get hot. I have my inside of a cabinet too. I solved this problem by using a PC whisper fan and placed it next to the unit. I powered it using a 12v d.c. adaptor. It has never overheated, even after over 12 hours of on time. The cabinet already had vents in it.
After I cancelled Directv, they called two days later. They said they wanted me back and would now offer me thier equipment for free! Too late!4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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If you're looking for problems-this is the right DVR
by Concreteguy on July 10, 2007
Pros: Great for Recording
Cons: HDMI Interface & TV #2 Software Problems
Summary: This has been a headache for me. First I purchased the product under the assumption that it was HDMI Ready based on thier Ads, then after a while I lost ...
Summary: This has been a headache for me. First I purchased the product under the assumption that it was HDMI Ready based on thier Ads, then after a while I lost my HDMI signal just like the other reviewers have commented- I was told it was a software problem on their part and that they are working on it, 6 Months later I'm still waiting on them to fix. NOW I purchased a new TV for room #2 and I was getting a very snowy picture. After talking to the Dish Netork Tech Department I was told that They have a software problem with thier equipment(again) and right now thier is nothing they can do about it. I asked to be released from the contract without penalities since I was sold on a clear picture and since they could not provide this, that I was going to be searching for a new provider. THey again insisted that they could not release me from the contract without penalaties. I am currently searching for an attorney to bring a Class action lawsuit against Dish Network for not delivering what is advertised and paid for. I have been aggrevated, lost of income waing for resolve and Tech's to come to my house, installtion payments and now the role of hiring an attorney. After reading the reviews I think I have a pretty good support group.
4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Dish Network
- Part number: ViP622 DVR
- Description: ViP622 DVR is the first MPEG-4/MPEG-2 dual satellite-tuner, single off-air digital tuner, multi-TV high definition DVR receiver, and includes multi-media features using USB 2.0 such as: transfer of DVR events to the PocketDISH Portable Media Player, load photos to view as a slideshow on a high definition television, encrypt and store or archive recorded programming onto any external hard drive.
General
- Product Type DVR
- Width 16 in
- Depth 13 in
- Height 3.5 in
- Weight 11 lbs
- Color Silver
DVR
- Video Compression Standard(s) MPEG-2, MPEG-4
- Instant Replay Yes
- Compatible Audio Encoding System(s) Dolby Digital
Personal TV Service Features
- On-Screen Program Guide Yes
TV System
- Satellite TV Type DISH network
- Tuner Qty 3
- Channel Coverage VHF:2-13, UHF:21-69, ATSC
- Multi-channel Preview Picture-in-picture (PIP)
Remote Control
- Type Remote control
Connections
- Connector Type 2 x Satellite antenna ( F connector ) - Rear, 1 x Remote control - Rear, 1 x RF input ( F connector ) - Rear, 1 x Phone line ( RJ-11 ) - Rear, 1 x USB - Rear, 1 x Network ( RJ-45 ) - Rear, 1 x HDMI output ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) - Rear, 1 x Component video output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - Rear, 1 x S-Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - Rear, 2 x Composite video/audio output ( RCA phono x 3 ) - Rear, 1 x SPDIF output - Rear
Product series
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Dish Network ViP622 (200-hour DVR)
Manufacturer: Dish Network
Specs: DVR, 16 in x 13 in x 3.5 in, Silver, 3, Remote control
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Manufacturer: Dish Network
Specs: DVR, 16 in x 13 in x 3.5 in, Black, 350 hour(s), 1, Remote control
Manufacturer info
- Dish Network
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Dish Network products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.dishnetwork.com/
- Address:
5701 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120 - Phone: 800-333-3474
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