Explore the Nikon D5100 HD-SLR.Dish Network ViP722
Manufacturer: Dish Network Part number: VIP722
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- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
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- 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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CNET editors' review
Dish Network ViP722 price range: $414.98
- Reviewed by: David Katzmaier
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 02/19/2008
- Released on: 08/15/2007
The good: High capacity; 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 pay-per-view 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.
Editors' note: We did not review the ViP722, but we did review the ViP622, which is identical but for hard-drive capacity and color. The black 722 can store 55 hours of high-definition content, while the silver 622 can store 30 hours. The review below, the rating and the Editors' Choice award are based on the original ViP622 review, and we assume the 722 will deliver an identical experience except for the differences noted above. Note that we're reviewing the hardware only; our choice is not affected by programming differences between Dish, DirecTV, or cable, although prospective buyers should certainly consider programming as well. For more information, check out our guide to satellite HD programming.
As the most advanced piece of electronics in many home-theater systems, a high-definition digital video recorder (DVR) has the potential to be the most satisfying--or frustrating--entertainment device you'll ever use. The Dish Network ViP622 has even more going on under the hood than most DVRs. When it launched in early 2006, it was the first DVR that could receive and record both standard MPEG-2 and newfangled MPEG-4 HD satellite broadcasts, which include the local high-def affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC available in most metropolitan areas. Both Dish Network and rival DirecTV have moved to MPEG-4 and cable companies are following suit at a slower pace.
After living with the Dish Network ViP622 for for nearly two years, we can say that it does just about everything right, and after some initial bugs, since remedied by firmware updates, it has performed smoothly with nary a glitch. If you're a Dish subscriber with an HDTV, getting a ViP622 or its larger-capacity cousin, the ViP722, is a no-brainer. And if you're sick of cable company DVRs, don't demand the most-comprehensive local HD and sports programming, and don't love DirecTV's expanded high-def programming or the TiVo HD's additional fees and networking capabilities, the capabilities of the ViP series of DVRs makes getting a Dish subscription downright tempting. DesignOn the outside, the Dish Network ViP622 is a fairly staid silver box, measuring 16x3.5x13 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 the Features section 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.
Dish's remotes have always been exemplary, and the two nearly identical-looking clickers included with the ViP622 offer the best DVR control experience of any remote we've used. The second remote is for dual mode and is differentiated by a blue plastic swatch versus the main remote's green. Although they aren't backlit, the keys are so well laid out that we found ourselves working by feel after only a few minutes. Three distinct button groups are instantly recognizable: the top one with blue keys for menu operation and browsing the EPG, the central one with multicolored DVR transport controls such as skip and fast-forward, and the bottom one with a gray numeric keypad. The central group naturally attracts the thumb with its circular pause key, which serves as the perfect base for hitting forward-skip, fast-forward, and play, the three favorite buttons of commercial skippers everywhere.
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 listings 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 over-the-air (OTA) broadcast 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 many 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 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 as long as 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.
The back panel of the Dish Network ViP622 naturally includes all of the you'll need for today's HDTV sets, and unlike with many cable box outputs, they're all active and ready to go. All outputs are also simultaneous; for example, you can hook up two HDTVs, one via component video and the other via HDMI, simultaneously. TV1 gets an HDMI output, a component-video output, an S-Video output, a composite-video output, an analog stereo output, and an optical digital output. There's an additional composite-video output with stereo audio, as well as a screw-type RF output, both of which send separate AV signals to TV2 when dual mode is engaged. The back panel also has the requisite satellite inputs, an ATSC antenna input, a jack to connect the RF antenna for TV2's remote, a telephone jack for ordering pay-per-view and enabling onscreen caller ID when the phone rings (it worked fine with our Vonage account), and USB and Ethernet ports reserved for future use. There's still no use for Ethernet on the ViP622 as of February 2008.
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 MPEG-4 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 content 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 versus 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, programs from near-instantaneous 30-second skips to superfast blasts through the EPG. Creating a new timer recording takes only a second or two on the ViP622. By comparison, the TiVo HD 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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This is an incredible product.
by phrelin on October 5, 2007
Pros: Excellent quality picture; sufficient HD channel choices!
Cons: Setup a bit more difficult than described.
Summary: Since writing our previous review (under the ViP622), we've had a bit more time. And guess what, we had to have them send a replacement 722 because a minor ...
Summary: Since writing our previous review (under the ViP622), we've had a bit more time. And guess what, we had to have them send a replacement 722 because a minor hardware problem - we started getting a "jumping freeze frame" with normal audio. But their tech support has been great, so we are not downgrading our rating.
The HD picture is incredible. And, in fact, we just watched the new Law & Order CI on USA - non-HD but wide screen and the picture was incredibly clear for digital standard definition TV compared to our older Dish receiver-recorders we still use.
Also, we added a Western Digital MyBook Essential 750GB External Hard Drive which expands the storage capacity of the system to what appears to be about 100 HD movies. (If you choose to do this, do not buy the MyBook Premium Edition as it has some nifty things you might want for your computer, but not for this use).
Here's our original review:
We have been Echostar (Dish Network's parent company) satellite TV service customers since 1988. The company tries to provide, and generally succeeds in providing, adequate, competitive service. Based on our own experience when we had two homes plus on the experience of friends and family, Dish Network's service is on a par with, if not better than, cable service and DirectTV. Keep in mind for any of them: "sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't."
With that said, we did not leap into Dish HD even though we've had a 42 inch HD plasma tv since 2003. The reason was simple, we live in the Redwoods and most of the initial Dish HD signals were on satellites we cannot "see." (The satellite companies are clear - lacking an unobstructed "southern sky" view can be a problem for service, a problem not found in cable service.) We still cannot get some of the HD service we theoretically are paying for because of this. But almost every HD feed we'd like to see we now can. (We also waited a few months for the release of the ViP722 because it is black as are the other components in our home theater system.)
Since we were adding to our Dish Network Standard Definition service (keeping our existing two receiver/recorders active) , we knew what we were getting into. If you are new to satellite TV browse the links at http://www.dbstalk.com/ and particularly the Dish Network info at http://ekb.dbstalk.com/
Things went pretty much as expected. We called the Dish Network number and explained we wanted to add an HD 722 receiver/recorder to our existing two feeds - four feeds total. The woman took the order without needing alot of explanation and but she gave an incorrect price which she couldn't get straight, but...oh well.... Three days later two installers wearing shirts with the Dish logo arrived in a old, but well maintained, unmarked pickup. One spoke only Spanish, but the other who was the lead was fluently bilingual. (My Spanish is comparable to George Bush's so I speak English but listen carefully.) The lead installer discussed his flawed work order with me, called his supervisor to get permission to do what we had ordered. Installation went well. But, you need to know that we had the cables to our theater system hooked up with the end plugs for the ViP722 waiting on the shelf for the installer to plug in. He will likely not have with him more than RCA's for composite video and two channel sound and an S-video cable. We have HD component connections and an optical surround sound connector to our theater system, plus an S-video and RCA stereo to our additional room distribution box. He activated the system which resulted in most signals being activated before he left, but some (local channels for instance) took another three hours. (We knew this would happen from previous experiences with changing our programming.)
Even though we had prevous service with older (508) recorders, the menu's for the 722 are complex and require some deciphering, the adequate operating manual notwithstanding. For us, the Dish Tech Portal at http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/TechPortal/content/tech/receiver/722.shtml is very helpful. Nonetheless, after about two weeks of setting it up like we want it, the HD picture and 5.1 sound is as good as our DVD player provides (no we don't have brand new HD or BluRay) and certainly as good as we are ever going to be able to appreciate.
For us, several consideration were involved. Even though we did not have cable service available when we first moved here, we now have Comcast which is our high speed internet service provider. We had Comcast in our other home and two of our adult kids have Comcast. We have no problem with Comcast but it would be more expensive and they are just now upgrading to be able to offer HD in the future. We could have gotten a huge new customer discount from DirectTV, but DirectTV's packages are not what we want (we aren't big sports enthusiasts) and they are just beginning the process of providing HD. Additionally, no other service has provided the state-of-the-art recording technology as reliablly as Dish. Some people prefer TiVo, but that appears to be a personal preference. We do have rare weather related signal losses. But our cable system goes down more frequently and in a power outage it simply goes down. With satellite our battery backup lasts long enough for us to start up our generator without losing service and programs being recorded. In a two or three day power outage which does occur every four or five years, this is a big plus.13 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Makes you appreciate Tivo
by Frank Pryor on March 4, 2008
Pros: Access to DVR content from two rooms/TV's
Cons: User interface, Programming Guide and Remote are all vastly inferior to Tivo.
Summary: Dish Network does NOT know their own product. In the course of switching to this unit from a Direct Tv/Tivo I had seven people at the company, including three ...
Summary: Dish Network does NOT know their own product. In the course of switching to this unit from a Direct Tv/Tivo I had seven people at the company, including three installers, tell me point blank that the unit would not allow pausing live TV on the two tuners and switching between them. Some of them said they'd never heard of such a thing. Some of them said that it would not do that if you chose to make the DVR accessible to a second television.
All of them were wrong and the only way I determined this was by reading CNET's review before going to the Dish website.
As for user experience, it's mixed:
Cons:
-Image quality. The Direct TV signal provided marginally better quality for non-HD viewing than Dish does. Didn't have HD with Direct so I can't compare that.
-User interface. I've used Tivo for a few years now and thought it was brilliant from the first hour. What a shame Dish couldn't have incorporated some of those principles in to their software.
-Remote. Ditto. A blizzard of buttons spread out in ways that put the controls for associated functions in awkward places and the way those buttons control those functions is frequently badly thought-out.
Pros:
-Two rooms can access the same content.
-As Tivo no longer supports two satellite inputs and so will not time-shift two tuners it's only suitable for cable subscribers, so it's no longer a solution for Sat. customers, so our only choice is between Dish and Direct TV. And from what I've heard Direct's UI, remote and DVR are even worse.7 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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DIRECTV IS BETTER THAN DISH BUT THERE'S GOT TO BE AN ALTERNATIVE TO ALL THIS
by scotsgranny on January 27, 2008
Pros: On-screen menus are colorful and crisp
Cons: not intuitive; awkward; limited wishlist options
Summary: We switched to Dish this month to avoid paying the $279 DirecTV wanted for an HD DVR. We had DirecTV's "Tivo" based receiver and it was far superior. The ...
Summary: We switched to Dish this month to avoid paying the $279 DirecTV wanted for an HD DVR. We had DirecTV's "Tivo" based receiver and it was far superior. The focus of all these machines frustratingly appears to be to record favorite TV shows. Our main use is to have it record shows we don't know exist, by entering a keyword and asking it to autorecord, e.g., an actor's name or subject. Both Dish and Direct want you to first look at what's on their guide (only 9 days for Dish and over 14 for Direct) but the only way to really accomplish this successfully is to by-pass that option and create a "timer" in Dish or a keyword autorecord in Direct. The Dish installer had no idea this could be done and DirecTV support haven't a clue either. I would like to NOT be dependent on cable/sattelite at all since we aren't network program viewers and don't subscribe to movie channels. We pick up what we like by keyword (timer) which usually turns up on BBCAmerica, PBS, or a couple of network channels. When will this technology become civilised?
8 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good but definitely not as good as TiVo
by jeffpjeffp on February 16, 2008
Pros: Stable & responsive
Cons: User Interface is mediocre at best
Summary: After living with TiVo on DirecTV for 6+ years, we moved to Dish for HD, because the DirecTV DVR gets such terrible reviews. The ViP722 does the job, but it'...
Summary: After living with TiVo on DirecTV for 6+ years, we moved to Dish for HD, because the DirecTV DVR gets such terrible reviews. The ViP722 does the job, but it's much harder to use than TiVo.
Reliability has been very good, and after 2 months we've only had to re-boot once when it mysteriously decided not to stop showing any HD channels. It's fast and responsive, though the remote control is sluggish and plastered with buttons - we still get confused by it sometimes. It comes (at least as of Dec 2007) with a 500MB disk which records some 55 hours of HD or 300 hours of SD.
The user interface is definitely not intuitive and continues to leave us occasionally lost. The dual tuners and dual TV outputs in their default setup is simply baffling - what were they thinking? Once you switch it off, things start behaving in a sane way, i.e. being able to record 2 HD programs at once, transparently.
While it's been very reliable, there aren't any features on this that TiVo didn't do even better, and more intuitively. But for now, this seems to be the best non-Cable HD DVR you can get.Updated
Update after 6 months: DVR is still ok, it needs a hard reset once every 2 months and the interface is still mediocre, but you can learn to live with it. Overall it's very reliable.
HOWEVER, Dish just removed all the Voom Network channels from their HD lineup, replacing these interesting and unusual choices with typical pap like the Hallmark HD channel, etc. So instead of having quirky or European-inspired programs from Gallery, Equator, Rave, Monster, etc channel we now have the 700 Club and America's Funniest Home Videos in HD.
It's astounding that Dish would be so foolish as to get rid of the one differentiator in their programming that set them above DirecTV. Our satisfaction with Dish has dropped from high to mediocre, and we'll probably downgrade our subscription level because more of the same just isn't worth paying for.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great DVR Software
by KmanFL on January 17, 2008
Pros: Very easy to set up and use
Cons: Have not found any yet
Summary: Set up was very easy. The unit comes with a usable "All Subscribed" channels list. There are 4 user assignable favorites list. Search defaults to the "All Subscribed" list which ...
Summary: Set up was very easy. The unit comes with a usable "All Subscribed" channels list. There are 4 user assignable favorites list. Search defaults to the "All Subscribed" list which contains Sports Packages and PPV. This list can be edited with "Channel Locks," "Lock PPV" and "Hide Locked" options. After setting up "Locks" the DVR will only search and record unblocked channels.
Creating TiVo-like Wish Lists can be done through the remote: 2 button is "a,b,c 3 is d,e,f. Being able to key the search terms really speeds search time. There a myriad of other recording options which all work.
For Home Theater users the remote comes preprogrammed to operate TV, receiver and VCR/DVD. This can be accomplished manually or automatically. Volume default is assignable. When it determines which code works the TV, the DVR automatically adjusts the picture output to match the TV at either 480i, 480p, 720p or 1080i.
On screen guide has seven different customizations so you can choose font size and number of channels to display with or without picture. Other DVRs limit the display to a very short 4 or 5 lines.
There is a PIP feature that allows you to view two satellite pictures at the same time in a variety of different formats, including split screen.
This DVR replaced a short lived competitor's DVR which replaced a 7 year old TiVo with a large hard drive. So far the ViP722 has the best software package.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Overall, very good functionality except LOUSY ability to switch to/from closed caption.
by davidhh on April 6, 2008
Pros: Generally good functionality
Cons: Switching to/from closed caption awful.
Summary: Generally, I have been very impressed with this receiver. But there are several control functions that are a real pain. I happen to be hard of hearing and often want ...
Summary: Generally, I have been very impressed with this receiver. But there are several control functions that are a real pain. I happen to be hard of hearing and often want to switch the "close caption" on or off. To do this it takes an unbelievable 17 button pushes to either turn the closed caption on OR off.
Not quite as bad, but to time record (DVR) a program or delete a program it seems like one has to go thru an unecessaryly large number of "navigations" before you can get the job done. And, there is no way one can stop a recording once it has started. You simply have to wait it out!
On the postive side, I really like the 30 second skip and 10 second reverse skip feature on the recorder.
Also, I liked the dual HD output capability (HDMI and Component). With this I was able to connect our HD TV in our living room with the Component output while using a 50' HDMI cable (yes, HDMI can be that long!!) to our bedroom HD TV. And, of course, I have used TV2 to pipe analog TV throughout our house to other analog TVs, all with just the one 722 receiver.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Amasingly versatile
by wmcoverdale on March 11, 2008
Pros: TV2 can control at least 4TVs W/ coax splitter
Cons: Inability to delist pay channels from HD menu
Summary: I have had the 622 for close to 2 years now.Aside from my 50" industrial Panasonic HDTV monitor, there is no high tech toy that has given me greater ...
Summary: I have had the 622 for close to 2 years now.Aside from my 50" industrial Panasonic HDTV monitor, there is no high tech toy that has given me greater pleasure. The optical outlet enables me to connect to my older AV receiver for DTS or 5.1 sound
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Tivo ain't no match for the VIP722
by TH8TER on March 11, 2008
Pros: Great DVR, easy to use, can watch/record 3 channels
Cons: Defaults to recording all programs instead on new or once
Summary: I have both a TIVO and the VIP722 and the 722 in my opinion blows it away. The picture quality is much better, it has an RF remote, 30 sec ...
Summary: I have both a TIVO and the VIP722 and the 722 in my opinion blows it away. The picture quality is much better, it has an RF remote, 30 sec skip and ability to watch record 3 shows.
3 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Functional, but severely lacking in some areas
by azjazz on January 26, 2010
Pros: Very good picture
Much cheaper HD service than DirectTV when I bought it (and still is for my package)
One ViP722 controls 2 TVs (one in HD)
Very large storage for DVR recordingsCons: Unit has been unstable, and acts very weird/locks up at times
DVR programming interface is absolutely terrible, and lacks important functionality
Menu navigation is painful
Records stuff you don't wantSummary: Let me start out by saying that I have a lot of experience with designing user interfaces, and have tons of years of computer experience (inside and outside the box). ...
Summary: Let me start out by saying that I have a lot of experience with designing user interfaces, and have tons of years of computer experience (inside and outside the box). I am not a newbie with user interfaces.
I will describe in detail the problems I have had with my ViP722:
1) The unit has been unstable: I just had problems today (and it isn't the first time). I have owned my ViP722 for about 1 1/2 years now. I have run into multiple situations where the ViP722 will randomly lock up / reset / freeze / or have sound only but no picture. This morning, I was surfing channels, and I suddenly saw a blank screen and channel #65535 for every channel I chose, and it was the channel number shown for every channel in the Program Guide. I had to reset the unit to clear out the issue. I have also had the unit go through multiple resets on boot-up, where it may constantly reboot for 5 to 10 times before it finally comes up. Something is flaky - software, hardware, or both.
2) DVR Programming Interface: Without a doubt, this is the absolute, hands-down worst user interface I have seen for a DVR. I have used about 4 others (SageTV, TiVo, DirectTV, Cable), and all of their user intefaces are much better. When I am trying to record a single show of a series (Say, next week's 'Nova' episode in HD), it is almost impossible to figure out how to do it through the user interface. Do I press "DISH Pass" or "Timer"? I have actually called up DISH Network Technical Support on this multiple times, and the ViP722 doesn't handle it very well at all. I was always told by the technical support staff that the only way I could do that is to go to the Program Guide, navigate to the Channel / Time that the program was being shown, and then press the record button when the show was highlighted. Every other DVR I have used supported this functionality, and it was accomplished through the programming menu. If I want to record a single episode of something 2 weeks from now, I may have to scan through a hundred or more Program Guide pages before I get to the show of interest (if I know what day it is playing).
In addition, figuring out how to adjust specific settings for a recording is almost impossible to figure out. If I want to change a planned recording so that I start recording 2 minutes earlier for that show, I usually waste about a half-hour before I finally figure out which screens I need to get to.
NOTE: I have recently found that Dish Network's "Remote Access" via a PC works very well, and gets you much easier and more capable programming of your DVR. I no longer use the DVR programming menus in the ViP722. I only use the web interface now, and am eagerly awaiting the release of an Android App for Remote Access.
3) Menu navigation is painful: For some reason, DISH has assigned 'secret button sequences' in order to get to some screens. For example, you may need to press the 'DVR' button twice to get to a specific screen. Useless and annoying! How was I supposed to know to press the DVR button twice? It wasn't on the menu screen, and it isn't on the remote. (It was mentioned in the 146 page manual, though). More significantly, the names of their menu selections aren't clear enough that you get to where you think you wanted to go. Many times, I find myself going back to the main menu to try again.
4) Records stuff you don't want: If you select a 'DishPass' to record only 'New' programs, be ready to delete a whole bunch of stuff. I have a DishPass to record only new 'Daily Show' episodes, and the ViP722 will record every old episode that isn't listed with a specific original recording date. In addition, I have set the ViP722 to record only 'New' showings of a special event (Like a Battlestar Galactica TV movie), and the ViP722 will record every instance of the event. That will fill up your hard drive quickly. Again, I have *never* had these problems with any other manufacturers' DVR I have used in the past.2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Don't be fooled
by binaryluv on May 5, 2009
Pros: Good picture Quality in HD
Cons: Customer Service
High Prices
Equipment Failure
Is not user friendly, My wife has given up on trying to use it. She wants her Tivo back.Summary: From the word go we have had nothing but problems with Dish and their equipment. I understand that you will trust CNET more than me, heck you don't know ...
Summary: From the word go we have had nothing but problems with Dish and their equipment. I understand that you will trust CNET more than me, heck you don't know me! Just be wary when you deal with them. We were told all of these great things about the system then learn the DVR really only works in one room as HD. The other TV has coaxial from the DVR going to it so it is not a HD signal and honestly is quite poor on the picture quality. Today a Dish Network tech came to the house to inspect the DVR and I was told that due to my hard drive being about 45% full with recordings that was the reason I needed to reset the unit once a week due to the system freezing up. So I can't use half the hard drive? Well I could go off on a rant here but I wont just take my word for it and don't sign a contract with them. It is going to cost me over $200 to get out of the contract and no telling how much to get back with DirectTV. binaryluv@gmail.com
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Dish Network
- Part number: VIP722
- Description: Innovative technology meets functional design. Announcing DISH Network's latest high-definition receiver, the ViP722 DVR. The ViP722 DVR supports two TVs and features a powerful digital video recorder and expanded recording capacity.
General
- Product Type HD DVR
- Type of component None
- Width 16 in
- Depth 13 in
- Height 3.5 in
- Weight 11 lbs
- Enclosure Color Black
System
- Parental Lock Yes
- Parental Control Type Password
- Max Recording Capacity 350
Audio System
- Output Mode Stereo
Connectors
- Optical Digital Output Yes
TV Tuner
- TV tuner qty 1
- TV tuner multi-channel preview Picture-in-picture (PIP)
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Device Type None
- Digital Storage Media Hard disk drive
Satellite TV tuner
- Tuner Qty 2
Remote Control
- Type Remote control
Connections
- Connector Type 2 x Composite video/audio output ( RCA phono x 3 ),
1 x Component video output ( RCA phono x 3 ),
1 x S-Video output ( 4 pin mini-DIN ),
1 x HDMI,
1 x SPDIF output,
1 x Network ( RJ-45 ),
1 x Phone line ( RJ-11 ),
1 x USB ( 4 pin USB Type A ),
2 x ( F connector ),
1 x RF input ( F connector )
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Dish Network products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Dish Network
- Address:
5701 S. Santa Fe Drive, Littleton, CO 80120 - Phone: 800-333-3474
