Dish Network ViP 622 HD DVR

by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 13th 2006 at 11:38AM

Thomas "eyes like a" Hawk spotted the newest HD DVR from Dish Network at CES last week and it looks pretty sweet. Like the ViP 221, the ViP 622 is MPEG-4 compatible but adds a 250GB hard drive for your time-shifting pleasure. That sounds like a large capacity drive, but it can only hold up to 25 hours of high-def. At this point in the hard-drive life cycle, we're a tad disappointed that Dish didn't opt for more storage. The other barely adequate spec is dual tuner situation. The 622 only contains one HD and one SD tuner; even the older Dish models like the 921 and 942 enabled three tuners.

Filed under: Satellite

Tags: 622, Dish Network, DTV, HD Beat, HdBeat, HDTV, TV

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Mr. Orange @ Jan 13th 2006 11:58AM

The tuner spec is false. It has 2 Sat tuners which are both HD and one OTA HD tuner, for a total of 3 HD Tuners. The 622 can send a SD signal to a 2nd TV in the house and down-converts a HD signal to be viewed on the 2nd SD TV, I think that is where some of the confusion is. You should be able to record 2 HD feeds while watching another OTA HD feed, there is also "speculation" that one could record a total of 3 HD feeds at one time, like the 942.

Neutral

travis @ Jan 13th 2006 12:42PM

sounds pretty sweet...any ideas what they'll be gouging us out of for this one?

Neutral

Scott @ Jan 13th 2006 1:51PM

Supposedly in April exsiting customers will be able to upgrade for $99 ($299-$200 rebate).

I've got the 942 right now and its awesome. Its basically the 622 but without the mpeg4. Can't wait for the 622.

Neutral

John Sturgeno @ Jan 17th 2006 7:45PM

I'm curious... if it supports MPEG-4, then why the 25 hour limit? Wouldn't it be logical to encode on the disk as MPEG-4? Even 2-pass encoding, with variable bitrates as high as 4k come in at around 2G/Hour in High-Def encoded with XviD. Now you're talking over 100 hours of High-Def.

Neutral

John Sturgeon @ Jan 17th 2006 7:47PM

Mis-spelled my own last name (Sturgeon.. E-O-N)!

I'm curious... if it supports MPEG-4, then why the 25 hour limit? Wouldn't it be logical to encode on the disk as MPEG-4? Even 2-pass encoding, with variable bitrates as high as 4k come in at around 2G/Hour in High-Def encoded with XviD. Now you're talking over 100 hours of High-Def.

Neutral

Jacque @ Jan 23rd 2006 1:37PM

CSR at Dish Network intimated some sort of 'special' for existing Dish Network customers to upgrade to HD-DVR but I have been unable to find out any advance information... Anybody hear anything? New customers can get it for free - doesn't seem fair that existing - loyal customers have to pay so much!

Neutral

Matt Small @ Jan 30th 2006 5:08PM

I've been an existing customer through SBC and Dish won't let me upgrade any of my leased equipment. I'm disappointed and frustrated when new customers get the equipment for free, but we have to pay to upgrade. I'd even be willing to fork out the $249 for an upgrade to HD plus the install of the second dish, but SBC/Dish won't even let me do that... I hope I can get it in April. I didn't want to buy the 942 and then have it not be compatible with the MPEG4 programming on the horizon.

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