Tech Chat Summary (Aug. 6, 2001)
TNGTony
summaries because honestly, they're not as easy to make fun of as Charlie
Chats are. :-) The nature of the show is more serious since it is always
jam-packed with information. Anyway, I'll try to keep up with these guys
for those of you that missed it. This show will be replayed throughout the
month on channels 101 and . I urge anyone who wants all the info (with-out
the grammatical errors and misspellings) to watch the replays!
9PM EDT Monday August 6, 2001.
As always a cool opening.
Mark Jackson Welcomes us to the Tech Forum and introduces Dave.
Agenda:
Dish PVR501
Preview of 721
Upgrades to Starband
Upgrades to the 6000
Dish Interactive
Q&A in the last 20 min of the show.
First the 501. "The perfect unit for every household". They sell the unit
a little and go into the features list. Go to www.dishnetwork.com to see
the feature list on the Dish PVR501.
Mark leads Dave into some more of this infomercial!
Man, there should have been a Paid Advertisement disclaimer before the show
began! 9:08pm and still selling the PVR501.
I still don't like Mark's style. "Can you say PVR? I knew you could."
All he needs is the Cardigan sweater.
Existing customer PVR501 offer. Here's a tape with Brian Olsen. He sells
the unit as well.
August 13 Dish PVR501 is available to existing subscribers for $199 IF you
subscribe to AT150 AND Credit Card Auto Pay. Free installation and free
PVR.
New software P118 sent to the PVR501
-48 hour EPG stored on Hard Drive now.
-Increased timers from 10 to 50 timers
-Quieter when in the stand-by mode by spinning down the hard drive. (turns
the hard drive off)
-Video to Go--Allows recorded video playback when not hooked up to a
satellite antenna.
The way to check software on the unit is to hit the system info button on
the front of the unit. Look for the software version P118. If it is not
P118, turn unit off for 15 minutes or so.
New software coming to resolve:
-Info Not available guide.
-Same event in guide being shown in the guide over and over again.
(I missed which button to hit to activate the Video to Go,)
Give Away time!!! Giving away a PVR501.
Connect Mark Jackson (actor) to Kevin Bacon through 6 films or less. First
to e-mail correct answer wins the PVR501.
Now a preview of Dish PVR721 coming in very late 2001. Roll the tape!
-Internet and E-mail capabilities.
Dialup to start. Eventually Starband and DSL hookups.
-PVR w/80gb hard drive (70hours of record time not good enough for any one?)
Standard PVR features on the 501 plus Two tuners. Record live and watch
another. Record two while watching recording.
-PIP on any TV
-Interactive applications (OpenTV)
-2 USB Ports
-DD Output
-UHF Remote
-Keyboard (Optional) with remote features.
-Caller ID.
Back to live. Mark asks another question that makes one cringe of Dave to
review the tape.
Now to Starband (Satellite two-way internet access)
They show the silver Starband modem and the 36X24" three-headed monster.
Mark holds the modem. It's a half the size than a dish receiver.
The Starband 360 the new unit is smaller than the 180. All customers with
the 180 will be upgraded free of charge only if you commit to 1 year of
Starband service. 500kbps average DL and 60kbps uplink with the 360.
The 360 is $549 plus $199 installation and $69 a month. AT150+Starband is
$99.95 a month. (Need a Dish receiver to get video programming)
Dave loves the Starband. Loves the reliability. Go to www.starband.com
for more info.
High Def TV time.
-CBS HD will be on 61.5° (NYC) & 148° (LA) being sold to white areas and any
CBS O&O areas. NYC Philly, Detroit, LA and others. At 1080i at 19.7Mbps not
reformatted, compressed or otherwise. Exactly what one your get through the
8VSB Tuner cartridge. This requires HDTV capability at your home. (HDTV
receiver)
6000 receiver update has new aspect ratio selections.
48 hour EPG on memory so no "Getting Info"
With 8VSB cartridge unit will search for HDTV and standard TV channels in
area and put them in guide.
Other enhancements of unit to speed it up also included.
You must have a dish pointed at 61.5° or 148° to get HDTV.
Another giveaway! Giving away the Sims! video games.
The question is the following: Name 10 other movies that Stephen Speilberg
has directed other than AI.
Anson Grosfeld VP for Strategic Accounts from Open TV is a guest.
Updated EPG with picture in guide
Coming:
Customer support via receiver
--Paying bills
--Adding channels
--FAQs
Interactive home portal
--News, weather, sports, etc (YAWN!) Can you say "Push" technology?
Open TV downloads have started on the 3800s. It will be essentially
converted to the 3900.
Soon will start on the 4700 to make it the 4900, It will be completed by
the end of the year. (No reason given for slow deployment--My guess is to
keep call volumes down at the call centers)
Cannel 9499 will be activated when you get the download.
Justin McKinley wins the PVR in 2 moves.... Justin, is that you?
Question time
Hey Adrian!!!!
Is there a specific release date for the OpenTV update?
--No real answer given, no.
Email--Will there be a Mac Internet solution
A--Via LAN to a PC right now you can. Working on another solution. The
software is specifically written to one platform for speed enhancement.
Greg Asks: Will there be an upgrade to the hard drive on the PVR501 either
by Dish or the customer.
Never by the customer. We're thinking about other options for the external
port, but nothing definite. New receivers will have larger hard drive.
Jay asks: My VCR can turn on record a program and turn off. Can the PVR do
the same thing or do I have to leave the receiver on
Receiver turns on or off. Also you can have the receiver turn on for the
program and start your VCR.
Bill asks: Is that going to have EPG search capability?
When we add the 7 day guide that's planned, the search capability will be
added.
What is the size of the live buffer and does it use memory chips or the hard
drive?
Right now 1 hour always on the hard drive. It may be increased depending on
hard drive space.
Tom asks: Does the 721 have HDTV?
No. An HDTV late next year.
Sims winner is Jay Goodman.
Greg asks about the internet access. Who's the ISP?
Starband or R-Box (DSL) but we're not looking at dial-up. But you could
hook it up on your own dial-up ISP.
HBO in DD? When?
Jan answers, HBO is delivering DD on a very limited basis. We'll look into
it. We have to get the signal. What's DD? Who's on first? They have no
idea about it. We're working on it,
When is Caller ID coming on PVR501 you said it was coming.
OOPS. It was harder than we though. It will be coming probably after the
7day EPG maybe by the end of the year.
Last caller Billy:
Dish 6000 Open TV?
Ain't gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.... The 921 (HDTV
PVR) will have it! Isn't that great!
Charlie Chat next week same time. (8/13/01 9pm EDT)
Goodnight!!!!!
Well, that was worthless!!! Maybe what I said in the preface was very
wrong!!!!
See ya
Tony
--
See ya
Tony
Swamp
regardless of how long it has been on that channel? If so, then that kind of
sucks for the 501.
The DishPlayer, mine at least, will buffer up to its capacity. I often fall
asleep watching west coast Baseball games and wake up at 7am or so and
rewind back 8 hours to the game and watch it from there. If the 501 can't do
that, then that is a serious limitation if you ask me.
JR
"TNGTony" <tng...@remove2reply.one.net> wrote in message
news:tmuj364...@corp.supernews.com...
SNIP>
TNGTony
"Swamp" <nos...@posthere.com> wrote in message
news:viIb7.93990$TM5.13...@typhoon.southeast.rr.com...
> What exactly does this mean? You can only rewind a live show back one hour
> regardless of how long it has been on that channel? If so, then that kind
of
> sucks for the 501.
>
> The DishPlayer, mine at least, will buffer up to its capacity. I often
fall
> asleep watching west coast Baseball games and wake up at 7am or so and
> rewind back 8 hours to the game and watch it from there. If the 501 can't
do
> that, then that is a serious limitation if you ask me.
That's exactly what it means. But unlike the dishplayer, you can back up to
the beginning (or any point) in the buffer and record the entire program.
As mentioned in the tech chat, a future upgrade will is something that may
be changed in the not to distant future.
See ya
Tony
Involuntary
> The 360 is $549 plus $199 installation and $69 a month.
Holy Satan, mother of Skullfuck! Does that come with a dish and uplink
or is that just for the modem???? Incidentally, I think Earthlink
offers a Starband package. :-)
> High Def TV time.
> -CBS HD will be on 61.5° (NYC) & 148° (LA) being sold to white areas and any
> CBS O&O areas. NYC Philly, Detroit, LA and others. At 1080i at 19.7Mbps
19.37 Mbps. I was reviewing the chat. :-)
> Justin McKinley wins the PVR in 2 moves.... Justin, is that you?
I had to cheat and use the IMDb to get this one, and much to my dismay
there were FOUR Mark Jacksons listed and of course, Dave didn't specify
exactly which one they were talking about. I used the Mark Jackson with
the most credits... and the first one listed:
Mark Jackson - The Highwayman - Tim Russ
Tim Russ - Trekkies - Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton - Toy Soldiers - Sean Astin
Sean Astin - The Goonies - Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin - Hollow Man - Kevin Bacon
I only wonder... if I had been the first one to send this in, would I
have been right?
Damaeus
TNGTony
"Involuntary" <tribal...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:gnnumtk67ap9hvgsv...@4ax.com...
> "TNGTony" <tng...@remove2reply.one.net> posted:
>
> > The 360 is $549 plus $199 installation and $69 a month.
>
> Holy Satan, mother of Skullfuck! Does that come with a dish and uplink
> or is that just for the modem???? Incidentally, I think Earthlink
> offers a Starband package. :-)
It includes the 24x36 dish, two dual LNBs for Dish programming, and the
staband two-way link as well as the modem. Hey, cheap at twice the price,
Right! :-)
> > High Def TV time.
> > -CBS HD will be on 61.5° (NYC) & 148° (LA) being sold to white areas and
any
> > CBS O&O areas. NYC Philly, Detroit, LA and others. At 1080i at 19.7Mbps
>
> 19.37 Mbps. I was reviewing the chat. :-)
Thanks! I'ts hard to keep uo you know! :-)
> > Justin McKinley wins the PVR in 2 moves.... Justin, is that you?
>
> I had to cheat and use the IMDb to get this one, and much to my dismay
> there were FOUR Mark Jacksons listed and of course, Dave didn't specify
> exactly which one they were talking about. I used the Mark Jackson with
> the most credits... and the first one listed:
>
> Mark Jackson - The Highwayman - Tim Russ
> Tim Russ - Trekkies - Wil Wheaton
> Wil Wheaton - Toy Soldiers - Sean Astin
> Sean Astin - The Goonies - Josh Brolin
> Josh Brolin - Hollow Man - Kevin Bacon
>
> I only wonder... if I had been the first one to send this in, would I
> have been right?
You never know.... :-)
See ya
Tony
BobaBird
> Jan answers, HBO is delivering DD on a very limited basis. We'll look
into
> it. We have to get the signal.
Dang <mock sneer>Starz!</sneer> used up all the available fiber. Here we go
again!
Charles
jbuff
Involuntary wrote in message ...
>> Justin McKinley wins the PVR in 2 moves.... Justin, is that you?
>
>I had to cheat and use the IMDb to get this one, and much to my dismay
>there were FOUR Mark Jacksons listed and of course, Dave didn't specify
>exactly which one they were talking about. I used the Mark Jackson with
>the most credits... and the first one listed:
>
>Mark Jackson - The Highwayman - Tim Russ
>Tim Russ - Trekkies - Wil Wheaton
>Wil Wheaton - Toy Soldiers - Sean Astin
>Sean Astin - The Goonies - Josh Brolin
>Josh Brolin - Hollow Man - Kevin Bacon
>
I used the fourth one and got it in four
Mark Jackson - Air Bud - Michael Jeter
Michael Jeter - Waterworld - Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper - Flashback - Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland - Flatliners - Kevin Bacon
--jbuff
Swamp
respect for Starz and Showtime and even though they put the DD signal up
long before HBO, I don't think "first come, first served" is applicable here
if bandwidth constraints interfere with Dish sending down HBO in DD. Now
correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet that HBO has the larger subscriber base
versus Starz or Showtime. When HBO goes full time on the DD, if bandwidth is
an issue, they should take the DD away from some/all of the Starz channels
to feed HBO and serve more customers. IMHO of course.
"BobaBird" <Boba...@aol.spam.com.free> wrote in message
news:tmuvp7o...@corp.supernews.com...
Involuntary
> I mentioned this a couple of months ago but I'll say it again. With all due
> respect for Starz and Showtime and even though they put the DD signal up
> long before HBO, I don't think "first come, first served" is applicable here
> if bandwidth constraints interfere with Dish sending down HBO in DD. Now
> correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet that HBO has the larger subscriber base
> versus Starz or Showtime. When HBO goes full time on the DD, if bandwidth is
> an issue, they should take the DD away from some/all of the Starz channels
> to feed HBO and serve more customers. IMHO of course.
Of course. I bet you subscribe to HBO and not Starz or Showtime. I bet
Starz and Showtime subscribers would agree with you out of the goodness
of their hearts.
Damaeus
Swamp
to have it all.
"Involuntary" <tribal...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:b6e0ntcfn483frb8b...@4ax.com...
Seth
>
> "Involuntary" <tribal...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:gnnumtk67ap9hvgsv...@4ax.com...
> > "TNGTony" <tng...@remove2reply.one.net> posted:
> >
> > > The 360 is $549 plus $199 installation and $69 a month.
> >
> > Holy Satan, mother of Skullfuck! Does that come with a dish and uplink
> > or is that just for the modem???? Incidentally, I think Earthlink
> > offers a Starband package. :-)
>
> It includes the 24x36 dish, two dual LNBs for Dish programming, and the
> staband two-way link as well as the modem. Hey, cheap at twice the price,
> Right! :-)
>
As well as a pair of SW21s on a custom bracket that mounts to the back of
the dish.
spudhead71
<tribal...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Justin McKinley wins the PVR in 2 moves.... Justin, is that you?
>
>I had to cheat and use the IMDb to get this one, and much to my dismay
>there were FOUR Mark Jacksons listed and of course, Dave didn't specify
>exactly which one they were talking about. I used the Mark Jackson with
>the most credits... and the first one listed:
>
>Mark Jackson - The Highwayman - Tim Russ
>Tim Russ - Trekkies - Wil Wheaton
>Wil Wheaton - Toy Soldiers - Sean Astin
>Sean Astin - The Goonies - Josh Brolin
>Josh Brolin - Hollow Man - Kevin Bacon
>
>I only wonder... if I had been the first one to send this in, would I
>have been right?
>
>Damaeus
Mark Jackson - Eddie - Lou Criscuolo
Lou Criscuolo - Enormous Changes at the Last Minute - Kevin Bacon
Spud
"No catchy tagline at this time"