Customer Reviews

DISH Player-DVR 625 - DVR / Satellite TV receiver - Dish Network - 100 hour(s) - DISH network

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Here's some info from someone who had this for 13 months.

This DVR has two modes. In Single Mode, the same video is shown on both TVs at the same time. Use this if you only watch one of the sets at a time, or if you don't have a TV2 plugged in, or if the person watching TV2 just wants to watch whatever the other person has on. You can use Picture-in-Picture in this mode, and do whatever you want as far as using the tuners to record.

In Dual Mode, each TV can operate independently, and each TV has only one tuner at its disposal. When you schedule a recording, you can choose which tuner records it (so you'd select either the TV where you'll be watching it live, or, the TV where you *won't* be watching something else live). In this mode you can also watch two separate recorded shows on the two TVs, or two separate live channels, or a combination one recorded show and one live channel.

There are three different ways of scheduling recurring recordings: Dish Pass, regular scheduling, and Manual. The most important thing to know is there's a limit on how many scheduled recordings you can have (300 if i remember correctly) so keep tabs on that when you read this. Dish Pass searches titles and descriptions for what you specify, and records it whenever it sees a match on any channel. Regular scheduling works a bit differently, and is probably more appropriate for most needs. Regular scheduling can record a particular Title, either on any channel, or one specific channel:
All Episodes - Records anytime that show comes on
New Episodes - Records only episodes that aren't reruns
Weekly, Mon-Fri, Daily etc. - records during whatever timeslot you say ONLY IF THAT SHOW IS ON.
This last one is best for most shows that come on multiple times a day, for example, if you only want the show recorded in one particular timeslot instead of all of them (e.g. I only want my Seinfeld reruns recorded at 5pm, not at 10 or 12:30).
And Manual Recording - You can set a schedule (either one-time or recurring weekly, or daily, or mon-fri etc...) and that way it will record WHATEVER is on during that time period, instead of recording only if one particular show is on.
*****
VERY IMPORTANT
*****
If you record shows that come on all the time, it's very important that you don't use "All Episodes" for those! For example, It will find about 50-60 episodes of Seinfeld within the upcoming 14 days or so and this takes up 50-60 slots in your 300 limit that I mentioned above! You will find yourself being told you have too many recordings scheduled or something, and won't be able to add very many recordings. Instead, record a show like that once or twice a day (use two separate timers if necessary, there's no limit that I know of on number of timers), then you will have like 10-15 coming up. Much better.

The good things about this DVR:
* Never fails to record shows. I never missed a scheduled recording the whole year (though I did once lose all my recordings when I had a hard drive crash--Dish replaced my DVR in about 5 days or so).
* Robust options and settings. Dig deep into the menus and get things set up just the way you like it.
* Priorities lets you decide what shows are can't miss (one-time recordings, first-run programs) versus shows you don't care about but record just in case you need something to watch (e.g. syndicated shows etc).
* Very responsive and fast
* Monthly $5.99 DVR fee--lower than TiVo ($13) or what Comcast charges ($10) for their junky thing.
* 30-second-skip-forward button--that you DON'T have to hack to enable like certain other (*cough* Comcast!) DVRs. Nice.
* 2-TV support on one box as described above means you have access to the same library of recordings from both TVs. Sweet.
* Big 100-hour capacity.
* Smart enough not to record an episode you already have of a show.
* Lets you "Edit" in batch mode--so you can select 20 shows and delete, or protect, them all at once.
* Lets you rename shows. Especially great for Manual Recordings.

The things I wished were better:
* No way to get your recordings off there, except in real-time using a VCR or set-top DVD recorder.
* Sound cuts out for about 0.5 seconds when you unpause. You end up just always having to hit "skip back" (that's 5 seconds back) when after you unpause. Still pretty annoying. This was with both the original and my replacement, so I know it's not just a defect.
* 300 upcoming scheduled programs limit - before I figured out just what the limit was (the error leads you to believe you are trying to make too many TIMERS when it's absolutely NOT that. It's how many PROGRAMS are set to be recorded in the upcoming couple weeks that's limited). Once I figured this out I was able to work around it (and optimize my drive space usage in the process) by reducing my use of "All Episodes" and "Dish Pass" so I'm not recording so many throwaway programs.

That's all I can think of for now. For what it's worth, when I moved I was forced to switch to cable, and bought the LG LRM-519 (which I'll review here eventually)... It doesn't have any of the bad things about this one, but it lacks a LOT of the good things about this one. It's a trade-off! If I ever find the perfect DVR I'll let you know.

I believe in stable rates, good selection, low cost, and no compromises on features. The Dish network covers me on this, and the DVR unit I have from them only cements my goodwill with them.

I have tried the Cablevision DVR, for about two weeks, and I've used a friend's DirecTV unit as well. I don't claim to be well-versed in all DVRs and I know they are all different in user interface, if not basic function. Dish's 622/625 unit is superior to these three systems' DVR offerings in function and UI.

The 625 can accept two lines for Picture-in-Picture, or if you have to dishes already, you can split one signal and run the split signal into the back. This is a nice feature for people who want to minimize cable runs in the house.

The PiP function is remarkable: it will do aspect-preserved scaled side-by-side, as well as two inset sizes that can be moved to nine preset locations (think Brady Bunch). The DVR records both signals, as part of the "pause live TV" functionality. Basically it keeps two two-hour buffers rolling, which is nice because, well, let's say you're watching the game and your wife wants to watch HGTV, because she's a woman who likes to tweak your home. Instead of switching channels, swap the PiP focus to HGTV and pause your game. During a commercial, you can swap back to the game, unpause, and stay with the action. Nice, smart.

The recording timers can be set to early-start and/or late-stop, so if you think something will run late or start early, or if your programming drifts (local stations especially), this will help catch opening sequences and surprise endings.

One of the best features is the menu. The unit, and almost all new Dish units, are continually upgraded to provide better features. Searching can be done by description keyword (exact or somewhat wildcarded) or title keyword (exact or somewhat wildcarded); results are quick and thorough. The timers can be set with priorities to bump less-important shows for more-important ones; while it won't find the next airing automatically, you can see the skipped events and restore one to keep filling up your DVR.

The list goes on and on, but the best feature of all is the skip forward. It will skip 30 seconds forward, or back 10. So, with some practice, you can blip-blip past just about every commercial in the program. The skipping function is much better than Cablevision's, and although I haven't tried DirecTV's, I can't imagine it being *better*. This, my friends, is how everyone should be watching "24", "Survivor", and "House": saved to disk, commercials skipped. Time-shifting at its absolute best.

In closing, look, I'll be the first to say I haven't seen all the DVR options available, but if my year-old daughter can accidentally program Univision Noticias, you know the interface is easy to access and use. Clear, powerful, and Dish has probably the best technical support of any service I've ever experienced, and that included cable, telephone, cell phone, electric and gas, water, and the State of New Jersey. Try it, buy it, love it.

-Fred

For some reason my first review disappeared. This is factual information that can be verified with the manufacturer.

I purchased a "new" 625 from a seller here on Amazon and they sent me a remanufactured unit instead. When I talked to Dish Network they told me that they have not made any new 625 receivers in over 2 years and that retailers know that they are ordering remanufactured units. Also, if a retailer still has new 625 receivers in their inventory they will not work as the internal smartcards are the previous generation and expired. The rep at Dish Network did not speak well of retailers selling this model as "new".

There are no more "new" 625 receivers, so don't waste your time or money trying to get a new one as they will send you either a defective unit or a reman. If you want a working 625 you will need to purchase a reman.

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. Feature loaded! The dual tuner works great. Now, I can be watching one show in the basment, while my wife watches another upstairs, both using all of the DVR functions from the same receiver. Plus, countless times I have recorded two shows at once while watching another on DVR --- which used to be unheard of with Satellite TV.

Had the 612 and am much happier with the 625. There are less quirks, less freeze ups, less heat, and much less noise. I love all the features. There is always room for improvement, but this works well for our second receiver.

It was a good DVR!! I used it for shows I want to watch. Buy it!!! Recommendation: Place where they rarely have thunderstorms. It sometimes does things during thunderstorms.

very nice product works flawless with no problems even comes with all the instructions. will recomend this to every one only if it came with the over the air module, it would have been the best

I bought this a month ago, I paid Dish tv to come out and install it and guess what? The receiver could not be used because it was still leased, plus they didn't ship all the parts to me, left out a remote control as well. I contacted them and they didn't respond to me. I am glad that Amazon was able to give me my money back.

I am a longtime Dish subscriber and I'm lost without the DVR feature. I needed a HD receiver for my room and this works great. No problems at all during the 6 months that I've owned it. It works even better with a $20 HDMI cable. I'm very satisfied.

I get a DVR625 when I start service with Dishnetwork and I cant believe that something this cheap is the hook that they use to get new customers... the first thing I notice is how big the unit is and how much heat generate!! after I turn it on and try to check some of the features I can see the firmware is kind of odd and hard to start, I was not able to find use to more than maybe 2 of the functions on the sistem... and then the hardware!! I have a total of 5 coax cables coming out of the damn thing, no small cables or internal jumpers, NOOO!! 5 full size coax RG-6 cables just there, plus the power cord.

After maybe 90 days of use the DVR just go bad, the Tv1 light is on and off and no signal comes out of the machine no more... maybe the extreme heat, and the cheap fans that sound like are coming apart are the root of the problem, I dont know but now I cant watch tv until maybe two more days when Dish send a new unit (I hope no a 625!!).