easy to program you shows to record . like the caller id when some call . easy to set up favrite list . and blocking channel sfrom list and guide . hideing x rated channels so kid's can't watch

can lock up if you try to program tv shows while watching a recorded show unless you don't try to do it to quickly. but other then that it does fine .

i loved my dvr 501 from the first time i got it . most people buy there dvr but i lease it and pay ten dollar for in home an lease . in late may the hard drive was erasing some of my shows recorded called dish they had me reboot toll me to call in two days the problem did not go away called again they ups me a new dvr and paided to get the old dvr back . as of july 5 th 07 everything is working fine . i think the in home and lease is worth ten dollars a mouth don't buy lease i have had the dvr 501 for 6 years . I think 6 years is a really good run before hard drive going bad . but when it does not run like it should just need a quick reboot by pushing and holding the power butter for 15 second s and letting it reboot it self .and there no mouthly fee to have dvr like some other companys like tivo . i give dvr 501 thumbs up!!!!!!!

Customer Service

can be ok sometime hard to understand because they are not from the usa .have to listen closely but you can what you need done

Excellent picture and sound reproduction. Records in 5.1 with proper cables.

None really. The hard drive makes some noise but as I said you really have to listen for it.

This is a great piece of equipment. Literally cannot tell the difference between " live " and recorded. I have transfered archived movies over to VHS and DVD and the image stays intact. Of course it looks better on DVD but it still looks okay on VHS. The unit can be fussy at times. I have had to unplug it so that it can clear itself, and the hard drive is noticeable if you are listening for it. My receiver is in the bedroom and I've had no trouble sleeping while it's recording. Well worth the money. If the HDTV unit were less money I'd get that as well.

Similar Products Used:

none

Low cost, ease of use, convenient.

Hard drive noise

I got the PVR 501 for the $50 upgrade price when I initially subscribed. The PVR is what caused me to switch from DirecTV, which I'd had for 6 years, to Dish Network. I must be fortunate in that I haven't had any problems whatsoever in the six months I've had my receiver -- it works as expected and as advertised. I will agree that the hard drive IS a little noisy, especially since we have it in the bedroom, but after turning the PVR off, the hard drive shuts down within 5 minutes or so... although it seems to spin up around midnight every night, I guess to receive the new program guide information. For the price, it can't be beat... I just hope ours keeps on working as it has!

Similar Products Used:

none

Does what I tell it to within the parameters of it's abilities. No monthly fees.

Have to wait for scheaduling updates to download about once a month (this was never addressed in the manual), could have been designed to do this while not in use (during sleep mode, screensaver mode), but oh well!

Works great, no issues with my 508. Seems to be the older the build date the more issues people have. Tip for some of you (you know who you are): RTFM, read the frickin' manual and quit whining about functions it doesn't have. shouldn't have bought it if I didn't do what you wanted it to, or, if you read the manual maybe you'd figure out how to use it so it does what you think it doesn't do!!! DOH!!!

Similar Products Used:

Haven't tried anything else. Don't need to, does what I want since I read the manual before I bought it!

Im sorry, i can´t understand very well english, so i write in spanish. Me pueden informar como hago para hacer el pedido del dish 501 a monterrey y que costo tiene. Gracias por su atencion.

automatic recording, rewind, 30-second skip forward

seems to require periodic (every other month) reboots

I have both the DishPVR 501 and the 508. Both appear to be pretty good products with good audio and video quality. I have used the DishPVR 501 for a year and half and I recently got a 508 as a second receiver. I have experienced some problems with blank screens and crashes, but nothing a reset of the box does not fix. In order to restart, you have to not only turn the system off, you have to remove the smart card after you turn the system off. Removing the smart card and letting the hard drive spin down results in a more effective reboot. A true reboot would be to unplug the system after you take out the smart card. After reboot, everything works fine again, programs saved on the hard drive can be viewed, favorites lists are kept, etc. Other than the maybe once every other month reboots, everything works fine.

Similar Products Used:

DishPvr 508

Easy to setup Easy to use Integrated with the Dish network programming guide

Doesn't allow you to set specific days of the week for recording. Can only select M-F, daily or weekly.

Excellent concept. I have had relatively few problems with the unit to date. I have had to replace it once due to a bad hard drive but the replacement process was easy and free. I have not had any significant problems with the new unit.

Similar Products Used:

TiVo Replay

PVR, ease of use, programming, playback Sound and picture quality Different interfaces, all useful as intended.

Platinum remote won't program to my Marantz Receiver. Need to hack the hardware to be able to DVD copy material.

I like this unit a lot. I've had none of the problems described in previous reviews. Competent system installation is must. I know many of the problems people incure are due to subpar installation. I'm absolutly in love with PVR. I'll never be without it again, if I can help it. I found the remote and manual to be elegantly executed. Some patience and common sense greatly assist the learning process. With PVR, I find I get much better use of my movie channels.

60 hours of programming although they have a programming bug that does not decrement the time correctly. Much better recording quality than VCR. Much cheaper than Tivo.

Receiver itself is buggy. Customer service has deteriorated enormously. Postings on website FAQs are useless.

I bought the Dish 508 PVR receiver about 10 months ago. I had to send the first one back after only 3 weeks. I have had the replacement for the last 7 months. I've had a few problems with it, but I could usually remedy them by turning the receiver off and then on or pulling out the Smartcard. This week, wierd things started to happen. First, I was getting a variety of error messages such as Smartcard not authorized for this channel. The channel being ESPN, which is part of the basic package. I called customer service at night and got a complete moron who insisted that the game I was watching was blacked out. This was nonsense and is not what happens if you are really being blacked out because your local team is on another station. The next morning, I called again and the person, who was a little more intelligent, said she could "send a signal out to give the receiver a boost". This seems to have worked. By the following day, I lost all functionality for the PVR and could not even scroll up and down the Guide. I am still under warranty so it is costing me $14.95 to exchange receivers. Of course, I have lost about 25 hours of programs I planned to view during summer re-run season. In the long run, Echostar is being stupid because, their abominable customer service and their flawed equipment may just send me to digital cable or Direct TV. By the way, I am sending a copy of this to their CEO. I encourage all others who have had problems to do the same.

Usual PVR features, Recording is only a few clicks away, the pause feature, etc The Dish Picture and sound quality is great, almost a must have for large screen TV's.

Changing channels takes over 20 seconds each. The errors described above and Dish Customer Service is pretty appaling, most of them have a bad attitude.

Have had the unit for over a year and was working flawlessly (not counting the original unit that was DOA). Now I regularly get error messages such as "Cable length not correct", "Smart card error", etc.