- Pausing live TV of course. Sheesh. - Skip backwards in programming to catch things you've missed. - Dish Home function. - Ease of recording - Search function. A bit crude, but effective nonetheless. - 60 hours of recording time. My wife laughs at this one. What can you possibly do with 60 hours? You'd be surprised.

- E* Customer Service. They stink and always will it seems. Haven't needed it for the 508 or anything... just had to get my dig in. - Dish Home funciton. Could be a little quicker downloading. - Thing really heats up. Maybe it's a hot plate too? - Doesn't seemlessly incorporate antenna with program guide like the 5000 used to do. If I want to use the attic antenna, I have to manually select the TV/Video channel. - On a similar note switching from Satellite to VCR is not seemless like it was before. For the 5000, you just had to select 000 on your channel guide and voila! VCR. Here, you have to use the TV/Video button.

Well, I have to say that upgrading from a DishNetwork 5000 to a PVR 508 was a good choice for me. So far no problems with the 508 but in reading some of the other posts, I hope this doesn't change. I'm not here to tell everyone that it does or doesn't compare with TiVo because I don't care about that. I didn't buy TiVo, I bought the PVR 508 and isn't that why you're here anyway? :) So, here's the skinny. The pause live TV function is neato cool. I now pause TV for the dumbest of things like, oh, I just dropped a pencil and hmmm, maybe I'll look out the window and see if it's snowing :) And when the wife's yammering in your ear you don't have to miss a single thing that your sweetie is saying. Hmmm maybe that one isn't a very good sales pitch come to think of it ;) Seriously though. The shows my wife and I do watch don't have to be missed anymore because it's bath or bed time for the kids for instance. The other nice thing about the 508 is that instead of pausing TV you can just "rewind" to the parts you may have missed. IOW, any time you start watching a program, the 508 is silently recording so, let's say you look down and miss that all important jump shot. You just hit the backward button and you can go backwards to any point in the show up to the point where you first started watching. Recording is a breeze. Just scroll through the channel guide, select the program that you want and hit PVR. Whammo you just set the thing to record your first show and you didn't even have to deal with the blinking clock phenomenon. Ummm what else? No more waiting for show information to download to your unit or that infamous "Waiting for information" screen. (DishNetork subscribers of old know what I'm talking about here). You can also see into the future up to seven days when searching for shows etc. The remote is that cool space agey silver color that is becoming more popular. It's pretty well laid out and you'll get used to its minor inadequacies rather quickly. (Buttons are kind of small for example and you find yourself accidentally hitting the wrong one). There's a special function on the remote that launches you to the "Dish Home" site where you can get local weather, news, sports, movie times, etc. Pretty cool. Oh yeah and there are two handy buttons. One skips ahead 30 sec so you can skip those pesky commercials after you've paused/recorded. ZAAP! The other sends you backwards 10 sec. Good for catching that barely perceptible line which reveals the whole plot of the story. Finally, I guess the only thing I don't like about it is that it heats up very quickly (because the hard drive is always running) and it's only cooled off by a little 1 1/2 inch fan mounted in the back of the unit. It's really not a problem, it just makes me a little nervous. Just as a precaution and certainly not a recommended procedure by Dish, I always turn the thing off when I'm not using it. Unlike the older E* receivers where you could leave them on until the cows come home that is. Other than that, I'm very pleased with my purchase. And... I really don't feel any more of a couch potato than I did before. Finally, the price was right too. $199 from Dish as long as I subscribed to Top 100 for 12 months, which I do anyway, so, no increase in programming for me. Best of all, there's no monthly access fee to use it.

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E* 5000.

Good quality picture when it works.

5 junk receivers. 2 had the signal cutting out. 1 was DOA. 1 wouldn't record PPV movies. All have the lock-up problem.

The concept is good. The service people at dish are mostly OK. The quality of the PVR is horrible. I have gone through 5 receivers so far. The "blank screen" problem is in common with all of them. I have been writing machine code since the dish techs have been in diapers. They keep replacing warranteed receivers with other peoples "recertified" junk. I am hooked on the pause, playback, and record features, but be prepared for a lot of frustration. DO NOT BUY THIS UNIT!

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standard receiver

Time managment; ability to skip commercials easily with remote's "timed jumps", forward and reverse; audio quality with digital output; video quality.

You can hear the hard disk running when you power down the sound system.

I have the PVR501. 35 hours of digital recording and the ability to pause live TV has truly enhanced TV viewing. I rarely watch commercials now. Searching, recording, and retrieving are all simple and easy. Video and audio are excellent, including DD5.1 surround. My unit has performed flawlessly -- I have not experienced a single problem mentioned by other reviewers.

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Time Warner cable, Tele-TV.

PVR is a nice feature but I only used it for recording for the first few months. It's not a MUST HAVE feature.

Only an acceptable video signal but that's Dish Network.

PVR508 - Nice idea but poorly manufactured. My unit is only four months old and the sound went completely dead. I was a five year customer of Dish Network. Their customer support is very, very poor. They will not repair my unit. They only send a "factory reconditioned" unit as a replacement. I wanted a new unit since it was only four months old. They responsed that was not an option. I paid $199 for the unit and had to pay a $100 charge for the unit plus (since I did not fulfill my twelve month commitment) a $25 cancellation charge when I told them to close my account. No attempt to resolve the problem or save a customer. My unit does not work and since all dish systems are dedicated to only the provider I decided to get off both dead horses. Both the PVR508 and Dish Network are unacceptable.

Convenient and a pleasure to use. Almost a perfect picture.

Software bugs

The 501 PVR has software bugs that are not likely to ever be fixed. It appears there is a "memory leak" during "record". All you have to do is reset it after it records each series of shows. It's usually okay to record a maximum of around 3 hours before resetting it. To reset it, hold the power button, located on the unit, in for 10 seconds, then let it go. This completely solves the problems of "Blank Screen", "Does not record show that was programmed to be recorded", and "Record light is on, and should have turned off and the unit does not respond to the remote control". The only way to get the unit working after the last symptom is to reset it; and your show will be lost. So, reset it after every series of shows you record, and the unit won't loose your shows and will work flawlessly, unless there's a hardware problem. Also, the last software update, caused a problem with the remote that makes it seem like you pushed the buttons multiple times, when you have actually pressed a button on the remote once. The problem is in the debounce software for the UHF remote signal. Disconnect the UHF antenna and your remote will be back to normal, but naturally only work with the IR signal, which means you can't use it through walls. Now you know all you need to know, and ironically, the tech support group for the 501 PVR will not know this, even if they read it.

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None

-The pvr works well, but not as 'smart' as TIVO. -PVR is low cost and no monthly fee. -Dolby Digital stuff sounds great, but selection is very limited.

-Dish takes no responsibility for their service. -Tech support basically reads a script and has no actual technical knowledge (is your tv plugged in? is there a dish installed on your roof?). -Picture quality is not what was hyped up to be. -You must die before they will let you out of your contract (actually, I haven't tested this and they may hold your heirs to the contract anyway).

This review is for the DishPVR 508. Audio: Good for stereo, but apparently the bit compression rate used by Dish is inadqeuate and causes 'bit starvation' when trying to use surround modes such as Pro Logic II. The surround speakers in these modes transmit lots of garbage. This is the only source I have the problem with. Dish refuses to address the problem. The problem is worse on some stations that others. Very inconsistant. Vidio: I think the picture is pixelated. I have read reviews complaining about 'artificts' in the picture. I think we are talking about the same problem. Blotchy picture in low definition/black areas of the screen. Once again, Dish avoids the the issue and shifts blame. Dish Network in General: Very displeased with their service/response. Every time I have an issue, they blame the problem on something else in my setup, even when I have ruled other components out. Dish also could not correctly ground the system and finally gave up, making me sign a waiver. They refuse to let me out of my contract no matter how unsatisfied I am. I'm not sure if the picture and audio is any better with DirectTV or even cable. My expectations my just be a little ahead of the technology. I just with Dish would tell me as much if that is the case.

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I will probably try Digital Cable or DirectTV when my contract is up in 10 months.

THis is to update my opinion on the pvr508 to date there has not been any problems with this deck.It is quiet and works like it is suppose to.To record and watch what i want when I want is perfect I cant recommend it any higher.Maybe one day Hollywood will allow recordable hdtv until then this is it.

Can set to record programs whenever they come on and watch them later, making your own tv channel in a way.

Picture not totaly perfect but better than anything else I can get!

I recenlty also got at PVR 508 model with 60 hours of record. I love it for the most part. I go ahead for several days scanning for programs that I want to watch and set them to record, then watch them at my convenience. The last couple of software updates seems to have really improved the functionality and reliability of the unit. The picture is on par with my previous 4900 unit, some strange effects in black areas of the picture. The audio is better, the 4900 always had some popping noises in the sound since it was new.

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RCA directtv system dish network 4900 Toshiba C-Band system

Free pvr service unlike tivo,etc.ease of use

None that I have encountered.

This is for anyone who might be looking into this product.I have the new pvr508 (no review area for this product)not the 501.So far in the last 3 weeks it has been a joy to use.No problems.This unit has 60 hours recording and and a cooling fan.It doesn't make a sound that I've heard.If there were bugs in the 501 I think that they have solve the problem.If I have a problem I will submit another review.As for customer service I've been with Dish for about 5 years in the beginning they were better with their customer service.It has slightly down graded.But in recents weeks I've seen slight improvments.Maybe it is just growing pains from expansion.I talk to my friends that have Direct and from what I've heard their customer service is worse or about the same.Either way it's an improvement over cable CABLE SUCKS!!!In this rural area I would say it about close to half have a DSS.That's because the cable here is so bad Picture and service.Besides you get more for less money with DSS.So if your think about a PVR I think this is the way to go.It has the same fetures has tivo without the monthly cost.The service for this from Dish is free.Unlike the others.

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Other dish receivers

1. TIVO-like functions without the cost. 2. Optical audio output for surround sound capability. 3. Search engine pretty helpful. 4. Great value for money. 5. Customized channel lists. 6. Relatively big hard drive. 7. one-button search option.

1. Remote non-responsive when command accesses hard drive. 2. Timers list doesn't display show names. 3. Default on pay-tv query is "yes" which can be an expensive mistake. 4. Search include all channels.

The PVR 501 is very good value for money. I have read comparisons, reviews, specs, etc. for many different products in the same category before settling for the 501. I’ve had it for more than a month now and so far it does what it's supposed to be doing. Some people complained about how noisy the set is but unless you think your PC is noisy the hard drive inside the 501 shouldn't bother you. Besides, most of the time you'll have the TV on while using the set and without a genuine effort you can barely hear anything. The real value of the 501 is that it offers a TIVO-like service without the cost (no monthly fee or additional hardware). It is the first step to making interaction with live TV a way of life rather than a luxury. At the moment (07/03/02) Dish Network is offering the Dish 500 system with the 501 for around $150 (including activation fee). However, the package also includes 3 months free of whichever basic programming you choose, which means that if you go for the 100 or the 150 channel programs you basically get your money back and hence the whole system is essentially "free". The 501 receiver has an audio optical connection which means that if whatever you're watching has surround sound you get surround sound. I have tested this and it really works. The remote takes a little getting used to. Sometimes commands that require hard drive access will not be instantaneous and there’s no clue as to whether the command has been accepted or not (like an hourglass). Which means that when you’re not used to it or you don’t know which commands are likely to invoke the hard drive you’ll keep pressing the buttons thinking that nothing is happening. Careful with Pay TV. When you are on any pay channel and press enter to see if you can catch the beginning of a show the display that comes up asking if you’d like to purchase this program has it on “Yes” by default. This means that any slip of the finger will buy it for you. This potentially expensive mistake (especially if you have kids playing around with the remote) can easily be avoided by only plugging in the phone line if you intend to buy something from Pay TV. The search feature. This feature has lots of good points allowing search by category (like movies, education, etc.) or by typing something in. If you type things in and start searching for stuff the 501 keeps a history of the things yo

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None