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Dish Network 211 satellite tv high definition receiver HD VIP 211
See it at Amazon.com for $188.98Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Great Picture, bad GUI, low on features
(3 out of 5) by Bosco on Nov 11, 2008 (Tennessee, USA)I have to say, the Vip211 DOES provide an awesome picture. It is sharp, clear, & crisp. In this regard, this receiver does its job exceptionally well.
But I have to say that the graphic user interface (GUI) design, although moderately attractive, is organized horribly, and most obviously as an afterthought. For instance, to look at the Caller ID history, to check and see who has called while you were out... MENU - SYSTEM SETUP - CALLER ID HISTORY. Now, why I ask are these many steps, and on the System Setup menu no less, necessary for a feature that potentially is accessed so often?? I also find the steps for programming in a show for future viewing to be cumbersome and unintuitive. Lastly, the two day guide... TWO DAYS... it is merely ridiculous. I really believe EchoStar could have done a much much better job at anticipating usability on this unit. I admit, I miss my DirecTV Hughes unit of years ago with so many one-touch features, and 9 days of guide.
UPDATE: Wow! Dish decided to offer for a $40 one time fee a complete software download that resulted in capability of attaching an external hard drive to the USB port of this unit, and voila!... 9 day guide on what is now an HD DVR. I can record 150+ hours on this thing. They just made up for the shortcomings!
But I have to say that the graphic user interface (GUI) design, although moderately attractive, is organized horribly, and most obviously as an afterthought. For instance, to look at the Caller ID history, to check and see who has called while you were out... MENU - SYSTEM SETUP - CALLER ID HISTORY. Now, why I ask are these many steps, and on the System Setup menu no less, necessary for a feature that potentially is accessed so often?? I also find the steps for programming in a show for future viewing to be cumbersome and unintuitive. Lastly, the two day guide... TWO DAYS... it is merely ridiculous. I really believe EchoStar could have done a much much better job at anticipating usability on this unit. I admit, I miss my DirecTV Hughes unit of years ago with so many one-touch features, and 9 days of guide.
UPDATE: Wow! Dish decided to offer for a $40 one time fee a complete software download that resulted in capability of attaching an external hard drive to the USB port of this unit, and voila!... 9 day guide on what is now an HD DVR. I can record 150+ hours on this thing. They just made up for the shortcomings!
6 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
THE BEST SO FAR
(5 out of 5) by Melmoth A. Williams on Nov 17, 2007THIS RECEIVER IS SLEEK AND VERY HANDSOME, THIS IS THE 5TH RECEIVER I HAVE OWNED AND TRUST ME THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE. LETS START WITH THE VIDEO QUALITY, WHICH IS STRAIGHT HI-DEF 1080I, SWEET LIKE HONEY, HDMI CONNECT WHICH SPEAKS FOR ITSELF (AUDIO & VIDEO), GUI WHICH IS OUT OF THIS WORLD, A VERY CHEAP RECEIVER, A VERY COMPREHENSIVE REMOTE CONTROL. I LOVE THIS RECEIVER IT GREETS ME EVERYDAY AFTER WORK AND PUTS ME TO BED EVERY NIGHT, WHAT MORE CAN I SAY, THANK YOU ECHOSTAR, YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF WITH THIS ONE, ITS THE TECHNOLOGICAL MARVEL OF THE CENTURY.