Dish Network 625 DTV Receiver / 100-Hours DVR

Satellite television is something I never used in the past. With the popularity of standard cable and the competitive companies to choose from, I always stuck with basic cable for my television needs. But today, I have a new home in a new state so I decided I would try out satellite television for the first time. I selected DISH Network (the one offered in a bundled package with my phone service) and with this I now have the DISH Network DVR-625 DTV Receiver, a device used to operate the satellite television and record television programs.

Features of This Receiver/Recorder:

DISH Network DVR-625 comes with most DISH Network packages and it is designed to record television shows with Dolby digital sound quality. It can be used with either ordinary cable or satellite television.

This receiver offers a dual tuner and is capable of recording two television shows simultaneously. The device can be programmed to record programs in advance and it capable of recording up to 100 hours of television shows or movies. On screen caller id is available and there are parental locks that can be activated to prevent youngsters from watching certain programs.

The front of this unit includes a small panel with lights that indicate whether the power is on and whether recording is taking place. There is a separate light for each of the two televisions along with a light that indicates single or dual mode.

On the right-front side of the unit, there are buttons that can be used for controlling the unit (a supplement to the remote control). There is a mode button to switch between single and dual; a menu button with arrows to select the menu and navigate through the different options; and a power button to shut the unit on/off. The back of the unit contains television 1 and television 2 connections; s-video; USB 1.1 port; dish antennae connections; and phone line connections.

Customer Service/Product Information:

If you need to find information on this unit, the place to check on- line is dishnetwork.com. There is some troubleshooting advice in the web site along with contact phone numbers for both new and existing customers.

Final Thoughts:

Dish Network satellite is one of several communication options available for residential use and it's one of the many products I have seen and heard about in the past but had no desire to use. I had heard too many negative comments from others about the reliability of Dish Network service and I could see no reason to switch from the service I was using if it meant possibly getting an inferior product.

But a person should 'never say never', and my decision to try out the Dish Network is proof that this old saying does hold some truth. The fact is, I probably would still not have considered using satellite television had it not been for a special offer I received that bundled this service with my high speed internet and phone service for a relatively low cost. I decided it was time to give satellite television a try, and one of the first things I did was try out the Dish Network DVR-625 DTV Receiver. Before now, I didn't have DVR recording ability so this was one of the main features I wanted to test following the installation of my television.

There are two things that are taking time to get used to with this device and one of them is the menu system. With the television set and receiver turned on, there are several ways to search for a program to record. If you already know what you want to record, then you can go straight to that channel. But if you would rather look for something to record for later viewing, you can use the menus to look up shows by subject. There is, for example, a Themes menu that lets you search for programming based on category, like sports, family, education, music, etc. Once the program is located, it's only a matter of setting the Record function.

When viewing a recorded program, this DVR receiver allows the user options similar to those of a DVD player. You can pause, skip forward, repeat, etc. You can also watch one program while another is being recorded in the background. And, with the dual mode turned on, you can record two programs at the same time. Live programs can also be paused and rewound for repeat viewing.

The other thing that is taking time to grow on me is the remote control that comes with this receiver. It is loaded with buttons and I still find myself pressing certain keys accidentally. Depending on what sequence of keys have been pressed in error, it isn't always easy to get back where you started. Sometimes, I get frustrated with the whole mess, shut off the television and receiver, then restart everything in order to get the receiver and the menus to reset. I am slowly getting the hang of this remote, however, and it is slowly becoming easier to use.

There are a few other limitations with this receiver that may cause some frustration for some users. For one, you cannot select anything other than a "normal" pattern for recording a program. What I mean is that you cannot tell the receiver to record an episode today, skip tomorrow, and then record the next day. The choices you have are once, weekly, daily, and Monday through Friday. There is no way to create your own unique schedule. Another limitation is with the picture- in- picture option. If you want to use it, you have to set the receiver in the single mode. This is no big deal and it requires a simple push of a button. But it also means remembering to switch the mode on the receiver before attempting to press one of the three PIP buttons on the remote.

Going back to the recording capabilities of this DVR receiver, I like the fact that the recording does offer some flexibility. One really nice feature is the option to start and/or end the recording of a program a few minutes early or a few minutes late. This is nice because it better ensures that part of the program won't be accidentally "cut" off from the recording. Also, if the DVR timer has been set for a sporting event, it automatically sets a late time of 60 minutes, to protect against a sporting event going into overtime.

Be careful using the "New Episode" feature in the timer menu. This feature will record only what is considered a new episode, which is defined by the DISH Network- 625 DVR Receiver as a program that has the current year listed in the program guide for that show. If the program guide shows any other year, it will skip and not record the event if the New Episode option was used. Another area you have to watch closely is Pay- Per- View. If you want to record a Pay- Per- View program, you have to order the pay per view at the same time you set the timer. If you don't do this in the correct order, the pay per view will not record. Yet another common mistake is with updating. The receiver has to be enabled to receive updates. If it isn't, then the program guide may not be updated the way it should be, and that could mean having the receiver skip a recording by mistake.

As far as the picture quality, this DVR receiver offers some very good quality- just as good as with a regular television program and every bit as good as the quality from watching a DVD. About the only difference I can see is when a program is paused. With a DVD, the image is frozen and looks perfectly clear. With the DISH Network DVR- 625 Receiver, the paused image is blurred a little bit. This usually doesn't matter to me since I use pause strictly to temporarily stop a program while I tend to something else, then start it back up. But this blurriness could be a problem for those who pause a program so they can take a closer look at the frozen image on the screen.

Overall, I am fairly satisfied with my DISH Network DVR- 625 DTV Receiver and it has worked well for me so far. There are several features that are available that I do not use, like the ability to play computer games, pay your Dish Network bill on your television set, and get movies on demand. But from what I have used thus far, this seems like a good DVR receiver with good picture quality and good recording options. I might like it more once I master the menus but it seems like a good product from the Dish Network and I'm glad I received it (normally sells for $300) as part of my introductory package deal.