Dish Unveils Turbo-Charged DVR

Satdude

Dish Unveils Turbo-Charged DVR

EchoStar Communications and its Dish Network Thursday officially introduced their newest HD DVR, which can store up to 500 hours of programming for on-demand, and is meant to support the satellite provider’s expanded HD offering of 38 channels.

The ViP722 is an advanced version of the EchoStar’s ViP622 DVR, and will complement Dish Network’s recently ramped-up HD lineup, which the satellite provider claims is the largest in the nation.

The ViP722 is a dual-tuner DVR receiver that can power two rooms, one in HD and the other in standard-definition. It features expanded storage capacity, a 500 GB hard drive, with the ability to record 55 hours of HD programming in MPEG4, 350 hours of standard-definition programming, and more than 100 hours of movies and shows with Dish On Demand – for a total of up to 500 hours of programming.

Those looking for additional DVR recording capacity, in time for football season and fall season premieres, can take advantage of an external hard-drive feature now available on Dish’s ViP722 and ViP622. The external hard-drive feature allows customers to expand their DVR recording capacity and create a virtually unlimited library of favorite TV shows, movies and sports programming.

By connecting an off-the-shelf hard disk drive, up to 750 GB, to the DVR through one of two USB 2.0 ports, customers can transfer, store and play HD and standard-definition content saved to the external hard drive.

Earlier this year, the DVR video archiving feature was awarded an International CES Innovations 2007 Design and Engineering Award on behalf of the Consumer Electronics Association.

The ViP722 is available for free to qualifying new DISH Network customers, and the external hard drive feature has a one-time household activation fee of $39.99.

The ViP722 and external hard-drive feature complement Dish Network’s DishHD. The satellite provider is the first pay-TV provider to offer Discovery Channel HD, TLC HD, Animal Planet HD and The Science Channel HD, which DishHD customers now have access to in addition to MHD and Golf/Versus HD.

With those HD additions– plus more planned for September, including The History Channel HD on Sept. 5 – Dish Network said it is offering the largest national HD lineup in the U.S., now available free for six months to new DishHD subscribers.

The ViP722 receiver supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and along with the ViP622 is the only DVR in the industry with a true 30-second skip feature – allowing subscribers to watch television commercial-free.It also includes an IP call-back feature ideal for customers who don’t have a phone line, but still want the ability to order pay-per-view programming, among other functions.

Regards Satdude.