Black Boxes: EchoStar Dish DishPlayer 500 Reviewed

The DishPlayer 500 bundle includes a slightly-wider-than-typical (about 20 inches) Dish 500 satellite dish that holds two, rather than one, dual LNBFs (lownoise blockdown converter/feedhorn), signal converters. These enable the single dish to receive signals simultaneously from two satellites giving the potential to access as many as 500 channels, including data channels: the total carrying capacity of both satellites serving this market. Also, two-receiver users can enjoy all channels available from the Dish 500 in two different rooms of their house.

Personal TV: Even More Selectivity "Smarts"

The new version of the DishPlayer comes equipped with a 17GB hard drive (HD), a new remote control with more buttons and new software.

Most important, the software has added a range of new Personal TV features to the DishPlayer. Fundamentally, it gives the DishPlayer the ability to record and playback several hours (about 9 hours for the 17GB version) to and from its hard drive.

Now, when you find a program in the EPG that you’d like to see, you click on its title and choose to get a reminder before the program airs, to record it to your VCR’s tape or (drum roll) record it to the unit’s hard drive. Similarly, you can happen upon a show already in progress and start recording it to the hard drive instantly, using the red button on the new remote control. It is also possible to view a program on one channel while the unit is recording one on another.

Though all of the DishPlayer’s functions are still disabled whenever it records a program to videotape, its most useful ones remain operative while it records to the HD. That is, it allows you to display the program’s listings information, scan through the EPG for other programs and even use the VCR-type controls while making a HD recording of a program. It does all of this without affecting the recorded picture or sound of the original broadcast.

With Personal TV Service you can rewind (at several speeds), fast forward (at several speeds), skip a few seconds back, skip 30 seconds ahead, and pause, play or stop any program on the hard drive. This includes, to a limited extent, real-time broadcasts. With these, you can pause or rewind back into the program, then play, skip ahead or fast forward through the program until you have "caught up" to the real time broadcast. Like the TiVo and ReplayTV devices, the DishPlayer caches the program as it is broadcast onto its HD to enable these features.

New Wish List

DishPlayer supports enhanced-TV programming. For example, it enables viewers of Jeopardy to play along with the TV show’s contestants, to have their scores recorded, and even to win prizes.

However, enhanced-TV programs are still few and far between. It would be great if the DishPlayer/WebTV software team provided a button on the "TV Home" page that revealed a listing of all the current enhanced TV programs. This would be similar to a button already found on this page that shows links to the companion Web pages for shows one has recently viewed, but the "Enhanced TV" button would explicitly help people find and view enhanced broadcasts.

What it Still Doesn’t Do

 Though the personal TV features greatly enrich the experience made possible by the DishPlayer, they do not fulfill most of our wishes from our earlier review. Some things we’d still like to see in the DishPlayer: