DTVPal is not your Pal!

[harshness]

HDTVs or Analog only T.V.'s? And antenna's hooked to them?

By definition, HDTVs don't need external tuners. I do have an HD monitor that needs a tuner, but that will eventually get its own digital tuner.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

I picked up a Zenith DTT900 at Radio Shack for $49.99. It was $59.99 online but cheaper in the store. No need for the bells & whistles of the DTVPal for a spare TV.... :up

 

[aperry]

All the converters I have seen on the market are $59.

The Dish unit is also $59 but gives you more features for your money and is one of the best tuners I have tested so far.

If your going to spend $59 for a DTV converter the DTVPal is your best money spent.

I paid $49.99 ($9.99 after coupon) each for my two Magnavox units at my local Sears store. They do have the analog pass-through for the low power stations that many of the cheaper units leave out. The picture and sound quality are very good (for the one channel I can actually get with rabbit ears).

 

[Lifterguy]

On July 4th I used one of my coupons to buy a Zenith DTT901 converter at Circuit City ($59.00). I liked the first one enough that on July 6th I went back and used my second coupon to buy another one. The DTT901 has analog pass through - which is important to me because I feed the TVs in my guest room and family room with the TV 2 output from my Dish Network 622. So when the box is turned off, I can still get the signal from the 622 on UHF channel 60 (analog). When the converter box is turned on, I can select from any OTA digital channel - giving me a lot more flexibility for what to watch on those extra TVs (without paying a monthly fee for another Dish Network box.) I had considered buying the DTV Pal, but it would have cost me more (with shipping), and based on reviews, I think the only thing I would have gained is a more sophisticated program guide - something I can live without. I did see the Magnavox converter (with analog pass through) at Sears for $49.00, but reviews I saw suggested the overall quality of that box - including the picture and tuner - wasn't as good as the Zenith. I like that the Zenith remote allows me to program it to operate the TV power - I wish I could also program it to operate the TV's volume control. Instead the box has an internal volume control, so it could be confusing for some people who can't understand why the volume is still too low even when they have it set at maximum on the converter box.

 

[Malouff]

Im a Dish retailier in michigan, just purchased 30 of them for 50.00 each. Thats more then the original price anounced at team summit! The shipping was 32.07 Total invoice for 30= $1,532.07 / 30 = 51.069 per box.So selling @ $60.00 is a break even or loss when paying sales personal and the customer education over the phone after selling the unit. I think the unit sould sell for about $89.00 with the goverment paying for 90%

Your costs sound very similar to what Claude for DishStore.net has said.

So then how can another retailer (sorry can't say the name as they are not a paying supporter/advertiser of this site) be selling the DTVPal for $39.99 before coupon?

Finding out today how much someone got one with them ($3.34 sales tax) makes me mad

I even didn't get the newer 101 software with my order
(Yep, I didn't order thru Dish Network)

 

[pabeader]

tim, you can mention another retailer as long as it isn't repeated over and over. so it"s okay to mention that ultimate electronics has them for around 40

 

[pabeader]

and don't forget, early adopters always get charged for the priviledge

 

[BigDon]

Off topic remote address question

Sorry to go off topic but I have a question. Is there a way to change the remote address on the DTVPal? It's in the same room as my Dish receiver but it's remote keeps changing my Dish box. I know I can change the remote address on my Dish box but I really wanted to do this the other way around.

Thanks!

 

[pabeader]

nope, it uses address 1 on the remote. i would change my sat receiver to a different address then you could control both from the one remote

 

[Malouff]

and don't forget, early adopters always get charged for the priviledge

What privilege did we get?

Yea, orders started Jun-25-08 so you got to order them early. If you ordered with Dish Network you should have got the boxes right away but you paid for the privilege of having faster shipping and got the additional bonus of having the 101 software.

The rest of us "early adopters" who ordered from another retailer got the privilege of having the 100 software and some are still waiting to receive their orders but did save some money.

I am sure that more than likely the Ultimate is the 101 software box.

The only privilege I see is if you order with Dish Network you get a 101 and get it faster.

However, there are reports that both versions have bugs so again what is the privilege?

 

[pabeader]

What privilege did we get?
why, the privilege of paying more for a product that will most likely have a few hick-ups and price drops.
in reality, i would never buy a NEW anything. i try to wait until they take the word NEW off the packaging or whatever period seems apporpriate if they didn't put NEW on the box.

sorry, i forget that you haven't played this game very long.

 

[Malouff]

I forgot another Dish Network privilege - the way it's shipped.

I too never buy anything on the bleeding edge of new as it costs to much. I wait for it to get discounted and sometimes have bugs removed.

In the case of the DTVPal I had not much of a choice because of the stupid NTIA "use of or lose it" coupon rule and all of Dish Networks lies and price jumping.

I am also sure the word "NEW" will remain on the packaging - remember these are being sold for government coupons and more than likely won't be on shelves forever.
Once the stupid coupon game ends then we will be seeing products like the TR-50 that will likely also come with a similar Dish Network Game.

I don't know what games Dish Network likes to play but they have not impressed me.

I will be sending ceo a email and see what they offer or what statement about this they can make.

I hope they don't have me start playing by the game rules where they can have the privilege of a vocal and persistent "Do Not Buy" campaign.

 

[pabeader]

lol

 

[Smith P.]

Any word how firmware will be upgrading for TR-40/Pal boxes ?
As we know Dish changing software pretty often.

 

[pabeader]

i was under the impression that they could piggy back on the data stream of certain channels.

 

[Cyclone]

I'm pretty sure that you will never see a software update on the TR-40. They might upgrade at the factory and ship out units with newer software as time rolls along, but I can't see dish making any effort to try to maintain the TR-40 once it is sold.

The don't have a solid downstream path like dbs, nor does it connect to the internet or Phone network. Plus its dirt cheap, not really a high margin device here.

Sure they could cut deals with stations in each of the country's 240 DMAs to piggy back a software download into their datastreams. But do you think that they think its worth it for this little $20 box?

 

[pabeader]

might they not already have such a deal in place, for other reasons?

 

[Smith P.]

Cyclone, I'd like your price mark for the little box. Seems to me it's correct for mass production (100,000s units) calculating BOM and labor in China.

 

[TalkingRat]

On cheap prices for other boxes, BiMart (NW chain) is selling Zenith 901 for $50, and Frys (newly a coupon taker) has the Zenith 900 for $50, and they had CM7000 on sale for $60. Freddies (NW Kroger related chain) is selling Philco for $50.

On upgrades, Uniquelyme at AVS was told the known problems for the Pal are not fixable except by product exchange:

After many many hours on the phone with Dish Network, Executive Resolutions finally put me in contact with a technical support representative that was very knowledgeable of the DTVPal and its current status. His list of known/documented problems was quite long, but he was ultimately able to confirm the ones I inquired about:

VBI being displayed along the top of converted content
Erratic event timer problems, including not powering the unit on
Clock not keeping the proper time
Erratic powering on/off for no apparent reason
Downloading EPG info on powering up after only being off a short time
Remote control interaction with Dish Network receivers
TVGOS not working reliably

The good news is they expect to fix all of these issues with updated software (the remote control problem has to be fixed by replacing the 1.5 NDB model with a 3.2 NDB model).

The bad news is the unit is not field upgradeable. The current units (and remotes) will have to be replaced once the new software is available. It's expected the new software won't be available for at least a couple of weeks....

Dish DTVPal pictures and working review - Page 8 - AVS Forum

 

[partsman_ba]

i was under the impression that they could piggy back on the data stream of certain channels.

might they not already have such a deal in place, for other reasons?

HMMMM. Perhaps something having to do with a OTA HD DVR? Could it have something to do with, say, CBS since that's where they seem to get their time data?