Great picture quality, surround sound, the ability to replay live TV, and up to 35 hours of storage make the DishPVR 501 digital video recorder a major step up from any VCR. The DishPVR unit for Echostar's Dish Network satellite TV service is available as a stand-alone PVR (personal video recorder) or comes integrated with a satellite TV receiver.

Recording and retrieving your video

When you turn on your TV, the PVR automatically begins recording what's on. Change channels and it keeps recording. Instead of videotape, the PVR uses a hard drive. To store a program on the hard drive just press the red button on the remote control and it will start to record. If you want to record a program coming on later, simply find the program using an on-screen guide that stores up to nine days of programming then press record.

The easy-to-understand UHF remote control allows you to skip back 10 seconds for an instant replay then skip forward to pick up where you left off. You can view all your recorded programs at the touch of one button and jump around with ease using four different fast-forward or reverse speeds.

Why Dish?

I signed up with Dish as part of its "Digital Home Plan" and had four receivers including one PVR receiver installed for practically nothing. Current Dish customers can upgrade to a PVR for $150. I don't own the equipment and I believe that's a good thing. If something breaks, they send me a new one. If I want to cancel after a year, the stuff goes back at no charge to me.

Dish Network programming plans start at 50 channels for one TV/receiver for $28 a month and go all the way to 150-plus channels and four TV/receivers for $60 a month. I switched from DirecTV to Dish because of the "free" PVR. DirecTV doesn't offer a PVR. It does offer a DirecTV receiver with TiVo, but I didn't want to pay $300 for the hardware plus $12.95 a month for TiVo service.

Gripes

My DishPVR equipment has crashed on occasion but unplugging it for a few minutes seems to fix it. I've heard of other DishPVR owners experiencing problems such as random recorded program erasing and premature hardware deaths. I also wish the hardware wasn't as noisy.

Not as robust as TiVo

It's really not fair to compare the Dish PVR to TiVo. The difference in features between the two are not insignificant. The DishPVR 501 won't let you watch live TV while recording another channel and there's no keyword searches, theme channels, or "Season Pass" recording capability. There is a new two-tuner DishPVR 721 available, but it's still not TiVo and right now the price is way too high. But as in all things tech, the price is bound to come down in time.

Summary: The DishPVR501 is basically a satellite receiver with a hard drive. It's very satisfying and liberating to know that if the phone rings or nature calls, I can pause my TV and come back later not having missed a minute of my favorite program. While I'd like to have the more expensive TiVo and its features, my DishPVR 501 does what I need. And there's no monthly fee.

Pros: Record up to 35 hours; pause live TV; zap commercials; great picture quality, Dolby Digital sound; no monthly PVR fee.
Cons: Somewhat noisy hardware; no "Season Pass" capability; fragile software; can't record while watching another channel.

Company: Dish Network
Phone: 1-800-333-3474
Price: $50 upgrade for new Dish customers; $150 for existing Dish customers
Available: Now