Cheap Satellite Antenna

** Update 12-14-2009 **The unit has not failed for about one year. Apparently firmware has resolved the the reboot issue. I'm still using a surger protector despite DN tech support advising against it. Perhaps, the utility company added more power to my household lines ;~) (see comments about DN tech support in my original post). Anyway, the unit has been reliable and has no glaring faults. I haven't connected an external Hard Drive for added storage but it's a nice feature (despite $40 fee to activate). The unit will provide HD viewing to one TV and SD to a second. It's probably the best DVR available at the present, possibly with the exception of the Tivo HD unit. Definitely a better bang for the buck than Tivo, if you just want to watch and record Satellite TV broadcasts.** Original review **The VIP 722 is well designed, with the exception that some have reboot problems. A four or five star rating would be forthcoming, if the DVR were more stable.What's not to like about a DVR that supports High Definition Sat transmissions up to 1080p with Dish's Video on Demand. It has more than ample storage for recording. The menus and recording capabilities are easy enough to find programs and record.If you have a unit like mine - that crashes and reboots periodically, then you will find plenty to dislike. Imagine inviting several people to your home to watch a Pay per View event costing $55 and the machine crashes about 20 minutes prior to the event and refuses to operate. I don't have…

I own 5 DirecTV TIVO DVRs and have been very happy with them, with only occasional problems. But as soon as I got this new HD DVR, I started having constant problems. The first one they delivered had a bad input, so the DirecTV technician installed a second. However, this one had messed up audio. Since he didn't have any others with him, we kept it for a week, experiencing intermittant audio problems, before finally getting DirecTV to bring a replacement. The third one appeared to work fine for a while until it started crashing. Sometimes, the audio would just go in and out, which is very annoying. I programmed my regular TIVO to record the same show at the same time and it sounded perfect, so I know the problem had nothing to do with the satellite signal. I really don't want to ask for a fourth unit out of fear it will be even worse and am now seriously considering moving all my business to Verizon FIOS TV.

DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM! We purchased this as the base for our home entertainment system. After 2 service calls, it was diagnosed as being the seat of all problems. The unit kept freezing the video portion of the signal. Bottom line: we had to trade our unit in on a service call in order to replace it with one that works. We are out almost $600 plus the cost of the DIRECTV price of the replacement and/or the cost over time of the service contract.I SAY AGAIN: AVOID AT ALL COSTS! LET THE BUYER BEWARE!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful 2.0 out of 5 starsCouldn't get it to work., November 9, 2007 By Erin Ujiiye "airstream family" (Nampa, ID) - See all my reviews(REAL NAME)  We purchased this portable unit for our travel trailer. But couldn't get it to work with our tv. We were very disappointed with the directions sent with this unit. Not very helpful. We ended up sending the satellite back to the company.

This thing puts out more heat than you can imagine. And it has a fan constantly running to keep it "cool". Forget having a quiet living room. This thing is far out the worst piece of AV equipment I have ever owned. Did I mention when you turn it "off" all it does is turn the front panel LEDs off. The fan is still going, the power is still being used, the heat is still there.

Purchased this unit as a portable for our travel trailer. I was expecting a small dish and tripod. This thing is huge. It is larger than the one mounted on the house. Next suprise was NO documentation in the shipping package. I had to call the seller and they emailed me the Directv instructions for their service personell to install. The instructions from the seller were poorly written. When I tried to install it for the first time, I ended up on the Directv support line for an hour, and still had to have a service tech come to the house. We finally got the system to work and I am pleased with the results, just not the size.I took one star off for no instructions in the box, and poor instructions after.

it was as it was listed it was easy to hook up and had every thing needed to install it

This is our second Winegard MP-1 dish (my brother-in-law just had to have our 1st one!)To say this works well, is an understatement - it is incredibly easy to setup and align, decent fade margin under most conditions, and never gives us the slightest trouble - then, it is incredibly small and the package is perfectly designed for storage (everything, including cables, (even 50' extra) sat alignment meters, sighting compass, (yes I know it comes with one, but I prefer my Suunto sighting compass) and some assorted connectors)When the automatic dish on our RV is blocked, this is a perfect work around (or it could be your ONLY dish for that matter)There really are no negatives for this small manual dish - If I have to come up with one, it can be a bit "twitchy" for the first time user to set the elevation, but that's a "reach" to find something - azimuth is simply not an issue especially if you use the supplied base (but we seldom use the base) - no skew adjustment to deal with - we also don't use the water "weight" container, haven't needed it - If you do use the "weight down" container, maybe use "VERY DRY" sand in the winterPrice is VERY good in my opinion and the product simply works!I can hardly believe how well it works!

This is the only option if you want DIRECTV HD. HD is a must when watching sports with a group of people at a tailgate. It was very easy to assemble and operate. It works as advertised and found all 5 satellites in minutes. I don't even have an RV. I just attached it to a board and put it in the back of my SUV. I set it on the ground by the grill at the tailgate and have HD football on multiple TVs in minutes!

When I researched this product, their homepage indicated that the company was working on a Directv HDTV satellite "update" (I don't have the actual language in front of me and they were going to change the website language to fix the confusion). Later I wrote to the company asking if the HDTV "update" was available yet, and if not, would they notify me... Response: "What are you talking about, these units will never be receive HDTV; you will need to buy a new unit." Now that's not exactly the type of "update" that we normally think about... at least not with computers! They should have said that they were working on a new model that would provide HDTV, I would have waited for it! If you don't care about HDTV, the dish did work when I set it up at home using my Directv HDTV DVR with dual tuners. But while camping in the middle of Yosemite's campgrounds I could never find a satellite through the trees anyway!! Searching for the satellites is not really that easy, but with practice it probably becomes easier. I would gladly pay for a more automatic satellite setup process.

I have used my Align-A-Site for several years. It makes aligning you dish very easy. Dial in the azimuth and elevation (some dishes require a skew setting), adjust the tripod until the two levels are leveled. Go inside and watch TV. It is pretty expensive, but in my opinion well worth it. It takes the hassle out of setting up.

The DVR was very glitchy (would not reccord anything on timers during first week) but seems to have learned what we want it to do! About once a week the receiver has frozen up and will not change channels or show program guide, works after hitting reset button. Other than these issues we (wife, 2 teen age sons and I) really like it.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful 3.0 out of 5 starsDirect TV HD DVR performance, December 6, 2007 By Geoffrey Hayes "geoff" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews(REAL NAME)  I recently switched to an HD DVR from Direct TV after years using their Tivo. I am using it with a new Sharp Aquos HD TV. The difference in picture and sound quality is truly amazing and the glossy black unit matches exactly my new TV and is both modern and attractive. There are a few drawbacks with the unit especially in comparison to my old Samsung Tivo unit.The switch from one channel to another is annoyingly slow and can take up to 6 or 7 seconds. I assume this is because since the unit is capable of receiving both analog transmissions in the old 480i format all the way up to the best HD currently available which is the 1080i format, it probably takes a few seconds to sort out the various incoming formats and deliver the picture. Also it often returns to the beginning of a recording (after a stop or pause) instead of resuming where you left off. This is particularly true near the beginning of a recording and is also quite annoying. Recording is a one button one press operation which is fast and foolproof. The remote is typical Direct TV and is good but not altogether user-friendly. However, it is both Infrared and RF (Radio) capable. It means that when you set up for RF operation, the remote can controll the unit up to 200' away in another part of the house even through walls…

My family wanted to become more serious about tailgating & decided to buy a generator so we could watch other games on tv while waiting for our team to play. I researched portable satellites & came across this item from Dish Network in which I was already a customer. I was a little leary of this product since it was only just released in July of this year & there were no reviews for it. May I just say, we love it. It is lightweight and super easy to set up. We took it out of the box, hooked up the receiver and the television and were watching college football games within minutes. It is so easy to use. It finds the satellites for you so you don't need a compass or listen to signal strengths. Just set it with an unobstructed view of southern sky & it will do the rest. I can't tell you how many fellow tailgaters stopped by to see what this thing was on top of our vehicle. Everyone was quite impressed. I would recommend this product. The only concern I would have is it is only compatible with one type of Dish receiver. You must make sure it is the right one or you will have to purchase this receiver.

Getting my own antenna and receiver (sold separately) was much cheaper than going through Dish. Putting together the antenna was somewhat difficult due to lack of good directions. I was able to figure it out looking at other antennas that were already assembled and in use. Accurately pointing the dish was time consuming but not difficult.