Everybody Loves The 922

Way back in May when I first reported about the new Dish Network 922 (then called the 722s) I knew this was going to be an amazing receiver. Now that the receiver has been officially announced it looks like others agree with me as well.

In fact the Dish 922 garnered the Best of CES award by numerous media sites including CNET and G4 TV.   I am also very proud to call it my own personal pick for the best of CES.  To me it is good see others recognize a good thing when they see them and the Dish 922 is a good thing.

I got a chance to mess around with the 922 for about an hour with no interruption from anyone.  The 922 is great but not perfect it still has lots that needs to be finished and fixed before it is released to the public.  For example the 922 does not currently work with all of the Dish Interactive stuff found on channel 100,  also its Slingbox functionality was not working.  And I even had the box crash once, but the crash was easily fixable with a new reset button hidden in the smart card door.

But what was working with the 922 worked and worked flawlessly and I was very impressed with I saw. This is going to be a very impressive receiver when its released, and because its internet enabled it makes the possibilities on this receiver endless.

Dish Network customers will be the first ones to enjoy the 922, however the 922’s maker Echostar wants to offer the 922 available to other cable, telco providers and even are willing to make it available to DirecTV.

As I was at the Dish Network booth a number of known hard core DirecTV fans all commented that they would be willing top drop DirecTV for Dish just so they can get their hands on a 922.  Perhaps DirecTV should look in licencing the 922 from Echostar for their customers to avoid a loss of many of the gadget geeks who love the new technology.

The folks at Echostar and Dish Network welcomed me with open arms at the show and gave me complete access to their booth, they even went so far to clear out the main part of their booth for me so that I could host a live radio call in show.  And then once again the folks at Dish Network showed their hospitality by having Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen, Echostar’s Mark Jackson and Dish Networks technology queen Leslie Harper appear on the broadcast.  If you missed it you can click here to take a listen.  The show was a blast to do and everyone had a great time.

Another neat product shown at CES was AT&T’s Cuisecast service.   This new mobile satellite service from the brains of AT&T and Raysat bring the best of satellite television into your vehicle.   At CES they announced that the initial launch would offer 22 television and 20 music channels.

The picture quality was excellent much better then similar services such as the one offered from Sirius.  The downside was the cost of the unit ($1299 installed plus $27.95 a month for the service) plus the size of the roof-mounted dish.  The size may make it hard for many folks who park in a parking garage. 

Those two things aside the technology was sound and showed no breakup in travel even when going under bridges.  The first generation looks great, but because of its size and initial costs I might hold out until there is a second-generation unit.

About the only down side for me was when I arrived at CES the screen on my laptop was smashed, and while I could see parts of the screen the internet access I had available to me was barely working, because of this I do apologize to everyone reading “The Satellite Dish” as I had a number of specials planned from the show floor.

It does feel good to be back home in Connecticut, although I would still love being on the show floor with one of those amazing Dish 922 remotes in my hand.  You can bet when they come out I will be the first person in line with cash in hand to buy one.

Have a great weekend everyone!