Despite what workforbell aka davethehelper has posted, we will all be paying for the upgrade. Just look at what Dish Network has done with the introduction of the 211 and 622. ALL existing subs have had to pay to upgrade.

Bev better not pull any quick ones on us. If their going Mpeg4, i want my FREE HD mpeg4 box! They raised basic digital, i paid 350 bucks for my 6100 and ill be dammed if bev is going to make me pay more for channels im already paying for. I have a premium HD sub. Movie net, etc..

If bev's going Mpeg4, i want my FREE HD box or im leaving them. Plane and simple. I can buy a rogers HD terminal for 150 bucks.

I don't see why they will have to charge existing HD users for the new receiver. Like another poster said the $4 increase will pay the cost.

Making HD subs (among the highest value sub's for expressvu) pay for an upgrade will force alot of them to cancel their subs and go else where. I can't see it happening.

Despite what workforbell aka davethehelper has posted, we will all be paying for the upgrade. Just look at what Dish Network has done with the introduction of the 211 and 622. ALL existing subs have had to pay to upgrade.
Not true. I did the 622 upgrade and got a $50 credit, then 10 x $20 credits (on the HD programming). Then they tossed in another 10 x $20 credits because I was a good customer when I complained about the outrageous price.

$400 in monthly credits & $50 credit up in eight weeks = $450 and I paid $419 + $30 in taxes. Net results = they had my money for a while, but all in all a net upfront cost refunded over 12 months (took two months for credits to appear!).

Let's see Bell match that!!!!!

Visiter555, did you get that only because you complained or did they treat all customers the same as you?

Just curious.

If they did that's awesome, but if the only people who got your deal were the "squeaky wheels" than I think we have to with hold some level of acclaim for Dish Networks. An across the board "buy back" is different than buying out the complainers for fear of losing their business.

I've have spent $600 for a 6000 and $800 for a 9200. I've invested in a 30" dish because BEV standard dish just doesn't cut it when dealing with the HD bird in bad weather. I've logged many hours on the phone with first and second level tech support. I've put up with countless firmware updates and bugs. Surprisingly, I feel that I have received value for my money to a certain degree.

All that said, I left Rogers many moons ago over the sour taste left after the reverse negative billing fiasco. Depending on how Bell comes to terms with this eventuality, I hope they keep in mind that consumers that are willing to fork out decent $$$ are also intelligent enough to know when they are being royally s-c-r-e-w-e-d :mad: . We are more than willing to cut our losses.

PS: Just looked on the Bell site. Found this under the 9200 System section: "Rental is not an option for this system". Funny how they went from rent and buy, to just rent, to just buy. Does this mean something?

No rental inventroy left?...or not wanting to install anymore hd pvr's rentals untill the new unit is released.

I've had a 9200 rental unit for three months and have had all the HD issues related by others here, dropped audio, syncing, blanked screen, etc. I've been getting my rental credited back every month with no problem.
Today I was told there is a no eta as to any fix for the units. It is Echostars problem and they with Bell are working on a solution. Bell said there is a "stop sell" on the 9200's. Only existing stock at the retail level is for sale. No new shipments. It's also been removed as a rental option at their web site,

Chatting with sales.liveperson.net rep I was told a new unit would be coming April 2007, but they had no details/specs or how it would affect existing 9200 users.
I've been told all along it was a software issue that would be fixed soon. This is obviously a much bigger problem.

I think its just because they are missing stock. They still offer the receiver with the All-in-One packages.

Offer for new residential customers only.
Due to high demand, this system is currently not available for purchase online or through our call centres however, it can be ordered as part of the All-in-One HD Extra Combo or as part of a Build Your Own combo.

If you'd prefer to purchase this system, return to this page later as it will be updated when our inventory is replenished. Or, you may contact your local retailer as some locations may still have this system in stock and available for purchase.

Not from what I got form both sources I talked to today. Sales have been stopped at Bells site, and retail will only have whatever stock is left. The online rep said it would be replaced with a 6100 in the meantime for rentals until a new PVR model was out. My guess they could likely get rid of stock via rentals just to sign people up, then swap them out later. I think the end result is the 9200 was a lemon and they are trying to quietly remove it and get a new unit in place. I'm glad I decided to rent instead of buy this time. Free rental until the newer units arrive. A real pain, though at least they are finally owning up to it.
See this thread also
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=48261

9200 is no longer for sale at their site and rentals are being discontinued because of the ongoing issues with the unit. I'm being credited back the rental $20 fee until the problems are solved, which looks like it's going to be with a new model.
See my thread re my talk with them today. http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=510736#post510736

Actually they're being discontinued because a new model is due out soon.

-Mike

I think the end result is the 9200 was a lemon and they are trying to quietly remove it and get a new unit in place.
Discontinuing the 9200 is simply because of new MPEG4 receivers coming into circulation. It is nothing to do with bugs and problems. After all, the speculated replacement (Vip622) is not much more than an upgraded 9200 with some minor enhancements and MPEG4 compatibility - it's not a complete redesign and rewrite like the 9200 was compared to the 6100 or 5X00 products.

I don't think that the majority of owners or BEV would call it a "lemon". I know many people with them that have never had a single problem.

My first one had the 0551 error in August 2005. We know from this site that the 0551 was a SW bug which was later corrected. Apart from that, mine has also been error free. I would consider the jerky playback on the specific drive model the worst problem they ever had - however that was eventually corrected.

Overall, I think that the 9200 has been a huge success. Yes, there have been a number of bugs including the 0551 and the jerky playback which I consider the most severe. Many of the other ones you listed including audio sync (looping) and breakups are problems at the source and not always the 9200.

Compare the bugs that we've had with the 9200 to the bugs with the 5100 when it first came out and again the 9200 looks like a huge success. The 9200 is arguably the best PVR available in Canada with the lack of MPEG4 support being it's only key limitation.

I would have to agree that the 9200 is not a lemon. The only issue I have right now is the stutter on HD playback sometimes. I have been really happy with it's performance thus far but seeing that people are getting credit back for the rental because of this issue, I think I might call as well! One thing that I have to note is that I'm on my 3rd 9200 since I first got it in September 2005.

The Bell rep I spoke to on the phone didn't mention anything about a new model coming. Just said sales were discontinued until the problems with the unit, which are the ones I indicated, were resolved. I'm assuming that will be when the new models appear from what I read around here. As far as being a problem unit, I owned a 5900 for two years that had no problems. The 9200 has many as indicated here, that Bell freely acknowledges and credit accounts to compensate. 9200 does not seem to have had a very long life cycle?

I called bell today and got into a "queue" to have my 9200 replaced with the new ViP622 as soon as it comes out (which according to them is very soon, possibly next week). I'm not under contract so I was able to get on the queue; I’m not sure how they will handle users in a locked in contract with a specific device. According to my bell contact the 622 DVR will be available to renters first, then people who want to purchase.

Barnesy

Visiter555, did you get that only because you complained or did they treat all customers the same as you?

Just curious.

All I did was call them. No complaints or whining. Just asked what the price would be...that was the deal and it has shown up on my bill, so it is accurate. No CSR error this time!!!!

The Bell rep I spoke to on the phone didn't mention anything about a new model coming.

Well look at the history and posts on this site over the years about how little the Bell reps at the stores and CSRs on the phone know. Some of my favorites, were not even knowing about the 6100 model after I had one already running in my house. And another good one about how all receivers have GPS units in them so they can track whether you're account splitting. Sometimes the CSRs are the last to know. The dis-continuation of the 9200 is almost certainly due to the new models.

As far as being a problem unit, I owned a 5900 for two years that had no problems.... 9200 does not seem to have had a very long life cycle?

Most of the 5X00 bugs had been worked out by the time the 5900 came out (I have one of those too). The bugs were experienced with the 5100 units (although my original 5100 is still working knock on wood). The serious bugs, where you kept loosing all of the recordings were fixed before they got to the 5900.

As for the age of the 9200 by July it will be 2 years on market after a long time getting to market. That's not that long but it's longer than the 5100 and 5800.

Think of the difference between the 9200 and the Vip622 as more like the evolution of the 5100 to the 5800 and then 5900. Sure there are some more enhancements and minor functional improvements which the 5x00 evolution didn't have (it was basically remote control and HDD changes). But the 622 they're replacing it with is essentially the same product built on the same code base.

So if you're hoping that they're going to replace it with a vastly different product, the BEV version of the Vip622 (which is the most likely replacement) isn't that. There's good chances that the new model will be susceptible to many of the same or similar bugs as the 9200. However, there also has been speculation that BEV is looking for non-Echostar suppliers which may be more up your alley given your frustration with the 9200. Although personally after experience with the Motorola PVR boxes, you couldn't pay me to leave my Echostar 9200 for a Motorola box.

I still have to say that "in my opinion", while the 9200 has some limitations and minor bugs it is by heads and tails the most functional, nicest to use, and overall best PVR on that has ever been available in Canada.

I concur with everything North of Calgary has said. I purchased the 9200 immediately after it was introduced for $599, ( it can now be obtained for $299, ) and have to state that it has performed perfectly. I originally thought when the HD622 was mentioned here as a replacement for the 9200 that it was probably on account of the MPEG4 upgrade; however, on the DishTV site there is no mention of MPEG4 in relation to the HD622 at all.

I do have to take issue with the rental v purchase situation as it is regarded by BEV. Now there's talk here of the renters being supplied with HD622 replacements ahead of those who happen to own their 9200s. I'm not even certain that BEV intends to eventually perform an exchange for 9200 owners. Is the message from BEV then that subscribers should no longer purchase their equipment ? If this is an example of how BEV marketing regard their subscribership then it obviously doesn't pay any more to buy their receivers. I did notice when perusing their latest HD 'all-in-one' programming packages that they include non-PVR HD receivers, with no indication of what the monthly cost would be without either a 6100 HD receiver or the substitution of a HD PVR.

I also have the 9200 as a AIO, it has performed almost flawlessly. I find it to be the one of the best if not the bet PVR avialable in Canada.

We do not have to go far to look at a PVR/DVR that is not even close to the quality of the 9200, look in the forum and the Starchoice 530. Now that is a unit was a nightmare from the beginning and continues. It was the posts on the forum`s that brought me back to Bell in comparision to staying with StarChoice and getting their PVR/DVR.

As North of Calgary said they may (Bell) looking at other supplier, but I pray to a higher source that it is not Motorola, because like him you could not pay me to go back to that crap.

jgvp, I think Bell has to start with the swap some place and it will be with the AIO`s, they do own the equipment. It has been postulated that all receivers will be replaced, I think that is what will happen because the HD customers are the highest revenue to Bell, espically the outright owners of the equipment and then the HD AIO`s from what I have been told.