DISH Solo HD Receiver (ViP 211z)

This was purchased for my husband after his receiver died. So far, it works perfectly. It is smaller & lighter than previous receiver.

Ordered this brand new here then called Dish to add this to my extra bedroom. They activated it for $7 a month. They wanted me to sign up for another 2 year contract if I ordered this receiver from them, thats why I bought it instead.*Please note* when you install this receiver you have to go into the menu where it shows signal strength and put in your zip code or the receiver will not have the strongest signal. I learned that part the hard way and was about to have Dish tech come out until I discovered that.I also hooked up an external compact WD hard drive USB 3.0 500GB ( USB POWERED ) and for a $40 one time fee from Dish for the lifetime of this receiver for DVR service. I want to add and confirm you DO NOT I repeat DO NOT need an external hard drive that is AC powered. I've had zero problems with idle or the receiver going into sleep mode. In the receivers menu, there is an option for the receiver to not go into sleep mode. You can even turn the receiver off and touch the hard drive and the disc is still spinning and recording whatever you have it set to. You do have to watch whatever it's recording though as it's only a one tuner receiver. The pause, fast forward, rewind on live TV also works flawlessly. I also get close to 50hrs of recording time with a 500GB hard drive recording in HD and 185hrs in SD. I don't see a need for a 1T hard drive with this setup.So bottom line is I have had no lag nor any problems at all with the guide, DVR, Live TV. Not sure what others are experiencing with a few reviews I have read but I couldn't be happier. It performs even better than my older VIP211K. I have not updated the firmware at all either with these results. And the way it's performing, I don't ever intend to.

I used this with a mobile Dish satellite with tripod. It is working good, and I had no problem getting it all put together BUT the directions on how to connect it to a receiver to get a satellite signal was very vague. I messed with it at my RV site for multiple days and calling the people at Dish was like talking to wall, they were NO HELP. They will not send out a worker to help at the place my RV camper sits year round. I had to hire a guy in a town close by to come set it up, he informed me that it's almost impossible to deal with Dish on the telephone because they only read from cards so unless you have done it several times it isn't an easy fix. The cost was $75 where I'm located in southeast Missouri, it was worth it because I leave it in one place, but would not want to deal with it if I traveled often in it.

Dish activated it right away after I hooked it up. No problems at all. I have 4 of theses in my house and they work really good with Dish.

Hands down, this receiver is the best value for watching HD with Dish.Small profile, draws low power and has excellent picture quality. I bought this as a replacement when after 3 years or so, I started having problems with a vip211k.The VIP211z is an updated version of the VIP211k. Basically the same features, but does lack a few older output connections. The VIP211z only has HDMI for HD output and a composite (yellow, white, red) for SD output. No optical audio, coaxial or component video output. There is also no phone line input & the dish home channel doesn't work on the vip211z. I never used any of that with my vip211k, so I don't miss them now.The one major improvement I notice with the VIP211z is searching for program titles is much faster, almost instantly done when you press search.Now here is the secret I think Dish doesn't really advertise to customers, but it's what makes this receiver the best value. You can plug in your own USB hard drive and turn it into a HD DVR for no monthly fee. It cost a $40 one time fee, which I paid years ago with my older VIP211k. So if you have a VIP211k and enabled the DVR, you can also get free DVR with the new 211Z. Also, the one time fee is for all 211 on your account. So other rooms can also get free DVR service.Yes, it is only a single tuner, so you can't record 3 or 6 shows at once, but honestly that's a bit over kill anyways. The cable networks & premiums always repeat shows, so you can just record a conflicting show or movie in the early morning hours.Hook up a 2TB drive and get hours & hours of recording space. Save 100s of movies & shows... Set up some dish season passes for shows & actors you like... then you always have something good to watch on tv. I use it everyday with very little issues.Thanks Dish for a great piece of equipment & service.