Engadget reports that DISH Network Draco project is going to support Windows Media Canter on Windows 7. http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/01/16/dish-networks-draco-project-brings-programming-to-windows-media/

I wonder how many Directv customers, who also use Media Center, will jump to Dish for this?

Mike_TV:

I wonder how many Directv customers, who also use Media Center, will jump to Dish for this?

in a heartbeart

not to mention that if your media center is down for repairs you can still use it as a normal STB.  I always figured that the most cost effective way would be to have the STB act as the tuner via USB/Ethernet, instead of some specialized device like the HDPC-20.

Most importantly I cant see any reason for needing to have a "certified" using this approach.  So us DIYers should keep our fingers crossed

I have cable right now, but I will probably switch if this becomes available.

I second that...bye-bye  Baja Broadband cable,  Hello Dish!

I'm switching the day it is available.
Finally good news for media center fans, I hope they don't screw it up.
But, this kind of stuff is what keeps us dreaming.
Bravo Draco!

Finally, something to get my hopes up about!

I really hope this becomes available for the VIP 922, as it would provide a great backup when my HTPC decides to die.  I'm also impressed with some of the demos I saw of the 922 and would like to have the option to hedge my bets.  I have to wonder if this is some version of sling, and if it will eventually be used in a way that allows users to have any sling device function as a tuner.

My only concern here is bandwidth.  My hdhr starts to stutter whenever I start moving files around on the network. If I keep the HDHR, two Dish tuners, and 3 extenders it's going to be a little rough.

jeonunh:

My only concern here is bandwidth.  My hdhr starts to stutter whenever I start moving files around on the network. If I keep the HDHR, two Dish tuners, and 3 extenders it's going to be a little rough.

This crossed my mind as welll, but my thoughts were I would install a second nic in my media center and setup a secondary network on a different subnet.  if you havent already i would give this a shot with your HDHR

Well, if you figure that each HD stream is about 18Mb/s, you should be fine with gigabit network.
With 4 HD streams recording, and 3 going out to extenders all at the same time, you're still only looking at about 126Mb/s.
So, gigabit should handle it just fine, but if you're transfering files around, that might slow it down.

This is so sweet... Now I'm going to have to move just to take advantage of this if it becomes a reality. I had Dish out here about 2 months ago... It was a no-go due to neighbor's trees! (this neighborhood is about 40 years old) I may resort to a covert middle-of-the-night operation to take out said trees if this comes out soon ;) I'm tired of getting ripped off by Comcast.

masteroffm:

jeonunh:

My only concern here is bandwidth.  My hdhr starts to stutter whenever I start moving files around on the network. If I keep the HDHR, two Dish tuners, and 3 extenders it's going to be a little rough.

This crossed my mind as welll, but my thoughts were I would install a second nic in my media center and setup a secondary network on a different subnet.  if you havent already i would give this a shot with your HDHR

Or if you dedicate an HDHomeRun to a specific system you could make a direct connection to a second NIC on that system. I have two HDHomeRun units and I only use them on two respective systems but I have not set them up this way. I typically send large 5-6GB or larger AVCHD / .ts / .m2ts files made from my Hauppauge HD PVR to and from my Windows Home server and haven't really had a problem yet (gigabit ethernet though).

Anyway, I live in NYC in a large Co-op building. I don't think Dish is an option for the building. Right now I get about 130 QAM channels in the clear though with a nice little selection of HD channels in the clear too. What's not in the clear the Hauppauge HD PVR can take care of. So I'm not exactly dissatisfied overall. However, change is good. I would try it if I could that's for sure.

 

+1

If this actually happens, you can call me a DISH subscriber!

I left Dish Network years ago for DirecTV due to a number of reasons. Then DirecTV announced it's Media Center tuner, and I instantly became a die hard customer. Then once they cancelled the tuner, I was so angry, I cancelled my DirecTV account, bought several QAM tuners, picked up Cable, and I've been "living" with it since.

If this really comes to market, then I will immediatly go back to Dish Network. This has been my personal holy grail for the longest time, and I'm excited to see some hope again.

Exciting news, though I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm a current and longtime DirecTV subscriber who was eagerly awating the HDPC-20. If Dish pulls this off (with options for DIYers) I WILL be ditching DirecTV