Hardware Models/DishPlayer: Difference between revisions

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Created page with "The DishPlayer 7100 manufactured by EchoStar, is the first of the two clients in the DishPlayer series 1st introduced in 1999, It serves two purposes: To connect to WebTV (and later MSNTV branded) services and browse the web, and to use as a DVR to record TV. It is its own type of set top box, a Dish tuner. Similar to a WebTV Plus box, it contains an IDE hard drive and a TV Tuner. The HDD contains 8.6 GB of storage space, necessary for a DVR. == Technical Specification..."
 
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The DishPlayer 7100 manufactured by EchoStar, is the first of the two clients in the DishPlayer series 1st introduced in 1999, It serves two purposes: To connect to WebTV (and later MSNTV branded) services and browse the web, and to use as a DVR to record TV.
The EchoStar DishPlayer (also branded by JVC on some models) 7100 and 7200 are a combination Dish satellite TV receiver and WebTV Plus Receiver, introduced in 1999. Similar to WebTV Old Plus units, they contains an IDE hard drive, however instead of the standard over-the-air TV tuner, they include satellite inputs to connect to Dish's satellite television services. They also contain a much larger hard drive specifically for recording shows onto.
 
It is its own type of set top box, a Dish tuner. Similar to a WebTV Plus box, it contains an IDE hard drive and a TV Tuner. The HDD contains 8.6 GB of storage space, necessary for a DVR.


== Technical Specifications ==
== Technical Specifications ==
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* 16 MB RAM
* 16 MB RAM
* 4 MB ROM
* 4 MB ROM
* 8.6 GB HDD
* 8.6 GB (7100) or 17.6GB (7200) HDD
* WebTV Smart Card slot (front)
* Two smart card slots (one on back for Dish functionality, one on front for WebTV functionality)
* DISH Network Smart Card slot (back)  
 


== Differences ==
== Differences ==


The 7100 has quite a few differences compared to the contemporary WebTV Plus boxes of the time, it is the only plus box with a hard drive to contain 16mb of ram as all old plus boxes with hdd’s have 8mb (Sony W200, Phillips MAT972, Etc.) and 16mb was only standard in later new plus boxes without hdd’s (Sony W250, Etc.)
The DishPlayers are the only Old Plus unit to contain 16MB of RAM, as typical Old Plus units only contained 8MB, and only later New Plus units had 16MB. They also have a bigger capacity hard drive for digital TV recordings, as well as trick play features such as "TV Pause," which allowed pausing a live show for up to 30 minutes.


It had a bigger stock hdd to make room for DVR recordings via the Dish Features (with later functionality added via Dish’s Personal TV service)
The units also have two AV outputs, with the intention of one going to your TV and one going to a VCR. Despite the units including much larger hard drives for digital recordings, it still has the ability to control a VCR via an IR blaster to record shows onto tape. The AV in and mic jack were moved to the front, and unlike typical Plus units, there is no way to preview the AV inputs or control a VCR manually.


it notably also has two AV outputs with the intention of one going to your TV and one going to a VCR at least from what we could find from info pages about it back in the day, it also has an AV in and mic port on the front, tho it seems with the WebTV builds for the DishPlayer (internally named “WebStar”) any of the VCR pass-through and control functions previously included with plus boxes was removed (most likely swapped out for the DVR functions) and any attempt to try to load the AV input except for taking a picture for email or the website builder just either brakes the page and/or shows a “instant news is unavailable” screen (including in the av factory test)
They also have two smart card slots, one on the front which is connected to the WebTV, and one on the back which is tied to the Dish TV functionality. They also won't function without the Dish smart card inserted, asking the user to turn it off and insert one into the back if one isn't detected.


It also has two smart card slots one for WebTV related stuff on the front and one for Dish service stuff on the back, notably, these boxes will not have much functionality and will refuse to load the TV home without a dish smart card inserted
It also seems the DishPlayers use a earlier 1.0/1.1 soundfont/reverb logic That dates back to the pre-alpha days of WebTV for no discernible reason


== Games ==
== Games ==
The DishPlayer Model also notably had a bit of different variation in games and while it included Doom that is pretty much untouched at least look and gameplay wise from the regular plus version, the two big differences is that You Don’t Know Jack notably had downloadable packs of YDJK: The Netshow which is not included on any other plus models and also it includes solitaire which is also not included on any other plus model (also it runs off the doom approm for some reason)
The DishPlayer units were the only WebTV devices that officially got the ports of Doom and You Don't Know Jack, being offered on the TV Home screen via a Games button. From what we know, the games and updates for them would be checked weekly. Unlike the testing versions of these games for regular Old Plus units, updates for You Don't Know Jack were either planned or tested, with the DishPlayer version being based on You Don't Know Jack: The NetShow. It also included a version of Klondike solitaire, which interestingly is included inside of Doom's files, and is simply run by launching Doom with a special <code>-solitaire</code> argument.


== Pictures ==
== Pictures ==
Coming Soon
[[File:7100_Front.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Front of box (these units are known to have brittle plastic on the front panel)]]
[[File:7100_Board.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Motherboard of 7100 (has an SD card adapter in place of the original hard drive)]]
[[File:7100_Back.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Back I/O of 7100]]
[[File:7100_IR_Smart.jpg|200px|thumb|left|7100 Remote and (broken) Dish smart card]]

Latest revision as of 11:48, 23 September 2025

The EchoStar DishPlayer (also branded by JVC on some models) 7100 and 7200 are a combination Dish satellite TV receiver and WebTV Plus Receiver, introduced in 1999. Similar to WebTV Old Plus units, they contains an IDE hard drive, however instead of the standard over-the-air TV tuner, they include satellite inputs to connect to Dish's satellite television services. They also contain a much larger hard drive specifically for recording shows onto.

Technical Specifications

  • RM5230 CPU clocked at 167 MHz
  • V.90 softmodem
  • 16 MB RAM
  • 4 MB ROM
  • 8.6 GB (7100) or 17.6GB (7200) HDD
  • Two smart card slots (one on back for Dish functionality, one on front for WebTV functionality)

Differences

The DishPlayers are the only Old Plus unit to contain 16MB of RAM, as typical Old Plus units only contained 8MB, and only later New Plus units had 16MB. They also have a bigger capacity hard drive for digital TV recordings, as well as trick play features such as "TV Pause," which allowed pausing a live show for up to 30 minutes.

The units also have two AV outputs, with the intention of one going to your TV and one going to a VCR. Despite the units including much larger hard drives for digital recordings, it still has the ability to control a VCR via an IR blaster to record shows onto tape. The AV in and mic jack were moved to the front, and unlike typical Plus units, there is no way to preview the AV inputs or control a VCR manually.

They also have two smart card slots, one on the front which is connected to the WebTV, and one on the back which is tied to the Dish TV functionality. They also won't function without the Dish smart card inserted, asking the user to turn it off and insert one into the back if one isn't detected.

It also seems the DishPlayers use a earlier 1.0/1.1 soundfont/reverb logic That dates back to the pre-alpha days of WebTV for no discernible reason

Games

The DishPlayer units were the only WebTV devices that officially got the ports of Doom and You Don't Know Jack, being offered on the TV Home screen via a Games button. From what we know, the games and updates for them would be checked weekly. Unlike the testing versions of these games for regular Old Plus units, updates for You Don't Know Jack were either planned or tested, with the DishPlayer version being based on You Don't Know Jack: The NetShow. It also included a version of Klondike solitaire, which interestingly is included inside of Doom's files, and is simply run by launching Doom with a special -solitaire argument.

Pictures

Front of box (these units are known to have brittle plastic on the front panel)
Motherboard of 7100 (has an SD card adapter in place of the original hard drive)
Back I/O of 7100
7100 Remote and (broken) Dish smart card