I've been a Dish customer for three years. I recently upgraded to the Dish 500, with the
DishPVR 508 as my third receiver. I have found the 508 to be easy to use, but it's inability to record local channel broadcasts limit's it's appeal. The 721 is an enhanced version of the 508, basically a larger hard drive, two tuners, and caller ID. I agree the Dish PVR's pale in comparison to TiVo. Tivo is more versatile.

At $199.99 the 508 upgrade isn't a bad deal, as a reciever would have cost me $100 bucks anyway, so I get a 60 hour PVR for another $99.

And yes, the 6000 is the only way to get HDTV from Dish as of now. I may still invest in a Tivo after the first of the year...

Bill