Sorry this is so long. My 722 hard drive took a massive dump and took the 722 with it. Now I have to make a decision, replace the 722, or upgrade to a Hopper setup. Let me briefly describe my setup, and my thoughts about the 722 and I would like to hear input from some of you. My 722 is a lease unit, and I have been with Dish for probably at least 7-8 years and I have been out of contract for a long time.
My setup is as follows. House is 1 story ranch, partially finished basement. The living room has the 722. I have RG59 connecting the living room with the kitchen, bedroom and basement using splitters. It is the old cable install that I am basically "backfeeding" into. I use the modulator on the 722 to distribute the signal to all these locations. All four locations have HDTV sets, but the living room is the only one getting HD signal from the dish, all others get SD because of getting signal over coax cable. That is OK, but would be nice if I could get HD in basement at least. I don't have, but could easily run ethernet cable into each room. I do have wifi that reaches each room.
The kitchen is adjacent to the living room, and the TV there is on the same modulator channel as the living room so if either sound is on in either room the picture matches the sound and the one remote control will switch both TV's. (Tuner "A" in other words)
The bedroom and basement are usually tuned to the other modulator channel so others in the household can watch whatever they wish. The bedroom and basement TV are not used simultaneously so it is OK that they are "tied" together. (This is tuner "B" in other words) I keep an extra UHF remote in the basement, and it all works great.
I love the 722, it has been pretty much flawless. I got it when they first came out, and it has given zero major problems, there are those little quirks in some software versions but that is OK. I am happy with the way it works, and I guess I would be happy with it again. The Hopper is appealing because of the larger hard drive, (I record a lot, my 722's hard drive is always FULL) the hop feature is appealing, and the shiny new interface as well as the ability to have HD tuners in more than 1 location is a bonus.
So what I am not clear on is: Would ONE Hopper/Joey setup work for my setup, and my needs? I don't really want to get into buying 3 hoppers, one for each location (they are extra cost for each hopper as I understand it?) and I don't want huge fees every month either. It is a small house with only two adults so I really only need two tuners (well really technically 3 tuners like the 722) as far as I can tell.
My setup is as follows. House is 1 story ranch, partially finished basement. The living room has the 722. I have RG59 connecting the living room with the kitchen, bedroom and basement using splitters. It is the old cable install that I am basically "backfeeding" into. I use the modulator on the 722 to distribute the signal to all these locations. All four locations have HDTV sets, but the living room is the only one getting HD signal from the dish, all others get SD because of getting signal over coax cable. That is OK, but would be nice if I could get HD in basement at least. I don't have, but could easily run ethernet cable into each room. I do have wifi that reaches each room.
The kitchen is adjacent to the living room, and the TV there is on the same modulator channel as the living room so if either sound is on in either room the picture matches the sound and the one remote control will switch both TV's. (Tuner "A" in other words)
The bedroom and basement are usually tuned to the other modulator channel so others in the household can watch whatever they wish. The bedroom and basement TV are not used simultaneously so it is OK that they are "tied" together. (This is tuner "B" in other words) I keep an extra UHF remote in the basement, and it all works great.
I love the 722, it has been pretty much flawless. I got it when they first came out, and it has given zero major problems, there are those little quirks in some software versions but that is OK. I am happy with the way it works, and I guess I would be happy with it again. The Hopper is appealing because of the larger hard drive, (I record a lot, my 722's hard drive is always FULL) the hop feature is appealing, and the shiny new interface as well as the ability to have HD tuners in more than 1 location is a bonus.
So what I am not clear on is: Would ONE Hopper/Joey setup work for my setup, and my needs? I don't really want to get into buying 3 hoppers, one for each location (they are extra cost for each hopper as I understand it?) and I don't want huge fees every month either. It is a small house with only two adults so I really only need two tuners (well really technically 3 tuners like the 722) as far as I can tell.
