Answers to your Hopper Questions

[Foxbat]

We need to do something to change that.

So with that said... tell a friend or two.

We used to have a clothing store that had the motto "One Man Tells Another". I've told a number of people at work about SatelliteGuys as the best place to get answers about DBS systems.

 

[ToddG]

I think you guys are under estimating the value of ota. There are a lot of dish customers that live in areas where their locals are only carried in sd on dish. This kills any excitement for the ptat for those people, and also, no ota support. I live in Charlottesville and you would be surprised how many people use ota on dish. I bet most of you saying the ota isn't that important don't live in one of these areas.

 

[navychop]

Try leasing a car and paying an upfront fee. Then two or three years later turning it in, and asking that the previous lease front fee be applied to the new lease.

 

[garnett21k]

Are there any advantages with buying the hopper and joeys other than not commiting to a 2 yr contract?(Which would be silly cause if I just spent that much unless I sell them, I'm commited for longer than 2yrs! lol) I'm assuming you're still subject to the DVR and additional outlet fees. Also, Has any pricing been confirmed? Are the first Hopper and Joey counted as the first receiver?($7) or is it $7 each. Oh and what's the timetable for the Hoppers communicating with each other? I heard at launch they won't be able to. Thanks!

 

[Voyager6]

Do you really expect Dish to carry every local channel's sub-channels? You make it sound like it's soooo simple for a provider to just carry every single local channel there is. I can see being upset because they don't have PBS or the CW available buts that's about it.

This is exactly why OTA is so important to many subscribers. There is a lot of programming on local channels (including those pesky sub-channels) that E* does not carry. And as others have stated, many markets are still not (or only are partially) in HD on E*. The ONLY way to get HD in those markets is with OTA. The soon to be deployed H/J system does not meet the needs of many current or would be subscribers. IMO this system is not ready for prime time yet. Too much functionality is not ready with only vague promises of coming fixes.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No real advantages I can see to be honest with you.

 

[Mochuf]

Try leasing a car and paying an upfront fee. Then two or three years later turning it in, and asking that the previous lease front fee be applied to the new lease.

We're not talking about car leases though. We're talking about pay-tv service. Dish competes with cabelcos that have no upfront costs for equipment that they supply. Cabelcos even offer reduced rate cable cards to use with your own equipment. By only competing with DirectTV, they will never get a larger subscription base.

 

[Hall]

The honest answer is because a MAJORITY of DISH customers do not use the OTA tuners built into their boxes... This was a MAJOR reason why the OTA was optional in the 722k and 922... why spend money on a feature that most will never use.

Scott, the crowd won't believe you ! I've been saying this same thing for 2+ years (or since the 722k was released and it was announced the OTA module was now optional).

 

[Hall]

Another reason to hope they allow 2 Hopper, 0 Joey installations.

Why, so people have the option to use Bluetooth headphones when watching TV ? How common could that possibly be ??

 

[Mochuf]

Why, so people have the option to use Bluetooth headphones when watching TV ? How common could that possibly be ??

Dish must have researched that Bluetooth is more wanted than ota!

 

[Hall]

I just do not understand why anyone would switch to the Dish Hopper knowing they will be missing many local channels.

Current OTA users, whether it's OTA-only or Dish + OTA, simply will keep what they have if it's that big of a deal to them. I've contemplated getting a Hopper and Joey but a) won't do it on March 15, b) will wait for more accurate info on the OTA option (which I do use), and c) let the early adopters deal with software issues/bugs, i.e. the 922 !

 

[JM42]

I think you guys are under estimating the value of ota. There are a lot of dish customers that live in areas where their locals are only carried in sd on dish. This kills any excitement for the ptat for those people, and also, no ota support. I live in Charlottesville and you would be surprised how many people use ota on dish. I bet most of you saying the ota isn't that important don't live in one of these areas.

Nobody is saying OTA isn't important, just that the lack of OTA will not be the doom of Hopper. 90% or so of the population have HD locals, waiting to have OTA finalized before shipping would be foolish.

Naysayers are concerned OTA support will be another sling extender, but the extender was an accessory to an accessory. OTA is an important feature needed for what will be Dish's standard receiver. I am not worried about Hopper OTA becoming a reality.

OTA is important, and I bet is right behind or beside dual Hopper integration. My wild a** guess is we will see OTA within six months, but Hopper will do very well with the 90% whether OTA is delayed for 6 months, a year, or forever.

 

[hdaddikt]

I can always make a direct connection to my HDTV from an antenna if there are other less-mainstream channels I want to watch, but I understand it's the matter of being able to record those, that becomes the real issue.
I am not sure why they just did not keep OTA at least as an option. It is said, maybe they will have an option later, but there is no place to plug a module in, is there? I will likely get the Hopper, with the Dish locals I DO get it should not be a problem for me. But I still see this as 'lessons unlearned'.

 

[Scherrman]

This is exactly why OTA is so important to many subscribers. There is a lot of programming on local channels (including those pesky sub-channels) that E* does not carry. And as others have stated, many markets are still not (or only are partially) in HD on E*. The ONLY way to get HD in those markets is with OTA. The soon to be deployed H/J system does not meet the needs of many current or would be subscribers. IMO this system is not ready for prime time yet. Too much functionality is not ready with only vague promises of coming fixes.

I agree that OTA can be very important. I myself have OTA connected to my 922 and love it. We do antenna installs so it's part of our business. Many people in my area are fed up with OTA ever since it went digital. They hate the fact that they need a digital TV or converter box and hate that the channels may go out from weak signal. When people need to update their antenna systems they forget how expensive and how much work it can be.

My opinion is: if OTA is sooo important to a person for reasons such as weather warnings, then that person can just connect their antenna directly to their TV. That would be more of a need for them. For the people who like to have it connected to their receiver for recording and such, then I just consider that a luxury and not really that important. Don't get me wrong, I love to have it for the extra tuners too but it's not a necessity for me. It's not a deal breaker, it's just an added benefit. At least I know for severe weather I can still connect it to my TV.

 

[lakebum431]

If they are going to be making people pay $95 for a service tech fee (on top of the $100 for the privilage to lease the Hopper) they really should give people the option to install themselves. I realize that most people won't/can't. But it would sure be nice for those of us that can and would like to save $95.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

DISH understands that OTA is important. But DISH also understands that a great majority of their customers never used the OTA feature built into their boxes. So in order to get the product released on March 15th they had to include the features that the majority of customer will actually use.

DISH has been busy pushing software updates (there were 3 yesterday for Hopper / Joey) and they are really working to get it out the door.

Once the product is released then they can go back in and add other features that others want, that includes OTA support and sharing between Hopper units as well as other features such as Bluetooth audio.

The Hopper and Joey is the future of DISH, this is one they will continue to refine it with the hope to make it stand out as one of the best satellite receivers ever made.

 

[ScottChez]

I think the reason why some may think OTA is not that important is the City or DMA they are in or service has most of the smaller local channels (non Big 4) on the Sat and more locals in HD.

It all depends on your City. I checked the up link charts (the list). Some Cities have tons of locals.

In my City and the near by DMA they are missing a lot of locals. Thus OTA is a big deal.

Dish probably knows this so they are planning slower roll outs in those markets till end of Summer or September when OTA is out. It could be Dishs way of Doing phased roll out by City. Cities with lots of locals, Hopper demand will be very high on March 15th. Other Markets will pick up in September when you can get all Locals.

 

[Hall]

I'm certain that Dish doesn't carry many locals beyond the typical ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS in the majority of markets.

Got examples of cities with "tons of locals" ?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

There are not Tons but there are lots..

SatelliteGuys.US_TheList - Subscription dishnetworkmarkets

 

[MikeD-C05]

Ota is very important in my area on the coast.

First reason:As I've said before I went through a hurricane that was very unexpected. Over night it built up and when I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and the storm was raging, the only thing that was working on my receiver was the ota tuner. I was able to find out what was happening , where the hurricane was( right on top of my town), and find out when it was leaving.


Second reason: Also as a "mover", it is necessary to be able to watch local news .


The third reason I like watching ota, sub channels that DISH doesn't carry. In my area no CW and No Metv. Both are on subchannels of my local ota channels.

IF DISH truly wants to make the hopper the future and the best dvr receiver in the industry, it makes no sense to cut out features you already have on older Vip receivers, even if their data shows very few people use it. I NEVER use the DISH home page, I don't use the sports channels either ,but they are still there. Because some people use them . I hope that DISH will let us use a dual tuner ota tuner so we can make the most of the hopper , or it will be Vip for me all the way.