Answers to your Hopper Questions

[MikeD-C05]

How many times are you going to post the same thing?

Your name is MIKE not Bob.

You make some very good and valid points but to constantly keep posting the same thing again in almost Hopper thread is getting to be too much. I don't know if we should start moving your posts to the war zone or just deleting them.

With that said please take this message in the kind way it was meant, we dont want to see you be a Bob.

Okay Scott , try to take this in a nice way too. If you are going to treat all my posts like Bob ,because you consider them repetitious , then I will stop posting at all. This is starting to feel like the other website I used to read and left because any criticism of DISH was deleted by the super moderator. I am getting the feeling that you are trying to block any and ALL criticism against the new Hopper system , even if you agree with it. This is the same kind of treatment You gave me, when I criticized the 922 when I pointed out that it was not living up to the expectations we were lead to believe by DISH. And now everyone agrees that the 922 never lived up to the expectations , just like I said it wouldn't, and is now discontinued.

 

[Smith P.]

Okay Scott , try to take this in a nice way too. If you are going to treat all my posts like Bob ,because you consider them repetitious , then I will stop posting at all. This is starting to feel like the other website I used to read and left because any criticism of DISH was deleted by the super moderator. I am getting the feeling that you are trying to block any and ALL criticism against the new Hopper system , even if you agree with it. This is the same kind of treatment You gave me, when I criticized the 922 when I pointed out that it was not living up to the expectations we were lead to believe by DISH. And now everyone agrees that the 922 never lived up to the expectations , just like I said it wouldn't, and is now discontinued.

When new thing is pushing, then all methods are good to use to make it appealing. So, just take it as repetitive lesson - in the life we're being ruled by money, what is the engine of such campaigns.

 

[MikeD-C05]

When new thing is pushing, then all methods are good to use to make it appealing. So, just take it as repetitive lesson - in the life we're being ruled by money, what is the engine of such campaigns.

Okay Smith , I don't get what you are trying to say at all.

 

[Smith P.]

You didn't try ...Texas cowboy

 

[MikeD-C05]

What ever.... California Dude.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Okay Smith , I don't get what you are trying to say at all.

Don't feel bad...you're not alone...

 

[BigJohn2]

I have two question. When will two hoppers be-able to see each other? If I upgrade now will they wire them up so when the software is ready, the two hoppers will just see each other?

Thanks,
John

 

[blackjackmark]

Not saying this to be argumentative...I hear what you're saying, and agree with you to a point. I think my main concern, and likely that of a few other more-vocal OTA-supporters, is the recent history of Dish releasing products "with an upgrade path to add more features later", then failing to release said features. Sling Extender, anyone? It was being developed for a long while...and finally cancelled.

I'd hate to think the OTA adapter/module/whatever for the Hopper could follow the same path...and hence I hope the constant OTA discussions will keep Dish on their feet that it IS important to a decent number of us...even if we are long from being the majority.

My two cents...we are very fortunate that Dish has representatives that read these boards. That's a great advantage. So at this point, I'm going to safely say, they know we want OTA. However, for their shareholders, the business decision that will be made will not be evaluated on how many posts we've made saying "OTA IS A MUST". It will likely be along the lines of an evaluation of how many OTA modules have been sold in the past, and a business decision on whether it's worth it to put R&D behind that feature. No matter how much we like that feature, if it does not make sound financial sense, (whether that's a break-even proposition, or a profit-making one) they won't do it.

I thoroughly understand and agree at the fear that a "promise" from Dish has proved to be near-worthless. But, as has been repeated ad nauseum...you don't have to upgrade, so if what you have works for you, keep it, and be thankful that Dish isn't forcing everyone to upgrade (yet!).

 

[MikeD-C05]

1. The software for that is being worked on and is supposedly coming SOON!

2. No telling if the installer will have it installed so they can talk to each other. They do have a way to keep them from seeing each other on the same network from what I read. Someone else wanted to be able to watch adult movies in their house without the wife and kids seeing it over the hopper and they said they could install it to block them from seeing each other.

 

[Smith P.]

I have two question. When will two hoppers be-able to see each other? If I upgrade now will they wire them up so when the software is ready, the two hoppers will just see each other?

Thanks,
John

No.
Yes.

 

[navychop]

My two cents...we are very fortunate that Dish has rerpresentatives that read these boards. That's a great advantage. So at this point, I'm going to safely say, they know we want OTA. However, for their shareholders, the business decision that will be made will not be evaluated on how many posts we've made saying "OTA IS A MUST". It will likely be along the lines of an evaluation of how many OTA modules have been sold in the past, and a business decision on whether it's worth it to put R&D behind that feature. No matter how much we like that feature, if it does not make sound financial sense, (whether that's a break-even proposition, or a profit-making one) they won't do it.

I thoroughly understand and agree at the fear that a "promise" from Dish has proved to be near-worthless. But, as has been repeated ad nauseum...you don't have to upgrade, so if what you have works for you, keep it, and be thankful that Dish isn't forcing everyone to upgrade (yet!).

Emphasis mine. Thank you, great post and to the point. Dish has the figures and KNOWS how many people use their OTA feature, and how often.

 

[primetimeguy]

Dish could fix the OTA problem for me by just giving me the same quality via satellite I can get via OTA.

As it stands now, all my wife's programs get recorded on sat, mine OTA.

 

[gpflepsen]

Emphasis mine. Thank you, great post and to the point. Dish has the figures and KNOWS how many people use their OTA feature, and how often.

How many will use bluetooth headphones, compared to the numbers using OTA? Do you suppose Dish knows that number too?

 

[Smith P.]

How many will use bluetooth headphones, compared to the numbers using OTA? Do you suppose Dish knows that number too?

Perhaps it was easy to implement in FW (BT stack is pretty common, and use it for phone is not new development), cheap BT components, no cost for the accessory (headset) for them.
And PR point - look, we got BT first !

 

[butters]

As I said before , I was answering a post about why ota is important to subs. I understand why they didn't include the ota in the receiver ,because of costs, but not to include a way to let the sub add an ota module or usb ota tuner at the release of the receiver is another mistake that DISH continues to make . Does anyone remember the long history of the 922 and it's continued mistakes,software problems, lack of features. Remember how long it took to get the same archiving features the 722k had? How about tv 2 and watching something different on tv 2? How about the promised sling extender? Manual /Dish pass timers over the actual receiver? My point is once again DISH is releasing a receiver in the wild ,without all the features it needs to have , or that their older receviers already have. Anything to get it out the door . This is another example of their way of doing business. Aren't ya'll just a little tired of having to defend these type of decisions?

DON'T get me wrong, I like the entire concept of the hopper/joey system. But the main reasons I don't upgrade to it:


1. Higher Monthly FEES and the cost associated with upgrading to it.
2. Ota support not there on release.

If DISH would work on fixing these two issues, I would be all over the Hopper. I don't see this happening, at least on the cost of FEES, but they might address the ota support. Either way I will wait it out till I see where they go with it.

I don't think it is a mistake at all. A bigger mistake would be delaying the system to correct issues that the VAST majority of subs don't need or care about. Even the fact that 2 Hoppers don't seamlessly communicate isn't a huge deal for MOST people since most subs won't be getting 2 Hoppers. I am certain Dish knows how bad the 922 was and I doubt they want to repeat those mistakes again. Remember that the people here on Sat Guys are in the minority and the features we want/expect are not what the average Joe out there needs. I would love for the Hopper to have an OTA solution and be able to integrate with another Hopper, but if Dish waited to include everything that we all wanted, they'd never release anything. I think they made the best decision they could based on getting the product out to the masses with the features that most people will be using.

 

[KAB]

As I said before ,

YES, that' all you do anymore, Mike!!!

 

[Stargazer]

I think the Hopper Joey system is going to be different than the 922 and won't be a disaster as a result. The reason why I think this is due to Dish going to make this their flagship receiver. I think this can be compared more to the 722 in how successful it is than the 922. The 922 was never a standard receiver on the installs like the Hopper Joey system is going to be. The 922 was always thought of as a premium receiver just like the 721 and 921 were.

I think we will see great things out of Hopper / Joey as far as functionality. My biggest complaint are the fees in how much higher it's going to be. I think they will get the Hopper sharing and OTA features fixed (soon - yes I know - soon) hopefully this year sometime. I don't think it's far off.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think the Hopper Joey system is going to be different than the 922 and won't be a disaster as a result. The reason why I think this is due to Dish going to make this their flagship receiver. I think this can be compared more to the 722 in how successful it is than the 922. The 922 was never a standard receiver on the installs like the Hopper Joey system is going to be. The 922 was always thought of as a premium receiver just like the 721 and 921 were.

I think we will see great things out of Hopper / Joey as far as functionality. My biggest complaint are the fees in how much higher it's going to be. I think they will get the Hopper sharing and OTA features fixed (soon - yes I know - soon) hopefully this year sometime. I don't think it's far off.

I certainly agree with you on the higher FEES , and I sure hope that they do fix the ota and hopper sharing. It would be nice if DISH actually delivered on this new technology . After the 922 debacle I would hope that DISH did learn from that experience ,but releasing new receivers without all the promised features is just the way the 922 started, and we all see how that turned out.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I don't think it is a mistake at all. A bigger mistake would be delaying the system to correct issues that the VAST majority of subs don't need or care about. Even the fact that 2 Hoppers don't seamlessly communicate isn't a huge deal for MOST people since most subs won't be getting 2 Hoppers. I am certain Dish knows how bad the 922 was and I doubt they want to repeat those mistakes again. Remember that the people here on Sat Guys are in the minority and the features we want/expect are not what the average Joe out there needs. I would love for the Hopper to have an OTA solution and be able to integrate with another Hopper, but if Dish waited to include everything that we all wanted, they'd never release anything. I think they made the best decision they could based on getting the product out to the masses with the features that most people will be using.

All I can say is look at the 922 and how it worked out. Put on the market without all the features that were promised, even the features on the older Vip series of receivers already had. Now that receiver is discontinued and even pulled from the market . I hope the hopper has a better fate than the 922 had.
If DISH history is any indicator though......

 

[Tyralak]

FeeNet?

Now THAT'S scary.