Direct's HMC vs. DISH's Hopper

[jgags6]

I'm thinking of making the switch from Dish where I have the hopper system (2 hoppers, 2 joeys) and get Direct's HMC receiver. My question is if I get 1 HMC and 3 HD receivers then will I be able to watch my recordings from all of the receivers? Will I be able to pause live tv on any of the TVs or just one one that is connected to the HMC? Or do I have to have seperate HD DVRs fir all tvs that I want to be able to pause live tv? I guess I'm wondering how I can get a system that is as close to the Hopper system that I have now.

thanks for all your help!

 

[SatinKzo]

HD receivers can watch recordings from HMC, pause, fwd, rew etc as you would on the DVR. Live TV is just live TV. No DVR functionality on the non-DVR units. Keep in mind, the non-DVR directv receivers are independet and don't use a tuner on the HMC.

Because of the setup situation like you want and I had, I opted to spend an extra $99 on an addtional HD-DVR in our setup. So I have a the HMC, a HD-DVR and a HD receiver. So technically I can record 7 things at once while watching live TV on the HD-receiver and a recording on each of the DVR's. Overkill, but I really wanted that seperate room to have DVR capability also. And I know you will see it said many times that 5 tuners is more than enough or even 3 on the Hopper system, but I can personally say I am glad I have the extra 2 tuners to record with more times than not with 3 kids all with different tastes in shows.

 

[JohnL]

DirecTV is suppose to have a STB RVU client Box (C30) out within the next month or so. The C30 Client box does not have any tuners, what is does is "Grab" a tuner from the HMC so you would all DVR functions a DVR has at each TV using the C30 client STB. The DirecTV HMC DVR can support 3 streams at any one time.

John

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

I think that,depending on how many TV's you want to set up,a HR34,HD DVR(which could be a HR20/21/22/23/24 depending on what the installer has in the van at the time),& HD receiver(which,again,could be a H21/23/24/25 depending on what the installer has in the van at the time),or a HR34 & 3 HD receivers would be fine. I'd say that chances are whatever you are watching that you'd want to "pause" for bathroom breaks,you are watching on the "big screen" in the living room. The other TV's are either for the kids or just for background noise,so the ability to pause live TV isn't such a big deal.

 

[DodgerKing]

The best thing to do is to try to get 4 HDDVRs instead of 1 HDDVR and 3 HD Receivers. This way you will get an additional 3 tuners and be able to record and share on all of your receivers.

 

[fr8flyr]

In my system I have an HR34, HR24, and 2 H25's. I still find myself running out of tuners to record with sometimes. It is annoying not being able to pause live TV on the H25's but not worth the cost of additional DVR's. I recommend deciding exactly what you want and get it when you first order, as any additional costs like the SWM switch, will be covered during the initial install.


Earl

 

[rapidturtle]

I have the HR34 and 3 HD boxes H25's. If you find yourself watching the H25 and need to pause it, just hit the record button. Then when you come back just pull it up on your recordings and you can pause it as much as you like. I would much rather have it this way, than have the HD boxes taking up a tuner on the HR34 all of the time.

 

[jgags6]

I have the HR34 and 3 HD boxes H25's. If you find yourself watching the H25 and need to pause it, just hit the record button. Then when you come back just pull it up on your recordings and you can pause it as much as you like. I would much rather have it this way, than have the HD boxes taking up a tuner on the HR34 all of the time.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Liquidforce88]

In my system I have an HR34, HR24, and 2 H25's. I still find myself running out of tuners to record with sometimes. It is annoying not being able to pause live TV on the H25's but not worth the cost of additional DVR's. I recommend deciding exactly what you want and get it when you first order, as any additional costs like the SWM switch, will be covered during the initial install.


Earl

7 tuners and you don't have enough. Where do you have 7 things at once to record, let alone have the time to watch it afterwords.

I have the HR34 and 3 H25's. I find that most of my live DVR is at the main TV with the HR34. Like others have said if I need to I just hit record and pick it up on the HD receiver. Having an HD tuner at each location is much nicer as my 2 kids and wife can go and watch what ever they want, and I still have tuners left to record.

 

[zim2dive]

I have the HR34 and 3 HD boxes H25's. If you find yourself watching the H25 and need to pause it, just hit the record button. Then when you come back just pull it up on your recordings and you can pause it as much as you like. I would much rather have it this way, than have the HD boxes taking up a tuner on the HR34 all of the time.

To each their own... I prefer it the other way. The 5 tuners in the Hr34 are WAY more than we need (we rarely need even 3). I would much rather have the soon-to-be-released C30(?) clients which steal from the HR34 but act much more like full DVRs at the client end.

 

[fr8flyr]

7 tuners and you don't have enough. Where do you have 7 things at once to record, let alone have the time to watch it afterwords.

I have the HR34 and 3 H25's. I find that most of my live DVR is at the main TV with the HR34. Like others have said if I need to I just hit record and pick it up on the HD receiver. Having an HD tuner at each location is much nicer as my 2 kids and wife can go and watch what ever they want, and I still have tuners left to record.

Between the things I like and the things the wife likes, that lots of times come on at the same time, I use the tuners up quite often. Sunday night there didn't use to be anything on and now there are about 8 things we record, that come on at the same 8-11 time frame and more if NHRA is running that weekend.

I am retired so having time to watch everything is not a problem. lol


Earl

 

[rapidturtle]

To each their own... I prefer it the other way. The 5 tuners in the Hr34 are WAY more than we need (we rarely need even 3). I would much rather have the soon-to-be-released C30(?) clients which steal from the HR34 but act much more like full DVRs at the client end.

I do agree, it all depends on your situation. We have 2 kids using the HR25's and the other one is in the master bedroom, so a Hopper wouldn't work for us. We had a 722 with Dish, which ran one of the kids T.V.'s, and it really sucked having my son come to us all of the time asking to stop a recording so he could watch T.V. I am yet to have any conflicts with the HR34 setup, and like I said, if you need to pause live T.V. on a HR25, just hit the record button, and you've got yourself a DVR.

 

[shaun-ohio]

i thought the hopper is supposed to record 6 things at once, and 2000 record hours as advertised?

 

[ksbuie]

i thought the hopper is supposed to record 6 things at once, and 2000 record hours as advertised?

The Hopper only records 6 channels when it is recording Primetime Anytime. It only uses one tuner to record all 4 major networks leaving 2 tuners for other content.

 

[digiblur]

7 tuners and you don't have enough. Where do you have 7 things at once to record, let alone have the time to watch it afterwords.

I have the HR34 and 3 H25's. I find that most of my live DVR is at the main TV with the HR34. Like others have said if I need to I just hit record and pick it up on the HD receiver. Having an HD tuner at each location is much nicer as my 2 kids and wife can go and watch what ever they want, and I still have tuners left to record.

I have the HR34, HR24, and 2 H25s. I really went with the extra DVR since it was no extra monthly cost for DVRs(unlike Dish), plus I swung it for free due to an installer drilling a bunch of holes in the side of the house after I told him not to mount the dish that high as it wouldn't work there...guess what, it didn't work and he had to lower it (that's another story). Since the system was scalable and I was only a new customer this time I went with it. Would it really bother me not having it? Nope. Do I enjoy having it? Yep. 7 tuners is awesome...9 total in the house.

I looked long and hard at the Kangaroo system but the thing that just set me back was the 3 tuner deal and the shared tuners. Even with 2 hoppers that would give me 6 but take off the 4 live tuners(for the rare times all 4 are watching live...rare but I always plan for the worse and it does happen some times). That would only leave me 2 tuners left to record and one would be tied up with PTAT. That wouldn't cut it. So it was a no brainer to go the DirecTV route for us. On the financial side it was also a no brainer, bill cut in half, new equipment, more channels, MRV, and all rooms now had HD. Win-win. Another issue I had was no OTA on the Kangaroo system and I like being able to get my adjacent market's locals as well.

Now that we have the system I'm glad I went this route and couldn't be happier. The 5 tuners on one box is down right awesome! What's even cooler is seeing 7 firing at one time, and a mixture of everyone either watching recordings from either box or live TV all with ease and no fussing with settings or stuff to pick which box to watch from. The number one thing is the utter silence...no complaining or yelling of "can I skip this?" "you skipped my show!!" "where's my show?!"

You guys can have that shared tuner garbage. If I really want to put one of the H25's in kangaroo mode, all it takes is pressing the record button. Done. If you really wanted to get down to things, I could swap the H25's for HR24's for no additional monthly recurring costs, no extra dish or other weird equipment, and all the programming would be in one big unified list between all the DVR's. I want to see you make 4 hoppers do this, all you get is 1 dish and 2 cables from the dish though. I doubt you could even build the account order in the first place

 

[jgags6]

So what would you guys recommend? I have four tvs to connect in my house. I was planning on getting the H34 for my 120inch ($99), then a HDDVR ($99) for my 55 inch in the living room, then two HD receivers (free) for the bedroom and kitchen. Do you think that this is overdoing it? Should I just get the H34 and 3 non-dvr receivers and save $99?

Oh and how does the OTA adapter work, do I have to have the cable feeding every receiver or just one? And how much does it cost?

 

[SatinKzo]

I would recommend if the initial money is not an issue to get the HR34 and any HD-DVR's you might ever need now. The monthly cost doesn't change as already stated earlier.

 

[rapidturtle]

If you feel you will need the extra DVR, get it now as a new customer. If you get it later, it could cost more, and give you another 2 year contract.
If 5 tuners is plenty for you to record on, then save the $100. I personally only have the HR34 with 3 h25's, and it has been more than enough. You already have to pay $99 for the HR34, so an extra DVR would put your upfront cost at $200.

 

[bnewt]

I have the HR34, HR24, and 2 H25s. I really went with the extra DVR since it was no extra monthly cost for DVRs(unlike Dish), plus I swung it for free due to an installer drilling a bunch of holes in the side of the house after I told him not to mount the dish that high as it wouldn't work there...guess what, it didn't work and he had to lower it (that's another story). Since the system was scalable and I was only a new customer this time I went with it. Would it really bother me not having it? Nope. Do I enjoy having it? Yep. 7 tuners is awesome...9 total in the house.

I looked long and hard at the Kangaroo system but the thing that just set me back was the 3 tuner deal and the shared tuners. Even with 2 hoppers that would give me 6 but take off the 4 live tuners(for the rare times all 4 are watching live...rare but I always plan for the worse and it does happen some times). That would only leave me 2 tuners left to record and one would be tied up with PTAT. That wouldn't cut it. So it was a no brainer to go the DirecTV route for us. On the financial side it was also a no brainer, bill cut in half, new equipment, more channels, MRV, and all rooms now had HD. Win-win. Another issue I had was no OTA on the Kangaroo system and I like being able to get my adjacent market's locals as well.

Now that we have the system I'm glad I went this route and couldn't be happier. The 5 tuners on one box is down right awesome! What's even cooler is seeing 7 firing at one time, and a mixture of everyone either watching recordings from either box or live TV all with ease and no fussing with settings or stuff to pick which box to watch from. The number one thing is the utter silence...no complaining or yelling of "can I skip this?" "you skipped my show!!" "where's my show?!"

You guys can have that shared tuner garbage. If I really want to put one of the H25's in kangaroo mode, all it takes is pressing the record button. Done. If you really wanted to get down to things, I could swap the H25's for HR24's for no additional monthly recurring costs, no extra dish or other weird equipment, and all the programming would be in one big unified list between all the DVR's. I want to see you make 4 hoppers do this, all you get is 1 dish and 2 cables from the dish though. I doubt you could even build the account order in the first place

Thanks for the info..............have been a long time Dish customer & have been thinking about switching to the Hopper system.
I now have a 722 with hdmi connected to my main tv, but also use the home distribution to feed 3 other tvs. I have combined the coax feed from the 722 with my ota feed. This allows the tv's to view the local hd channels + still have access to satellite, although not HD.

With DTV, can the ota signal & satellite signal been combined with a single cable to each tv?

Is the DTV system connection basically the same as the Hopper + Joey?

Price wise, would it be about the same as Dish with Hopper + Joey?

 

[jgags6]

Nobody ever answered my question about the OTA

Oh and how does the OTA adapter work, do I have to have the cable feeding every receiver or just one? And how much does it cost?