Enabling Prime Time Anytime -- does anyone use it?

[Scherrman]

If you have 2 Hoppers you might as well turn it on one of them. If you only have 1 Hopper then you may need to think more about it. I leave it on with mine and I love it. If I can't find anything on TV or my DVR I check PTAT and see what might be interesting. Have found some new shows that are actually pretty good. I would never have watched them without PTAT.

 

[bjwilsonesq]

I turned it on, and think it is a very cool feature. 90% of the shows my wife and I watch are covered by PTAT anyway, so it offers a couple of conveniences - no worries about timer conflicts, no issues with the last scene of "The Office" ending up at the beginning of the recording of "Parks and Rec," etc. I have also browsed other PTAT recordings and sampled a few shows I wouldn't have tried before - some of which I now watch regularly.

On the con side, the recording grid in the PTAT folder can be a scary and confusing place. At first it helped to divide the shows up into folders by network, but now I just sort A-Z. It's still a bit of an eye test, so hopefully Dish is working on the UI. Also, I am not completely comfortable I won't miss a recording, and have it permanently deleted after the 8 day retention period passes. I wish there was a way to highlight shows that will be deleted soon, and also a "deleted recordings" folder for PTAT like there is for the client side of the HDD.

 

[thomasjk]

Also, I am not completely comfortable I won't miss a recording, and have it permanently deleted after the 8 day retention period passes. I wish there was a way to highlight shows that will be deleted soon, and also a "deleted recordings" folder for PTAT like there is for the client side of the HDD.

Just click on those shows you watch regularly and select Save or Save Series. Save Series will set a timer to record the show and put a copy in MY Recordings. Save is a one time copy to My Recordings.

 

[cditty]

I consider PTAT to be the best feature I have ever encountered on a DVR. Not having to set timers and the ability to see and try new programs has been great. I watch a lot of the Big 4, so I think it is the best thing about my Hopper.

 

[Dishman1978]

Great install on the Hopper and Joeys yesterday, but now I'm faced with the question of Prime Time Anytime. I see it's available as an option and will take up a tuner if I use it. Records every night from 7-11pm, but in my opinion that could end up recording alot of junk I could care less about. I thought about enabling it for a few days just to check it out. Most of what I watch isn't network TV anyway, so maybe it isn't for me. But isn't a chunk of DVR space reserved for PTA anyway, whether you use it or not?

So how many Hopper users here regularly use PTA? Have you found it useful?

I use everyday. Have discovered many shows I like that I didn't know existed
It. Works for me.

 

[GaryPen]

For those who watch network TV, it's an absolute miracle.
For those who watch little network TV, like my wife and I, it is unnecessary, and only ties up a tuner and hdd space.

For some who never watched much network TV, but decided to check it out, they discovered a bunch of new shows they now follow. But, as we barely have time to watch the stuff we already watch, we are not looking to get hooked on more time-wasting couch-potato fuel.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

We wouldn't be without PTAT. Several of our favorite TV shows are on at the same time, makes watching favorites much simpler.

 

[wetz73]

PTAT is so customizable if you watch just one network show it is worth having it on for auto-hop alone. Just pick the days and the channels you want and set it to keep them for the minimum number of days while setting a series recording for the shows you want. It won't take up much HDD space at all, and if you are concerned about space, stick an external HDD on it.

 

[thomasjk]

But isn't a chunk of DVR space reserved for PTA anyway, whether you use it or not?

So how many Hopper users here regularly use PTA? Have you found it useful?

Its part of the user partition and does not take up additional space as far as I can tell.

I use it regularly.

 

[cditty]

I should elaborate, that another thing that makes me smile is when I see an advertisement for a program I may want to record (I watch sports live)... I feel good that I won't have to setup a timer. For instance, I saw 'The Taste with Anthony Bourdain'. I'm a fan and usually, I would have to navigate through the guide and set a timer. Being a prime time show, I just smiled and went on about my business.

 

[marty45714]

After having the Hopper and PTAT for a couple of months, I've found 2 big advantages of it:
1) When someone says did you see such and such last night. A good example is this year's Kennedy Center Honors awards. I had no idea they were going on. PTAT recorded them. Later that night, a friend said "Did you see the Kennedy Center Honors? There was a Tribute to Led Zeppelin in which Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart did an awesome rendition of Stairway to Heaven!" I was able to find the show on PTAT and watch this performance. I was really pleased!

2) You might find a primetime show that you're interested in watching that either: a) you had no idea that it even existed or b) you decide to watch a show at random just to see if you like it.

 

[cygnusloop]

I should elaborate, that another thing that makes me smile is when I see an advertisement for a program I may want to record (I watch sports live)... I feel good that I won't have to setup a timer. For instance, I saw 'The Taste with Anthony Bourdain'. I'm a fan and usually, I would have to navigate through the guide and set a timer. Being a prime time show, I just smiled and went on about my business.

^^This!!
I have recently switched to Dish and the Hopper after >13 years w/ DIRECTV. Several times i have seen a promo for something or other, and have been halfway into digging through the guide/search to set something up only to realize I didn't need to! Also, over the years, I have evolved into a "non-major-network-watching snob", for many of the same reasons already stated in this thread. Using PTAT, my (also snobby) wife and I have given a chance to some network shows that we would never have previously sampled, and have been pleasantly surprised.

Short version: Turn it on and give it a try!

 

[UpLateAgain]

I watch maybe 1 or 2 network shows a week. And I just record those on a regular timer. But unfortunately, on my Hopper, PTA turns itself on without asking me, and by the time I discover it, it has recorded several rows of programs I'm not the slightest bit interested-in. Which I then have to delete one by one. I would LOVE to be able to remove it as an available feature. I'm quite capable of recording the shows I actually want to watch without the machine trying to figure it out for me.

 

[UpLateAgain]

Look at your viewing habits. If you watch a lot of Prime Time big 4, enable it. If you don't, leave it disabled. My wife and I watch very little Prime Time big 4, so we don't use it.

I'd love to have it disabled, but mine keeps turning itself on without my permission, and filling my hard disk with shows I have no interest-in. Disable it... a week later it's back on again. It's driving me nuts!

 

[Jim5506]

I think PTAT is great. It records everything on the big 4 networks and I can then choose those I wish to watch anytime over the next week.

If I miss something it is there to be seen for 8 days or not.

It is a great expansion of my choices.

During the season I watch 6-10 major network shows every week And I don't have to bother with setting timers or deleting the old ones - they just go away.

Things I record form other channels have to be setup and deleted and managed - PTAT just works.

I believe PTAT has its own reservation of space on the hard drive so it is not available for other things whether it is used or not - but I may be wrong here, but I don't care.

Things I want to save I offload to and EHD every thing else I watch and delete - except PTAT it deletes itself.

 

[ncted]

I love it when a new member resurrects years-old threads. It really makes my day.

 

[ekilgus]

I love it when a new member resurrects years-old threads. It really makes my day.

I agree, but I noticed some that claim their PTAT keeps turning itself back on after they've turned it off. I got my HWS around 4 and a half years ago and immediately turned PTAT off. And it remains off to this day, never once turning itself on. I don't doubt those that say PTAT turns itself on, but I wonder why it does, at least for some.

 

[KAB]

I love it when a new member resurrects years-old threads. It really makes my day.

Two of them, to boot!

 

[DJ Lon]

My 2¢ ... we don't use PTAT in the household as a whole but do like the fact that we can record all 4 networks at the same time

 

[Peter Parker]

I'd love to have it disabled, but mine keeps turning itself on without my permission, and filling my hard disk with shows I have no interest-in. Disable it... a week later it's back on again. It's driving me nuts!

It would take quite some time for it to fill a hard drive. disable it and delete what you do not want.