General Hopper Questions?

[TheSatMan]

I am a current Dish customer and I have been thinking about getting a hopper and I had a couple questions.

1. Have they fixed the issue with limited amount of timers?
2. Have they fixed the issue with not being able to change the time of day it does update?
3. Can you use a Harmony Universal remote ( I had read somewhere you can't)?
4. Is it stable and reliable?

I currently have a 722, 622, and 612. The 622 is the best it is very reliable, the 722 is ok, and the 612 should be taken out and shot.

Reliability is VERY important to me, so would I be disappointed by the hopper?

Thanks in Advance for any reply's.

 

[Bobby]

Reliable, yes....
Harmony, yes.... I have this as I type...
Update, no...
Timers, beats me, I've never had an issue with it....

 

[charlesrshell]

Timer limit is still 96, also total event limit is still 576.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Ive had mine for months, and they really have fixed a few issues. Both the Hopper and HWS are reliable for me, but I basically record and watch

HWS is very peppy machine, more so than the Hopper. No idea on timers, at best I use 40 a week and thats split across two machines because I have OTA tuners on both.

 

[3HaloODST]

Timer limit is still 96, also total event limit is still 576.

Which IMO should have been raised with Hopper. Makes Seek & Record timers very risky to use, since they use so many events. That's one of the several reasons I got Hoppers #3 and #4. Seems to me like Dish wanted to save a few bucks in this regard, with anemic NVRAM. Or will they release a "Hopper w/NVRAM?" Lol.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using Forum Runner

 

[charlesrshell]

Which IMO should have been raised with Hopper. Makes Seek & Record timers very risky to use, since they use so many events. That's one of the several reasons I got Hoppers #3 and #4. Seems to me like Dish wanted to save a few bucks in this regard, with anemic NVRAM. Or will they release a "Hopper w/NVRAM?" Lol.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using Forum Runner

What is an anemic NVRAM? I have only used Seek & Record one time, and I sure liked it. Worked real good. Is Seek & Record also in the VIP722 or is it new for the Hopper? I don't recall seeing it, but I hardly ever use the Search menu.

 

[bookworm370]

Sorry but the answer you got for not being able to use the Harmony One universal remote is wrong. I have 2 hoppers and 4 Harmony One's. I can control every feature of the hopper from the Harmony. But it is under IR mode so you have to be in pointing range.

I am a current Dish customer and I have been thinking about getting a hopper and I had a couple questions.

3. Can you use a Harmony Universal remote ( I had read somewhere you can't)?


I currently have a 722, 622, and 612. The 622 is the best it is very reliable, the 722 is ok, and the 612 should be taken out and shot.

QUOTE]

 

[KKlare]

The number of timers (96) and probably the number of events are the same for the Hopper as for the 622/722s.

I just had a problem transferring to a nearly full disk. I deleted larger versions of the set of shows and then tried to add the smaller ones. It said not enough space. Got around it by going to "No Folders" mode and adding some of them and then then the rest. The algorithm is not sophisticated enough. This likely leaves a number of small unused/unusable fragments. Cleanup will have to wait until I copy all off and back on again, repacking them. (If interested this is my set of Futurama. I obsess on getting the smallest full programs.)

-Ken

 

[3HaloODST]

What is an anemic NVRAM? I have only used Seek & Record one time, and I sure liked it. Worked real good. Is Seek & Record also in the VIP722 or is it new for the Hopper? I don't recall seeing it, but I hardly ever use the Search menu.

The NVRAM is what stores the timers and events. Kinda weird actually, you'd think they'd just use the hard drive. NVRAM is like RAM except it retains data even when powered off.

Seek & Record was called Dish Pass on the 722. Seek & Record is quite nice but it can quickly fill up all your events if you use too many.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[3HaloODST]

The number of timers (96) and probably the number of events are the same for the Hopper as for the 622/722s.

I just had a problem transferring to a nearly full disk. I deleted larger versions of the set of shows and then tried to add the smaller ones. It said not enough space. Got around it by going to "No Folders" mode and adding some of them and then then the rest. The algorithm is not sophisticated enough. This likely leaves a number of small unused/unusable fragments. Cleanup will have to wait until I copy all off and back on again, repacking them. (If interested this is my set of Futurama. I obsess on getting the smallest full programs.)

-Ken

You watch Futurama? Nice, love that show.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[KKlare]

I think I have the complete Futurama series. Missing the Tribute occasional number skips.
I've seen many but "someday" I'll get to seeing them in order.
Sure would be nice if you were left in the list where you just looked at the EHD.
Better would be positioned for the next or to auto-run it. (Saw that from somebody else.)
-Ken

 

[TheSatMan]

Thanks for all the comments. I can't believe that they still have not fixed the timer issue or the time of day update issue. I have been a dish customer for almost 20 years and I am thinking about calling it quits the receiver fees are getting ridiculous, I thought maybe the hopper would be the answer but it still don't seem ready for prime time.

 

[dwarren2]

AFAIK. If I have a timer scheduled when the reboot time comes around. The Hopper will finish the recording and then reboot

 

[charlesrshell]

The NVRAM is what stores the timers and events. Kinda weird actually, you'd think they'd just use the hard drive. NVRAM is like RAM except it retains data even when powered off.

Seek & Record was called Dish Pass on the 722. Seek & Record is quite nice but it can quickly fill up all your events if you use too many.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

OK, I remember the Dish Pass but never used it. I didn't know it was like the Seek & Record. I used it the other day when I started to watch a program that was half over. So I latched on to it with Search & Record. It came up with no listings for about three weeks and then found the program in the guide when it got listed again. So it recorded and ready for me to watch. I then deleted the timer. My wife will make good use of it too. She is always finding a movie that has already started and then she makes me find out when it is on again to set a timer. I try using the Search menu, but I didn't find anything half the time. So will be using Search & Record in the future, pretty cool tool.

 

[dare2be]

I use Dish Pass (Seek and Record) almost exclusively, and it seems to be a more efficient way to set up timers. I have never hit the event limit, even with my 45+ Dish Pass timers, because if a timer is very active with multiple events, it will limit itself to just under 50 events per timer, by limiting itself to only go out 2-3 days instead of the full 8-9 days.

 

[charlesrshell]

I use Dish Pass (Seek and Record) almost exclusively, and it seems to be a more efficient way to set up timers. I have never hit the event limit, even with my 45+ Dish Pass timers, because if a timer is very active with multiple events, it will limit itself to just under 50 events per timer, by limiting itself to only go out 2-3 days instead of the full 8-9 days.

I should have looked in to the Dish Pass when I had the 722s. I sure could have used it bunches of times. Pretty cool.