Hi all, I just signed up on the site after Googling "Hopper 3 Remote" to find out what other people thought about it, which led me to this thread.
I personally feel that the new 52.0 remote is very slick, stylish, comfortable to hold and the build quality is superb. It feels much more 'solid' and seems to be made of a higher quality construction. It doesn't squeak or creak if I squeeze it gently like all of the previous Dish remotes I've used. Also, there is a very satisfying tactile click when you press a button that none of the older remotes had, although this makes it a bit noisy to use in a quiet room. I would imagine the sound would eventually drive a spouse or girlfriend crazy if they were sleeping while you were busy clicking away in the middle of the night, oblivious to the sound you're making while using bluetooth headphones for audio. haha
Anyways, build quality aside, my first impression is that I can't stand using the new 52.0 remote. Admittedly, I'm going to give it some time since I've only been using it for a few days now, but so far I do not like the vastly pared down and simplified buttons and reorganized layout at all.
First off, I really dislike the fact that they moved the DVR button to the top of the remote instead of keeping it neatly placed between the Select/Arrows buttons and the Playback buttons. The DVR button placement is very inconvenient for heavy DVR users that frequently switch between recorded shows and/or anyone that often likes to bring up the DVR menu while a recording is being played.
Also, I don't like the fact that they removed the Stop button, which is often required to delete a DVR recording you've just watched since it won't let you do so if it's still 'in use.' I'm assuming that the only default option you have to stop playback now (other than starting a different DVR show) is by pressing the Back (secondary function: Live TV) button now, which in turn brings up a menu that allows you to click even more buttons to choose Stop Playback. So much simpler right?
Additionally, I don't understand their reasoning for the horrible placement of the Recall button and the fact that it is raised higher and positioned more prominently than the Play/Pause button. Until you get used to it, you will constantly find yourself pressing Recall when you wish to play or pause shows as the button's position feels like it is in the place where the Play/Pause button should be based on touch alone (if your eyes are on the TV).
Then there's also the consolidation of the Fast Forward/Rewind buttons into long presses of the Skip Back/Forward buttons that will also frustrate a lot of people. They are annoying to use and it's easy to make mistakes with them even after you get used to the way they work.
These DVR button changes alone will make a lot of people miss and/or switch back to their 40.0 remote. But then, there are also lots of other useful buttons that have been either removed or integrated into other buttons or soft menus as well. Enjoyed having the colored hotkey buttons for easy access to frequently used features or apps? Too bad, they're gone. Did you like easy PIP control with labeled buttons on the remote that are helpful if you don't use PIP that often? Too bad, you're out of luck.
And just wait until you press accidentally press Recall or whatever PIP is currently mapped to while you're playing back a DVR recording from your external hard drive and you end up getting stuck in PIP hell, with no way out of it and your DVR playback ends up getting stuck in a tiny box on your screen even after you figure out how to restore it to your current "full screen" show. Now, obviously, this is most likely a glitch that will be patched in a future Hopper 3 update, but it's still extremely annoying and the lack of discrete PIP buttons doesn't help matters.
Anyways, as I previously stated, I'm going to give the 52.0 some time, but I've already linked my 40.0 to the Hopper 3 as well and find myself wanting to reach for it every time I need to use a remote. And now, the next one coming out with the touchpad and voice control and even less buttons (that I initially thought looked awesome) is making me think that Dish got a little too carried away by losing sight of the basics and becoming too infatuated with the current trend of making everything a tablet or touchscreen with minimal or no real buttons. Actually though, the thought of people waking their partners up at 1AM by saying "Ok Dish, DVR. Ok Dish, Play The Walking Dead. etc" does make me giggle.
And if Dish just would have taken trusty old Mike Ehrmantraut's advice to heart, "No Half-Measures!," they'd have gotten things right with the 52.0. They either need to stick to the classic remote format with all the buttons you need to fully use your receiver with minimal effort or instead offer a completely buttonless tablet remote with a nice capacitive touchscreen that makes controlling your receiver just as easy. Perhaps they should stick with the classic format as the default remote and allow the customer to upgrade to a tablet remote as an additional purchase if they want it.
In my opinion, if they intend to make a hybrid remote that actually works well, they have their work cut out for them, as it will be very challenging to make one that works well while trying to keep costs down.
I'm interested to hear back how many of you end up switching back to the 40.0 and only keep the 52.0 around for backup/restore purposes. Also, feel free to offer up some tips that would make the 52.0 easier for me to use if you know of any!