Hopper vs Genie, Will I Be Sorry?

[Skytrooper]

I just had my fourth Hopper failure losing some very special recordings. Just looking for some opinions on the move that I am very serious about. As I am writing this, some older posts appeared. I will check them out. I don't want to commit to a 2 year contract and be sorry.

 

[navychop]

If you had so many Hopper failures, you may have a wiring problem. And so may have just as many Genie problems.

Are you plugged into a HIGH QUALITY surge suppressor or UPS? Maybe even a line conditioner?

 

[dfergie]

I will say this, I've never had one of the HR series fail, I've had 4 ViP 622's die ...

 

[lparsons21]

And I've never had any failures on either Dish or Direct gear.
If the OP had 4 Hopper failures then I would be looking at the power going to them before I decided to make a change. That isn't normal at all.

 

[navychop]

And I've never had any failures on either Dish or Direct gear.
If the OP had 4 Hopper failures then I would be looking at the power going to them before I decided to make a change. That isn't normal at all.

QFT.

 

[Skytrooper]

Three bedroom Hoppers failed. The Family Room one which I had since the Hopper w Sling came out just died. I did some rewiring and am using a Joey in its place. There are no wiring issues in my home. The Family Room is only 3 years old and has 3 circuits. All 12 ga. wiring in home. I'm not sending the bad Hopper back til I make a decision on what to do.

Direct will give me a good deal because they will treat me as a new customer. I had Direct 6 years ago. Also Comcast's X1 DVR has cloud storage. Been looking there too. Don't like their lack of HD in their Premium Channels.

So I am looking hard at Direct. I like the way the Hopper functioned and don't want to take a step backwards in technology. Just looking for comments comparing the two DVR's.

 

[lparsons21]

I've had both the Hopper and Genie at different times and currently have a HWS. To me the Hopper is more slick and refined in the approach taken in the GUI. PTAT is a big plus if you watch the big 4 broadcasters.
The Genie's GUI is the same as has been used for Direct equipment for many years and is very dated. But it is very functional if not pretty. And D* loves those in guide ads, very irritating. Also while you can use an external HD with one, it replaces the internal and is tied to the receiver so that if the receiver shoots craps, all recordings are lost. Since you mentioned the loss of recordings, that should be an important consideration. And some thought needs to be considered now that AT&T owns Direct. That may not make much difference, but it certainly might as AT&T is a much different company.
For sports in HD, D* has the most, for Premium channels in HD they have the most but don't have EPIX at all if that's important.
After the first year pricing is pretty close in general with Dish usually being a little cheaper. If you switch you also need to consider any upfront hardware costs. Both services for new customers these days are advertising the free installation and some free of upfront cost hardware. But they are both only offering one 'server' (Genie or HWS) and the mini/joey. Any other combo comes with upfront costs ranging from $100-$200 per unit. And while E* will do 2 Hopper setups, D* will not do 2 Genie setups at all even if you buy a 2nd one outright.

 

[Tampa8]

If the reason you have DISH is for the Hopper, might as well switch back to Direct although you can have only one Genie if that is problem.(There are other options) It would seem you would save alot over the two years commitment because you would be a new customer. But honestly if three hoppers failed from the same location in the house I have to suspect something is causing it. Are things on top of it and around it causing inadequate airflow? Is the house a very much older home with possible poor grounding? Was it hit by lightning at some point you know of? (That was a problem neighbor had in Florida, her Brighthouse boxes kept failing, they asked her that question and it had been. They found damage in the breaker box.)
The one in the livingroom I would chalk up to S**t happens.

 

[Skytrooper]

Lparsons81, your comments on the EHD are interesting. Didn't know things were stored there instead of the Hopper with no apparent way to store programs on both Hard Drives. Dish gave me the second Hopper free. You made me think about if the Genie fails. No TV. At least now I am up and running with my second Hopper and a Joey from a spare bedroom.

 

[lparsons21]

When I came back to Dish from cable, the EHD for archiving that was tied to my account and not the receiver was a BIG consideration for me. It was the biggest reason I chose Dish over Direct. Add in that if the Hopper dies I can also restore my series links and such from the remote to a new Hopper and it made the choice fairly simple. Dish has just gone that extra step to make the hardware/software more sophisticated and modern.

It sounds like you weren't using an external hard drive with your Hoppers. With one you can move recordings to the external HD and they will be there even if you swap Hoppers because of a Hopper failure. That way if a Hopper dies you only lose the recordings on the Hopper's internal hard drive.

Since the prices are so close together that wasn't even a consideration, and the differences in HD PQ between the two services appear to me to be so insignificant, that wasn't an issue either.

Because of my viewing preferences either service has more than enough to keep me happy, Dish just lets me manage it easier and has at least some safety benefits with the EHD archiving and remote restore, not to mention PTAT.

A suggestion. Get good UPS's for each location in your setup. They will filter the power coming into the units and offer at least a little time to do an orderly shutdown in case of a power failure or glitch. On mine I have the TV, AV receiver and Hopper connected to the UPS, the rest of the stuff in my AV rack are on good surge suppressors.

 

[dfergie]

If you like to archive, Dish has the best solution... I have EHDD's with programming from my first 622 ...

 

[rad]

. I like the way the Hopper functioned and don't want to take a step backwards in technology.

Maybe if you were more specific about how you liked the way the Hopper functioned you could get a better answer to your question.

 

[dfergie]

I have the HR34, it integrates seamlessly with my HR20 & HR24 dvrs (I had Replays years ago, very similar as DIRECTV bought Replay out)...

 

[lparsons21]

I have the HR34, it integrates seamlessly with my HR20 & HR24 dvrs (I had Replays years ago, very similar as DIRECTV bought Replay out)...

And that is a very viable solution to all but lost recordings on failing equipment. And for a new customer that might want to do that it means significant upfront hardware costs.

Currently both providers are pushing hard for the Genie/Hopper + mini/joey solution for up to 4 rooms with not upfront hardware costs. Any other combo has a cost upfront.

 

[Skytrooper]

Maybe if you were more specific about how you liked the way the Hopper functioned you could get a better answer to your question.[/QUOTE
I like the Hopper. Just worried that I may not be satisfied with the Genie.

 

[darrengs]

I am currently with Dish and out of contract. I too have been looking at my options, and have questions concerning a move to the Genie from my Hoppers (1 with sling and 1 with a sling adapter) and joey. I am not going to ask about speed and interface, but here are my concerns:

How strong is the rf remote? I currently have my Hoppers in my air conditioned, UPS protected wiring closet on the second floor. My remotes work fine all throughout the house, even in the basement. Back in my DirecTV days my HR22 rf remote had issues in the same room.

I can watch any channel, any recordings anywhere via the built in sling/sling adapter, while people at home are also using the Hoppers/Joey. How is this handled with the Genie/Mini setup?

My proposed setup would be 1 Genie 2 Minis, how does the Genie handle recording conflicts?

Not as important, but can you back up the timers to the remote like the Hopper, and is there a locate remote button?

 

[lparsons21]

You cannot back up the timers to the remote with any D* equipment.

 

[peds48]

How strong is the rf remote? I currently have my Hoppers in my air conditioned, UPS protected wiring closet on the second floor. My remotes work fine all throughout the house, even in the basement. Back in my DirecTV days my HR22 rf remote had issues in the same room.

the new RC7x since it sued different frequencies is actually pretty good, I have gotten at least 75 feet through a few walls. Of course house construction materials plays a huge role

 

[peds48]

I can watch any channel, any recordings anywhere via the built in sling/sling adapter, while people at home are also using the Hoppers/Joey. How is this handled with the Genie/Mini setup?

with the Genie by itself, you can't do any of those things. You need the GenieGo in order to watch your playlist. You can however use the EveryWhere platform to watch live TV on your mobile devices. Basically streaming from the net

 

[Ronnie-]

with the Genie by itself, you can't do any of those things. You need the GenieGo in order to watch your playlist. You can however use the EveryWhere platform to watch live TV on your mobile devices. Basically streaming from the net

Or use a stand alone sling box or vulkano
.