How do you Fast Forward (FWD) at 4X speed?

[Jon J]

To fast forward using the 52.0 remote you are instructed to hold down the forward arrow button. The speed should start at 4X and increase the longer you hold the key down. However, I don't seem to be quick enough to ever FWD at only 4X speed. I jump to 15X every time. Is there a trick to get the slower speed?

 

[DWS44]

Sadly, no. Apparently Dish decided we no longer needed the 4X FF/REW speed and removed it from the available options in the new UI. 15X is now the slowest FF/REW option. I really miss that 4X option.

 

[Jon J]

I'll be ordering a 40.0 remote immediately.

 

[patmurphey]

It's not the remote...

 

[DWS44]

It's not the remote...

Yup...what he said. The 4X option is gone completely, regardless of what remote you use.

 

[Jim S.]

Morons. First shrinking the guide, now this. What the hell were they thinking?

 

[TheLip]

Morons. First shrinking the guide, now this. What the hell were they thinking?

I couldn't agree more.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Problem with 15x is it is kinda slow with OTA, but is freaking warp speed on satellite stuff...

 

[DWS44]

but is freaking warp speed on satellite stuff...

Amen!

 

[gadgtfreek]

Amen!

I was testing last night, watching an NCIS recording. When I would see the show resume and hit play, it would take FOUR to SIX 10 second jump backs to get to the end of commerical break. That is ridiculous.

 

[Bobby]

I was testing last night, watching an NCIS recording. When I would see the show resume and hit play, it would take FOUR to SIX 10 second jump backs to get to the end of commerical break. That is ridiculous.

I never hit fast forward to skip commercials. I simply hit the skip forward but about 6 times, sometimes 7 and I am right in the area of resuming the program. I hit the button consecutively, I don't wait for the skip.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I never hit fast forward to skip commercials. I simply hit the skip forward but about 6 times, sometimes 7 and I am right in the area of resuming the program. I hit the button consecutively, I don't wait for the skip.

That is what I am doing right now, problem is it overshoots and you STILL have to back up. My question is, since the DVR is not a new invention, how come other brands can have a simple FFW'd that works with a decent auto jump back when you hit play, and Dish screwed it up? Just like OTA, folder management, recorded show sorting, compared to a HWS...

Not sure who is heading up their tech dept, but they did NOT do a good job with this UI. Not only did they neglect to continue useful DVR features that had been in place for awhile, they gave you a less useful remote to boot!

Maybe it isn't tech's fault though, I'm just about certain that this UI was not ready to go, but marketing said "let her rip"!

 

[patmurphey]

That is what I am doing right now, problem is it overshoots and you STILL have to back up. My question is, since the DVR is not a new invention, how come other brands can have a simple FFW'd that works with a decent auto jump back when you hit play, and Dish screwed it up? Just like OTA, folder management, recorded show sorting, compared to a HWS...

Not sure who is heading up their tech dept, but they did NOT do a good job with this UI. Not only did they neglect to continue useful DVR features that had been in place for awhile, they gave you a less useful remote to boot!

Maybe it isn't tech's fault though, I'm just about certain that this UI was not ready to go, but marketing said "let her rip"!

Dish has never had skip back from FF. If you want that go somewhere else - you can even get a less capable DVR where you have to choose between FF and 30 second skip - can't have both at once. Feature for feature no DVR beats the H3.

 

[Hall]

My question is, since the DVR is not a new invention, how come other brands can have a simple FFW'd that works with a decent auto jump back when you hit play, and Dish screwed it up?

It's possible that this function (feature) was one patented by TiVo. Many DVR manufacturers (quietly) licensed TiVo tech and implemented some of the things they do. Dish, of course, was sued by TiVo for using things they patented but as part of the settlement, TiVo gave them access to many bits of functionality. The question is, is Dish using it ?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Dish has never had skip back from FF. If you want that go somewhere else - you can even get a less capable DVR where you have to choose between FF and 30 second skip - can't have both at once. Feature for feature no DVR beats the H3.

I understand that, the fact is trickplay on the H3 is not near as good as it was on the H2000 and HWS. Thanks for the fanboyism though.

Trickplay made worse requiring more button presses and they removed useful buttons from the remote
Folder options and recording sorting made worse
OTA programs do not record and play back properly

Should I go on? All that is what makes a DVR a DVR, but hey, we got Netflix and sports bar mode (has audio glitches).

 

[ralfyguy]

It's possible that this function (feature) was one patented by TiVo. Many DVR manufacturers (quietly) licensed TiVo tech and implemented some of the things they do. Dish, of course, was sued by TiVo for using things they patented but as part of the settlement, TiVo gave them access to many bits of functionality. The question is, is Dish using it ?

Perhaps the lawsuit was settled for what it was settled and not more to license what they already used and turned off, but had to leave it turned off. So maybe only licensed for the time of infringement, but no further.

 

[gadgtfreek]

It's possible that this function (feature) was one patented by TiVo. Many DVR manufacturers (quietly) licensed TiVo tech and implemented some of the things they do. Dish, of course, was sued by TiVo for using things they patented but as part of the settlement, TiVo gave them access to many bits of functionality. The question is, is Dish using it ?

Here is the problem with what they have done:

First, they removed 4x and 15x is just too fast for satellite recordings (works fine on OTA because 15x on OTA is slower than 15x on Sat)
Second, when FFWDing they never had a hit play and jump back, but you could hit jump back to come out of FFWD and move back. Now jump back while in FFWD just reverses direction and rewinds, so you need to hit play and then hit the jump back key a few times. Or, you can use 30 second skip, and then jump back. End of the day, the made the experience worse requiring more user input. Especially now with 4x gone which potentially allows you to overrun the end of a commercial break by a good margin.

These things are DVR's first, and DVR's have been around awhile. Dont screw with trickplay and make it less user friendly, period. Are these a huge deal? No. Did they take something simple, that worked fine before and make it worse? Yes. DVR's have a primary function, record and playback, let's not muck that up Dish.

 

[Hall]

Perhaps the lawsuit was settled for what it was settled and not more to license what they already used and turned off, but had to leave it turned off. So maybe only licensed for the time of infringement, but no further.

No

The parties also granted certain patent licenses to each other. TiVo granted DISH Network a license under its Time Warp patent (US Pat. No. 6,233,389) and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents. TiVo also granted EchoStar a license under the same '389 patent and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents, to design and make certain DVR-enabled products solely for DISH Network and two international customers.

http://investor.tivo.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=106292&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1557614

 

[Scherrman]

I really haven't seen the big deal. Hold the FFW button down and release. You can keep pressing it again to change the speed. When trying to skip past commercials it's usually best to just use the skip forward button and if you go past just hit the skip back. Simple enough.

I'm not sure why some don't like the guide. Looks good to me.

 

[DWS44]

I really haven't seen the big deal. Hold the FFW button down and release. You can keep pressing it again to change the speed.

The problem isn't the operation of how to activate FF and/or change the speed, it was that they removed one of the speed options (4X) that at least a few of us preferred to use. Used to be 4X, 15X, 60X, and 300X. Now its just 15X, 60X, and 300X.