Moving and upgrading questions please?

[jdvaughn]

So, we have now a 722 DVR with Dish. We are moving to another town shortly and I want to upgrade to the Hopper and am looking for answers that I can't find on the Dish site..

I want to get the Hopper 3 as it is the same price per month (according to the dish site), so figure, why not?
I have a 2TB WD External Hard Drive that I need to be able to plugin to the Hopper 3 and I did ask awhile back here if that was possible and everyone said yes.

We are going to be renting now and the landlord said she doesn't want a dish on top of the house. So, does the Hopper 3 require multiple dishes and how much wiring is involved? (We only have 2 HD TV's anyway). And looking at Dish today I see we are paying $15 more per month for the top 250 package than what it is now... geeez, you'd think they'd let you know this stuff.

What's the best way to get the best deal when moving. The account is in my husband's name now, so I could come in as a new customer, I know we have done this before some years back... But I think I've seen on here that there are people here that help people get hooked up? Am I wrong on this and how does this work?

Is there any reason not to get a Hopper 3? It is the same price and has much more features, so am wondering why wouldn't anyone just go for it over the other ones? I don't understand.

The Hopper 3 says in the features list "Netflix". Does this mean Netflix is included or is this a bait and switch situation?

Been with Dish forever and don't really want to switch, we're not in contract, so just trying to plan out what to do here.

thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Bobby]

First, if you want to use the existing EHD, as in be able to view programming saved there, it must stay on the same account number. So, if you change names, you are going to change account numbers. Second, Hopper 3 uses one dish with a hybrid lnb and a hub. Third, the Netflix is simply an app built in to the Hopper. You need to sub to Netflix to use it. It is not bait and switch, simply a simpler way to get to Netflix when you have a subscription.

 

[jdvaughn]

First, if you want to use the existing EHD, as in be able to view programming saved there, it must stay on the same account number. So, if you change names, you are going to change account numbers. Second, Hopper 3 uses one dish with a hybrid lnb and a hub. Third, the Netflix is simply an app built in to the Hopper. You need to sub to Netflix to use it. It is not bait and switch, simply a simpler way to get to Netflix when you have a subscription.

Thank you for those answers. Still wondering if there is some way to go through here to get hooked up or just call dish? and also, still wondering why people would want the hopper 1 or 2 instead of the hopper 3? Are there a lot of problems with the hopper 3?

 

[Bobby]

Thank you for those answers. Still wondering if there is some way to go through here to get hooked up or just call dish? and also, still wondering why people would want the hopper 1 or 2 instead of the hopper 3? Are there a lot of problems with the hopper 3?

There are those who have some more unusual ways of using their Hoppers and they are vocal about how the H3 doesn't allow them to use them the way they want. There is also an issue about recording OTA programming that is being addressed by Dish. Other than that, I'd go for an H3, I have one and love it....

 

[boba]

There are those who have some more unusual ways of using their Hoppers and they are vocal about how the H3 doesn't allow them to use them the way they want. There is also an issue about recording OTA programming that is being addressed by Dish. Other than that, I'd go for an H3, I have one and love it....

Bobby also doesn't mention the OTA Dongle for the Hopper 3 isn't available, PERIOD. Also the Hopper 3 unlike your 722 doesn't have an output for a second TV, you must have a Joey for each additional TV.

I maybe wrong but I think the $15/mo. is the cost of the Hopper 3.

 

[Bobby]

Bobby also doesn't mention the OTA Dongle for the Hopper 3 isn't available, PERIOD.

Well, yeah that too... But you'd have the same issue with any of the Hoppers, they all use the OTA dongle.

 

[boba]

Well, yeah that too... But you'd have the same issue with any of the Hoppers, they all use the OTA dongle.

A 722 has the module built in so a move of the 722 would still have OTA.

 

[Tampa8]

The Hopper 3 says in the features list "Netflix". Does this mean Netflix is included or is this a bait and switch situation?

Almost every device now has the Netflix App - Roku, Fire TV, Smart TV's and many more. You need a subscription to Netflix on all of them so if DISH is bait and switch so are all of them. The answer is no one is giving away services for free like Netflix or Amazon Prime, hulu etc. It's always an app to allow you to subscribe to those services.

If you are happy with the way the 722 is - one HD output and one SD that will be the much cheaper way to go. $10 a month VS $22 a month or $120 a year VS $240 a year.
If you get the Hopper some of the bugs it has will not bother many people, or it will be a case that one of them will the others will not. If you are not going to use an antenna to get locals in addition to the getting them from Satellite the Dongle situation does not matter.
As mentioned if you want to keep recordings you have on the external hard drive to play back you must keep the account the same. There is little difference now in being a new customer or existing. You can get just about the same deal.

Questions to ask yourself;
If the deal is somewhat better under a new account is it worth losing the recordings on your external hard drive.
Do you run out of tuners now and have trouble recording shows because something else is recording? Hopper has 16 tuners to record from - and PTAT technology.
Do you want HD at both TV's or is what you have good enough.
Pay $10 fees for the 722 or $22 with Hopper and a Joey.
Would a wireless second TV location make a difference to you? You can get a wireless joey and put it in whatever room you want. If the Landlord does not want alot of wiring that would help minimize it.

Finally be sure you have the Landlord's permission for the install to be done the way the installer is going to do it, including where the DISH goes, where the wiring enters the house, etc..

 

[jdvaughn]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I will get OTA's through Dish, so the dongle thing doesn't matter. Really the main reason I do want to upgrade is I would like to have HD on our bedroom TV, but more importantly, I'm sick of the TV's getting tied up whilst recording, so that is what I was really looking forward to. I think we're going to drop Showtime, keep HBO and get Netflix possibly.

And I guess we will keep the account name the same as I've spent a long time building up keepers in the ext. hard drive.

I guess I thought the Hopper 3 didn't need a "joey". I thought that it just slung it out, so to speak, so will check into that more because of landlord.

Is there any special price negotiating skills that would help me in the upgrade and installation of all this? Any advice would be appreciated. I've always had good luck in re-negotiating my general price down every 6 months or so, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be a costly upgrade. We are not in contract though, so there is that to use...

Thanks again for all the help!!

 

[Voyager6]

Thank you for those answers. Still wondering if there is some way to go through here to get hooked up or just call dish? and also, still wondering why people would want the hopper 1 or 2 instead of the hopper 3? Are there a lot of problems with the hopper 3?

Most of the issues with the H3 have been resolved BUT there are a couple of little nagging issues such as the OTA problem. If you have or want internationals, the H3 is not for you at this time. Some do not need 16 tuners and are happy with the 3 tuners of the H2. Some want separate DVR's for their family (like me) and it is extremely hard to get a second H3 from Dish. So you get two H2's.

 

[JSheridan]

I've gotten to where I watch 4 things at the same time using MultiView most of the time so 3 tuners would definitely not work for me anymore. I've been spoiled.

 

[Bobby]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I will get OTA's through Dish, so the dongle thing doesn't matter. Really the main reason I do want to upgrade is I would like to have HD on our bedroom TV, but more importantly, I'm sick of the TV's getting tied up whilst recording, so that is what I was really looking forward to. I think we're going to drop Showtime, keep HBO and get Netflix possibly.

And I guess we will keep the account name the same as I've spent a long time building up keepers in the ext. hard drive.

I guess I thought the Hopper 3 didn't need a "joey". I thought that it just slung it out, so to speak, so will check into that more because of landlord.

Is there any special price negotiating skills that would help me in the upgrade and installation of all this? Any advice would be appreciated. I've always had good luck in re-negotiating my general price down every 6 months or so, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be a costly upgrade. We are not in contract though, so there is that to use...

Thanks again for all the help!!

You could go with a wireless Joey in the bedroom. The cost is the same, $7, as the wired one but you have to order a WAP for it that costs something like $40, one time. That way you have no wiring to the bedroom at all...

 

[Brodieb]

You could go with a wireless Joey in the bedroom. The cost is the same, $7, as the wired one but you have to order a WAP for it that costs something like $40, one time. That way you have no wiring to the bedroom at all...

The WAP for my bedroom Tv was $25 and the wireless Joey was free (same $7 per month charge as other Joey). YMMV depending on several unknowable factors.

I recommend the wireless Joey over the Joey 2.0 - less to set up and better performance.