New SW on the Hopper REALLY sucks!

Don't knock those PalDVR's. :) I still use one on a secondary tv in a guest bedroom! Still cranking along.

I still have 2 of 3 that I bought. Gave one to a neighbor a few years ago that didn't have cable/sat. He bought my old 60in Mitsubishi DLP and I gave them one to use with it. Can't let friends be beholden to live tv these days. :cool:
They were great until losing TVGoS, then they became hit or miss for daily use. I don't use them anymore, just keep as backups in case I lose a Tivo or if family have a need. I let my step sister use one in Las Vegas when they first moved out there last summer. I got it back a few months ago when I was out there. Its in the closet in our condo out there, waiting for emergency use or the end of ATSC 1.0 come.
 
As a retired hardware/software engineer, I am amazed that Dish will release software with obvious bugs that should be easily detected in the software verification and validation phase of testing. There is no other answer other than Dish does not do full testing before releasing software.

I have posted this before, but I would have been fired a long time ago if I turned out software like this. When I released new software, we tested it on every possible configuration of our system that was still being used in the field. When it was released we were confident that there were no problems. Granted, I was working with medical equipment and peoples lives were at stake so we took extra precautions, but full validation and verification of software is standard operating procedure in most businesses these days.

I am not sure that the Dish engineers are to blame. There may be marketing, sales, management, or other factors that make it hard on the engineers.
 
I wouldn’t care if it went back to how it was but I kind of like the new DVR screen.
I could get used to it either way. Like I said, I just wish Dish would be consistent and use the same tile size everywhere: DVR screen, Home screen, VOD, etc.

There's a simple explanation for the new software, Dish got the same people that make the software for Comcast's X1 DVR to "improve" the Hopper "experience".
I've had the X1 for three or four years now (at another home) and it's UI has never made any sense. The EPG is hard to read (not to mention really slow), basic info about the current program is hard to find, even the channel number is often a mystery. Same goes for the scheduled recordings screen.
People have had the same complaints about Directv's new UI. This seems to be the way the industry is going. :(

And the DVR has a whopping 500GB of storage for the whole house.
Just like the Hopper Duo!

I almost forgot, the voice remote doesn't seem to understand English and just to "improve" an already memorable "experience" the new X1 remotes dropped the skip back button (they never had a skip forward button). But that's OK, because a new "feature" allows you to use your voice to skip forward or backwards by an amount of time of your choosing. You know, instead of just pushing a button that every DVR on earth has always had.
I do that all the time, using an Echo Dot to control the DVR functionality on my Wally. It works well.

Please call in with issues. And the software is/was tested prior to release. I am not on the H3, however I assume they are finding it difficult to have multiple setups that include 2x Hopper3 and such as that in the testing arena.
Until the older generations of Hopper are EOL'd, it's going to be difficult for them. The soak was done around the first part of April.
Yes, and then the software was released to the public less than a week later. That really doesn't seem like enough time to get a real thorough amount of feedback.

Big company. Should have an entire room filled with every combination of h/w.

Hoppers aren’t that old, especially by industry standards. There is no excuse for repeatedly breaking functioning software.

“The soak???”
When the software is released to all Dish employees (not just Beta testers) for feedback, before being released to the public.
 
I do that all the time, using an Echo Dot to control the DVR functionality on my Wally. It works well.
The point is it's not a good replacement for a dedicated button.

In the time it would take to give and process the skip command by voice, you could have pressed the skip button 10+ times.
 
The point is it's not a good replacement for a dedicated button.

In the time it would take to give and process the skip command by voice, you could have pressed the skip button 10+ times.
Oh, I agree it is useless for skipping back only 10 seconds, since I end up at about the same place I started by the time it processes the command and actually skips. I don't mind using the voice control for longer skips though.
 
I would only use it as a backup maneuver if I don't have the remote readily available. Or tell it to pause until I get the remote in hand. :)
 
I have posted this before, but I would have been fired a long time ago if I turned out software like this. When I released new software, we tested it on every possible configuration of our system that was still being used in the field. When it was released we were confident that there were no problems.
Who's to say they are bugs. Some of these changes were by design. Wish I could say more. :)
 
Amazon and best buy are partners in a new smart tv coming out this summer. Maybe Dish is making the software change to have a big amazon prime Tile.
 
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