We want to hear how about your ordering experience!
Although I got in early on the upgrade list (#34, I think), I ended up using Chat on Sunday, 1/31, to do the upgrade. I had two months left on my contract, but was able to upgrade (Hopper 3 plus two Joeys) at no charge, adding the Protection Plan to waive the $95 tech fee. There was one minor glitch in the process. The chat rep said they could do the install on Monday, 2/1, but I requested Wednesday, 2/3, instead so I could be home at the time. We confirmed an install for Wednesday afternoon. Later in the day, I received an email confirming my appointment for Monday. I was able to fix it easily online - but the scheduling tool wasn't working right, either.
We want to hear about your install how did it go?
The tech arrived right on time. I gave him a tour of the house, showing him where everything was, after which time he informed me that he would have to put up a new dish. Company policy (Galaxy One) does not allow the installer to get on the roof; he can only install the dish at a location he can reach while still on the ladder. Apparently, the company that Dish previously contracted with in our area - the one that put a dish higher on my roof and out of reach of the ladder - was bought out. So now I have a dish on the front edge of my roof, another (non-functioning) dish, complete with LNB, higher up on the back side of my roof, and a mast on a gable where my original dish was. That dish was removed by the tech on a previous upgrade, but he didn't bother to remove the mast. To top it off, because of obstacles at the location of the new dish, the latest tech was unable to attach the cable to the side of the house; it's just hanging loose and, frankly, looks horrible.
When he got ready to assemble the dish, he asked me if there was a hardware store around because he'd lost his 1/2-inch socket. I rustled up a couple sockets for him (a 1/4" and a 3/8" drive). I live in a town of 2,000 with no hardware store. It would have taken him 45 minutes to run to the next town to get one. After he left, I realized that he did not give them back. Fortunately, I did not give him my good ones. We also found a 2-foot length of RG-6 with an F-connector on the ground next to the driveway after he left, along with the installation instruction book for the 1000.2 dish. Pretty sloppy and careless, if you ask me.
He left one Joey box, with the cables inside, in the bedroom. He took the other boxes, along with the new HDMI and composite cables. I don't really need them, but I wish he had left them as he should have. He did leave my old 40.0 remotes in all three locations without me having to ask.
We want to hear what the Techs did and upgraded at your house!
The tech installed a new 1000.2 dish with hybrid LNB, hub, Hopper 3 and two Joey 2.0s. He removed the old node/splitter(s), Hopper w/Sling, Joey 1.0, and Super Joey.
I didn't time the download, but it took quite a while. Despite his sloppiness, the tech was very polite and even asked for permission to sit down in the living room during the download.
We want to hear your thoughts on the Hopper 3!
Love the Hopper 3 - especially the speed. The GUI looks great. Surprisingly, I do not find the banner at the bottom distracting at all. One of the first things I found was the setting to hide duplicate SD channels, something that a lot of people have seemed to complain about. Picture quality is great, but I can't say I can really tell a difference between this and the HWS. I find myself using the old 40.0 remote most of the time. I'll probably get used to the 52.0, but I'm not sure it's really a step forward (more on that below).
We want to hear what you would change about the Hopper 3?
It's such a simple thing, but I really do miss the red recording LED on the front. I'm still learning my way around the new interface, but I'm not sure I'd change anything there. My biggest beef is with the new remote. The buttons are very hard to differentiate, especially the top two rows. Removing so many buttons in favor of menu-driven commands was not a step forward. I'd prefer to perform functions like PIP, CC, and - for Pete's sake - stop playback, of all things, using a single button on the remote. After building so much funtionality into the color buttons, removing them makes no sense. (It's awesome that the functionality is still there with the 40.0 remote. Great job on that one.) I will say this - the feel of the new remote is fantastic. It is well constructed, feels good in the hand, and has very responsive buttons. If Dish wants to build the perfect remote, they should combine the feel of the 52.0 remote with the layout of the 40.0.
Although I got in early on the upgrade list (#34, I think), I ended up using Chat on Sunday, 1/31, to do the upgrade. I had two months left on my contract, but was able to upgrade (Hopper 3 plus two Joeys) at no charge, adding the Protection Plan to waive the $95 tech fee. There was one minor glitch in the process. The chat rep said they could do the install on Monday, 2/1, but I requested Wednesday, 2/3, instead so I could be home at the time. We confirmed an install for Wednesday afternoon. Later in the day, I received an email confirming my appointment for Monday. I was able to fix it easily online - but the scheduling tool wasn't working right, either.
We want to hear about your install how did it go?
The tech arrived right on time. I gave him a tour of the house, showing him where everything was, after which time he informed me that he would have to put up a new dish. Company policy (Galaxy One) does not allow the installer to get on the roof; he can only install the dish at a location he can reach while still on the ladder. Apparently, the company that Dish previously contracted with in our area - the one that put a dish higher on my roof and out of reach of the ladder - was bought out. So now I have a dish on the front edge of my roof, another (non-functioning) dish, complete with LNB, higher up on the back side of my roof, and a mast on a gable where my original dish was. That dish was removed by the tech on a previous upgrade, but he didn't bother to remove the mast. To top it off, because of obstacles at the location of the new dish, the latest tech was unable to attach the cable to the side of the house; it's just hanging loose and, frankly, looks horrible.
When he got ready to assemble the dish, he asked me if there was a hardware store around because he'd lost his 1/2-inch socket. I rustled up a couple sockets for him (a 1/4" and a 3/8" drive). I live in a town of 2,000 with no hardware store. It would have taken him 45 minutes to run to the next town to get one. After he left, I realized that he did not give them back. Fortunately, I did not give him my good ones. We also found a 2-foot length of RG-6 with an F-connector on the ground next to the driveway after he left, along with the installation instruction book for the 1000.2 dish. Pretty sloppy and careless, if you ask me.
He left one Joey box, with the cables inside, in the bedroom. He took the other boxes, along with the new HDMI and composite cables. I don't really need them, but I wish he had left them as he should have. He did leave my old 40.0 remotes in all three locations without me having to ask.
We want to hear what the Techs did and upgraded at your house!
The tech installed a new 1000.2 dish with hybrid LNB, hub, Hopper 3 and two Joey 2.0s. He removed the old node/splitter(s), Hopper w/Sling, Joey 1.0, and Super Joey.
I didn't time the download, but it took quite a while. Despite his sloppiness, the tech was very polite and even asked for permission to sit down in the living room during the download.
We want to hear your thoughts on the Hopper 3!
Love the Hopper 3 - especially the speed. The GUI looks great. Surprisingly, I do not find the banner at the bottom distracting at all. One of the first things I found was the setting to hide duplicate SD channels, something that a lot of people have seemed to complain about. Picture quality is great, but I can't say I can really tell a difference between this and the HWS. I find myself using the old 40.0 remote most of the time. I'll probably get used to the 52.0, but I'm not sure it's really a step forward (more on that below).
We want to hear what you would change about the Hopper 3?
It's such a simple thing, but I really do miss the red recording LED on the front. I'm still learning my way around the new interface, but I'm not sure I'd change anything there. My biggest beef is with the new remote. The buttons are very hard to differentiate, especially the top two rows. Removing so many buttons in favor of menu-driven commands was not a step forward. I'd prefer to perform functions like PIP, CC, and - for Pete's sake - stop playback, of all things, using a single button on the remote. After building so much funtionality into the color buttons, removing them makes no sense. (It's awesome that the functionality is still there with the 40.0 remote. Great job on that one.) I will say this - the feel of the new remote is fantastic. It is well constructed, feels good in the hand, and has very responsive buttons. If Dish wants to build the perfect remote, they should combine the feel of the 52.0 remote with the layout of the 40.0.
