Question... Now that you have had your Hopper

[barryaz1]

It's been six months...

So it's been 6 months now with a 1 Hopper/2 Joey setup. Been a DISH customer for close to 15 years, last setup was a 722k and an owned 508.

Likes -

• Huge amount of space
• shared recordings and viewing among the 3 sets (Had to play around to have 3 tv's all tuned to a different tuner to be able to independently view the morning CBS News
• Built-in Sling better than the old Sling adapter on my 722k
• Easier search
• Using "how many to save" to manage recordings of news shows in particular
• Letting my grown kids access the DVR and even watch live via Dish Anywhere (And I get to use my daughter's Amazon Prime in return)

Dislikes -

• Slightly higher monthly cost
• Cannot create a set of custom favorites guides and use across the 3 sets
• When in a custom favorite guide, cannot directly access a channel not listed in that Guide (e.g., watching a station on my Favorites guide, cannot just press 200 to get to CNN; have to go to a different guide first). Thius was not the case with either the 722k or the old 508 (unless you were actually viewing one of those custom favorites guides)

Not sures -

• Just starting to use PTAT so as to make it easier to sample new shows. Haven't used it much yet (BTW, does it use up DVR space, or is it it using a different section of the disc?)
• Sometimes "only" 4 tuners (with OTA) isn't as flexible as the 4 I had on the 722k when the OTA had 2 tuners to itself

Just have to accept -

• After all these years, my wife still can barely watch a program on her own, but at least she can set a recording!

 

[lucky86]

I just checked it out and I was able to access a channel not in my list without an issue. I have a list set up with just the premium channels on it and I typed in 200 and the box turned to CNN.

 

[jagowar]

Since we are posting longer usage stories.... I have been with dish for a year now (I am one that usually bounces between various providers depending who has the best deal at that time). Last provider was Media Center with clearQAM.

Original hopper with sling adapter and 2 joeys for my other tv's.

Likes:
PTAT... really makes primetime watching seamless and commercial skipping is awesome. Really nice I don't have to mess with recording any primetime shows on the networks and its always there.
Sling... works far better than I imagined it would. One of the best things about dish imo.
Storage... I have about 100 things recorded at any time and stays around 40-50% free even after recording 10+ college football games.
Whole Home... As somebody used to that with my media center setup it is crucial going forward.

Dislikes:
The hopper needs more tuners.... I know the solution is to get multiple hoppers but that was not an option when I was choosing and really not a good solution anyways imo. I would rather have a single hopper with 6 tuners and a bunch of joeys around the house.
Need more options to customize the guide.... Let me sync fav lists across devices and even allow smart fav lists so if a channel is changed or added (when they are doing a free preview for example) I can see those in a fav list.
Allow me to reorganize the channels.... One thing I miss with media center is being able to change the channel numbers at will. The dish channel lineup isn't grouped very well imo. For example I would want the sports channels grouped together.
More organization options for the dvr list.... What we have now is good but it could be much better. Not a fan of the manual folder options because there is no way to add them to recording defaults so it limits the usefulness.
The cost of the equipment in general is too high.... My 1h/2j system costs $24/month and that is just the equipment. If I stay with dish I will likely add a second hopper which will bring my equipment costs to $38 which will be closing in on half of my entire bill just for the equipment.
Would like to see an emergency guide push feature added.... a good example was this monday when the tennis ran late (or more often when football runs over time) it screws up the rest of the night's recordings. It caused me to miss the second half of under the dome. Would be awesome if dish could update that on the fly when needed.
When sports are on PTAT it would be nice if they automatically added the extra 60 min buffer as well. A small thing but its a pain to have to remember to record the program after so you don't miss any of the game and then have to remember it doesn't go into the ptat folder.

Overall I am happy with the service and will consider reupping when my contract is up next august.... pretty much if they have espnUHD by then and have agreed to carry the SEC network I will stay.

 

[foghorn2]

How about channel preview in the guide using a internet stream (like U-Verse). That would be a nice new feature! Also single Channel only guide is another U-verse feature I would like to see on the Hopper.

 

[TheKrell]

I do not currently have a Hopper. I have one 722 and two 612's. Can anybody with a Hopper and experience with VIP DVRs tell me whether the Hopper trick play is any smoother than it is on the VIP DVRs? The reason I ask is there was an astronomical settlement between Dish and Tivo, and yet I don't see any evidence of improved trick play on my current receivers. Maybe I'm just not remembering quite right. But IIRC my 501 was smooth as silk with accurate skip forward/back. My 612s (and 722) are still quite jerky on FF or RW, and don't even ask about the accuracy of the skip back button.

 

[navychop]

Okay i have a question and am pretty worried about this. Tomorrow I am scheduled to get a free upgrade to a Hopper and 3 Joeys. The Hopper is going downstairs in the living room where I never watch TV (live at home with parents). So my concerns:

1. First off I asked if I can get 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys. They told me this would not work. They said I need at least 3 joeys to have 2 Hoppers, which I don't understand...

2. My other concern is we have record a lot of TV. They told me that the Hopper can record 2 shows, and you can watch a 3rd show. Okay fine, but if my Joeys are recording anything, they are all basically useless and can only watch what is being recorded. Am I understanding this right? So if the Hopper is recording 2 shows, my Joey can ultimately only record 1, and the rest of the Joeys cannot record anything? I don't see how this is an advantage over what I have now where each DVR is separate and can record 1 show each and watch live TV each...

Am I just not understanding this?

Did you get 1H/3J or 2H/2J (which IS a supported configuration)?

Just to emphasize, Joeys record nothing. They tell the Hopper to record. I assume by now you're more up to speed on the system. Hope you love it as much as I.

 

[navychop]

I do not currently have a Hopper. I have one 722 and two 612's. Can anybody with a Hopper and experience with VIP DVRs tell me whether the Hopper trick play is any smoother than it is on the VIP DVRs? The reason I ask is there was an astronomical settlement between Dish and Tivo, and yet I don't see any evidence of improved trick play on my current receivers. Maybe I'm just not remembering quite right. But IIRC my 501 was smooth as silk with accurate skip forward/back. My 612s (and 722) are still quite jerky on FF or RW, and don't even ask about the accuracy of the skip back button.

I had two ViP722s. Now I have 2HWS and 1 owned Joey. FF & RWD are smooth enough. Skip ahead and back is slightly better than with the ViPs, but are still accursed. REALLY bugs me. The money's paid, it used to work fine, FIX IT!

Note that if you are viewing close to Live, just off a second or three, the screen may suddenly skip to Live with no human input. Solution is to skip further back or pause a few seconds.

Ask anything specific and I'll try it out. Or if you want to fight your way thru the Revenue Enhancers, drop by and play with my system to check it out firsthand.

On edit: The FF & RWD are more of rapid "snapshots" than smooth motion- perhaps that's what you mean. And max speed is 300x in both directions.

 

[navychop]

......
Dislikes -

• .......
• Cannot create a set of custom favorites guides and use across the 3 sets Each favorite list is unique to each Hopper, if you want the same Favorites list you need to recreate it on each Hopper. I view that as the best way, as I have an OTA module on only one of my HWS. A common favorites list would not work well for me.
• When in a custom favorite guide, cannot directly access a channel not listed in that Guide (e.g., watching a station on my Favorites guide, cannot just press 200 to get to CNN; have to go to a different guide first). Thius was not the case with either the 722k or the old 508 (unless you were actually viewing one of those custom favorites guides) I can do this- direct entry of channel number.

Not sures -

• Just starting to use PTAT so as to make it easier to sample new shows. Haven't used it much yet (BTW, does it use up DVR space, or is it it using a different section of the disc?) It uses up a portion of the user space. For a brief period, it did not.
• Sometimes "only" 4 tuners (with OTA) isn't as flexible as the 4 I had on the 722k when the OTA had 2 tuners to itself I don't understand how this could be, unless you want 2 OTA tuners.

......

See responses above.

 

[TheKrell]

The FF & RWD are more of rapid "snapshots" than smooth motion- perhaps that's what you mean. And max speed is 300x in both directions.

That is exactly what I mean... I thought you told me you had 2 722s! Thanks for verifying that the Hopper still sucks in this regard. Since I don't even want the integration, and my wife doesn't want new menus, I think I'll stay with what we've got for now.

The money's paid, it used to work fine, FIX IT!

Hear hear.

 

[navychop]

Yep, two. But memory fades........

 

[Symbol]

Been 3-4 months since I ditched my 922 & 211k for 2 HWS and 1 joey. Everything has been great except the joey randomly unlinking from the hopper maybe once a month. Doesn't really bother me since that TV barely gets used. Hopefully its a bug or else I may contact DIRT about a replacement joey or duo node. (I have the new one with the black dot)

Posted Using The New SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[RT-Cat]

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?.....Well, the interface or the GUI. Well laid out an nice to work with.
2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)....The app for the Android phone requires os 2.3 and I have 2.2.2 so it will not work on my phone.
3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?....Too new to have had any problems with.
4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?...Have the channel the Hopper is on filling the buffer when I am watching a recorded program. That way when I discover I watched past 11:00 Pm, I could just back up the local news and watch it. You could do that with a Charter DVR.
.
RT

 

[larrykenney]

I've had my new HWS and Joey for about two months, and I'm very happy with both.

To answer the initial questions...

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
The Prime Time network recording and ad skip features are really nice, the program guide is easy to read and use, and the picture IDs for shows makes them easy to identify in the list of recorded shows.

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
There were no install issues. Everything worked right from the start. Since then I've had to add a physical cable to my broadband service. My wifi signal wasn't strong enough where the Hopper is located to work well. The biggest problem I have now is with the OTA station list. I receive stations from several directions, and since the receiver deletes the station list and doesn't allow me to add to it when I scan, I lose stations in one direction when I scan for stations in another direction. I have to rescan every time I want a station from a different direction than the one where I scanned last, and that's a pain.

3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
There have been no problems, no replacement of equipment and no service calls here.

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why? An "add to" feature for the OTA list when scanning OTA stations. See #2.

I'm very satisfied with my HWS and my Joey.

Larry
San Francisco

 

[odbrv]

My issues with the Hopper and HWS. 1st; Multiple size Icons and List views are needed in our household. The current ones are too small for us; 2nd: the optical audio out problem needs fixing; and 3rd: in my DMA they need to switch PTAT to HD channels like most Dish customers receive not the SD channels that exist now in our DMA.

 

[Hall]

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?

Here's one I question every time...

When starting playback of an event that you've previously watched part of, the (relevant) pop-up menu choices are:

(snip)
Start Over
Resume

In the case of a program that has been viewed in more than one location, choosing "Resume" takes you to a 2nd screen with the locations it was watched and let's you choose where to resume from. There's also a redundant button for "Start over" << you could pick that from the first pop-up menu. I suppose it's a 2nd chance in case you changed your mind...

In the case of a program that was only viewed from one location, why does it need to ask if you want to resume watching from "Location X" ? If one pressed "Resume" from the pop-up, it should default to resume from wherever the stop point is. It's basically, pick program, tell it to resume playback, tell it to resume playback again, then start watching.

On a related note, when selecting a program that's never been watched yet, the menu has "Start Over" instead of simply "Play". Isn't "Play" the logical word ?

 

[Bobby]

In the case of a program that was only viewed from one location, why does it need to ask if you want to resume watching from "Location X" ? If one pressed "Resume" from the pop-up, it should default to resume from wherever the stop point is. It's basically, pick program, tell it to resume playback, tell it to resume playback again, then start watching.

I often watch a program before my wife does. When the program ends, I hit stop. Sometimes I'll stop the program before it is complete. I want to come back later to resume it where I left it. When she comes in to watch it later, she will want to start over because she hasn't seen any part of it.

 

[Hall]

What happens if she watches the entire program from the same location ? Doesn't the "resume" option (from the point you stopped it) go away ?

 

[Bobby]

Yes, it does.... I think! I may have to test that scenario....

 

[Shart]

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?.....My TV in the bedroom with a Joey is now usable. With the VIP722, everyone just kinda went "pass" which was just as well since gave me my PIP functionality. Now they watch TV in there as if they were in Family Room and that's a plus. Also, and more importantly to me personally, SLING. It just works and I'll get many more times the use out of my dish as I did in the past.

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.).... Installed myself with no issues at all.

3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?.... Installed myself with no issues at all.

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?... When I'm watching something that is currently being recorded such as a football game and I leave that recording, I have two choices, start from the beginning or Live. That absolutely sucks. I've seen the trick where you pause, Swap to the other tuner, and then swap back. Cute trick and I'll live with it but gotta wonder why they can't simply let me resume where I left off on any thing I've been watching. If it's a patent issue then I understand. But if it's a design issue then they need to get that fixed. Lots of people stay/go to that "other" dish provider for this very issue.

 

[sethwell]

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey? PTAT w/Autohop

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? Had to have the Dish moved. Too much distance between the Joey to the dish and back to Hopper. After moving the dish all is green.

3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? Replaced a Hopper that had a hard drive failure. Two or three days for new one to arrive and all back to good. And restoring timers/settings from the remote backup is a great feature.

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?

A call blocker tied into the caller ID feature. I hate telemarketing/scammers.