QUESTION - What Bugs or Usability Issues do you have with your Hopper?

[rjhdakota]

Sometimes, which brings up another issue (bug). If you are watching a program then go to another channel (without hitting pause), it keeps playing and you cannot resume later. On the 922 it automatically pauses. We keep having to start shows over and fast forwarding to resume.

Still, it would be much better if there was a delete (or hide) option that we could select after watching a program. The reason they probably don't have that option is because they may expect that other users may want to watch the program. Not an issue for us.

When you move the pointer to a show, doesn't the "play" prompt say play, resume or start over? It does for sure if you "select" instead of hitting "play".

 

[bondfool]

My Hopper keeps canceling timers without my permission or knowledge. Anyone else experiencing this?

 

[Tyralak]

My hopper is recording random religious programming for some reason. It's mildly disturbing, IMHO.

 

[dare2be]

My hopper is recording random religious programming for some reason. It's mildly disturbing, IMHO.

It's a sign of the upcoming rapture!

Did you also see Jesus in your morning bagel?

 

[LER]

I had an issue where one tuner seemed to lock up for like 5-10 minutes last night while the other 2 were working.

 

[sparc]

I had a fairly enlightening chat with Advanced tech support... it looks like many of these issues aren't able to be reproduced on their end so they're basically not able to do anything.

Probably volume of complaints is the only way to get some traction. if you want bugs actually fixed, i'd suggest you do one of the following:

I would post your bugs in this thread and then carbon copy to one of the following:

1) Go through their Tech Support Chat link and get your complaint manually documented by the Advanced Technical Support guy so he can forward it to their engineering dept. Might even be good to give them a receiver id in the chat (if it's specific to a certain box).

OR

2) Contact a DIRT member with a report and they'll be able to send it to engineering with your account number. (include a receiver id, if it's a specific box)

 

[Dimitri S.]

I have 1 Hopper and no Joeys.

Only during PTAT, if I'm watching (non-PTAT) channel X, but want to record (non-PTAT) channel Y via the guide (i.e., I click "guide", scroll to channel Y, press "info", and choose "record"), I get "Error 324 Recording in progress."

The viewing status screen displays the following:
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is watching channel X (correct)
tuner 2 is watching channel Z (wrong - I'm not watching channel Z, nor is Picture-in-Picture enabled)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime" (correct - PTAT is enabled, and it's evening time)
-----------------------------------------------------

Why won't it release tuner 2, to record channel Y? I can work around this bug, by manually tuning into channel Y, and clicking record. That allows it to record (but it still doesn't release tuner 2):
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is watching & recording channel Y
tuner 2 is watching channel Z (still wrong)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime"
-----------------------------------------------------

This bug ONLY happens, if I'm in the guide and ONLY during PTAT hours. E.g., now that I'm watching and recording channel Y, on tuner 1, if I change channels to channel Z, it correctly switches from tuner 1 to tuner 2, and even lets me record channel Z (again, as long as I click record while I'm not in the guide):
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is recording channel Y
tuner 2 is watching & recording channel Z (correct)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime"
-----------------------------------------------------
But, if I had highlighted and attempted to record channel Z, via the guide, it would have still said "Error 324 Recording in progress." and wouldn't record channel Z.

 

[tmal14]

I had a problem of getting the signal back after a signal loss from a thunderstorm. I had to reboot and run the check switch more then a couple of times to get it up and running. Now everything is back to normal. Seems like the software had an issue reconnecting to the satellite after the storm. I was watching PTAT when it occurred so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

For usability, it would be great to make the guide bigger or at least change the colors, I find it hard to read at times depending on the ambient light in the room. Also the tiles for the DVR events I would like to make bigger.

I have also had timers disappear only to reappear the next day.

 

[Ghpr13]

Well after having my Hopper/Joey for a couple of days now my first impressions are good, but it isn't as user friendly as the 722k.
Likes:
Hopper is sleek, nice looking box. Joey is compact.

I love the new guide, major improvement over the 722k.

Very quick response from the remote.

Sharper PQ.

PTAT comes in handy. (Sunday night recorded the Final Four game/Celebrity Apprentice/Desperate Housewives/GCB/and of course all the Fox shows.While our son recorded a program he wanted.)

Dislikes:

Weather app freezes up. Haven't try other apps yet.

Can't delete shows from PTAT. (I understand that Dish has 500gb HDD for the PTAT and might feel it's unnecessary to be able to delete shows, but IMO, I don't like having a bunch of shows saved that I know I'm never going to watch. I would like to "clean it up".

Setting up a recording. I find it tedious setting up series recording. I think Once you click "record series" you should get the option right then if you want New/All/Weekly...so on. I was becoming really frustrated trying to set up my wife's shows. After having both a TiVo and the 722k, I found the Hopper to be the least user friendly for this. (My wife and son, who have the patience of a flea, are not happy with the recording part at all.)

My other frustration is at times to find things you have to "hop" around. With the 722k everything was pretty straight forward. Hit menu and the list of settings/preferences were right there, bang! Just pick from the list and go. With the Hopper I seemed to go in circles at time.

Now I know some of this is from only having the Hopper for a couple days, and in time I'll get more familiar with the Hopper and it's quirks, but it could be a little more user friendly.

Ghpr13

 

[patmurphey]

...Can't delete shows from PTAT. (I understand that Dish has 500gb HDD for the PTAT and might feel it's unnecessary to be able to delete shows, but IMO, I don't like having a bunch of shows saved that I know I'm never going to watch. I would like to "clean it up"...

Setting up a recording. I find it tedious setting up series recording. I think Once you click "record series" you should get the option right then if you want New/All/Weekly...so on. I was becoming really frustrated trying to set up my wife's shows. After having both a TiVo and the 722k, I found the Hopper to be the least user friendly for this. (My wife and son, who have the patience of a flea, are not happy with the recording part at all...

PTAT is working the way it was designed, you don't have to look at the whole list unless you want to find a show, and you can use folders to reduce the number of icons. You actually want to go through 12 or more icons a night to delte the ones you don't want? How about just saving the ones you do want. The next day, previous night's shows will always be on the first page if you left sort as DVR date. Different doesn't mean not user friendly, neither does having far more capability.

Recording a series is simple! Click on the show in the guide, instead of "record this" select "record series", and the most logical sellection is the default if you just select enter. If it's a "new" episode the default is new episodes, if it is a rerun that you clicked on the default is "new and old". If you don't want default, AL editing options are there on one menu. How is that more complicated than the earlier DVRs? "Record this" option for first click is an improvement over earlier DVRs.

 

[sparc]

PTAT is working the way it was designed, you don't have to look at the whole list unless you want to find a show, and you can use folders to reduce the number of icons. You actually want to go through 12 or more icons a night to delte the ones you don't want? How about just saving the ones you do want. The next day, previous night's shows will always be on the first page if you left sort as DVR date. Different doesn't mean not user friendly, neither does having far more capability.

there's an even easier solution. the ability to hide shows that you don't watch or hide shows you've already watched... or some combination.

wouldn't take a whole lot on Dish's part to make the dedicated PTAT partition more useful. I'm sure there's a bunch of things i didn't even think of that could make it so people wouldn't even have to save much to the user partition unless they are time shifting for weeks/months.

 

[patmurphey]

Wouldn't it be better for programmers to work on real bugs and connecting the Hoppers, rather than redesigning PTAT for the few that don't like the spectacularly useful, unique, new feature? It's easy to turn off.

 

[steff3]

Wouldn't it be better for programmers to work on real bugs and connecting the Hoppers, rather than redesigning PTAT for the few that don't like the spectacularly useful, unique, new feature? It's easy to turn off.

+1

 

[sparc]

Wouldn't it be better for programmers to work on real bugs and connecting the Hoppers, rather than redesigning PTAT for the few that don't like the spectacularly useful, unique, new feature? It's easy to turn off.

this is a bug and usability thread.....

all it would take is a few extra button clicks added to the existing menus and it would be vastly more useful. nothing would have to be redesigned.

it's really that "polishing" by the engineers for making things easier to use which keep the hopper/joey system from being amazing in terms of user interface. You can see where they were going, but it still seems unfinished. I fully expect a lot of this polishing will happen in future updates.

 

[kwindrem]

I have 1 Hopper and no Joeys.

Only during PTAT, if I'm watching (non-PTAT) channel X, but want to record (non-PTAT) channel Y via the guide (i.e., I click "guide", scroll to channel Y, press "info", and choose "record"), I get "Error 324 Recording in progress."

The viewing status screen displays the following:
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is watching channel X (correct)
tuner 2 is watching channel Z (wrong - I'm not watching channel Z, nor is Picture-in-Picture enabled)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime" (correct - PTAT is enabled, and it's evening time)
-----------------------------------------------------

Why won't it release tuner 2, to record channel Y? I can work around this bug, by manually tuning into channel Y, and clicking record. That allows it to record (but it still doesn't release tuner 2):
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is watching & recording channel Y
tuner 2 is watching channel Z (still wrong)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime"
-----------------------------------------------------

This bug ONLY happens, if I'm in the guide and ONLY during PTAT hours. E.g., now that I'm watching and recording channel Y, on tuner 1, if I change channels to channel Z, it correctly switches from tuner 1 to tuner 2, and even lets me record channel Z (again, as long as I click record while I'm not in the guide):
-----------------------------------------------------
tuner 1 is recording channel Y
tuner 2 is watching & recording channel Z (correct)
tuner 3 says "PrimeTime Anytime"
-----------------------------------------------------
But, if I had highlighted and attempted to record channel Z, via the guide, it would have still said "Error 324 Recording in progress." and wouldn't record channel Z.

Someone mentioned that PIP ties up two tuners even if it's not active. If so, that's a bug! PIP should not tie up a tuner unless it's active and you should get the same tuner conflict resolution choices as other situations.

If you activate PIP, I'll bet you'll see channel Z on the other side.

 

[Ghpr13]

Wouldn't it be better for programmers to work on real bugs and connecting the Hoppers, rather than redesigning PTAT for the few that don't like the spectacularly useful, unique, new feature? It's easy to turn off.

this is a bug and usability thread.....

all it would take is a few extra button clicks added to the existing menus and it would be vastly more useful. nothing would have to be redesigned.

it's really that "polishing" by the engineers for making things easier to use which keep the hopper/joey system from being amazing in terms of user interface. You can see where they were going, but it still seems unfinished. I fully expect a lot of this polishing will happen in future updates.

My post was just a quick review of first hand likes and dislikes. It wasn't meant to say these things are "bugs" (other than the weather app freezing up.) And as I stated, in time I'm sure I'll grow use to the Hopper and won't seem so strange to me.
A side from that, I still feel that a product like TiVo, my very first DVR, was out of the box user friendly.

I do agree with sparc, with future "polishing" the Hopper has the potential to become a very useful piece of equipment for the home theater.

Ghpr13

 

[Huntress]

Addition to "CC doesn't work most times". If you jump back in the buffer one or two times it will usually start the CC.

Barbara

 

[GaryPen]

-Dropouts on Joey, as if its link with Hopper is intermittent.
(Moca signal meter shows full.)

-Freeze-ups on Hopper. Approx 5 times since installation a little over two weeks ago.
Happened once when powering up my AV receiver while already watching Hopper on TV, as if the hdmi handshake caused the Hopper to freeze.
Another time, I got the Purple Death when powering up TV and Hopper. (also hdmi?)
A couple of times, the Hopper stopped responding to remote, or responded slowly, eventually freezing.

 

[faceoff007]

Can anyone browse the channel guide without first going thru TV viewing status? I don't understand why it doesn't release the tuner automatically when I go to a different channel.

 

[android_04]

1. Inactivity standby selection does not change the default 2 hours of standby before the Hopper/Joey goes into standby. Menu > Settings > Diagnostics > Updates. I changed it to 4 hours so that I could watch a full 2 hour 30 minute movie without touching my control, but it still will go into standby in 2 hours.

2. My sound seems to always get leveled even though I disabled it. Menu > Settings > Audio > Volume Leveling. It is noticeable when I am listening to one of the music channels or streaming music from my DLNA server. If the song has transitions to bass or loud sounds I can hear the whole song volume go down.

3. It would be useful to scale the text on the screen and choose less row on the Program Guide for non-HDTVs. Unless the Hopper/Joey is connected to a huge SD TV the picture will be blurry and the text so small that it is practically unreadable.