QUESTION - What do you like about the Hopper

[Tron2012]

Here's my list:

PTAT
...
Being able to tell the Joey which Hopper to link with

Hi, can you or someone clarify/validate that response? I'm considering upgrading to the new Hopper system from a home with three Dish DVRs already. I'm a techie and already understand how the system works and some of its limitations from many, many online chats and calls with Dish support, but it seems that they are not always in tune with all the details. Rather get the scoop from actual users.

I was thinking of a 2 Hopper and 2 Joey system because I wanted the extra tuners from the additional Hopper. Now, I was told the two systems cannot communicate with each other and assumed it meant the Joeys as well. Meaning, 2 isolated networks (one Hopper and one Joey each) where the Joey on the 1st system could not see the contents of the 2nd system's hopper, and vice versa. From this post it seems like the Joey's can see other Hopper recordings?? Just not the two Hoppers being able to see each other (yet!). If this is possible I'm picking up the phone now to order. Will save me a LOT of conflicts with the family and my wife having to record the same show twice at times to be able to see it in different rooms if she needs to.
Then I can finally relax...

Thank you in advance.

 

[sparc]

joeys can communicate with both hoppers. Simple change in the settings. Just go into the menu on the joey and switch to the other hopper (as discussed at this link).

as for the hoppers not seeing each other.... this is the current Dish disclaimer that it may show up later in the year:

*At product launch, Hoppers will not be able to communicate with each other but this functionality is an upcoming feature.

Eventually when that software update is pushed, the whole system will be integrated as one and you should be able to view things from any location. We're guessing sometime later this year as long as they don't run into any major problems.

 

[ScottSpillers]

I love having PTAT and not having to worry about if I am going to miss any shows. Also, because of PTAT, I like looking at the space still available even after my wife records every show on HGTV and not having to worry about it affecting most of my shows from the big 4.

And I thought that my wife was the only one that did that...

 

[satjay]

And I thought that my wife was the only one that did that...

Same here, and if the wife likes the feature of a satellite receiver, that's bonus

 

[Tron2012]

Thanks for the clarification. Hoping some day you can just see both Hopper contents from any Joey on one screen or list without having to make any sort of settings change, but for now as long as you have a way to see and select content from either Hopper I'm OK with it. Sure in the future the system will be more flexible and have many improvements.

I understand that this system is still new and evolving, but very frustrated with Dish support in answering either tech. or general questions on this. The support person was adamant that the Joeys could not see both Hoppers. Only one. Unless they thought I meant both at the same time, which they should have then at least clarified what viewing "both" really meant.

Hoping to call in soon to arrange for an upgrade to the dual Hopper system!

 

[chrimiller48]

I upgraded to 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys from 2 Dual VIP-722 HD/DVR receivers connected to 4 HDTV’s. When I initially became a DISH customer I had 2 HDTV’s and 2 SDTV’s so the 722’s met most of my needs. Now that we have 4 HDTV’s, I like the Hopper because we now get HD signals on all the TV’s. The Hopper also relieves us of the inconvenience of having to watch our recordings on specific TV’s since the two 722’s could not share recordings. I also like that we can do all our recordings with one DVR. I was tempted to get 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys but decided to start with just one. With PTAT recording the 4 major networks during prime recording hours and 2 additional tuners, we no longer have to decide which of our favorite shows to record. A second Hopper would be overkill for us.

 

[sparc]

The support person was adamant that the Joeys could not see both Hoppers. Only one. Unless they thought I meant both at the same time, which they should have then at least clarified what viewing "both" really meant.

That's because Dish is basically training them hard to indicate that the system isn't integrated yet. Otherwise customers would accuse Dish of all sorts of things if they found out about it later.

Because Dish is pushing so hard that direction, the option to actually pair the joeys to different hoppers is getting way overlooked. Dish is doing a terrible job selling/marketing this system with accurate info.

We had to find out on or own that joeys changed pairing in the software. Very few techs knew and they weren't trained on it either. Wasn't in any of the training info i saw. It created a lot of hassle during the early installs as so many people were confused. We were already asking on this forum weeks before launch how the pairing worked and absolutely nobody knew.

I guess it's the price of having "coming soon" features and poor marketing.

 

[butters]

Hi, can you or someone clarify/validate that response? I'm considering upgrading to the new Hopper system from a home with three Dish DVRs already. I'm a techie and already understand how the system works and some of its limitations from many, many online chats and calls with Dish support, but it seems that they are not always in tune with all the details. Rather get the scoop from actual users.

I was thinking of a 2 Hopper and 2 Joey system because I wanted the extra tuners from the additional Hopper. Now, I was told the two systems cannot communicate with each other and assumed it meant the Joeys as well. Meaning, 2 isolated networks (one Hopper and one Joey each) where the Joey on the 1st system could not see the contents of the 2nd system's hopper, and vice versa. From this post it seems like the Joey's can see other Hopper recordings?? Just not the two Hoppers being able to see each other (yet!). If this is possible I'm picking up the phone now to order. Will save me a LOT of conflicts with the family and my wife having to record the same show twice at times to be able to see it in different rooms if she needs to.
Then I can finally relax...

Thank you in advance.

I just ran into a situation where I was watching ESPN2 on one tuner, PTAT was using another tuner and my son was watching a show in his room on a Joey. I wanted to record a move and all 3 tuners were in use. I just went into his room and paired his Joey to our other Hopper. Problem solved and it freed up the last tuner so I could record my movie. Will be nice when they are integrated but the Joeys can pair to any Hopper in a matter of seconds.

 

[satjay]

I just ran into a situation where I was watching ESPN2 on one tuner, PTAT was using another tuner and my son was watching a show in his room on a Joey. I wanted to record a move and all 3 tuners were in use. I just went into his room and paired his Joey to our other Hopper. Problem solved and it freed up the last tuner so I could record my movie. Will be nice when they are integrated but the Joeys can pair to any Hopper in a matter of seconds.

One reason why I am glad we have two hoppers, no conflicts at all and it will be great when Hopper intergration happens

 

[Scherrman]

Hi, can you or someone clarify/validate that response? I'm considering upgrading to the new Hopper system from a home with three Dish DVRs already. I'm a techie and already understand how the system works and some of its limitations from many, many online chats and calls with Dish support, but it seems that they are not always in tune with all the details. Rather get the scoop from actual users.

I was thinking of a 2 Hopper and 2 Joey system because I wanted the extra tuners from the additional Hopper. Now, I was told the two systems cannot communicate with each other and assumed it meant the Joeys as well. Meaning, 2 isolated networks (one Hopper and one Joey each) where the Joey on the 1st system could not see the contents of the 2nd system's hopper, and vice versa. From this post it seems like the Joey's can see other Hopper recordings?? Just not the two Hoppers being able to see each other (yet!). If this is possible I'm picking up the phone now to order. Will save me a LOT of conflicts with the family and my wife having to record the same show twice at times to be able to see it in different rooms if she needs to.
Then I can finally relax...

Thank you in advance.

Sorry for the late response. Yes you can see either Hopper from a Joey and it is very helpful. Will be even more helpful when the Hoppers see each other. I love my system so far, it's a pretty awesome piece of equipment.

 

[patmurphey]

Sorry for the late response. Yes you can see either Hopper from a Joey and it is very helpful. Will be even more helpful when the Hoppers see each other. I love my system so far, it's a pretty awesome piece of equipment.

For today, if the $7 per month fits your budget you can see both Hoppers from your main TV by connecting an extra Joey to another HDMI input. That way you can have the Hopper installed in its permanent location with all its features available, but still see the other Hopper with the Joey - all tuners available with no hassle.

 

[nmcmahan52]

really excited to upgrade from my old 612 for one of these, the wife is starting to complain about response times on our box

 

[satjay]

One more thing....The lightning fast On demand, including HD shows/movies love it!

 

[GOMD]

Coming from a 622 and a 722k, I love the new menu and features. The remotes are so much better, and the on screen device programming is very useful. Overall it is a very impressive DVR, and I can only imagine it will get better with time. I'm waiting for Bluetooth headphone capability!