Trying to disable Primetime Anytime, but every time I do it just goes back to enabled after I save it.
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
Questions about The Hopper?
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
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I was able to disable PTAT without a problem. Haven't used it since last Sunday. I just "clicked" disable. Hope you get yours to respond.
Ghpr13
welcome to the club... http://www.satelliteguys.us/hopper-zone/280105-ptat-bugs-problems-dislikes-18.html#post2831506
Report the issue to Dish via DIRT or the Advanced Technical Support.
One of my Hopper boxes has been stuck like that for a week and i tried literally everything short of beating it with a hammer.
My problem might have even gotten worse... It's now stuck on "enable" and it somehow stopped recording on Friday night as there are no new PTAT shows in the folder beyond Thursday.
I have been reading this forum but there are many pages so I fear I may be replicating previous questions so I apologize in advance if I do that. The Hopper sounds awesome...but too good to be true. I'm waiting for "The Catch." I hope someone will be able to answer my questions or direct me to the answers.
Our current Dish setup involves 6 TVs (a mixture of HD and not), 1 non-DVR box, and 2 DVRs (which the technician thought was weird when he installed them but it seems here I'm among friends! My family likes our TV, we just don't always like the same TV). We are former TiVo users and only quit because our local cable company is not required (or weren't at the time anyway) to have CableCards, making it impossible to use the newer TiVos once the cable company got rid of the analog channels (which they did before they were required to). We aren't thrilled with Dish and are 1 year into a 2 year contract. My mom misses the ease-of-use the TiVos provided and is counting down the days until we can try them again. I'm wondering if the Hopper might make us rethink our TiVo loyalty. Any thoughts from any former TiVo users would be appreciated.
I would probably leave the non-DVR TV alone because that family member doesn't really understand this newfangled technology, no matter how easy Dish makes it sound... With that said, some questions:
1) How can we know for sure if we are Primetime Anytime eligible? We do have HD locals I believe (Erie, PA area)--is that all it takes? It seems like some don't like this feature but it sounds like it might be nice for those Sundays when sports run too long and my Amazing Race is messed up or The Good Wife for my mom. I'm OK catching up on the internet but my mom prefers not to. But if you want it off, will it just record the primetime shows you set up like our current DVRs do? We've never had On-Demand so I guess I don't really know how PTAT works. I don't need MORE TV to watch at the push of a button (I've already maxed out my Dish timers!) I think I'd usually like it to record the stuff I tell it to--I guess I worry about how much control I have after that.
2) Taking away the PTAT feature, do we have 4 tuners to play with at once? And are they each attached to a specific TV (through the Joeys)? My own personal viewing is on my main TV downstairs and my non-HD bedroom TV. I normally love this but I hate when I realize too late that I'm recording on my bedroom tuner as I'm getting ready for bed (and just want to watch a little live TV). Will this be similar? If it has started recording on a specific tuner do you just have to wait for it to be over before you can watch live TV? Or is there any way to transfer the recording to another TV/Joey to finish up? Or do I just have to be more diligent about watching which tuner is recording when? My current DVR doesn't make it easy to choose tuners. You either cancel the whole thing and then record it through the guide (where it allows you to then choose "tuner 1 or tuner 2" or you record another show--anything--at the same time from the TV you want to watch from and it will then switch the scheduled show to the opposite tuner--though you then have to cancel the show you just added. This is very inconvenient! I'd hope the Hopper has a better setup.
3) Is there any problem having a mix of HD and non-HD TVs in the house?
4) Will the Hopper STOP recording every episode of The Colbert Report and Simpsons even though I have it set to only record new episodes? Gah! (I realize this is probably more of a guide issue, since I realize that the extra episodes it records usually have generic episode information: "The Colbert Report is satire political show. 2005." But still, I'm tired of skipping all of these episodes individually.
5) If I'm at my TV and my mom's at hers and we both choose the same show to record, will it say "You have already chosen this show" or does it allow multiple requests? And after one of us is done watching, is there a button or icon near the show to say "So-and-So has finished watching" so that the person who watches the show second knows they can delete it?
I guess I'm slightly worried about giving up control of my own DVR. Probably sounds stupid, I know. But if we get the Hopper it's free, right? Though it looks like you are adding 2 years to the contract, is that correct? Is there a non-contract monthly price? Since my mom and I are both used to having our own DVR we're not really losing the freedom we had by getting the Hopper are we? We're not watching any shows we'd need to hide from the other or anything like that. We actually really miss the TiVo option of multi-room viewing where you could download shows from one DVR to the other--but this is simpler, in theory, because all the shows are on one device so you don't need to individually download each show you want from the other's DVR.
Sorry for all the questions. I just really want to understand this product before I can decide if it's a step in the right direction. For those who liked the control they had with their own DVRs, do you feel like you're getting more back with this product? I watched all the videos on Dish's website but it was more commercial, less information so I only learned vague things, except that the product DOES seem cool. Probably. Much thanks if you've read this far and decide to answer my questions. Much appreciated.
Our current Dish setup involves 6 TVs (a mixture of HD and not), 1 non-DVR box, and 2 DVRs (which the technician thought was weird when he installed them but it seems here I'm among friends! My family likes our TV, we just don't always like the same TV). We are former TiVo users and only quit because our local cable company is not required (or weren't at the time anyway) to have CableCards, making it impossible to use the newer TiVos once the cable company got rid of the analog channels (which they did before they were required to). We aren't thrilled with Dish and are 1 year into a 2 year contract. My mom misses the ease-of-use the TiVos provided and is counting down the days until we can try them again. I'm wondering if the Hopper might make us rethink our TiVo loyalty. Any thoughts from any former TiVo users would be appreciated.
I would probably leave the non-DVR TV alone because that family member doesn't really understand this newfangled technology, no matter how easy Dish makes it sound... With that said, some questions:
1) How can we know for sure if we are Primetime Anytime eligible? We do have HD locals I believe (Erie, PA area)--is that all it takes? It seems like some don't like this feature but it sounds like it might be nice for those Sundays when sports run too long and my Amazing Race is messed up or The Good Wife for my mom. I'm OK catching up on the internet but my mom prefers not to. But if you want it off, will it just record the primetime shows you set up like our current DVRs do? We've never had On-Demand so I guess I don't really know how PTAT works. I don't need MORE TV to watch at the push of a button (I've already maxed out my Dish timers!) I think I'd usually like it to record the stuff I tell it to--I guess I worry about how much control I have after that.
2) Taking away the PTAT feature, do we have 4 tuners to play with at once? And are they each attached to a specific TV (through the Joeys)? My own personal viewing is on my main TV downstairs and my non-HD bedroom TV. I normally love this but I hate when I realize too late that I'm recording on my bedroom tuner as I'm getting ready for bed (and just want to watch a little live TV). Will this be similar? If it has started recording on a specific tuner do you just have to wait for it to be over before you can watch live TV? Or is there any way to transfer the recording to another TV/Joey to finish up? Or do I just have to be more diligent about watching which tuner is recording when? My current DVR doesn't make it easy to choose tuners. You either cancel the whole thing and then record it through the guide (where it allows you to then choose "tuner 1 or tuner 2" or you record another show--anything--at the same time from the TV you want to watch from and it will then switch the scheduled show to the opposite tuner--though you then have to cancel the show you just added. This is very inconvenient! I'd hope the Hopper has a better setup.
3) Is there any problem having a mix of HD and non-HD TVs in the house?
4) Will the Hopper STOP recording every episode of The Colbert Report and Simpsons even though I have it set to only record new episodes? Gah! (I realize this is probably more of a guide issue, since I realize that the extra episodes it records usually have generic episode information: "The Colbert Report is satire political show. 2005." But still, I'm tired of skipping all of these episodes individually.
5) If I'm at my TV and my mom's at hers and we both choose the same show to record, will it say "You have already chosen this show" or does it allow multiple requests? And after one of us is done watching, is there a button or icon near the show to say "So-and-So has finished watching" so that the person who watches the show second knows they can delete it?
I guess I'm slightly worried about giving up control of my own DVR. Probably sounds stupid, I know. But if we get the Hopper it's free, right? Though it looks like you are adding 2 years to the contract, is that correct? Is there a non-contract monthly price? Since my mom and I are both used to having our own DVR we're not really losing the freedom we had by getting the Hopper are we? We're not watching any shows we'd need to hide from the other or anything like that. We actually really miss the TiVo option of multi-room viewing where you could download shows from one DVR to the other--but this is simpler, in theory, because all the shows are on one device so you don't need to individually download each show you want from the other's DVR.
Sorry for all the questions. I just really want to understand this product before I can decide if it's a step in the right direction. For those who liked the control they had with their own DVRs, do you feel like you're getting more back with this product? I watched all the videos on Dish's website but it was more commercial, less information so I only learned vague things, except that the product DOES seem cool. Probably. Much thanks if you've read this far and decide to answer my questions. Much appreciated.
Cable companies have never been required to get rid of analog channels. Most cable companies still have at least a few.
Oh, and
: to SatGuys!
Getting Hopper and two Joeys tomorrow. I've been looking for answers for hours using search, and scrolling the mountains of pages on the site, and I'm still confused. I found this explanation from dish, and it is confusing. It states in one sentence there are 3 tuners and then follows in the last sentence by saying it has 6 tuners. The question I have is: If the Hopper has 6 tuners, can I record 3 shows at the same time and watch three separate shows on each tv at the same time, for a total of 6 different live things going on at the same time?
Thanks in advance for the answer.
Thanks in advance for the answer.
Note the last sentence in the quote. It is talking about a 2 Hopper installation. ie; 3 tuners for each Hopper.
Cable companies have never been required to get rid of analog channels. Most cable companies still have at least a few.
Oh, and
Most cable companies got rid of analog, because they can cram more down the pipe when it's bit reduced. Analog channels hog up the cable pipeline.
A side benefit to the cable companies is that it requires a convertor to view in each room. Although, Comcast gave out free ones (up to 3 per home), when they reclaimed analog bandwidth in my area.
You need 2 Hoppers and 4 Joeys, if your account is OK the cost is $100 for 1 Hopper and 3 Joeys, plus $100 each for the extra Hopper and Joey, plus $95 for installation unless you have the $6 mo protection plan - which you can start for the installation. Read the thread on upgrades. Every TV will have access to recording, recordings. You need to learn the system so that you can have family members work together for best advantage.
The Colbert recording problem is easily fixed with Monday through Friday episode timers. You can do that on ANY Dish DVR.
I know WHY most cable companies got rid of most analog channels. That wasn't what I said. I said cable companies were never REQUIRED to, which is what Cruciatus was claiming.
And perhaps "required to" was the wrong word. Our small, local cable company does not offer any analog channels. They got rid of them in one fell swoop years ago. I guess it would have been more correct to say they switched to all digital before they needed to. In my brain I twisted that to "they were required to get rid of analog." My apologies for my ignorance.
Another question I have: OK, if you set a pass to record certain network channels during primetime hours and you have the PTAT feature enabled, will it automatically keep those items you gave a pass to until you delete them, or will you still have to wade through all the primetime shows it recorded and manually save the ones you want? I tend to watch shows the day after they air (thanks to an evening job) but my mom often saves up certain shows and waits until there's a TV show drought before she'll watch them. It could be days or weeks before she'll get to something. Having to manually save all the time would render the Hopper pretty pointless for us, then. Does it automatically save primetime shows with, to steal from TiVo, Season Passes?
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kwindrem said:
a non powered hub might work but you are taxing the power supply on the Hopper. One day you might wake up and find your hopper dead.
For the peace of mind I would pay the $12 powered USB hub and call it a day. Especially considering you have two drives plugged in.
Not really. The hub draws very little power from the USB port. I'm not suggesting you power one or more USB drives from the USB port! If the drives and other devices plugged into the receiver's USB ports or a hub are powered locally, there's no real advantage to a powered hub.
It may be possible to power one or more bus-powered drives from a powered hub plugged into the receiver however.
I finally made the switch and had a 2H/2J system installed Saturday. Wow, what an experience. First, Dish simply does not want customers to have this configuration. For whatever reason, they reverted it back to a 1H/3J system at least 3 times. I was still on the phone with them 30 minutes prior to the arrival window on Saturday morning, and even after that they somehow got the system configured as a 2H/4J system. Their standard question to me was "Why do you want 2 Hoppers?". Tech arrived at 11:15am, and when I had to leave at 6:00pm, he was just starting the 1st Joey for the second time. One Hopper wouldn't get through the authorization sequence. One Joey wouldn't pair to a remote (apparently down level software). One Joey could only see the 2 Hoppers as additional Joeys. I had to finish the installation myself when I came home later that evening. The tech still has to come back to install a sling adapter. I don't think any of this was the tech's fault; it just seems to be poor quality control at Dish.
That said, I've been playing with it some and have a couple of questions.
First, all 4 TVs are HD. On the Joey's, SD content is formatted in 4x3 format. (I haven't checked on the Hopper.) Is there a way to reformat SD content into 16x9? The TV settings are set up for HD in 16x9 format.
Second, my wife was on the TV with a Hopper watching a show live on HGTV at the same time it was being recorded. At the same time, a game was being recorded on Fox Soccer Channel. PTAT is disabled on this Hopper. When I tried to watch something on the Joey TV paired to that Hopper, it indicated the tuners were all being used. It showed one HGTV show "Recording", the same HGTV show "Watching", and a soccer game as "Watching & Recording". The time remaining on the HGTV listings was the same, and changed at the same time, so I'm sure she was watching it live as it was being recorded. Is the Hopper really using 2 tuners for the 2 HGTV events, or is something just set up wrong?
Thanks guys. Looking forward to figuring all of this out.
joe.
That said, I've been playing with it some and have a couple of questions.
First, all 4 TVs are HD. On the Joey's, SD content is formatted in 4x3 format. (I haven't checked on the Hopper.) Is there a way to reformat SD content into 16x9? The TV settings are set up for HD in 16x9 format.
Second, my wife was on the TV with a Hopper watching a show live on HGTV at the same time it was being recorded. At the same time, a game was being recorded on Fox Soccer Channel. PTAT is disabled on this Hopper. When I tried to watch something on the Joey TV paired to that Hopper, it indicated the tuners were all being used. It showed one HGTV show "Recording", the same HGTV show "Watching", and a soccer game as "Watching & Recording". The time remaining on the HGTV listings was the same, and changed at the same time, so I'm sure she was watching it live as it was being recorded. Is the Hopper really using 2 tuners for the 2 HGTV events, or is something just set up wrong?
Thanks guys. Looking forward to figuring all of this out.
joe.
For SD, try the "Format " button, lower left area of remote. It looks like you might not have Joeys assigned to proper Hoppers, this can be checked through "Menu" "settings. "Network Setup, then "Whole Home".
Dan
Dan
Maybe this issue is related to a problem described in a different post: Joey Won't Change Channels; Automatically Goes To "TV Viewing Status"
joe.
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