Refurbished Hopper 3's

[Martimus]

I'm an (almost) OG Dish Network subscriber. I first subscribed to the service in the mid-1990's.

Over the years I've gotten accustomed to not having bleeding edge equipment. As such I've typically purchased slightly older used gear for use.

My most recent purchase, a few years back, was a 1st gen Hopper with Joey 1.0's (yea I'm a glutton for punishment).

I've finally decided to take the plunge and move to a Hopper 3. That said, the selection of Hopper 3's on FleaBay has been hit and miss as of late.

Are there any reliable third party vendors in the business of selling refurbished Hopper 3's? I did a Google search and found a couple online so far but I know nothing about either.

 

[ethanlerma]

If you don't want to risk it with eBay, Solid Signal is probably the way to go. Got my first H3 from them, $230 (just checked and its still the same price) and it was a refurbished box straight off the line (it had the same shrink wrap and labels as ones sent by Dish would). Only issue with them is their shipping, they do UPS Ground as a minimum and to my zip code that means $30 or more. If you need more then just the H3 like splitters or adapters (You may need a DPH LNBF if you don't have one already) then you can place them in the same shipment to lessen the blow.

As far as eBay goes, if you see something for the correct price (especially with the previously mentioned shrink wrap) then it might be well worth the risk, my second H3 purchase was from eBay and what I did there was look at posts where the receiver number was legible, found one I liked and then went to an online Dish chat and asked for the status of the receiver (sometimes it takes some CSR roulette luck here, first two agents did not understand the fact that I was looking to check a used receiver and thought I wanted to purchase one from them). If it comes back clear then just hope it is not DOA (or craps out after a few months) and you should be good.

 

[KAB]

Once again, there is no good reason to purchase equipment over leasing from Dish. And I would imagine they are reliable refurbishers.

 

[rvvaquero]

there is no good reason to purchase equipment

One good reason is if you turn the receiver on and off...................like I do sometimes.

 

[Martimus]

Once again, there is no good reason to purchase equipment over leasing from Dish. And I would imagine they are reliable refurbishers.

My reason is simple. I DO NOT LIKE committing myself to leases.

I'll be happy to stop purchasing hardware as soon as soon as Dish offers a month-to-month plan that includes equipment (no lease term/commitment).

 

[navychop]

….with a Hopper 2000?

 

[AkaDoubleG]

If you don't want to risk it with eBay, Solid Signal is probably the way to go. Got my first H3 from them, $230 (just checked and its still the same price) and it was a refurbished box straight off the line (it had the same shrink wrap and labels as ones sent by Dish would). Only issue with them is their shipping, they do UPS Ground as a minimum and to my zip code that means $30 or more. If you need more then just the H3 like splitters or adapters (You may need a DPH LNBF if you don't have one already) then you can place them in the same shipment to lessen the blow.

As far as eBay goes, if you see something for the correct price (especially with the previously mentioned shrink wrap) then it might be well worth the risk, my second H3 purchase was from eBay and what I did there was look at posts where the receiver number was legible, found one I liked and then went to an online Dish chat and asked for the status of the receiver (sometimes it takes some CSR roulette luck here, first two agents did not understand the fact that I was looking to check a used receiver and thought I wanted to purchase one from them). If it comes back clear then just hope it is not DOA (or craps out after a few months) and you should be good.

I bought my H3 from Solid Signal too and have been happy with it as well.

 

[jerryez]

I have purchased many things from Solid Signal and have not had a problem with any of my purchases. But, I have not purchased a Dish receiver from them.