Some thoughts on leaving Dish

[JEFFinINDY]

I normally hate these kinds of threads, but I thought I'd do a brief post on why I switched from Dish to DirecTV after 5 years. Maybe the New Dish™ will absorb a few ideas.

1. Give credits to 922 users. I paid $400 for mine (plus a contract), and many others paid $200. This receiver has never been fully functional nor lived up to expectations. The Sling features and Dish Online were buggy and inoperative for months at a time, and BBMP and the new HBO On Demand features are MIA. Can you imagine Apple releasing the iPhone 4S but only giving Siri to 3GS users? Those of us who paid money for the 922 did so because we wanted state-of-the-art equipment in our home theaters, but instead we paid money for nothing. Free upgrades to Hopper/Joeys would be a good start, along with some programming credits, depending on the amount paid for the 922.

2. Three tuners with no OTA is not a good one-size-fits-all solution for a whole-home system. DirecTV is outdoing you here, today, with the HR34 and its 5 tuners (with a $45 OTA option), with even more powerful servers in the pipeline (and a lot of people won't have room for 2 Hoppers or want to manage two boxes).

3. ESPN-U in HD and RSNs in HD are important.

4. The user interface for the 622/722/722K is really outdated. They're like DOS in a Windows 7/Mac OS X world. Again, use Apple as your inspiration - create a beautiful product that makes people envious when they see it, like DirecTV is doing with their new HD user interface.

5. Watch the compression. DirecTV definitely has the edge when it comes to HD picture quality on large screens.

 

[sparc]

2. Three tuners with no OTA is not a good one-size-fits-all solution for a whole-home system. DirecTV is outdoing you here, today, with the HR34 and its 5 tuners (with a $45 OTA option), with even more powerful servers in the pipeline (and a lot of people won't have room for 2 Hoppers or want to manage two boxes).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzlt7Iy7IQ&feature=player_embedded

watch the video linked above towards the end with Vivek... Dish and Scott have stated OTA will be available via a USB tuner, but not at launch.

Scott has confirmed it's already in testing by dish. They just have to finish that and select the final devices they plan to make compatible.

 

[Scherrman]

How hard would it be to manage two Hoppers and why wouldn't you have room?

 

[JEFFinINDY]

How hard would it be to manage two Hoppers and why wouldn't you have room?

My cabinet is full. As for managing them, does it "load balance" multiple hoppers or do you program them separately?

 

[GaryPen]

My cabinet is full. As for managing them, does it "load balance" multiple hoppers or do you program them separately?

So? Put the 2nd Hopper in a bedroom, instead of a Joey. Badabing.

 

[dare2be]

As for managing them, does it "load balance" multiple hoppers or do you program them separately?

That's a good question, which I doubt anyone has an answer to that yet.

 

[sparc]

My cabinet is full. As for managing them, does it "load balance" multiple hoppers or do you program them separately?

supposedly the setup is seamless between the two hoppers. It's all treated as one central whole home dvr system.

we'll see what the real world results are when they get installed, but it sounds promising.

 

[navychop]

But if "ESPN-U in HD and RSNs in HD are important" to you, you may have made the right choice. And I can certainly understand the bad taste over the ViP922 (which has been discontinued and is being "phased out" whatever that means).

 

[Tampa8]

I don't have a 922, but sure seems like your gripe there is real. ESPN-U in HD just is not a huge thing for I am sure most, not enough to switch providers, but again, if it is for you along with RSN's (which I do understand) Direct is where you should be.

But I can't agree with your assessment of the other things. The Hopper will have four tuners. Seven when using the evening Network recording, which is most definitely when for most TV subscribers the most shows to be recorded are. You will be able to record four networks, two sat channels, and a sub OTA channel or PBS etc... And it has been stated two hoppers will work in harmony. It is not even out yet, so if you say time will tell, I would agree, but then you can't say it won't do all those things either.
As for outdated receivers (UI) I have used Direct receivers (not whole house) I'll take the Dish receivers all day, everyday, and twice on Sunday. So that I guess is a matter of personal choice. Every friend I have who has Direct TV tells me the biggest thing for them is they wish Direct had Dish receivers. (Well that, and now the Blockbuster package for $10. )

In any event that's why there is a choice of providers, and I hope they all continue to be different so we actually have a choice.

 

[navychop]

I don't have a 922, but sure seems like your gripe there is real. ESPN-U in HD just is not a huge thing for I am sure most, not enough to switch providers, but again, if it is for you along with RSN's (which I do understand) Direct is where you should be.

But I can't agree with your assessment of the other things. The Hopper will have four tuners. Seven when using the evening Network recording, which is most definitely when for most TV subscribers the most shows to be recorded are. You will be able to record four networks, two sat channels, and a sub OTA channel or PBS etc... And it has been stated two hoppers will work in harmony. It is not even out yet, so if you say time will tell, I would agree, but then you can't say it won't do all those things either.
As for outdated receivers (UI) I have used Direct receivers (not whole house) I'll take the Dish receivers all day, everyday, and twice on Sunday. So that I guess is a matter of personal choice. Every friend I have who has Direct TV tells me the biggest thing for them is they wish Direct had Dish receivers. (Well that, and now the Blockbuster package for $10. )

In any event that's why there is a choice of providers, and I hope they all continue to be different so we actually have a choice.

Err, no, actually. Three sat tuners. One is used for Prime Time AnyTime, leaving two. You could defeat PTAT and have three all the time. Two Hoppers will seamlessly provide 6 sat tuners. OTA tuner(s) to come later. Everything else sounds great to me!

 

[Hall]

Hehe, why do I figure people will *buy* Hopper & Joey units and be beta testers for the next two years? We'll have a repeat of the 921 and 922!


Sent from my SkyRaider Zeus Thunderbolt!

 

[Tampa8]

Err, no, actually. Three sat tuners. One is used for Prime Time AnyTime, leaving two. You could defeat PTAT and have three all the time. Two Hoppers will seamlessly provide 6 sat tuners. OTA tuner(s) to come later. Everything else sounds great to me!

No, four. Three sat tuners, one USB OTA tuner. And effectively SEVEN if the PTAT is being used...... 2 sat, 1 USB OTA, 4 networks. 2+1+4=7

 

[Mr Tony]

why are we counting mythical tuners?

its pretty simple...as of RIGHT NOW 3 tuners are in the Hopper. If you use the PTAT that takes up one leaving 2 tuners for satellite.
The OTA option isnt going to be available at launch so its still THREE tuners.

 

[DodgerKing]

I don't have a 922, but sure seems like your gripe there is real. ESPN-U in HD just is not a huge thing for I am sure most, not enough to switch providers, but again, if it is for you along with RSN's (which I do understand) Direct is where you should be.

But I can't agree with your assessment of the other things. The Hopper will have four tuners. Seven when using the evening Network recording, which is most definitely when for most TV subscribers the most shows to be recorded are. You will be able to record four networks, two sat channels, and a sub OTA channel or PBS etc... And it has been stated two hoppers will work in harmony. It is not even out yet, so if you say time will tell, I would agree, but then you can't say it won't do all those things either.

As for outdated receivers (UI) I have used Direct receivers (not whole house) I'll take the Dish receivers all day, everyday, and twice on Sunday. So that I guess is a matter of personal choice. Every friend I have who has Direct TV tells me the biggest thing for them is they wish Direct had Dish receivers. (Well that, and now the Blockbuster package for $10. )

In any event that's why there is a choice of providers, and I hope they all continue to be different so we actually have a choice.

He was specifically taking about the new HD UI which is night and day from what you have used and what your friends have assessed.

This was his whole point on this issue. He was pointing out that DirecTV has made great strides with their new OS/UI and their home networking, while Dish is stuck on an old OS and UI.

 

[rapidturtle]

I don't see why Dish can't give us a 922 type interface on older boxes. Is it a hardware limitation on older boxes?

 

[JEFFinINDY]

He was specifically taking about the new HD UI which is night and day from what you have used and what your friends have assessed.

This was his whole point on this issue. He was pointing out that DirecTV has made great strides with their new OS/UI and their home networking, while Dish is stuck on an old OS and UI.

Thanks. This was the point I was trying for, but you did it much more clearly. I also think the D* receivers have a bit more sophistication when you go beyond the basics (real "local on the 8s", sports mix channels, scoreboards, advanced searching). But I'm still learning the feature set. And it's not like the Dish receivers suck - they're just not the best anymore.

As for the tuners, my point was that the HR34 is here now, with 5 tuners in a single whole-home server, which is pretty great. The Hopper and Joey are coming, and while they look interesting (especially if they do load/tuner balancing across multiple units) I remember how awesome the 922 looked a few years ago too.

 

[GaryPen]

Hehe, why do I figure people will *buy* Hopper & Joey units and be beta testers for the next two years? We'll have a repeat of the 921 and 922!

Normally, I would agree with that sentiment. But, seeing the demo videos that Scott posted shows a pretty damn functional system. Plus, that Vivek dude said he's been using it at home for some time. It really seems to be ready to rock. Surprising for Dish? Certainly. But, it looks that way, never the less.

 

[Zero327]

I normally hate these kinds of threads, but I thought I'd do a brief post on why I switched from Dish to DirecTV after 5 years. Maybe the New Dish™ will absorb a few ideas.

1. Give credits to 922 users. I paid $400 for mine (plus a contract), and many others paid $200. This receiver has never been fully functional nor lived up to expectations. The Sling features and Dish Online were buggy and inoperative for months at a time, and BBMP and the new HBO On Demand features are MIA. Can you imagine Apple releasing the iPhone 4S but only giving Siri to 3GS users? Those of us who paid money for the 922 did so because we wanted state-of-the-art equipment in our home theaters, but instead we paid money for nothing. Free upgrades to Hopper/Joeys would be a good start, along with some programming credits, depending on the amount paid for the 922.

2. Three tuners with no OTA is not a good one-size-fits-all solution for a whole-home system. DirecTV is outdoing you here, today, with the HR34 and its 5 tuners (with a $45 OTA option), with even more powerful servers in the pipeline (and a lot of people won't have room for 2 Hoppers or want to manage two boxes).

3. ESPN-U in HD and RSNs in HD are important.

4. The user interface for the 622/722/722K is really outdated. They're like DOS in a Windows 7/Mac OS X world. Again, use Apple as your inspiration - create a beautiful product that makes people envious when they see it, like DirecTV is doing with their new HD user interface.

5. Watch the compression. DirecTV definitely has the edge when it comes to HD picture quality on large screens.

1. No.

2. Are you sure? That product isn't even out yet and you're positive it won't work. Are you interested in an Engineering position? We can get a copy of the shoe-string budget ready for you.

3. Sports is a waste of bandwidth. The bare minimum is carried to placate the minority of cheeseheads; movie channels are where it's at.

4. "Pretty" costs money. Why change what works? You'll get a new interface when a new software mass release is pushed or you get a new receiver.

5. 13.4999M other customers would disagree with you.

Regards,

DISH Cost Control.

 

[powerhouse1960]

why are we counting mythical tuners?

its pretty simple...as of RIGHT NOW 3 tuners are in the Hopper. If you use the PTAT that takes up one leaving 2 tuners for satellite.
The OTA option isnt going to be available at launch so its still THREE tuners.

Yes and that's is going to be the big down fall advertised as recording 6 shows at one time the average none satellite guy gets it find out that's only for 4 channels in prime time and then gets upset with dish and dogs it to all there friends.
I read where dish thinks 6 tuners would have been overkill and added to the price of the box .
Short sighted at the best with 6 tuners and pta it would have been the only box needed for 95 percent of the uses saving them addition fees and dish lower install cost and happy customers

 

[satjay]

I could be wrong, as I don't know a whole lot about hopper/joey yet, but I thought that Prime time anytime, is separate from the three other tuners?