New HR34 or wait for Hopper???

[MJL Atlanta]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the great info. I have been considering switching from Echostar to D* to get the HR34 and whole home DVR. Currently I have 2 722s and have no problems at all. I was ready to make the switch until I started reading this forum. Seems like there are still a lot of problems to be worked out with the HR34. Are the problems bad enough to deter a non-techie like me from getting one? Would you suggest that I wait until the Hopper comes out (hopefully around March)? I am sure that will have some issues as well. From just the specs, do you guys prefer the HR34 or Hopper? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[bobvick]

It depends largely on what you want. What I mean to say is, the hopper has 3 tuners, the HR34 has 5 tuners, sure it has a few warts, but I am sure they will get worked out. I have been pleased with my HR34 as well as anything. I really like the 5 tuners in one DVR. I would the thing I like better about DirecTV is the $6 lease fee, no matter what receiver you have. There is no telling how much they will charge for an extra hopper, but I could be wrong.

[whitewolf8214]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the great info. I have been considering switching from Echostar to D* to get the HR34 and whole home DVR. Currently I have 2 722s and have no problems at all. I was ready to make the switch until I started reading this forum. Seems like there are still a lot of problems to be worked out with the HR34. Are the problems bad enough to deter a non-techie like me from getting one? Would you suggest that I wait until the Hopper comes out (hopefully around March)? I am sure that will have some issues as well. From just the specs, do you guys prefer the HR34 or Hopper? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I'm debating myself on whether to get the hr34 or hopper myself ty bobvick for you post

[lparsons21]

Just looking at the hardware and how it works, I could benefit from either quite well.

The HR34 w/5 tuners + 1 Hxx would fit the bill here for me and my son. It could replace the 3 HR24s and not have the management of recordings be as much of a PITA as it is now. That is because of no unified todo list. You can set recordings from anywhere with the iPad app, which helps. One thing that probably will keep me from getting an HR34 is the upfront cost. No way would I pay $399 for it.

The Hopper/Joey combo would also do well, though in my case I would need 2 Hoppers and no Joeys. And with everywhere being equal in operation, it would be a good choice.

So at some point in time it will yet again be all about who has the programming I want, which is exactly what it is now!

[bobvick]

So at some point in time it will yet again be all about who has the programming I want, which is exactly what it is now!

Excellent point, that is what I choose a provider based on as well. Unfortunately if you live in a rural area without the benefit of cable tv service or tv service from your telephone company (Fios, Uverse, Prism..) it is either DirecTV or Dish.

[Iceberg]

until Dish shows the pricing on the Hopper/Joey you cant really make a comparison
Directv you know what the pricing is
HR34 included ($99 up front for new subs)
H25 (they have no RVU units yet)..3 for free $6 a month

Dish Hopper...no pricing yet or monthly receiver fee info yet

Me...I'd go with a HR34. While the Hooper looks nice with its Prime Time thingy (where it records all 4 nets from 7-10 Central each night and stores it for 8 days unless you move it to the main hard drive) so during Prime Time if you use that you in essence have "6" tuners (2 tuners + the PTAT)...Otherwise you have 3 tuners. I'm not a locals recording kind of guy. I have 3 shows during the week that would fall into that category. The rest are outside of that or on other channels. So 3 tuners wouldnt be enough right now. Tonight I have 4 things set to record between 7-9 and I STILL am one tuner short (I have 2 DVR's). So for me HR34 would be better

[bobvick]

One other caveat about the Hopper "hype" is it is advertised as having a 2TB hard drive, which it has. However, 1 TB of the drive is reserved for you and 1 TB for Dish.

[lparsons21]

Iceberg, I'm not surprised at your choice. Given the programming that you like, and the lack of real need for a locals solution, the HR34 and D* make perfect sense for you.

And it is true that we don't know the pricing on the Hopper/Joey yet, but the indications are that they will be 'aggressive'. Which means either very attractively priced or aggressive about getting more of the consumers money!!

For me, the PrimeTime feature is a real plus. In a year and a half, I may have to think more about satellite TV.

[skew]

I wouldn't put too much faith in the kangaroo system if it was me. After owning their top of the line 922 for 2 years was enough for me. That company hypes its stuff up and delivers nothing but promises. I have watched more tv in the last 1.5 months with hr34 than the last 2 years with the other service and equipment. Sure the hr34 has a few bugs nothing major like I had with the 922.

[JEFFinINDY]

I've had the HR34 for a few weeks now, after giving up my 922 and Dish service. Overall the HR34 is fine. I had issues when the AM21 OTA tuner was connected. Since disconnecting that, it's been mostly stable.

The good: 5 count-em 5 tuners, real HD MRV (I haven't had problems watching anything on my H25 once the HR34 got done with its initial setup), sophisticated DVR, mostly very speedy, D* HD PQ is noticeably better than E* (which isn't bad either).

The bad: occasional bugs (but no lost recordings), AM21 makes it glitchy, bringing up the guide is really slow on channels with interactive content (ESPN, sports channels, etc. where you can press the red button for more content).

Overall thumbs up!