Two Hoppers and three Joeys or stick with what I have ?

[hailrazer]

My Dish Network Installer just came and installed my 5th 722k. I have 5 of them in my home. Here is how they are hooked up.

1 -- 60" Plasma in bedroom
2 -- 185" projector in theater room
3 -- 50" LCD in living room
4 -- 40" Lcd in bedroom
5 -- 35" Lcd in bedroom

All HD.

I need lots of tuners. Almost always there are shows recording on most TV's, There are 6 people in the house most watching different programs and taping programs at the same time at night.

Now my Dish Installer said I should get 2 Hoppers and three Joeys and save the $17 lease fee per receiver.

When I called Dish the guy there said it wouldn't work for me. He said I wouldn't be able to record and watch at the same time on the Joys and I would lose a lot of my ability I have with the 5 772k's.

So who is right? I am confused.

 

[gdarwin]

Go with 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys, same as my set up. All sets will be HD.

 

[hailrazer]

Yes but the guy at Dish said that if a Joey has set up a recording then the person using that Joey wouldnt be able to watch live TV.

 

[rglore]

Yes but the guy at Dish said that if a Joey has set up a recording then the person using that Joey wouldnt be able to watch live TV.

Not true, Joeys have the selected Hopper do the recording. Joeys work same as Hopper except do not have PIP. To record and watch live, the Joey will use two of the three Hopper tuners but any Hopper or Joey can join a tuner in use by another Hopper or a Joey.

 

[Teehar]

Well if you require all those tuners then you might not want to go with 2 hoppers and 3 joeys.With 5 722's you have 10 tuners,moving to the hopper joey setup you would be losing 4 tuners.Could run into recording conflicts.Now if you could get 3 hoppers and 1 joey that would be pretty close.

 

[hailrazer]

So if I have 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys then I can watch or record up to 6 channels at once?

Whereas right now I can watch record up to 10 channels at once.

 

[Teehar]

So if I have 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys then I can watch or record up to 6 channels at once?

Whereas right now I can watch record up to 10 channels at once.

Exactly.

 

[3HaloODST]

I would say that with that kind of gear and those kind of needs $17 receiver fees are the least of your concerns! 2 Hoppers definitely won't cut it IMO. You could lease 2 Hoppers and purchase a third one ($300-$450) for 9 tuners as opposed to your current 10. Then whenever OTA comes out for Hopper if you have an antenna you could add up to 3 more OTA tuners.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

 

[king3pj]

So if I have 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys then I can watch or record up to 6 channels at once?

Whereas right now I can watch record up to 10 channels at once.

True but with the hopper system you would have shared recordings so if you are currently recording any of the same shows on more than one 722 you would no longer have to. You could also run prime time anytime on one of the hoppers that will record every show in prime time from all 4 major networks while only using one tuner. So during the prime time hours you would actually be able to record 9 separate shows that are viewable on any tv. We are very happy with our 2 hopper 3 Joey system with 5 HDTVs and PTAT running on one hopper.

Edit: I think 2 hoppers and 3 joeys would work for you if you record or watch a lot of network programming. If you mainly only record "cable" channels it probably won't.

 

[garys]

I would think you would need three Hoppers and 2 Joeys, but you would pay several hundred dollars up front just to upgrade to get 2 Hoppers and you would need to buy the third Hopper.

 

[3HaloODST]

I would think you would need three Hoppers and 2 Joeys, but you would pay several hundred dollars up front just to upgrade to get 2 Hoppers and you would need to buy the third Hopper.

Only $200 for 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys. Not several hundred.

By the way 3 Hoppers / 2 Joeys is currently cheaper in terms of monthly fees than 5 722ks, hopefully that won't change come February...

Also, sharing recordings between Hoppers can save tuners, plus PTAT.

Basically if you can afford the initial costs of 3 Hoppers and 2 Joeys, overall it will be a very nice upgrade over 5 722ks and a lower monthly fee to boot!

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

 

[Teehar]

Now that I think about it....Why didn't you go with a 612 over the 722?$10 receiver fee vs $17 for the 722.Could save yourself $28 per month right there.

1 722
4 612

 

[3HaloODST]

Even with 4 612s 3H/2J is cheaper in monthly fees.

5 722ks is $6 + $17 + $17 + $17 + $17 = $74 for 10 tuners without PTAT. Yowza.

1 722k + 4 612s is $6 + $10 + $10 + $10 + $10 = $46 for 10 tuners without PTAT.

3 Hoppers + 2 Joeys is $10 + $7 + $7 + $7 + $7 = $38 for 9 tuners plus PTAT.

Also 3 Hoppers has much more HDD space than even 5 722ks. Share recordings, better interface, latest technology, etc.

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

 

[wallyhts]

My two cents the PQ is better on the hopper then the 722k plus u can hook the joeys up via Ethernet which is awesome if u got a big house hello fiber.

I'm so sold on the hopper it's by far the best DVR right now.

 

[3HaloODST]

My two cents the PQ is better on the hopper then the 722k plus u can hook the joeys up via Ethernet which is awesome if u got a big house hello fiber.

I'm so sold on the hopper it's by far the best DVR right now.

Let's not forget you can use WiFi as well .

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

 

[wallyhts]

Let's not forget you can use WiFi as well .

Sent from my iPhone 4S using SatelliteGuys

Yup or even a long range PTP link. For example say you live on a farm and what to beam over Internet and tv to the barn a 1/2 mile away no problem or what if you have a lake house (i wish I had one) and want to watch tv at the boat dock no problem.

The hopper is truly a best of breed device.

 

[Scherrman]

I know you have 10 tuners with all the 722s but you can't share any of those recordings. If you wanted to be able to watch a show on any TV you'd have to set the recording on every 722. That, or you'd have to do a lot of wiring and modulating to share with every TV. To me it seems way more complicating. I would go with the 2 Hoppers and 3 Joeys. You can share all of the recordings, more HDD space, cheaper, PTAT, Autohop, etc...

You have to look and see how often you are recording more than 6 different programs all at the same time. I'm sure you have all 10 tuners recording shows at some point now but how many tuners are recording the same show?

 

[JM42]

If you're worried about it, go with three Hoppers. It's more up front, but the monthly savings will pay for that pretty quickly (and you can always sell the hopper to further recoup some of the costs if you change). But, as others have said, the fact you can share tuners and recordings and PTAT may reduce your needed tuner count.

Since you have to pay for the third hopper anyway, you can always start with two and add a third later if two proves inadequate.

 

[pabeader]

wonder where the OP went?