An HR34 takes up five SWiM channels so you may have to be careful to not switch SWiM legs.
What would be the purpose of moving a Hopper?
Does DirecTV have an "answer" to the Hopper?
- Thread starter Mike Russo
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What would be the purpose of moving a Hopper?
Addressing the original question of this thread "Does DirecTV have an "answer" to the Hopper?"...I will just say the D* may well "BE" the answer to the Hopper for those of us who need more than three tuners but don't need the same number of Joeys as Hoppers.
I think I'll do some serious investigation about what D* has to offer. I may start a question thread when I have a little more time.
I think I'll do some serious investigation about what D* has to offer. I may start a question thread when I have a little more time.
There's only one SWM leg in a typical setup of one HR34, and 3 H25's.
People do silly things... move PIP feature, don't want the big box with fan in room, etc.
I've been on Directv for a few years and wanted the HR34, but they wanted $400 for it. So, I decided to install dish. Got 1 hopper and 3 joeys. After 3 days, I am now back with directv and they gave me the HR34 free.....
Issues with the hopper/Joey from my opinion.
1. Only 3 real tuners. The Prime-time thing is horrible because it only keeps those recordings for 8 days and then automatically deletes them. They say you can save them, but you have to do it manually for each episode you want to keep. So if you are like me and get a few weeks behind, unless you remember to click save, they are gone.
2. Maybe it's the installer, but the picture was horrible on the hopper/joeys. Even my wife noticed a difference in picture.
3. I had problems with hopper the second day, so none of my tv's would get a signal.
4. The new user interface for the DVR (recorded shows) is ugly.
5. The remote is also not user friendly.
On the flip side, I do like how you record series and I also like the skip forward / backward features.
To get dish to allow me out of my contract, I had to complain about the lack of information about recording more than 3 things at a time, that I was given incorrect information. They offered me another Hopper to get around the 3 tuners, but wanted $300 for it.
All in all, I am back with directv, enjoying a better picture and my new HR34.
Issues with the hopper/Joey from my opinion.
1. Only 3 real tuners. The Prime-time thing is horrible because it only keeps those recordings for 8 days and then automatically deletes them. They say you can save them, but you have to do it manually for each episode you want to keep. So if you are like me and get a few weeks behind, unless you remember to click save, they are gone.
2. Maybe it's the installer, but the picture was horrible on the hopper/joeys. Even my wife noticed a difference in picture.
3. I had problems with hopper the second day, so none of my tv's would get a signal.
4. The new user interface for the DVR (recorded shows) is ugly.
5. The remote is also not user friendly.
On the flip side, I do like how you record series and I also like the skip forward / backward features.
To get dish to allow me out of my contract, I had to complain about the lack of information about recording more than 3 things at a time, that I was given incorrect information. They offered me another Hopper to get around the 3 tuners, but wanted $300 for it.
All in all, I am back with directv, enjoying a better picture and my new HR34.
Actually Dish didn't ask the question...Mike Russo the OP on this thread asked it.
But that little clarification aside, my comment is that Direct could now be an "answer" for those who can't get the setup they want from Dish (people like me, for example) or are finding it hard to get a reasonable upgrade price (thankfully I don't fall in that category from what I was told). So you may see a few of us over here investigating options.
I was with Dish for 11 years and just recently changed to DTV. I had problems with Dish that they didn't want to correct and when I read about the Hopper only having 3 tuners, it was a no brainer to make the change. I have the system set the way I want it with an HR34, HR24 and 2 H25's and couldn't be happier.
Earl
Earl
Coach Knight said:
Directv had whole home dvr first. Dish had to come up with a whole home dvr solution to compete with Directv. The H/J was the solution.
The question should've been, Does Dish have an answer to Directv's whole home dvr?
Right, but you only have 3 tuners. So you have PTAT setup, then you setup a timer for the show you are interested in saving that is already in PTAT, that leaves only 1 tuner left. I tried it multiple times and even had tech support on the phone with me trying to find a workaround.
If PTAT had the option to automatically save specific shows, the hopper would be a great system. Hopefully they will figure out a way to do it in the future.
I am guessing you don't have the hopper?
oh i see what you're saying now. You can set a timer, but it shows skipped. So, i guess they really didn't have it ready at launch as i thought. Must have misread another post. Hopefully it shows up soon after as they originally planned.
Have two hoppers, but still haven't tested every option yet. However, i only signed up knowing that this could be buggy at launch. It's still far more stable than I expected. The only thing i don't like is that the user interface isn't as polished, but you can easily envision where they'll be improving a lot in the coming months.
They actually just did a software update recently and I suspect many more to come in the next few weeks.
Fyi, you can link any one Joey to any Hopper in the setup. Menu > Settings > Network Setup > Whole Home and you'll be able to link a Joey to any Hopper in the install.
infanati said:
You don't have to do that with Directv. All hddvrs and non-hddvr receivers are linked together. Even if you have two HR34s or a HR34 and other/multiple dvrs. Once a receiver is added to the whole home setup you don't have to link it to a specific dvr to watch a recorded program. You don't have to do Menu > > > > in order to watch two recorded programs on two different dvrs from a third receiver.
With Directv, all dvrs can view what is on another dvr in that setup, you can't do that with E* whole home setup with two hoppers.
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If you setup a show to record that is already on PTAT, it won't skip, but it will use a second tuner. Leaving you only one. If you have two hoppers, you won't have that problem. Intially, they told me the second hopper was $199, then it was free, then it was $199 again, then it was $300. I told them to jump.
Being back on directv feels like being back home after a bad vacation.
well i tested it tonite. just to see.
that's not how it works now.
i was able to record two PTAT shows AND two more cable shows. That means i used 4 tuners on a 3 tuner hopper.
for some reason it shows skipped when you set the timer, but it still records and saves it over to my DVR recordings automatically.
so i was actually correct in my first assessment that Dish did indeed get this working for launch. Not sure what happened during your experience. Perhaps the first software update fixed some sort of bug.
sparc said:
You used three tuners not four. The two shows on PTAT were recorded on one tuner and the two cable channels each used one tuner.
The four Prime Time Any Time channels are your local FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC. Some or all are recorded on one tuner during prime time.
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You and I are talking about 2 different things, I completely agree with what you are saying. However, in order to "save" one of your PTATs, you have to manually go in and save it, it can't happen automatically and it will delete after 8 days. The only work around currently is to use your 2nd tuner to record the same show that your PTAT is already recording. It's a pain and leaves you only 1 tuner to record a cable show or to record another PTAT show to save... They don't consider it a bug, they figure that most people will watch their recorded shows within 8 days. I heard they may send an update to make it 10 days, but that hasn't happened.
Not a big deal if you watch your shows within 8 days or if you don't mind manually saving shows, but if you are like me, I don't want to worry about hitting save every few days.
Exactly... hopper has 3 tuners. PTAT is a cool concept when you first hear about it, but once you use it, you realize it's not that great.
But if you live in the right DMA, PTAT will get you 4 for 1 (tuners) for the primetime hours as far as tuners... It records the mux, which would really be cool if Directv can implement. I find I record quite a bit of net shows lately, but PTAT for Directv for those of us "Grandfathered" to the Distants could get complicated... I have both providers, and reap the benefits & deficits from both...
I have both providers, and reap the benefits & deficits from both... - Status
