Differences between 3 Hoppers

whatchel1

SatelliteGuys Master
Original poster
Sep 30, 2006
9,098
51
Great High Plains
My brother has asked what the differences are between the 3 different Hoppers? I'm wondering as well, I've the Hopper 3 and he has either the Hopper or Hopper w/sling.
 
Original Hopper, AKA Hopper 2000, does not have Sling built in. With the current Carbon Garbage User Interface, it is too slow to be considered useable, even by folks used to antique cable boxes. If that is all you are offered, I suggest perhaps you should stick to free OTA, YouTube and other free sources until your financial situation improves.

The Hopper With Sling, HWS, is a bit slow under the Carbon Garbage User Interface, but has problems with incorrect program icons appearing for totally unrelated shows. The ability to record on HWS #2 when all tuners on HWS #1 are in use, a truly WONDERFUL feature, has been removed. It also has a few other annoying problems. But it has a red recording in progress light! ;)

The Hopper 3, H3, is the fastest. It has 16 satellite tuners (the others have 3). Some have OTA and EHD problems, but perhaps most are trouble free. No red recording in progress LED.

NONE have 2X or 4X FF speeds anymore. Slow motion has been limited. The EPG is now 2.5 hours rather than 3. Search function is not very good. No more dependable Name based recording. Sometimes you will see the option to record a future showing, but generally if you search and it's not currently in the EPG, you cannot tell it to keep searching for it.

Go with the H3 if starting fresh.
 
Discounting the holy war between features of the CUI vs. the original OS, Its basically down to # of Tuners and the speed of operation. Recording Capacity same on all three.

Original Hopper = 3 Sat Tuners (2 more if a Super Joey Added); Painfully slow in comparison.

Hopper w/ Sling = 3 Sat Tuners (2 more if a Super Joey Added); Slightly Faster, Moderately more usable

Hopper 3 = 16 Tuners; Speedy and powerful enough to handle its business.
 
Original Hopper, AKA Hopper 2000, does not have Sling built in. With the current Carbon Garbage User Interface, it is too slow to be considered useable, even by folks used to antique cable boxes. If that is all you are offered, I suggest perhaps you should stick to free OTA, YouTube and other free sources until your financial situation improves.

The Hopper With Sling, HWS, is a bit slow under the Carbon Garbage User Interface, but has problems with incorrect program icons appearing for totally unrelated shows. The ability to record on HWS #2 when all tuners on HWS #1 are in use, a truly WONDERFUL feature, has been removed. It also has a few other annoying problems. But it has a red recording in progress light! ;)

The Hopper 3, H3, is the fastest. It has 16 satellite tuners (the others have 3). Some have OTA and EHD problems, but perhaps most are trouble free. No red recording in progress LED.

NONE have 2X or 4X FF speeds anymore. Slow motion has been limited. The EPG is now 2.5 hours rather than 3. Search function is not very good. No more dependable Name based recording. Sometimes you will see the option to record a future showing, but generally if you search and it's not currently in the EPG, you cannot tell it to keep searching for it.

Go with the H3 if starting fresh.
Is the "garbage" your opinion or actually part of the term?
 
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Surprised no one mentioned that there are more apps on the H3 and that it is 4K capable. Also, the H2 and H3 have WiFi adapters built in and sling built in.
 
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Original Hopper, AKA Hopper 2000, does not have Sling built in. With the current Carbon Garbage User Interface, it is too slow to be considered useable, even by folks used to antique cable boxes. If that is all you are offered, I suggest perhaps you should stick to free OTA, YouTube and other free sources until your financial situation improves.

The Hopper With Sling, HWS, is a bit slow under the Carbon Garbage User Interface, but has problems with incorrect program icons appearing for totally unrelated shows. The ability to record on HWS #2 when all tuners on HWS #1 are in use, a truly WONDERFUL feature, has been removed. It also has a few other annoying problems. But it has a red recording in progress light! ;)

The Hopper 3, H3, is the fastest. It has 16 satellite tuners (the others have 3). Some have OTA and EHD problems, but perhaps most are trouble free. No red recording in progress LED.

NONE have 2X or 4X FF speeds anymore. Slow motion has been limited. The EPG is now 2.5 hours rather than 3. Search function is not very good. No more dependable Name based recording. Sometimes you will see the option to record a future showing, but generally if you search and it's not currently in the EPG, you cannot tell it to keep searching for it.

Go with the H3 if starting fresh.

I will stick with my 211K for all the above reasons.