Holy CRAP I am glad I didn't fall for the Hopper!

[scottydsntknow]

Was strongly considering switching to Dish for a few reasons. One is that they have DIY, the Hub, NatGeo Wild and H2 all in HD while Direct doesn't. Another is that it is slightly cheaper and I can get Epix as well.

I am SO glad I did my research and cancelled the install before they came out. Wth kind of genius at Dish Network thought it was a good idea to put the tuners all on the Hopper and not make them independent like Direct does? I have had 0 issues with my whole home DTV service minus the recording conflicts here and there which will be fixed forever once I get the HR34. I would be pretty mad if I had 2 things recording at once on the DVR in my living room in the evening and my wife was watching something in our bedroom and I was not able to watch anything in my man cave because of only 3 tuners... I can live without those aformentioned channels in HD, they'll eventually come online when DTV finally gets off its rear an uses the other 2/3 of available capacity on that big HD satellite they have floating around up there...

 

[Stargazer]

Getting two Hoppers will give you six tuners (and one can record all the network stations allowing up to nine things to be recorded at once with two Hoppers).

 

[digiblur]

Getting two Hoppers will give you six tuners (and one can record all the network stations allowing up to nine things to be recorded at once with two Hoppers).

How much would a 2H and 2J install cost a new customer? Does this include the HIC?

 

[cave1376]

(and one can record all the network stations allowing up to nine things to be recorded at once with two Hoppers).

BUT the networks have to be your local networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX), broadcast in hd by Dish and are only available prime time hours.

 

[scottydsntknow]

2 Hoppers still only gives me 6 tuners and they can't talk to each other. The whole point of a whole home DVR is to be able to access anything from anywhere in the house at least IMO. If I get a HR34 I can do just this, be at 8 tuners which still will not require extra wiring and I won't ever have to worry about not being able to watch live TV as each DTV box has its own tuner. Or I can just tie another HR24 into my existing setup but not sure how exactly this works.

PTAT is also completely useless to me as I avoid the networks like the plague for anything not related to Sports or the News. Wife is the same way. I prefer the shows on the Premiums (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Borgias, Spartacus etc...).

 

[lparsons21]

How much would a 2H and 2J install cost a new customer? Does this include the HIC?

Based on other reports, the cost would be $199. First Hopper free, second one for $199. There have been a very few reports of getting that second Hopper for something less though.

The 2 Joeys would be free and the HIC is free if it is provided at the install.

 

[jimmanhattan]

Be prepared to pay through the nose for that HR-34. They're not going to give you a deal as a existing customer.
I currently have a HR-22 (painfully sloooooow) and 4 basic sd boxes.
I'm a 10 year customer, paid my bill ONTIME every month(bill was always paid online 4 days before due date). Want to upgrade to whole home with newest equipment
but Directv wants a fortune. And are they going to send out the newest equipment? Probably not.
So goodbye Directv hello Dish.
You will get those channels you mentioned in HD at some point but you'll also get ANOTHER price increase.
We don't record everything under the sun, so a 2 hopper/3 joey system will do just fine for us and yes the HIC is included.
As a new Dish customer that extra hopper will cost me $199 but it's still a heck of alot cheaper than what Directv wants for upgrading an existing customer.
I'll go with the AT250 package. The money i save on the promo price will pay for the extra hopper in 6 months.
PTAT is useless to us also. We watch very little if any network tv so we'll leave PTAT disabled which will give us 6 tuners available at all times.

 

[larry55]

i got my h34 for 99.00.i call several times before i got it .i'm under contract.

 

[larry55]

i was wrong i pay 199.00

 

[lparsons21]

As was very obvious from the thread about upgrading to the HR34 as an existing customer, the prices are all over the place for the HR34. Some got free, quite a few got it for $99, and some got quoted like me - $399+$50 upgrade fee+$50 installation! And of course, everything in between with no real apparent rhyme or reason for much of the pricing.

And of course, the Hopper/Joey upgrades with Dish were much the same!

 

[jimmanhattan]

Just got off the phone with Directv she said i have been a very loyal customer and because of that i can upgrade to a whole home system.
Keep my HR-22 and swap out my 4 sd boxes with 4 hd boxes. Asked her what model numbers, said she didn't know and that they don't have access to that info. She said "It's a roll of the dice".
1 HD receiver free
3 more HD receivers at $99 each
Connection kit to network everything together $199
Shipping $19.95
Install Free
Grand Total $515.95 to remain a customer

I asked about the HR-34 and was told that i needed a special Samsung TV with RVU and the cost was $399 but without that certain Samsung the HR-34 wouldn't work.
So for $515.95 i would have 6 tuners and only able to record 2 channels at once.

Change over to Dish and have 6 tuners (2 hopper/3 joey) basically for free considering the savings from the AT250 promo price.

 

[Stargazer]

The two Hoppers are supposed to communicate with each other in the near future making all recordings from one Hopper accessible by all other Hoppers and Joeys on the system.

 

[bobvick]

I asked about the HR-34 and was told that i needed a special Samsung TV with RVU and the cost was $399 but without that certain Samsung the HR-34 wouldn't work.
So for $515.95 i would have 6 tuners and only able to record 2 channels at once.

Change over to Dish and have 6 tuners (2 hopper/3 joey) basically for free considering the savings from the AT250 promo price.

I cannot believe that they are still telling the crap about having to have a Samsung RVU television. The HR34 will work with ANY TV. Also, you need to ask to talk to retention or send an e-mail to this address ellen.filipiak@directv.com to see about getting a better deal than you were offered.

 

[lacubs]

with the Hopper you can used only turners in primetime right? why anyone want that? and with the HR34 you can use 5 turners at anytime right

 

[Mr Tony]

with the Hopper you can used only turners in primetime right?

\

The Primetime thingy works only for the 3 hours of primetime (7-10 CDT as example).

why anyone want that?

the only folks who I can see where this works are ones who record lots of network programming during prime time. For the rest of the folks its kinda useless

 

[Mr Tony]

Just got off the phone with Directv she said i have been a very loyal customer and because of that i can upgrade to a whole home system.
Keep my HR-22 and swap out my 4 sd boxes with 4 hd boxes. Asked her what model numbers, said she didn't know and that they don't have access to that info. She said "It's a roll of the dice".
1 HD receiver free
3 more HD receivers at $99 each
Connection kit to network everything together $199
Shipping $19.95
Install Free
Grand Total $515.95 to remain a customer

I asked about the HR-34 and was told that i needed a special Samsung TV with RVU and the cost was $399 but without that certain Samsung the HR-34 wouldn't work.
So for $515.95 i would have 6 tuners and only able to record 2 channels at once.

Change over to Dish and have 6 tuners (2 hopper/3 joey) basically for free considering the savings from the AT250 promo price.

DAMN! Talk to retention and see what they can do.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

You don't need a TV with RVU to use the HR34.

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[digiblur]

Based on other reports, the cost would be $199. First Hopper free, second one for $199. There have been a very few reports of getting that second Hopper for something less though.

The 2 Joeys would be free and the HIC is free if it is provided at the install.

In my case it was cheaper to go for the HR34 plus I got to ride the new customer discounts too. I ended up with more for less. I am not even sure I wanted to deal with two hoppers, managing timers between the two boxes and having to flip the Joey's back and forth. I am too lazy for all that.

 

[lparsons21]

In my case it was cheaper to go for the HR34 plus I got to ride the new customer discounts too. I ended up with more for less. I am not even sure I wanted to deal with two hoppers, managing timers between the two boxes and having to flip the Joey's back and forth. I am too lazy for all that.

I can understand where you're coming from. For me, the $500 installed for an HR34 was just not going to happen. And is exactly the reason that I'm most likely going to switch in August when my rebates expire. And yes, I talked to retention on more than one occasion too.

I find the 2 HR24s I have for my personal use to be a bit of a PITA to manage because of a lack of unified management. D* really should be working on that, but frankly I think they like adding the trivial crap like TVApps, Pandora and YouTube.

 

[The Fat Man]

I don't expect DirecTV subs to understand the VIP series and Hopper's multi tuners, because DirecTV never had such technology. I don't have a hopper, but I do have a VIP 722k. The one receiver acts as two. The nice part is for us who lease our equipment is that we have one less receiver fee. There are many positives and negatives. But I must say that the positives outweigh the negatives.