Heck, is DISH participating in CES?
This could be the death knell for CES.
This could be the death knell for CES.
Hopper 4 (may be called Hopper X)
- Thread starter blatimer1983
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Not that confusing if the Joey 4 also does 4K (and more importantly, HDR). Dish could provide free upgrades to the new model Joey 4, and not allow the old 4K (non-HDR) model to be reactivated. This would get them all out of the field, so that when the transition is over, there will still only be one (active) model of 4(K) Joey.
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda.... Dish is not going to replace every 4K Joey just to make Joey 4 the name of their new new Joey that does 4K and HDR (if that was ever to happen). They will just call it a Joey 5 or something else. They are in business to make money not do silly things like what you have suggested. Sorry to burst your bubble but let's be real....
Normally, I would agree, but Dish is already about to start a massive receiver transition, finally getting all of the really old pre-ViP receivers out of the field. So, while they are doing that anyway, they may as well do a Joey transition while they are at it. It has been reported by installers here (well, mainly by HipKat) that the 4K Joey is not a very popular model to begin with. On top of that, Dish charges extra upfront fees to anyone who upgrades to one, which may have discouraged many customers who otherwise would have gotten one from ever getting it in the first place. So, I am thinking that there are not actually as many 4K Joeys in the field as we otherwise might have guessed based on the many, many posts from power users on this site.
It would not be the first time that Dish has taken advantage of a required receiver transition, to also get rid of a less popular model that still technically works. The 111 would handle 8PSK, and thus would still technically work on Western Arc. However, Dish chose to completely phase out that model at the same time while they were doing the QPSK to 8PSK transition. So, there is precedent for my suggestion. There have been so many complaints from users of this site about the 4K Joey not doing HDR, that Dish may want to simply be done with that model and move on. It has also been speculated that the lack of support for HDR on the 4K Joey is what has been holding Dish back from actually carrying any HDR content on their 4K channel. Of course, the lack of HDR content also generates a whole slew of complaints. So, it may be best to transition to all HDR-capable equipment (for receivers that can handle 4K at all) and then Dish can actually start carrying some 4K HDR.
However, if you are right, and Dish does call the next Joey a Joey 5, then I think that they should also call the new Hopper a Hopper 5 to match. This would make it easier to brand and market the new receivers, to show that they are the latest and greatest, newest generation. Everything else is going 5G, so why not the Hopper and Joey?
I had an unactivated 111 at the time of that transition. When I bought it, I saw from the model number that it should be able to demodulate 8psk transmissions. But I couldn't get any signal on any 8psk transponder. A year or so passed, the receiver apparently took a firmware download, and then voila. It could.
Let’s compromise and call the supposed new Joey with all the bells and whistles a Joey 4K+...
. or perhaps a Joey 4K with HDR. That would follow the previous transitions of the Hopper, Hopper to Hopper with Sling...
Why couldn't streaming the 4K programming through the internet connection on the Dish receivers work just as well? Dish already streams many SD and HD channels (mostly international channels) this way. Also, when Dish frees up more bandwidth on Western Arc by finally eliminating MPEG-2 8PSK (and most likely completely dropping most SD feeds from Western Arc in the process) what do you propose that Dish do with that extra bandwidth? If you think they are going to use it for picture quality improvements on the channels they already carry, by compressing them less, then dream on. Dish is not in the business of trying to please the few, very few, audio/video snobs who would notice such an improvement and be willing to pay Dish more money per month out of gratitude. Dish is in the business of pleasing the masses, who (due to marketing hype) are clamoring for 4K, in any form whatsoever, without necessarily being educated about what 4K really means. Dish is also more and more lately in the business of serving rural customers, where they may still not have access to affordable high speed internet options. So, I think some 4K (even if it never is a full-time channel) will continue on Dish for quite some time to come, and I could even see Dish adding some more 4K once the bandwidth is available to do so.
Shouldn't that be "Hopper IV"? I'm sure Apple has some cat names leftover. I was always hoping for "Alley Cat".
Sent from my SM-T290 using the SatelliteGuys app!
Sent from my SM-T290 using the SatelliteGuys app!
I hope not, ONE of the reasons I am keeping Dish is because of my data cap from Xfinity - the 2TB DVR and live programming is key in me consuming content and NOT using data. Of course, if I were to cancel Dish I could use that money saved and upgrade to the 30/month unlimited plan but then when there is an outage, I would only have OTA content to watch instead of Dish and OTA. Admittedly, outages are rare (last one was May 2020) and it has improved in my area significantly - yes, when there is rain/signal loss I can't watch live programming but at least I can watch DVR recordings and rain outages don't last long and Dark Sky is much better indicator of when I can expect my service to come back than COMCAST ETA alerts.
Wait, I've got it. Instead of a kangaroo, the new logo will be a golfer yelling "Fore!" right after the Hopper logo.
IMHO, They are going to have to do sometime to get people to renew and lock in for more years. Plus they have a ton of H3's out there with HD's about to poop out. And also they need to figure out how to provide more UHD content (e.g. advanced compression which requires horsepower) or people will just move to something else.
You may not have spent 7K, when it came out, for the 77" Sony X9G Bravia Masters Series OLED TV!
Why would Dish come out with a Hopper X, when they are bleeding customers by the thousands and the Hopper3 is way ahead of all the competition already.
If it can be manufactured more cheaply than the Hopper 3 can, you can bet the farm (even if you don't own a farm) that Dish will do it.
Even if you are losing subscribers you still have to try to keep the ones that you have and maybe get some new ones if you don’t invest in the future receivers than you will eventually end up like Direct Tv . I am a dish fan after 20 years and plan on going no where until the turn off the lights.
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Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!
Me too also. Not quitting DISH till Charlie quits. Maybe he has plans with his 5G stuff for TV and come out with a Hopper 3.2 Super DVR. Also I am hoping the streaming services keep raising their prices so people will come back to DISH satellite service. That streaming thing is a PITA. Nothing like a good Hopper 3 DVR.
