Hopper vs. Joey in living room

[Parafly]

Hey guys, just upgraded from a 622 to a Hopper / Joey system. Right now my hopper is in the living room and my two joeys are upstairs in the guest bedroom and master bedroom.

Question, I really like the fact that the Joeys are so small. My living room is kinda cluttered with ps3, receiver, hopper, etc.

Any reason why I wouldn't want to swap out (I know how to adjust the cables already) and just have the Joey in my living room and put the Hopper itself upstairs in my guest bedroom where it's kind of out of the way.

 

[syphix]

The Hopper should be on the most used television in the house. It has picture-in-picture, and (IMO) better image quality. Many other features can't be accessed via the Joeys, too.

 

[Parafly]

OK , that answers my question, I didn't realize there were PQ differences. What other features do the Joey's lack? I guess that's what I'm looking for .... what can you do on a hopper you can't do on a Joey.

 

[JM42]

As said, PIP and SWAP are the only real differences. If you were using the 622 in dual mode, you might not miss either one right now.

I rarely use PIP, but could not live without SWAP on my main TV.

Edit.. also Blue tooth is coming to Hopper. Reports are it may be there in 223. That may actually be better in the bedroom if you want to use headphones while the other half sleeps.

 

[Parafly]

I never used PIP even though I only used both tuners on the same TV. What is SWAP?

I didn't know that was the only difference, this threw me for a loop:

Many other features can't be accessed via the Joeys, too.

 

[JM42]

I never used PIP even though I only used both tuners on the same TV. What is SWAP?

I didn't know that was the only difference, this threw me for a loop:

Swapping between two tuners. If I'm forced to watch live TV, I usually pause during commmercials, swap, watch something else for a while, pause, swap back, skip the commercials, watch, rinse, repeat.

 

[JM42]

I didn't know that was the only difference, this threw me for a loop:

Many other features can't be accessed via the Joeys, too.

Other than PIP/SWAP, bluetooth and the Pandora app - I can't think of anything Hopper does that Joey doesn't. This assumes a properly connected system with internet access at all locations either direct, HIC, or bridged.

There may be something more obscure I don't use though. Hopefully someone will correct me.

As for picture quality, I have a a Hopper and a Joey on identical TVs and don't see any difference. Admittedly, I have not done a side by side comparison.

The fact Pandora doesn't currently work on Joey could suggest potential issues with future apps, but that's pure conjecture.

 

[caam1]

I have both a Hopper and Joey on two HDMI inputs on the same TV and the picture quality looks the same on the Hopper and Joey.

 

[satnewb]

Pandora is up and running again on Joey's. Or it was yesterday afternoon. It's been an on again-off again thing.

 

[sparc]

The only issue is that you'll probably have to swap some cables on the node. You can't just simply swap hopper and joey locations. It's not too difficult once you get an idea with the wiring diagrams. http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=279755

Most of the features you would be missing are fairly minor for most people as JM2 mentioned. The hopper does have component out while the joeys do not. I use the Joey primarily and haven't noticed any major issues. The Joey is tiny bit slower in the navigation and menu system, but it's not really an issue after recent firmware updates.

There's no harm in doing it. Worst case you spend 10 minutes swapping it back.

 

[Miner]

One huge plus to using the joey is the ability to connect it back to the Hopper wirelessly through the wifi. I believe it is still not official but it appears to work and if yoou want to put the tv where there isn't coax this feature may offset pip and swap which i love.
Miner

 

[Rinker97]

I had a hopper in my living room and ended up switching it with a joey. My hopper was inside a cabinet and I was concerned about heat build up in there. My joey is now on the backside of the TV and the hopper is in another part of the house outside of a cabinet. I didn't have PIP before so I down't miss it. Try it and see if you like it.