HopperGo question

[bchandler02]

THinking of picking up a GO for long airplane trips. I realize I can transfer to my phone, but I'd rather watch on my laptop for the bigger screen.

The dish site indicates that it works with the Dish App AND Dishanywhere.com and the guide shows Dishanywhere.com working.

However, I've read multiple threads where others said it only works with the app.

So before I drop some $$, wanted to confirm: Can you fire up the GO and connect your laptop to it, without internet access, and watch content on the laptop?

 

[ChadT41]

I saw where it said DA, but in the FAQs it says the App only.

 

[ChadT41]

Also it says only IOS and Android. I wish I could post the link, but it’s on my work computer.

 

[KAB]

THinking of picking up a GO for long airplane trips. I realize I can transfer to my phone, but I'd rather watch on my laptop for the bigger screen.

The dish site indicates that it works with the Dish App AND Dishanywhere.com and the guide shows Dishanywhere.com working.

However, I've read multiple threads where others said it only works with the app.

So before I drop some $$, wanted to confirm: Can you fire up the GO and connect your laptop to it, without internet access, and watch content on the laptop?

Like Chad, to the best of my knowledge just IOS and Addroid mobile devices. No PC.

 

[navychop]

Seems odd we don't have someone posting that has one and has tried all connections.

Not a fully successful product?

 

[KAB]

Seems odd we don't have someone posting that has one and has tried all connections.

Not a fully successful product?

Not a fully necessary one.

 

[nicemann]

I have one because my son's kindle has no space to save the videos on. Also my chromebook is very limited and it won't let me save it to the SD card via the app. I used it recently on a trip. Worked great on the plane. for the kindles We had 4 devices going at once on it. I agree with it not being necessary but it was very helpful on those devices. I agree with what the others said, it does not seem to be compatible with non Android and IOS devices. Even on my chromebook it would not account for some reason. I have the app installed but when my chromebook is connected to it via wifi it the app for some reason does not recognize it. So be away not all Android devices may work correctly with it.

 

[bchandler02]

That's a bummer. While it does help those with devices that have no storage, DA has no issues using my SD card in my phone, so that's more than enough storage for my phone.
I wish providers (Dish, amazon, netflix, etc) would get together and figure out a way to allow downloads to a PC. I'm sure it would have to be inside some app for DRM purposes, but it'd be nice to have a larger screen option when travelling.

 

[ncted]

Sounds like your money would be better spent on a cheap tablet that can take transfers than the HopperGo itself.

 

[navychop]

For $99?

 

[ncted]

For $99?

Well, maybe $110 for a 32GB model? http://a.co/1fZr7wf

I am not an Android tablet expert, but I know a lot of people who seem to buy cheap ones and get by with them with few problems.

When/if my iPad Mini 3 dies, I will probably get an Amazon tablet to replace it.

 

[bchandler02]

Sounds like your money would be better spent on a cheap tablet that can take transfers than the HopperGo itself.

Used to carry a tablet, but this is about all it's good for. I stopped because 1) it was a pain to carry 1 more device, and 2) Dish's app is so inconsistent on SD card support that it made it worthless unless I spent significantly more. (Both my Dell tablet and a friend's Samsung tablet at the time would not support the SD card in the DA app - while multiple phones and 1 Amazon tablet that I put Cyanogen Mod on would).

I already have to carry the laptop so it made the most sense to use it.

 

[ncted]

Used to carry a tablet, but this is about all it's good for. I stopped because 1) it was a pain to carry 1 more device, and 2) Dish's app is so inconsistent on SD card support that it made it worthless unless I spent significantly more. (Both my Dell tablet and a friend's Samsung tablet at the time would not support the SD card in the DA app - while multiple phones and 1 Amazon tablet that I put Cyanogen Mod on would).

I already have to carry the laptop so it made the most sense to use it.

Well, it sounds like you would need non-laptop device to watch transfers, so the only reason to get a HopperGo is if you want to use it with more than 1 device at a time. The only possible alternative I see is trying to run Android in a virtual machine with the DA app. Not sure how hard that is though.

 

[nicemann]

I paid $31 shipped for my HopperGo and it was brand new. Of course this was off of eBay. To me that is worth the money. For $99 it is not worth it.

 

[Bogy]

I got my HopperGo for doing a "Refer a Friend". I figured for nothing I could try it out. Looking at several options to watch on my laptop, or a TV. If those don't work out, I can always watch on an android tablet.

 

[bchandler02]

Well, it sounds like you would need non-laptop device to watch transfers, so the only reason to get a HopperGo is if you want to use it with more than 1 device at a time. The only possible alternative I see is trying to run Android in a virtual machine with the DA app. Not sure how hard that is though.

Yes, that's on my list to try at some point. If I have positive results, I'll share it with the group here so others can benefit. Not sure if I'll get to it in time for my trip next week though.

 

[Bogy]

I'm not sure when, but sometime between the time of this thread, at the end of September, and now, Oct. 27, so in the last month, Dish has upgraded the software, and you can now use a HopperGo with a PC. Getting ready to be gone for a week, so I finally got the HopperGo set up. When I looked online for instructions, they included instructions to watch programming on a PC. I should have checked that a week ago, I now have 2 methods to stream the files on the HopperGo to a TV by HDMI. Either through my laptop, or though my phone, which is a Samsung Note 8, using a Dex Station. The Dish Anywhere app is not optimized for the Dex, but you can also use the device to mirror the phone's screen, and the app works great in that mode.

Anyway, I don't see that any other thread has mentioned the upgrade for use with a PC in the past month, so I thought I'd share. It certainly makes the HopperGo more useful, in my opinion.

 

[Dudleydog73]

Anyway, I don't see that any other thread has mentioned the upgrade for use with a PC in the past month, so I thought I'd share. It certainly makes the HopperGo more useful, in my opinion.

Can you share exactly what you are doing to make this work?

 

[Bogy]

Interesting. Between 2 and 3 hours ago, when I went to this page How to Transfer Recordings from a Hopper to a HopperGO | MyDISH | DISH Customer Support
It gave me the choice of Phone, Tablet, or PC. Now, it again just shows the Phone and Tablet. The instructions were to go to the dishanywhere.com page, and go to DVR. Under that, you get choices like My Recordings and PrimeTime Anytime. The choice on the far right is HopperGo. It shows up on both my laptop and my Windows 10 Tablet. When you choose the HopperGo, it will tell you that you must download the DishAnywhere Player. Tell it you want to download/launch, whatever it wants (Already had the Player, but it evidently needs to update), and then it will go through a process of validating. You may have to manually disconnect from your wifi and connect to the HopperGo wifi. Both devices will now show me what is on my HopperGo and will play. I now have the HopperGo tab on my Windows devices, and so far it doesn't seem to be going away. Someone who has not already installed it will have to see if they also get it. Your guess is as good as mine as to why a couple of hours ago the instructions included those for PCs, and now don't, but my best guess is that it was a trial run, and is going to be released shortly, and I got lucky enough to realize it was a possibility. All I can do now is to tell you to either keep watching for it, or see if it's included in the choices under DVR on the DishAnywhere page.

BTW, I am impressed with the signal from the HopperGo. I thought it might be something you'd have to be right next to in order to receive a signal, but I was a floor away, although directly above the unit, and I had a good signal.

 

[Bogy]

Upon further review...I went back through my browser history, and found this page, which as instructions for Apple, Android, and DishAnywhere.com How to Connect to HopperGO Wifi | MyDISH | DISH Customer Support
Which pretty much, but in better detail describes how to use the Dishanywhere.com page on a PC.