Well, I am a day into it, and while there are a few (hopefully) small issues, so far I can say that Dish has an impressive system in the Hopper/Joey setup.
The equipment, as anyone that has experience with Dish can tell you, is lightning fast. The HRs made big (although in some cases temporary) improvements in speed and response when they went with the HD UI, but the Dish equipment is still smoother. I must say though that I never had the 24 in my home, but I have used one, so my main experience with with the 20-23 models.
As far as PQ goes, I agree with those that say that the Hopper appears to offer better PQ than the VIP line. I am not sure what it does different, but it is noticable to my eyes.
That said, and I currently have Dish and D* hooked up side by side on the same set, D* still, IMHO holds a VERY SLIGHT lead in HD PQ. It is MUCH closer than what it was though, and if they were not side by side I most likely would not notice it. So, while there is an advantage, it is so slight that it would not be a deciding factor to me when choosing.
There are a few more mainstream HD channels with Dish, but fewer sports offerings, as you all most likely know. Most of the channels gained in the swap are not channels that I watched, so no real gain for me there. Some that I lost in HD, ESPNU and ESPN News are two that I did watch, so I already miss those. The others are Disney channels that my daughter watches, but she is four, so it is not a big deal there. She doesnt even know it.
I did find that some of the locals that I had in HD with D* are not in HD with Dish. I had not anticipated that. I do not mean that locals are not offered, I mean that all the locals that were in HD are not. In my market anyway.
I do not like the tuner managment with the Hopper so far, but that may have to do with my inexperience with it. It may turn out to be fine, but there are a few easy fixes that I feel could have been implemented to make it much more user friendly. We will see if this continues to annoy me.
I also am having a problem with internet connectivity, but hopefully DIRT will be able to help me there.
So all in all, I am pleased with the system considering the savings, and would be even if they were not in place.
Is it better than the D* way of doing MRV? In some ways yes. In other ways not so much.
Ill add more if and when I see the need to.