My Ongoing Pet Peeve with Dish DVRs Continues with the Hopper (Mid-show Recording)

[hojni]

My biggest pet peeve with Dish's PVRs/DVRs is the horrible way they handle mid-show recording. (I include the term PVR with this because this complaint goes all the way back to the old PVR501.) The other day, my wife started watching a local, non-primetime news program. She had to run off and do something else, so she paused the show. About 1/2 hour later, she realized the the pause buffer was going to run out and asked me to record the show. I picked up the Joey remote and just hit record; assuming that the Hopper would be smart enough to record the entire show.

As soon as I hit record, I knew I had fallen for the same trap that has plagued Dish's PVRs/DVRs since the 501. The recording started at the point I was paused at (about 15 minutes in to the show) rather that capturing the show from the beginning that was still in the pause buffer. I know that you can pull up options (or rewind) to force recording from the beginning of a show, but whouldn't it make a whole lot of sense to make capturing the whole show from the beginning the default behavior as long as it's in the buffer? Invariably, when I have to record an in-progress show, I am in a hurrry and just want to hit the record button.

If I recall, Dish had done something on the VIP722 to improve this behavior, but the Hopper programming seems to regress to much less sophisticated state in this case.

Thoughts?

 

[JM42]

As you said, this is the way it has always worked, including the 722. I wouldn't count on it changing.

Personally, I hope they don't change it. There are times I only want to catch a snippet here or there, and it only takes a second or two to rewind.

 

[greglwood]

Yes it's too bad there's not a Screen and a remote so they could ask the question "Record from beginning [YES] [NO]" and you could choose.

Oh wait, thats called a pop-up and they have a dozeon of them. Seems like one more would not be whats needed.

Along with this i would like it to give me choices to record this showing, a future showing (in case its not all in the buffer) or create a timer for the series all from just hitting the record button. I often flip channels and run across something that catches my interest and i either want to record the entire thing later or if its a tv show maybe get ther entire series going forward.

 

[hellomann]

The recording started at the point I was paused at (about 15 minutes in to the show) rather that capturing the show from the beginning that was still in the pause buffer.
Thoughts?

It is doing how I would want it to "Record from where I paused". I already watched the program till that point. Why would I want it to record the entire program.

Just rewind and press record from where u want to start recording.

 

[greglwood]

Ok I have been doing some playing with this and I think it does both. Maybe someone else can test this too as I did not have much in my buffer. It appears to me that if it's paused it starts there. If its not paused (or you un-pause first) then hit record it keeps the buffer.

 

[hojni]

I thought I had seen a way to do this on the 722. I'll test your theory when I get home. It would be cool it that's the way it really works. It would seem to meet all of our different needs then.

 

[3HaloODST]

Just tested that theory on the Hopper and it dumped the buffer when I just pressed RECORD without pausing. Same behavior as on the 722K.

 

[Brussam]

So you flip a tuner to a channel and expect the DVR to pull the signal from the beginning of the program. That would be some kind of magic.

 

[hojni]

Brussam - That's not what anybody said. We all understand how the buffer works.

My issue was trying to record an entire program that I had started watching and paused (1st part already in the buffer) without a bunch of gyrations. It looks like we've identified the process.

 

[3HaloODST]

What I meant by "dumped" is that the Hopper only recorded from the point that I pushed the RECORD button.

 

[DishSubLA]

OK, so this is about when one attempts to record from pause ONLY, right. Are you saying you would like the same pop-up that appears when you are in play mode either delayed or live that gives the OPTIONS, then you select RECORD FROM BEGINNING? I've never come accross the limitation described, but maybe because it is NOT paused. The OPTIONS has been since the 522's.

So, if the complaint is that you want the same pop-up for OPTIONS that allows you to record from the beginning of the show (provided the box was tuned to that channel when the program started), then I would agree and think that Dish should make this happen because it makes sense. In the meantime, you will have to press PLAY, then press record, note the OPTIONS pop-up and select it, then select Record from beginning. Develop a new habit until Dish never fixes this.

 

[patmurphey]

It was designed to work this way. Is it too much to expect that someone that wants to record from the beginning of a program that they have been watching, to just rewind to where they want the recording to start. It is a rather unusual request, after all.

 

[voripteth]

I haven't tried it but what if you rewound to the beginning of the pause and then hit record. Does the behavior change?

The other workaround is to just push record instead of pause in the first place. Not ideal but it works.

 

[DishSubLA]

I'm still not clear on this: You do know that from 522 to ViP's, if the tuner was tuned to that channel when the show began, you can in fact press the RECORD button, a pop-up will appear, select OPTIONS, then select RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM, right?

If you are saying the Hopper does not have this feature, I get that. But I don't see how this is an "Ongoing" pet peeve with "Dish DVR's" implying previous models when the feature you've been pining for has existed for years.

Or are you saying that the RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM option is not offered (in past Dish DVR's) if you press RECORD while in PAUSE? For 522 and all ViP, RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM option has been available for many years. Please clarify because I want to know the limitations of the Hopper.

 

[hojni]

DishSubLA - I've never owned a 522. I've had the 501, 507, 510, 721, 612, 722 and now the Hopper. This is a pet peeve because my expectation is if I start watching a program, pause it for some period of time and just want to record it, there has not been an easy, consistent process make sure you get the whole program other than rewinding to the beginning and pressing record. More often than not, I forget to rewind and lose a portion of the show. As I stated, I believe some of the Dish PVRs/DVRs have handled this better than others. I thought the 722 software had evolved to the point where it behaved like the 522 you described. The Hopper does not (or at least didn't the other day when I tried it).

I would be fine if any time you press record, whether from pause or play, you get a pop up asking if you want to record the entire program, etc. I understand that this option would be contingent on the beginning of the show being in the pause buffer. However, the other day, my wife started watching the news, hit pause and walked away. When I went to record the show for her, it was paused at about the 15 minute mark and the remainder of the show was in the buffer. I hit record and lost the first fifteen minutes that had been in the buffer. Very frustrating.

 

[patmurphey]

But now you know to rewind...

 

[dare2be]

IIRC, Tivo would record the entire show if it was buffered no matter where you were in the program when you hit record. I personally don't like that. If I'm watching the local news and see a story I want to record to watch later (or show my wife), I don't want the entire news hour to be recorded, just the 5-minute story. It's a waste of DVR space otherwise. So for the ability to be able to record only the snippets I want by rewinding to the record start point and then hitting stop when it's over, I can live with the need to rewind back to the beginning of a show or buffer if I want the entire show/buffer recorded. Just my 2000 cents.

 

[dfergie]

IIRC, Tivo would record the entire show if it was buffered no matter where you were in the program when you hit record. I personally don't like that. If I'm watching the local news and see a story I want to record to watch later (or show my wife), I don't want the entire news hour to be recorded, just the 5-minute story. It's a waste of DVR space otherwise. So for the ability to be able to record only the snippets I want by rewinding to the record start point and then hitting stop when it's over, I can live with the need to rewind back to the beginning of a show or buffer if I want the entire show/buffer recorded. Just my 2000 cents.

I do this alot with Dish, my DIRECTV dvr's are like tivo, if you hit record they catch what's on the buffer also...

 

[DishSubLA]

DishSubLA - I've never owned a 522. I've had the 501, 507, 510, 721, 612, 722 and now the Hopper. This is a pet peeve because my expectation is if I start watching a program, pause it for some period of time and just want to record it, there has not been an easy, consistent process make sure you get the whole program other than rewinding to the beginning and pressing record. More often than not, I forget to rewind and lose a portion of the show. As I stated, I believe some of the Dish PVRs/DVRs have handled this better than others. I thought the 722 software had evolved to the point where it behaved like the 522 you described. The Hopper does not (or at least didn't the other day when I tried it).

I would be fine if any time you press record, whether from pause or play, you get a pop up asking if you want to record the entire program, etc. I understand that this option would be contingent on the beginning of the show being in the pause buffer. However, the other day, my wife started watching the news, hit pause and walked away. When I went to record the show for her, it was paused at about the 15 minute mark and the remainder of the show was in the buffer. I hit record and lost the first fifteen minutes that had been in the buffer. Very frustrating.

OK, your Hopper's behavior is EXACTLY as my 922. ALL Dish DVR's from 522, 625, and then ENTIRE ViP line, including the 722 (none of the 50X's 510's or 721's) have ALWAYS had the very feature you desire: during delayed or live playback, press RECORD, a pop-up appears, and select RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM (if not grayed out, it means the entire show is in the buffer) and TADA: ONLY the program currenlty viewed will be saved in its entirety. NO REWIND necessary. This feature goes back nearly TEN YEARS!

Now, I have experienced your pain with my 922 as when I pressed RECORD, I expected the pop-up, but it started recording ONLY from the point at which I pressed record. Considering the Hopper is based on the 922, I'm not surprised at your experience, and I found the lack of the OPTIONS, RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM pop-up VERY irritating, and it still bothers me.

I agree that having to rewind is a PAIN, especially for those of us who have used the RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM feature for many years and with EASE. I'm with you on this matter because past Dish DVR's have had such feature for nearly a decade, and Dish should have had the same feature from DAY ONE.

The best we can do is let Dish know that this should be on their list of software feature refinements. I don't think it will be done anytime soon, but we should all (who care) make the a request and hope after they get Hopper running smoothly to a high degree, Dish can add the feature. Dish has always enhanced its DVR's over the years. I don't believe rewinding to the beginning is the appropriate response nor attitude for no having the RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM feature when Dish has a legacy of such a feature in EVERY currently supported DVR today, except for the 922 and Hopper. You and others deserve the RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM feature. Thanks for the clarification. For everyone, the Hopper is just like the 922 in this respect, which is NOT desirable.

Yes, TiVo records the entire buffer and is a WASTE of space when one just wants the TV show currently aired. At least, as a work around, with Dish we can rewind to the point we want to record. As good as TiVo is, it too has it's PITA ways of doing things. After all, neither wants to infringe upon patents .

 

[hojni]

DishSubLA - You get it!!! This is exactly what I was trying to say. I know that one/some of my prior Dish DVRs had behaved the way I expect, I just couldn't remember which models.

All I want is a pop-up message asking if I want to "RECORD ENTIRE PROGRAM" when I press record, whether from pause or play when the first part of a program is in buffer.

Hopefully some corporate Dish trolls or the DIRT team will see this message thread and pass the word on.