New HR34 or wait for Hopper???

[MJL Atlanta]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the great info. I have been considering switching from Echostar to D* to get the HR34 and whole home DVR. Currently I have 2 722s and have no problems at all. I was ready to make the switch until I started reading this forum. Seems like there are still a lot of problems to be worked out with the HR34. Are the problems bad enough to deter a non-techie like me from getting one? Would you suggest that I wait until the Hopper comes out (hopefully around March)? I am sure that will have some issues as well. From just the specs, do you guys prefer the HR34 or Hopper? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bobvick]

It depends largely on what you want. What I mean to say is, the hopper has 3 tuners, the HR34 has 5 tuners, sure it has a few warts, but I am sure they will get worked out. I have been pleased with my HR34 as well as anything. I really like the 5 tuners in one DVR. I would the thing I like better about DirecTV is the $6 lease fee, no matter what receiver you have. There is no telling how much they will charge for an extra hopper, but I could be wrong.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the great info. I have been considering switching from Echostar to D* to get the HR34 and whole home DVR. Currently I have 2 722s and have no problems at all. I was ready to make the switch until I started reading this forum. Seems like there are still a lot of problems to be worked out with the HR34. Are the problems bad enough to deter a non-techie like me from getting one? Would you suggest that I wait until the Hopper comes out (hopefully around March)? I am sure that will have some issues as well. From just the specs, do you guys prefer the HR34 or Hopper? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I'm debating myself on whether to get the hr34 or hopper myself ty bobvick for you post

 

[lparsons21]

Just looking at the hardware and how it works, I could benefit from either quite well.

The HR34 w/5 tuners + 1 Hxx would fit the bill here for me and my son. It could replace the 3 HR24s and not have the management of recordings be as much of a PITA as it is now. That is because of no unified todo list. You can set recordings from anywhere with the iPad app, which helps. One thing that probably will keep me from getting an HR34 is the upfront cost. No way would I pay $399 for it.

The Hopper/Joey combo would also do well, though in my case I would need 2 Hoppers and no Joeys. And with everywhere being equal in operation, it would be a good choice.

So at some point in time it will yet again be all about who has the programming I want, which is exactly what it is now!

 

[bobvick]

So at some point in time it will yet again be all about who has the programming I want, which is exactly what it is now!

Excellent point, that is what I choose a provider based on as well. Unfortunately if you live in a rural area without the benefit of cable tv service or tv service from your telephone company (Fios, Uverse, Prism..) it is either DirecTV or Dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

until Dish shows the pricing on the Hopper/Joey you cant really make a comparison
Directv you know what the pricing is
HR34 included ($99 up front for new subs)
H25 (they have no RVU units yet)..3 for free $6 a month

Dish Hopper...no pricing yet or monthly receiver fee info yet

Me...I'd go with a HR34. While the Hooper looks nice with its Prime Time thingy (where it records all 4 nets from 7-10 Central each night and stores it for 8 days unless you move it to the main hard drive) so during Prime Time if you use that you in essence have "6" tuners (2 tuners + the PTAT)...Otherwise you have 3 tuners. I'm not a locals recording kind of guy. I have 3 shows during the week that would fall into that category. The rest are outside of that or on other channels. So 3 tuners wouldnt be enough right now. Tonight I have 4 things set to record between 7-9 and I STILL am one tuner short (I have 2 DVR's). So for me HR34 would be better

 

[bobvick]

One other caveat about the Hopper "hype" is it is advertised as having a 2TB hard drive, which it has. However, 1 TB of the drive is reserved for you and 1 TB for Dish.

 

[lparsons21]

Iceberg, I'm not surprised at your choice. Given the programming that you like, and the lack of real need for a locals solution, the HR34 and D* make perfect sense for you.

And it is true that we don't know the pricing on the Hopper/Joey yet, but the indications are that they will be 'aggressive'. Which means either very attractively priced or aggressive about getting more of the consumers money!!

For me, the PrimeTime feature is a real plus. In a year and a half, I may have to think more about satellite TV.

 

[skew]

I wouldn't put too much faith in the kangaroo system if it was me. After owning their top of the line 922 for 2 years was enough for me. That company hypes its stuff up and delivers nothing but promises. I have watched more tv in the last 1.5 months with hr34 than the last 2 years with the other service and equipment. Sure the hr34 has a few bugs nothing major like I had with the 922.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

I've had the HR34 for a few weeks now, after giving up my 922 and Dish service. Overall the HR34 is fine. I had issues when the AM21 OTA tuner was connected. Since disconnecting that, it's been mostly stable.

The good: 5 count-em 5 tuners, real HD MRV (I haven't had problems watching anything on my H25 once the HR34 got done with its initial setup), sophisticated DVR, mostly very speedy, D* HD PQ is noticeably better than E* (which isn't bad either).

The bad: occasional bugs (but no lost recordings), AM21 makes it glitchy, bringing up the guide is really slow on channels with interactive content (ESPN, sports channels, etc. where you can press the red button for more content).

Overall thumbs up!

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg, I'm not surprised at your choice. Given the programming that you like, and the lack of real need for a locals solution, the HR34 and D* make perfect sense for you.

For me, the PrimeTime feature is a real plus. In a year and a half, I may have to think more about satellite TV.

see thats the big thing for folks to switch from one to the other. If you record a bunch of prime time programming on the Big 4 then it would be worth it. I know my dad does record alot of network programming. For me its not worth it. While I do record a fair amount of programming on the locals, most is outside of prime time or on stations like CW & My. So its a moot point for me to have it. But the more tuners I can get the better

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

With the HR34 & 3 H25 receivers,you get 8 tuners total. Unless I missed something,with the Hopper & 3 Joeys,you get 3 tuners,6 tuners if you add another Hopper. Somehow the math just seems all wrong.

 

[Mr Tony]

correct
Hopper....3 tuners
Joey...no tuner. It uses the Hopper to do everything

HR34...5 tuners
RVU...no tuners but not available
H25...1 tuner

 

[Satwatcher]

Now the question I have is IF you have a hopper and let's say 2 joeys and your hopper decides to die. You are without until it is replace. Now with my HR34 and my 2 H25's, if the HR34 dies I still have something to use until the unit is replaced.

 

[lparsons21]

Now the question I have is IF you have a hopper and let's say 2 joeys and your hopper decides to die. You are without until it is replace. Now with my HR34 and my 2 H25's, if the HR34 dies I still have something to use until the unit is replaced.

And that's a plus for the D* way of doing MRV. But realistically, how often do the boxes themselves actually quit? My history shows that with both D* and E* I can expect 1 box to quit so seldom it isn't an issue for me. The few times I've had a box replaced, it was still working in some fashion. I've never had one just totally crap out and that's with having one sat provider or the other over 10+ years.


Again, it is down to what do you want to watch and how do you want to watch it.

 

[dodger72]

i have been wondering could D* add something like prime time anytime to the hr-34, assuming locals are on the same transponder

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

i have been wondering could D* add something like prime time anytime to the hr-34, assuming locals are on the same transponder

"prime time anytime" technology is probably copyrighted by Dish/Echostar,let FIOS,U-Verse &/or Comcast try it next & see what happens. Then go from there.

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

Also,if I were a Dish subscriber,why is it that the only way I can get Prime Time Anytime is if I upgraded my box to a Hopper? I can integrate my HR22 & HR23 into DTV's whole home multi-room viewing system & I have HD GUI on both of them. I really don't even need to get a HR34 because my HR22,HR23,& HR24 with MRV gives me enough tuners to record all I want. It seems that DTV gives you the best value overall. Dish may have cheaper programing packages(not everybody is into sports),but the high cost of getting AND using their equipment more than offsets any "value" of their cheaper programing packages.

 

[Mr Tony]

also if you upgrade to Hopper you cant have any other type of receivers on your account
Its either Hopper/Joey combos or its "older" equipment

They cant be mixed on the account

 

[MJL Atlanta]

That's a good point Satwatcher. I know it doesn't happen often, but even once with no TV for 4...5...6...9 days and I would be pretty upset.

Keep the comments coming - they give me more to think about so I can make an educated decision. I guess I am most concerned with giving up a trouble free TV setup and ending up with something that will give me stress. I have enough stress in my life and TV is a big part of relieving it. I don't want TV to be a stress contributor. But I would like the flexibility of a whole home setup.

I am also concerned with the response times on D* receivers. I have heard many times that they are not as quick as E*. I watched the Hopper demo at CES and the responsiveness was impressive.

Thanks everyone for your input.