Not happy with the Dish Hopper DVR

[Claude Greiner]

I went to CES last week and saw the Dish Hopper first hand, and im not really impressed as compaired to what Directv has to offer with the HR34 home media server.

Here is what I like about it...

#1 The Prime Time anytime is a great feature. Considering it can record 4 shows from a single Tuner is great. I like the fact it records everything in prime time, which takes all the hassle out of setting up a timer to begin with.

#2 I like the guide format and the way the menu's are displayed

#3 I like the larger hard drive.

Here is what I don't like about it..

#1 The receiver only has 3 Tuners. For a 1 or 2 Television household I don't see this as being much of an issue. The problem when you add 3, 4 or 5 Televsions to this setup, you become very limited in the amount of things you can watch live, and the more shows you have recording in the background the even more limited this DVR becomes.

Granted you can add another Hopper, but with DISH Networks track record on additional receiver outlet fees, I bet we are looking at an additional $20 per month, not to mention another few hundred dollars upfront.

#2 From a sales point, this is where they are going to get all their complaints. This is very difficult to explain to people, to get them to understand the entire 3 tuner concept with multiple TV's. I can see the sales people selling this now telling customers just to add another Joey box, but when the customer has got 2 shows recording on the DVR they are not going to understand why they can't watch something different on their 3 other TV's in their home.

#3 The thing where you can "Hop On" an existing TV program in another room is going to piss alot of people off. If im in my bedroom at 1AM watching Bikini Girls gone wild on Cinemax, I do not want anyone else in my house knowing what im watching on TV, or hopping on my program and watching it with me.

Granted this works great for parents seeing what their kids are watching, but this is going to ruin the privacy for alot of customers. If a huspand who has a wife thats offended by that kind of stuff, the second the wife gives her huspand crap over it, is when the huspand cancels DISH Network and switches to Directv.

 

[Slamminc11]

oh good, another hopper thread... 2:

 

[KAB]

oh good, another hopper thread... 2:

Yeh, thanks a lot, Claude.

 

[papalittle]

I know we are not going to push the Hopper just like we never pushed the 922. Since the 922 came out I have only sold and installed 1. Dish technology sucks.

 

[jerryez]

I never watch anything live including football. That is why we have DVRs, to skip commercals. So, if you have enough stuff recorded, then the Joeys can watch prerecorded programs, which is what the system was designed for.

How can you be unhappy with something that has not even come out yet? Try it, you might like it.

 

[mfoster711]

#3 The thing where you can "Hop On" an existing TV program in another room is going to piss alot of people off. If im in my bedroom at 1AM watching Bikini Girls gone wild on Cinemax, I do not want anyone else in my house knowing what im watching on TV, or hopping on my program and watching it with me.

Granted this works great for parents seeing what their kids are watching, but this is going to ruin the privacy for alot of customers. If a huspand who has a wife thats offended by that kind of stuff, the second the wife gives her huspand crap over it, is when the huspand cancels DISH Network and switches to Directv.

Good point, this is something I have not considered. So when I am up late watching TV in my office my wife can now spy on what I am watching without ever leaving our bedroom. I must agree, I really don't like this.

 

[mfoster711]

oh good, another hopper thread... 2:

I think we need more Hopper threads. Once a thread gets to 10 or 15 pages it becomes worthless since nobody is going to scroll through all those pages looking for an answer. I would much prefer we start dozens of Hopper threads and address very specific questions in each thread and make sure each of those threads have a good title that makes it clear what that exact thread is discussing. A thread with a title of "Hopper Joey questions" that is 85 pages and discusses dozens of different points regarding Hopper is complicated and becomes worthless over time.

 

[ScottChez]

You are right.

SOLUTION-
with only 3 Tuners and One Tuners doing Prime time this is really ONLY a Two Tuner solution. They need to advertise it as a TWO TV Solution so customers dont get mad later after there locked into a contract and cant watch live TV on there THREE TV Household (household with Two parent and One or more kids)

They need to sell the Second Hopper at $99 and tell people up front if they have a family with more than 2 or 3 they need TWO Hoppers. Then they will have 6 Tuners and the sulution will work great.

As for Privacy they need to add a feature for the Parental Locks that TV-MA does not show what your watching so people cant spy on you, it should simply says Parental Lock on it.

Now all they need is the Over the Air Turner so people dont get it home, locked in a Contract and then realize they cant watch the 10 other local channels they used to have on Cable as Cable has many of the Digital Sub channels that dish does not carry. They need this Tuner at Release date so when the customer calls in to complain they will have a solution to offer, they could sell it for say $49.99 and it would be an other tuner.

 

[Tampa8]

Claude brought out some good points here. It is a little different way of looking at it.
I am beginning to see the Hopper/Joey as the infant stage of this type of receiver. Someone at Dish is thinking a little differently as witnessed by the "folder" concept in the guide, and what I will call the "Folder" concept of the networks.

In my scenario, you would see advancements such as;
Having at least one Joey in your system that is capable of receiving on it's own so that 1. No one else can watch what you are watching, and 2. Should the Hopper fail, you still can watch TV.

More "Folders" on the Satellite. The arrangement of channels such as TNT, USA, A&E and History as an example. Or the News channels. It may not have four channels that everyone wants to record, but even if two out of the four are what you want it saves a tuner being used. Remember even the four networks may not be what everyone wants to record, but the theory is at least a couple probably are. Then allow the user to tell the hopper what transponder to pick. I can also see the advancement of allowing user control of what time(s) to pick rather then just the whole primetime period.

 

[mfoster711]

As for Privacy they need to add a feature for the Parental Locks that TV-MA does not show what your watching so people cant spy on you, it should simply says Parental Lock on it.

I don't see that as a solution. People in other rooms are still going to now you are watching an adult program.

 

[JimK2]

three–tuner Whole–Home HD DVR that lets you record up to six live HD channels at once* and stream four HD programs to different TVs simultaneously. No other competitor can offer this!
Hopper - DISH Network

 

[lparsons21]

You are right.

SOLUTION-
with only 3 Tuners and One Tuners doing Prime time this is really ONLY a Two Tuner solution. They need to advertise it as a TWO TV Solution so customers dont get mad later after there locked into a contract and cant watch live TV on there THREE TV Household (household with Two parent and One or more kids)

Now all they need is the Over the Air Turner so people dont get it home, locked in a Contract and then realize they cant watch the 10 other local channels they used to have on Cable as Cable has many of the Digital Sub channels that dish does not carry. They need this Tuner at Release date so when the customer calls in to complain they will have a solution to offer, they could sell it for say $49.99 and it would be an other tuner.

It is a 3-tuner solution. And during PrimeTime, IF, you choose to use that, it becomes a 6 tuner solution in effect. If you never use the PrimeTime feature, then it is always a 3-tuner solution.

Since it hasn't actually shipped yet, the OTA tuner option might be available when it does. We don't know that yet.

 

[mfoster711]

Having only 3 tuners is really starting to sink in with me. I am not sure why but I thought the 3 tuners worked more like 6 but at the end of the day the Hopper really only has 1 tuner more that a 722. In a 4 TV household there is no way to watch 4 live programs at the same time without paying for an additional Hopper. And I don't want to hear about OTA as the solution because it is not even supported yet not to mention I am not in a major area that has ton of OTA. If we happen to be recording a show then only TWO of the 4 TVs in my household would be able to watch live TV. This really, really is not good and makes Directs home whole setup with their new 5 tuner receiver sound MUCH better. The only way I see Dish eliminating this issue is if they make adding a second Hopper very easy and VERY REASONABLY priced.

 

[yaz96]

oh good, another hopper thread... 2:

Of course you would chime in on a thread that doesn't glorify Dish.....

It's great to get a realistic perspective from a DISH dealer!! (and it's not buried in 20 pages of speculation)

 

[yaz96]

three–tuner Whole–Home HD DVR that lets you record up to six live HD channels at once* and stream four HD programs to different TVs simultaneously. No other competitor can offer this!
Hopper - DISH Network

Not in the recent sense of recording 6 channels. You don't get to choose those 6 HD channels. (you even put the asterisk in, but no disclaimer)

And the 4 streams are not LIVE TV. Do you realize that, Or just repeating "one sheet" info?

 

[yaz96]

I never watch anything live including football. That is why we have DVRs, to skip commercals. So, if you have enough stuff recorded, then the Joeys can watch prerecorded programs, which is what the system was designed for.

How can you be unhappy with something that has not even come out yet? Try it, you might like it.

Good for you. What if everyone wants to watch different shows live, what then?

 

[mfoster711]

It is a 3-tuner solution. And during PrimeTime, IF, you choose to use that, it becomes a 6 tuner solution in effect. If you never use the PrimeTime feature, then it is always a 3-tuner solution.

Scenario, its Saturday afternoon and I am watching Football on ESPN, my wife is watching a cheesy movie on Lifetime Network and we just happen to be recording something on HBO at that time to view later. If my kids decide to watch TV on one of the two other available TVs in my house then they MUST watch ESPN, Lifetime, the HBO movie or something already recorded. They would not be able to watch any other live TV channel, correct? And don't mention OTA, not a solution for us.

 

[lparsons21]

Sounds like a single Hopper wouldn't work for you then. Easy, get a 2nd one and since the design is everywhere is the same as everywhere else in the network (except for PIP), it should be just simple as pie.

 

[mfoster711]

Sounds like a single Hopper wouldn't work for you then. Easy, get a 2nd one and since the design is everywhere is the same as everywhere else in the network (except for PIP), it should be just simple as pie.

Agreed. I think it is largely going to come down to pricing, ESPECIALLY for that second Hopper. The purchase cost and monthly fees associates with TWO Hoppers should be comparable to the new SINGLE Direct HR34 receiver sense Directs receiver has 5 tuners built in. I am not going to argue over a total of $5/month more but if I have to pay $400 upfront for the privilege of leasing a second Hopper and then they charge me $17/month for each Hopper then my choice to switch to Direct becomes a no-brainer.

 

[mfoster711]

In other words, to properly support a 4 TV household and be competitive with Direct, Dish better make the upfront cost and monthly fees associated with TWO Hoppers + 3 Joeys = the upfront cost and monthly fees for ONE HR34 + 3 HR25.