Question... Now that you have had your Hopper

[Sponge14]

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
Recording space, nice interface, fast and responsive.

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
During first install - EHD took a while to be recognized.
Minor glitches like when the last episode from recordings is deleted and you go back into the recording listing, the "sort by" is changed
Channels glitch out and become all digitized for no reason, with perfect signal
Blockbuster @ Home keeps saying that my internet connection has been lost, but everything else in my house can get online
I got my Hopper 2 weeks ago and it doesn't have Sling

3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
No

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?
I would like to be able to purchase Joey's at full retail and not pay the monthly fees

 

[GetBit03]

I have had the hopper for three months now after switching from my overpriced cable. I like it so far for the most part. I have two hoppers and two joeys. To answer the question:

I like the HD in every room and accessing recordings off both hoppers in every room.

The hopper in my bedroom needs reset every week because the program guide reads no info and I can not access setting up recordings or blockbuster at home.

No service calls yet. Hopefully I can figure it out myself.

I have two hoppers, if I could add a feature it would be to add the unused prime time any time tuner. I already record it on one hopper why do I need it on two? That tuner is unused and I'd like to make it useable. The other feature I'd like to add is the ability to share tuners between the two hoppers. They do not mesh together and share well. Six tuners in my home is not enough still. Seven would help but probably still not enough.

 

[Smwoodward]

Hey guys...

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?

Thanks for your feedback! Please remember this thread is for people with Hoppers/Joey setup to answer the above questions... this is NOT a discussion thread.

1 there are so many features I love. Never had satellite before and I'm happy with the hopper. I plan on keeping it for a while. Examples are remote finder, the sling, recording transfers, PTAT is really nice, whole home DVR.

2 the lack of dual hopper integration and the fact that there is a fee to use a Joey exen if you want to buy one and not lease it.

3 none

4 the hopper has the potential to become the center of your home entertainment center. Examples is Netflix support, expand the DLNA formats, and let two hoppers integrate better. Better yet, open the apps to developers so they can write their own apps.

 

[sethwell]

I've had the Hopper system(2H/2J) since Dish released it and have loved it from the beginning. Don't have an iPad so Hopper with Sling doesn't sound too much worth the upgrade, however the reported speed of the HwS is tempting.

1. Huge HDD, Tile based menus, Speed of the box, PTAT/w Autohop(suck it CBS ), Whole Home DVR, and the three tuners, actually 4 with the OTA tuner!
2. 1st Hopper that was installed just hung on activation screen, no joy but was replaced the next day when the tech came back. The blip at :29, :59 at the end or recordings is annoying. Some have stated that it had been that way on prior receivers but i don't recall ever seeing it on either of my 722s or 922. It was the first annoyance i discovered after having the hopper installed.
3. No immediate plans to upgrade to the HwS. No service calls or replacement Hopper or Joeys.
4.

• Change the update time to a user selected time of day. I'm a night owl and am up well beyond the 1:00, 1:26, 1:37 a.m. update time. no i don't get three updates, it just seems like it changes every couple months.
• Ability to set a timer on Hopper1 from Hopper2 and vice versa.
• Add a folder for the Hopper2 recordings to the Hopper1's recordings menu instead of having to select the other hopper from the drop down menu. It's not that hard to do how it is now but ease of use would be much better if i could just select the distant hoppers recording by going in a folder. PTAT is setup like that now, seems it wouldn't be too hard to do.
• ?Make one of the colored buttons, or add a button to the remote, toggle CC. going to menu, settings, closed captioning is way too many presses of the remote. i'm not hard of hearing but sometimes CC has to be used to figure out what was said. Not to mention some senior citizens might not even try to turn it on/off because there are just too many buttons to push and they don't want to mess it up(my father being one )

 

[mdonnelly]

I like everything about the Hopper, but I wish they would add local PBS to PTAT.

 

[ncted]

1. Autohop, 1 central DVR
2. If it doesn't stay tuned to the PTAT channels, it will sometimes not be able to tune them without a red-button reset or waiting and hoping.
3. Nope
4. Autohop on all channels

 

[cosmo_kramer]

1. Whole home DVR, PTAT, AutoHop
2. PTAT recovery issues after a short signal loss
3. no service call placed
4. adding play list capability would be nice

 

[patmurphey]

Love them!

Would like to set timers from one Hopper to the other one. I do like the separate recording lists on drop down menus - all recordings on one list would be too much. I currently have the ability to set timers on the other Hopper by using an extra Joey and swapping HDMI inputs on my Harmony remote - a minor $7 month cost.

I really like the icons grouped by program name and sorted by DVR date combined with lists sorted by episode number when the icon is selected. My wife doesn't need a separate folder because her recordings are on the second Hopper drop down.

 

[Brodieb]

I had had the Hopper since the 1st week and here are my thoughts:

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
I love PTAT and the Home Media feature - both have changed the way I watch TV.

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
I have not had any issues related to the Hopper or Joey. I have the sling adapter and it works on and off.

3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
I moved and getting the sat all set up and working was an ordeal, but that was not related to the Hopper system.

4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?
I would like more than 3 tuners - I have 1 Hopper and 1 Joey and cannot imagine how TV watching would work with more Joeys. I regularly have all three tuners recording (PTAT and two other cable shows).

Overall, I think the Hopper is pretty great and by far the best DVR option out there. I appreciate DISH doing firmware updates on a regular basis and adding and improving features. As long as this keeps up I will remain a loyal Dish fan and Hopper user.

 

[longisland94]

1. PTAT auto hop, and HD in each room
2. I would love to have master control of the Joeys with the hopper. (not having to go to the Joey and turn off to free up the tuner)
3. no problems
4. same as 2....

 

[odbrv]

1 See each hopper DVRs on all hoppers and Joeys;
2 At installation Tech knew nothing about connecting OTA, EHDs, and broadband. It took me a couple days working with advanced tech support to resolve these issues.
3 Nothing
4a More Hopper integration , especially the ability to see all connected EHDs.
4b option to go to Larger tiles or lists to be able to read DVR info and Guide info for us with poorer eyesight.

 

[cubsfan34]

1. Whole home DVR - HD everywhere.
2. Nothing major.
3. None.
4. Many good ideas, but the simplest that I'd like (and could very easily happen) is the ability to change the time for updates. I'm up at 1am quite a bit, but am never up (at least not watching TV) at 4am, which was the time I had my VIPs shut down.

 

[datwell]

1) Lots of tuners w/PTAT, big hard drive and good PQ.
2) Earlier software required reboots, later versions more stable
3) No. No problems. No Sling - don't need it.
4) Here we go again... (non-PTAT) Recording succeeding shows on the same channel should not require 2 individual tuners - a single tuner could do the job with proper software

 

[johnner1999]

for what it is worth I have had the Hopper and Joey since launch…

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
I’d have to say best features are the capacity and the fact that for 99% of the time the thing just works as a DVR (does’t miss shows, does’t reboot randomly or lockup.

2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
Biggest issue is the UI could be “better” (I’d like an option to view my recorded shows in a list, be able to jump on the guide by day, be able to search by channel in a list)


3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
Thought I was having the cold weather issue, but that doesn’t occur with the solo node setup it seems, I just had drifted aliened dish.


4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?
It's a small one… but it would be great if you could pause what is playing while in the guide or dvd list view.

 

[SouthRider]

1) HD in every room

2) Hard to understand interface/software (still can't figure out the "conflicts" screen for example)

3) ZERO service problems.

4) TRUE integration of tuners, timers, and recorded shows throughout the household (ie: one timer list - system finds available tuner across units, one list showing all recordings, etc).

 

[patmurphey]

1) ...(still can't figure out the "conflicts" screen for example)...

You can just hit the red save button and go to the daily schedule to see if the conflicted show is picked up later or whether you want to skip something else. I grant that it's not clear that it's just a conflict "notification" screen, where you can skip/delete something else and save, or just hit save and deal with it on the daily schedule.

 

[DWS44]

1) Having a single repository of DVR recordings accessible from all TV locations
2) Generally sluggish response to commands and channel changes AND Trick play on Sirius channels very erratic and unpredictable, bordering on unusable.
3) Nope...still on the original equip installed during Thanksgiving.
4) Hard to pick just one, so I'm gonna cheat and list two: First, I kept hearing how fast the Hopper was when it came out, but by the time I got one, it sounds as if the software update(s) robbed it of some speed. Mine seems slower than my old 722k, actually. If it really was a function of the updates that slowed it down, I wish the speed could be restored. Second, I'd like to see a "Protect/Unprotect" Toggle added to the menu that pops up when you select a recording, instead of forcing us to go into a separate "Edit" screen just to set the "Protect" option. That just bugs me, as it seems like that whole second screen could just be incorporated into the pop-up menu.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

1. PTAT and autohop along with whole house HD are my favorite things.
2. Hmmm, the dropping of some channels sometimes in favorites lists.
3. Had a Hopper replaced in May after only couple months ... the hard drive failed. Nothing since.
4. Wanted the bluetooth, but that already happened.
Have 3 Hoppers and 3 Joeys ... one Hopper and one Joey in 5th wheel.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Hey guys...

Since it has been about a year since the Hopper has been out, I was wondering your thoughts on it and would like to get the feedback from our members on how its been and also see what you might like to see in the future.

So if you would be so kind would you please answer the following questions honestly... (And please I wish for people only to answer the questions, I dont want it to turn into a big discussion... I just want your honest thoughts...

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?

Thanks for your feedback! Please remember this thread is for people with Hoppers/Joey setup to answer the above questions... this is NOT a discussion thread.

1) GUI, speed, 4 tuners, space, reliability, PQ
2) It's between the disappearing tiles and the refusal to delete something while the other tuners are recording. I dont watch much live TV, so DVR issues are a big annoyance for me
3) No
4) Second OTA tuner. I prefer to record as many locals off OTA because of the PQ improvements

 

[dwarren2]

1. What are your favorite features on the Hopper/Joey?
2. What has been your biggest issues with the Hopper/Joey? (If you had install issues you can note them here as well.)
3. Besides upgrading to a new Hopper with Sling, have you had your Hopper/Joey replaced or had a service call placed? If you have what was the issue and how was it fixed?
4. If you could change or add just ONE feature on the Hopper what would it be and why?

1. Like everyone else, the whole house dvr
2. Several issues, (a) one of my Hopper keeps dropping the ehd, (b) black screen on local ota's through the module, (c) the loss of the "bug" on my old 722 which allowed me to view the ehd through the sling adapter.
3. Only installed Dec 1 after the ota module came out.
4. Full integration and (c) from #2