QUESTION - What Bugs or Usability Issues do you have with your Hopper?

[Joe Satellite Fan]

Like many others, some of the items are bothersome: Some way to copy favorites over from Joey to Joey or Hopper to Joey, when you have six boxes, it's really time consuming.

When clicking on the guide during prime time, it shouldn't be using an additional timer. I know there are ways around this, but this should be transparent.

Nobody has mentioned this, so I guess it's just our weird habits. My wife likes to have a TV on in almost every room "watching" the same program. For some reason the Joey attached TVs are anywhere from about a second to over 3 seconds behind the Hopper, both picture and sound. Either this delay should not be present or there should be some way to adjust it.

 

[prime2099]

Last night on the PTAT recordings all of the shows on FOX show nothing but a black screen, even the ones with timers to pull them over to the DVR side show as black screens. I was hoping they would come back after a reboot of the hopper but no go.

Fingers crossed for tonight. If this is going to be an ongoing issue then it's going to become a major pain for my family.

 

[blackjackmark]

I wish the FFWD/RWD and SKIP+/- buttons controlled the EPG exactly like the VIP models as well. SKIP+/- buttons should skip the EPG 24 hours.

I had the 922 and this is the way it did it as well (FWD=24 hours, SKIP FWD = 3 hours), so I guess not all VIPs were the same.

I got used to it fairly quickly when I switched to the 922.

 

[Rod Williams]

Tried to play a old recording off the EHD and got an Error 00. Transferred it to the Hopper, and it plays fine. I'm going to transfer it back to the EHD and try it again.

I have had this happen to me. I just tried it a second time and it works. Not sure why it doesn't work the first time. I have had to to this about 6 times so far.

 

[BearHuntr]

I have had this happen to me. I just tried it a second time and it works. Not sure why it doesn't work the first time. I have had to to this about 6 times so far.

Same for me. It's almost like the Hard Drive hasn't fully spun up yet.

 

[jgATL]

- BUG: DLNA not working - BUG: Exact match search on title to create a new series timer (non PTAT channel) will not record event. Using record series from guide does work. I would refer to this as the old "dish pass" timer (look across all channels for any new programs matching the text "Mad Men"). - BUG: 404 text appears on screen when trying to access apps. When exiting app, TV volume comes back but screen does not repaint to video programming. Requires full reboot of Hopper to remove 404 from screen. - ENHANCEMENT: Setting timer for PTAT event won't save that event to your local hard drive. You have to go to that show and select it to save it. Lot of work. - BUG: If you try to setup a timer for a PTAT event so it keeps it, the PTAT timer overrides it. The manual timer should force the PTAT tuner to record the event to the user portion of the HD. - BUG: Once you skip a timer for a PTAT event, you can't restore it or setup a new timer for that event. It continues to show as deleted, even if you setup a new timer to record it. Need a skip/restore button for PTAT. - BUG: Timers set as "Only New" are not correctly recording. Example this week was Pretty Little Liars on ABCFAM.

 

[hdaddikt]

I don't have a big issue with the PTAT, but it really does not buy me much. I already know what shows I want to see week to week, and just go through the guide a week ahead and set timers, like I always did. I am sure PTAT may be a good thing for others, that's cool. I used it the first couple of nights just so I could see it and 'ooh' & 'ahh'..but it's just another list of recordings I have to decide what to do with before the 8 days is up. There are enough timers to get the shows I want without any conflicts.
But just having PTAT available if needed, is great!

I use DLNA in my av receiver, not having it in the Hopper is not a dealbreaker for me, but I'm sure DN will fix it, along with some other minor glitches..
Fortunately, nothing has bit me yet that keeps me from using this receiver like I used my 722. The interface is easier and faster to navigate for most things.

 

[JM42]

- ENHANCEMENT: Setting timer for PTAT event won't save that event to your local hard drive. You have to go to that show and select it to save it. Lot of work. - BUG: If you try to setup a timer for a PTAT event so it keeps it, the PTAT timer overrides it. The manual timer should force the PTAT tuner to record the event to the user portion of the HD.

The above work fine for me.

 

[xgdavis]

Not sure if has been mentioned, but I'd like to only record new episodes on PTAT.

 

[LER]

Not sure if has been mentioned, but I'd like to only record new episodes on PTAT.

You can set such a timer for your personal timers. PTAT itself will use ITS partition for ALL PT programs. That's one of the neat things Dish did. The PTAT stuff (8 days worth) records to it's OWN partition (that's part of the reason your space shows 500G of a 2T drive).

 

[blackjackmark]

- ENHANCEMENT: Setting timer for PTAT event won't save that event to your local hard drive. You have to go to that show and select it to save it. Lot of work. -

Not true for me. Setting a timer does in fact save it to "My Recordings" and presumably beyond the eight days with no further user intervention required.

 

[zonk3]

USABILITY:
- The silver guide does not provide sufficient contrast for readability like the 922's blue guide. Also, the Guide buttons are bigger, but the text appears smaller. I "read" a guide, not just look at colors. The UI almost reminds me of Windows XP. Time to upgrade to a better look, such as Android on a tablet.
- 96-timer limit
- Just because I have a big screen HDTV doesn't mean the icons should be as big as my hand. I'd love to see a "List" of recordings rather than the icon view.
- When deleting a show in MY RECORDINGS, the focus point is bumped to the top of the current screen rather than remaining on the same line. That's an annoyance to say the least.
- Only 500Gb reserved for the customer despite marketing a 2Tb drive
- The PTAT icon in MY RECORDINGS is prominent and sticky even if you've turned the feature off. (It's also second in the dropdown list.)
- No ability to determine nightly update times.

BUGS:
- The list of (similar) shows in MY RECORDINGS does not indicate which shows are new at a glance.
- Hopper unit runs hot and is vented on the bottom(!). Bought a $6 cooling rack from the kitchen section of Walmart to give it more air.
- The PTAT is not a feature. I bought DISH to get away from network TV! Who tapes indiscriminately?
- Installation took over 3 hours (with rewiring). Most of the time was spent on the phone and waiting for updates. Techs were unaware that the contents of an External HD would take about 24 hours to catalog and be available to the user.
_____________________________________________________________________
All this, and yet I still love it 100 times more than the 922!

 

[JM42]

- Installation took over 3 hours (with rewiring). Most of the time was spent on the phone and waiting for updates. Techs were unaware that the contents of an External HD would take about 24 hours to catalog and be available to the user.

???????
Hooked both my EHDs up and had access immediately.

 

[jdlovin]

My wife is having trouble seeing the smaller display on Hopper guide. She has to walk up to tv to see it. Would be nice to see a future upgrade to address this. Other than that the Hopper and 3 Joeys have exceeded m expectations.

 

[sTuffedParrot]

BUG: Using the weather channel app causes the hopper to freeze with screen with the Hopper Logo and text (press "Select" to continue)). Select button does not work. You have to reboot Hopper.
the Joeys and dishonline were not affected. This has also happened when using the My Account App.

 

[schneider21]

I just switched from DirecTv and noticed one thing that I miss - when watching a show (whether recorded or live) I could press the play button and see where I'm at in the show via a progress bar. PTAT has a progress bar but it doesn't line up actual time of the recording you're watching. I haven't recorded an off-network show yet to see if it's there....

 

[mdavej]

Got new version S2.04 and the same bugs I found before are still there plus a few new ones:

- Browse doesn't use ascending/descending setting
- Popup in the Guide will not stay open with a single press of Record from an IR remote (UHF remote works fine)
- Weather app freezes video on exit. Returns only if you change to a music channel or hard reset.
- When exiting Apps, video freezes on 404 - Not Found (hard reset required to recover from that one)

 

[Hall]

On other Dish DVRs, hitting "Pause" will give you that info but it of course pauses the playback. I think hitting the "Cancel" button may do similarly. Yes, that is NOT very intuitive...

 

[LER]

Usability:
If you are watching a HD local from the PTAT tuner and PTAT ends, the video stream freezes with the live tv notification blinking.

You have to go to the guide to get to the program.

It should seamlessly keep on the station you are watching.

 

[xgdavis]

You can set such a timer for your personal timers. PTAT itself will use ITS partition for ALL PT programs. That's one of the neat things Dish did. The PTAT stuff (8 days worth) records to it's OWN partition (that's part of the reason your space shows 500G of a 2T drive).

It isn't really a question about space. I thoroughly enjoy PTAT, but as it does get cluttered.
For example, this weekend there were 2 episodes of Harry's Law, one Saturday and one Sunday. The Saturday episode was a rerun. If I was able to set the PTAT to record only new episodes, it would have skipped the rerun. Which IMO would be better.