What do we want for Hopper 4?

Kizzer

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Aug 16, 2016
70
38
Nebraska
If we were advising DISH, and we are since they monitor this forum, what features do we want in Hopper 4?

1. I'm personally fine with 16 tuners. (My DirectTV friends are jealous)

2. I'd like to see a larger hard drive, at least 6 TB.

3. Continue to allow additional EHD, but make items stored there visible on DVR screen without changing sources. (Tivo does that)

4. Also, allow larger EHD.

5. More apps, such as Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, CBS All Access, and more. I want my Dish DVR to be my total entertainment system. Let Roku add-on. That would be great!

6. OTA dongle that's actually available.

What else?
 
Larger internal drive would be nice, and probably inevitable given the space 4K recording will require.

I'd also REALLY like OTA to work starting on day one...as in ability to scan for and add OTA channels, view OTA channels, and record OTA properly...and not have to wait 8+ months for OTA to work properly. ;)
 
Larger internal drive would be nice, and probably inevitable given the space 4K recording will require.

I'd also REALLY like OTA to work starting on day one...as in ability to scan for and add OTA channels, view OTA channels, and record OTA properly...and not have to wait 8+ months for OTA to work properly. ;)

How long has the HWS been out.......still can't add single ota channels without a complete scan
 
I say allow us to use the Echostar Channel master 2 ota tuners module as the ota usb dongle. That way we get to plug it into the usb slot and to the Internet and get guide information for two weeks for all ota channels ,including sub channels. Kills two birds with one stone .


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H3.5 with a built in OTA module, a larger SSHD, and a remote like the 52 but with a few more buttons to remove the duel functions. Or at least move functions to lesser used buttons like right now the arrow pad is kinda useless in day to day viewing.


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I would like to see redundancy in the DVR system so that when you loose the internal drive or the whole receiver you wouldn't loose recordings.

Like the OP, I'd like to see all drives integrated into the same DVR list. Switching sources is a pain especially since it always goes back to the internal. If multiple external drives could be added to the receiver AND be integrated with the main DVR list, I don't see drive size as a huge issue. BUT larger drives are becoming the norm and 2TB may become hard to find at a reasonable cost some time soon.

My vote is actually FEWER apps! Software development focus should be on making basic functionality work reliably. The time to implement apps will take development resources away from bug fixes and features that had already been promised. Currently, we are more likely to see yet another streaming service brought to Hopper than we are to see OTA or PIP on the HD Joey -- both advertised when H3 was released. Let's not forget that services like Netflix still don't work properly and in some cases crash the receiver.

I personally don't think the OTA tuner(s) should be integrated into the receiver. That adds cost to those of us that don't need the functionality. The dongle approach is acceptable as long as it works and is available. Since this one resource is shared by potentially 6-7 users of the system, provision for more OTA tuners would be a really good idea however.

While nothing to do with a new receiver, Dish needs to address the situation that is preventing some customers from upgrading to H3. Customer account records that incorrectly report multiple dishes along with Dish's apparent reluctance to upgrade if it means more than one dish need to be addressed. The hybrid LNB does have an input for an second dish with a single satellite and we should be allowed to use it. When available, the DPH42 switch will hopefully get many back to a single dish solution (international programming on WA for example) while better supporting multiple dish needs (line of sight, larger dishes, etc.).
 
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Western Digital makes a nice 4TB (dual 2TB) RAID external drive for recordings you don't want to lose.

Netflix on my Hopper3 has been rock solid, including 4k content. The Netflix app for the 4k Joey is in the hands of Netflix - still waiting...
 
Western Digital makes a nice 4TB (dual 2TB) RAID external drive for recordings you don't want to lose.
Yup. Have one too and it works great, BUT it requires the user to move material from the internal to the external. Redundancy should be automatic. The other current issue with externals is you can't see their content from DishAnywhere.

What I'd like to see is a way to add an external redundant drive to the receiver. So that any programs recorded to the internal are mirrored to the external without user involvement. If the receiver craps out, replacing the receiver triggers a transfer from the external mirror to the internal in the new receiver so no programming is lost with the receiver swap.

As the internal fills up, there needs to be a way to move content to an external WITHOUT loosing visibility of it. Currently, you need to know which external drive the program is on and switch to that to find the program in the list. What would be best is the ability to define an external as an expansion to the internal drive so when the internal fills up, new recordings simply go to the external. Currently, this happens within a drive since each is partitioned into smaller pieces and the partitions are hidden from the user.

Dish needs to officially support external RAIDs. They work now, Dish just needs to admit that.

So combining all that, an example of what could be possible:

Internal 2 TB
External 1 is mirror for internal
External 2 is expansion to internal
External 3 is mirror to external 2
External 4 is a RAID for archival storage
External 5 is another drive for additional archival storage

External 2 could be a RAID, making external 3 unnecessary.

Mirrors and RAIDs would be optional.

Expanding the capacity of the DVR will undoubtably require better content management. Consider a system that has four external 6 TB drives attached and all full. That's a huge list of programs to sort through without help.

Currently we can have folders on the internal drive but only one layer (no folders within folders). Nested folders need to be allowed and the mechanism extended to external drives. Other filtering mechanisms can also be used with user editable tags.

Current external drives can not be named. Their identification is automatically generated (External 1, External 2, etc.) based on the order they are discovered each time the receiver boots. Expansion of the DVR functionality will require the ability to name external drives. Content lists need the ability to show content on all drives or single one or more out for display.
 
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Dish will never provide an extra internal drive for RAID, or any other scheme that copies, because of copyright issues, and how much more expensive the boxes would be. (I know that there is some non-copyrighted material.) That's why RAID external drives are not "officially" supported'
 
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If we were advising DISH, and we are since they monitor this forum, what features do we want in Hopper 4?

1. I'm personally fine with 16 tuners. (My DirectTV friends are jealous)

2. I'd like to see a larger hard drive, at least 6 TB.

3. Continue to allow additional EHD, but make items stored there visible on DVR screen without changing sources. (Tivo does that)

4. Also, allow larger EHD.

5. More apps, such as Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, CBS All Access, and more. I want my Dish DVR to be my total entertainment system. Let Roku add-on. That would be great!

6. OTA dongle that's actually available.

What else?
i agree with you on number 5 wouldnt that be fun if roku adds on all their channels being added on dish wow.
 
Yes, please LABEL each EHD, because a piece of tape with a name doesn't cut it when more than one EHD is connected.

Direct EHD to EHD transfers.

Put the darned red "recording in progress" LED back.
 
Yes, please LABEL each EHD, because a piece of tape with a name doesn't cut it when more than one EHD is connected.

Direct EHD to EHD transfers.

Put the darned red "recording in progress" LED back.

Yes put a big quarter size red light that strobes like a disco ball when there are any recordings going on.


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Yes put a big quarter size red light that strobes like a disco ball when there are any recordings going on.

Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one... I was surprised when they removed the red recording light on the H3's box to begin with, but I'll take no light over an annoying bright red one any day of the week. Besides, with 16 tuners, that light might be on way too often, especially if you record a lot of shows.

I just want voice commands to work without requiring internet connectivity.
 
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Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one... I was surprised when they removed the red recording light on the H3's box to begin with, but I'll take no light over an annoying bright red one any day of the week. Besides, with 16 tuners, that light might be on way too often, especially if you record a lot of shows.

I just want voice commands to work without requiring internet connectivity.
I was trying to be sarcastic with my post, but it doesn't translate well using my I pad.




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Personally I don't really miss the red light at all. I have adjusted to using the options button and then tv activity.


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Personally I don't really miss the red light at all. I have adjusted to using the options button and then tv activity.


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I missed the red record light at first but not any longer. I think it's useful if you are going to power down the receiver or disconnect cables for some reason but only partially. You could power down just before a recording starts and still miss the program. A better practice is to review the timer schedule prior to any work on the system.

If the receiver has locked up, any recording in progress may also be locked up so a light won't tell you much.

Much earlier receivers would abort a recording if you turned them off so the red light was very important, but that doesn't happen any longer. On the dual tuner receivers, it was handy to know which mode the receiver was in and the on/off and recording status of each tuner/output. But again, we've moved far beyond resource limitations of the two tuner receivers. Even the power light is of little value since the receiver never really turns off.
 
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