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Dish "Hopper"

post #1 of 157
3/16/12 at 6:14am
Thread Starter 
Isn't it funny that Dish has now adoped a rental unit that seemingly records only commercial broadcast off their sky system for replay into a household and promotes it as HD! Of course, I am referring to the Hopper with the Joeys as substations. At least they have better control over the time and tv guide data.
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post #2 of 157
3/16/12 at 8:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mortier View Post

Isn't it funny that Dish has now adoped a rental unit that seemingly records only commercial broadcast off their sky system for replay into a household and promotes it as HD! Of course, I am referring to the Hopper with the Joeys as substations. At least they have better control over the time and tv guide data.

The Hopper/Joey is Dish's new satellite receiver whole home dvr system. It will have the option to record over the air broadcasts through an antenna, but is designed for subscription satellite broadcast reception. It will allow HD at additional locations in your home without the need for additional receivers as has been required previously.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled topic...
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post #3 of 157
3/20/12 at 6:02am
Tomorrow is my day for our Hopper and 3 Joeys to be installed, replacing our VIP722 DVR and VIP222 receiver. Though we consider the 4-channel primetime recording option to be a good idea, still the weak link in the DISH system is that the local broadcast stations are the first to go out when weather conditions become and issue. So, it takes out all 4 stations not just a single channel. I'm hoping we can install a good amplified antenna for the broadcast network stations and utilize that as either a fallback or preferred alternate to the satellite downlink providing our local stations.
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post #4 of 157
3/20/12 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cknouf View Post

Tomorrow is my day for our Hopper and 3 Joeys to be installed, replacing our VIP722 DVR and VIP222 receiver. Though we consider the 4-channel primetime recording option to be a good idea, still the weak link in the DISH system is that the local broadcast stations are the first to go out when weather conditions become and issue. So, it takes out all 4 stations not just a single channel. I'm hoping we can install a good amplified antenna for the broadcast network stations and utilize that as either a fallback or preferred alternate to the satellite downlink providing our local stations.

I might be getting Dish in the neat future since I can't get OTA from the upcoming new location (blocked by a big hill/small mountain). How come local broadcast isn't sent the same through satellite?
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post #5 of 157
3/20/12 at 7:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phildaant View Post

I might be getting Dish in the neat future since I can't get OTA from the upcoming new location (blocked by a big hill/small mountain). How come local broadcast isn't sent the same through satellite?

It is, unless DISH doesn't cary your locals, then OTA is your only option. Not many people fall into this category.

-Ted
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post #6 of 157
3/20/12 at 7:57am
I had the Hopper and 2 Joeys installed this past Saturday. It records all four major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) together during prime time (8-11), all on one tuner, automatically. That leaves the 2 other tuners to watch or record satellite channels or other locals. So far, it's pretty cool.... It is important to note that OTA, via an antenna is not yet supported. It is coming later using a USB dongle.
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post #7 of 157
3/20/12 at 8:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cknouf View Post

Tomorrow is my day for our Hopper and 3 Joeys to be installed, replacing our VIP722 DVR and VIP222 receiver. Though we consider the 4-channel primetime recording option to be a good idea, still the weak link in the DISH system is that the local broadcast stations are the first to go out when weather conditions become and issue. So, it takes out all 4 stations not just a single channel. I'm hoping we can install a good amplified antenna for the broadcast network stations and utilize that as either a fallback or preferred alternate to the satellite downlink providing our local stations.

FYI, the Hopper doesn't currently support OTA. They're testing different USB OTA tuners, but none are supported at the moment. The only way you'll be able to watch OTA is by using your a different tuner (TV, PC, etc.) but you won't be able to watch and record the signal via the Hopper.
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post #8 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncted View Post

It is, unless DISH doesn't cary your locals, then OTA is your only option. Not many people fall into this category.

-Ted

Ah. From what I saw, they have all the standard ones I care for.
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post #9 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobby94928 View Post

I had the Hopper and 2 Joeys installed this past Saturday. It records all four major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) together during prime time (8-11), all on one tuner, automatically. That leaves the 2 other tuners to watch or record satellite channels or other locals. So far, it's pretty cool.... It is important to note that OTA, via an antenna is not yet supported. It is coming later using a USB dongle.

Automatically? What if I don't want that to save disk space and tuners?
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post #10 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dustinw82 View Post

FYI, the Hopper doesn't currently support OTA. They're testing different USB OTA tuners, but none are supported at the moment. The only way you'll be able to watch OTA is by using your a different tuner (TV, PC, etc.) but you won't be able to watch and record the signal via the Hopper.

Interesting. Well, OTA won't happen where I will be moving to so it wouldn't matter.
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post #11 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by phildaant View Post

Automatically? What if I don't want that to save disk space and tuners?

You can turn it off. You don't save any space because the Hopper has it's own space for these recordings, out of the 2TB HD. It only uses one tuner for all 4 recordings, nightly. If that causes some issues, you can turn it off, or add a second Hopper ($7 monthly) for 3 more tuners.
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post #12 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobby94928 View Post

You can turn it off. You don't save any space because the Hopper has it's own space for these recordings, out of the 2TB HD. It only uses one tuner for all 4 recordings, nightly. If that causes some issues, you can turn it off, or add a second Hopper ($7 monthly) for 3 more tuners.

Ahh. How much can you record for each space? I assume they can stay on it forever?
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post #13 of 157
3/20/12 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phildaant View Post

Ahh. How much can you record for each space? I assume they can stay on it forever?

It is supposed to keep about 1 week of the primetime recordings. If you want to keep a particular recording longer, there is a way to do that.

Here is a review:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-for...pper-joey.html
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post #14 of 157
3/20/12 at 1:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phildaant View Post

Ahh. How much can you record for each space? I assume they can stay on it forever?

They are kept for 8 days. Of the 2 TB, 500 GB goes to the Prime Time Anytime, 500 GB goes to the user, and Dish reserves 1 TB for themselves (on demand and such). If there is a show in the Prime Time Anytime section you want to keep for longer than 8 days, you can save it to your side of the DVR.
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post #15 of 157
3/20/12 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dustinw82 View Post

They are kept for 8 days. Of the 2 TB, 500 GB goes to the Prime Time Anytime, 500 GB goes to the user, and Dish reserves 1 TB for themselves (on demand and such). If there is a show in the Prime Time Anytime section you want to keep for longer than 8 days, you can save it to your side of the DVR.

OK good. I do keep some of my recordings for months.
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post #16 of 157
3/20/12 at 3:35pm
Hi-
Got hopper installed yesterday, pretty happy so far.

Dissapointed that it was sold as a 2TB DVR, when I look in the Settings it appears to be 500GB for user created recordings (which jives with previous post) so that seems to be pretty misleading.
Sort of baffeled about whats behind the Primtetime Anytime feature. It seems to work, doesnt seem to be any quality difference than a regular recording. Intretsing they can record 4 shows simultaneously on one tuner.

I upgraded from 3 DVRs. (922 and 2 622s) Advantages are the remotes (Joeys) are silent, much nicer than having a loud DVR in the bedrooms. I had 622s in the bedroom and they didnt offer On Demand, now all rooms have On Demand.

At night when you have Prime Time anywhere running you only have 2 tuners for live TV available. so thats a pain if somone leaves a tuner on in their room and you can't access a live stream.

Anyway, it cost me just $5/month (plus $100 for install) so I am a little on the fence about whether thats going to be worth it.
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post #17 of 157
3/20/12 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

Hi-
Got hopper installed yesterday, pretty happy so far.

Dissapointed that it was sold as a 2TB DVR, when I look in the Settings it appears to be 500GB for user created recordings (which jives with previous post) so that seems to be pretty misleading.
Sort of baffeled about whats behind the Primtetime Anytime feature. It seems to work, doesnt seem to be any quality difference than a regular recording. Intretsing they can record 4 shows simultaneously on one tuner.

I upgraded from 3 DVRs. (922 and 2 622s) Advantages are the remotes (Joeys) are silent, much nicer than having a loud DVR in the bedrooms. I had 622s in the bedroom and they didnt offer On Demand, now all rooms have On Demand.

At night when you have Prime Time anywhere running you only have 2 tuners for live TV available. so thats a pain if somone leaves a tuner on in their room and you can't access a live stream.

Anyway, it cost me just $5/month (plus $100 for install) so I am a little on the fence about whether thats going to be worth it.

Did you only get one Hopper? If so, you went from a 6 tuner setup down to a 3 tuner setup. I went from a 922 and 2 722's to 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys. This kept my 6 tuners. The nice thing is that once the software update allows Hopper integration, the Joeys will see both Hoppers as one giant 6 tuner 4 TB DVR. You'll also be able to watch one Hopper's programming on another Hopper.
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post #18 of 157
3/20/12 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

Anyway, it cost me just $5/month (plus $100 for install) so I am a little on the fence about whether thats going to be worth it.

You might double check your bill. The Hopper is $6 per month plus $4 whole home DVR fee plus $7 for each Joey.
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post #19 of 157
3/20/12 at 6:15pm
Yea, but when I had those 6 tuners they couldnt be shared and I only had 3 independant TV's, now I have 4. On my main DVR I was constantly running into conflicts especially during basketball season. I am hoping between being able to record all prime time on one tuner and having an extra tuner outside of prime time I can eliminate or reduce conflicts.

As far as my bill, DISH told me after removing the 3 DVRs I had, my new bill would be net $5 more, if that turns out not to be true there will be a problem.

I like the idea of getting a second hopper when the integration becomes available.

So far the best part is the 622s in the kids bedroom were way too loud and used to wake them up.The Joeys are silent.
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post #20 of 157
3/20/12 at 8:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

Yea, but when I had those 6 tuners they couldnt be shared and I only had 3 independant TV's, now I have 4. On my main DVR I was constantly running into conflicts especially during basketball season. I am hoping between being able to record all prime time on one tuner and having an extra tuner outside of prime time I can eliminate or reduce conflicts.

As far as my bill, DISH told me after removing the 3 DVRs I had, my new bill would be net $5 more, if that turns out not to be true there will be a problem.

I like the idea of getting a second hopper when the integration becomes available.

So far the best part is the 622s in the kids bedroom were way too loud and used to wake them up.The Joeys are silent.

I gotcha. I was thinking you meant it was only 5 dollars to have the setup. I was actually able to cut my bill down substantially by switching.
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post #21 of 157
3/20/12 at 10:26pm
well I am going to double check my bill on your advice, because they also told me (and everyone who's seen the ad )that its a 2TB DVR and its notso we'll see
are you pretty happy with the new setup?
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post #22 of 157
3/21/12 at 12:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mortier View Post

Isn't it funny that Dish has now adoped a rental unit that seemingly records only commercial broadcast off their sky system for replay into a household and promotes it as HD! Of course, I am referring to the Hopper with the Joeys as substations. At least they have better control over the time and tv guide data.

?
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post #23 of 157
3/21/12 at 4:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

well I am going to double check my bill on your advice, because they also told me (and everyone who's seen the ad )that its a 2TB DVR and its notso we'll see
are you pretty happy with the new setup?

Technically it is 2 TB. But like I said 1 TB is reserved for all of the on demand stuff and another 500 GB is reserved for Prime Time Anytime. This leaves 500 GB for yourself.

I am happy with my new setup. The Hoppers are much more responsive than what the 922 was. Right now the two Hoppers don't see each other yet but that is Dish's number one priority and they're working on a software upgrade. Once complete, a two Hopper system will act like one giant 6 tuner 4 TB DVR. Currently, from a Joey, you can choose which Hopper you want to connect to by pressing the blue button on your remote.
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post #24 of 157
3/21/12 at 4:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken H View Post


?

You got me.....
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post #25 of 157
3/21/12 at 6:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crussell1492 View Post

Hi-
Got hopper installed yesterday, pretty happy so far.
...
Sort of baffeled about whats behind the Primtetime Anytime feature. It seems to work, doesnt seem to be any quality difference than a regular recording. Intretsing they can record 4 shows simultaneously on one tuner.
...

Since PTAT is your HD locals coming off the satellite on one transponder, I think it's pretty straightforward to record all at once on one tuner. I'm just sorry that my local PBS station isn't included in PTAT.
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post #26 of 157
3/21/12 at 6:52pm
https://support.dish.com/ is back again, but in a reloaded state. I noticed it has a Hopper and Joey subforum now.
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post #27 of 157
3/21/12 at 8:31pm
Is all On demand content PCM? live hbo is Dolby d, on demand is PCM..
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post #28 of 157
3/25/12 at 11:25pm
Does anyone know when dish on demand will have all of HBO GO content? (Treme is one that I see is missing)
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post #29 of 157
3/26/12 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneFore9 View Post

It will have the option to record over the air broadcasts through an antenna, but is designed for subscription satellite broadcast reception.

Any idea on how they plan to add an ATSC tuner and an input for a terrestrial antenna?
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post #30 of 157
3/26/12 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by isfcalman View Post

Any idea on how they plan to add an ATSC tuner and an input for a terrestrial antenna?

I think someone said through USB.
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