Dish Network Hopper Question

[DanKirk]

I currently have Dish Network at home, and have 3 TV's connected to 2 DVR's (a VIP722K and a VIP612).

I want to add a TV, and to upgrade to a whole-home DVR system, and am considering the Hopper. I spoke to a Dish rep, and they suggested that 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys would be best for my set up.

I've done some reading online, and it seems that many people are having issues with the Hopper system since the last software update. The complaints are that the Hoppers lock-up, the remotes are sluggish, and the Joeys disconnect regularly.

Is the Hopper system unreliable, and should I look at other options? Or, are the online complaints just isolated incidents?

How are your Hoppers working?

[TechWriter]

Happily Retired 2 wrote:
Thanks, TechWriter. Didn't realize there was a newer Hopper, so we don't have the capability to transfer to iPad but would love to! Will be checking with Dish about the HWS!

Remember, contact a DIRT (DISH Internet Response Team) member on the Satelliteguys web site. DIRT members can often get you a better deal than by just cold calling DISH directly.

[Happily_Retired]

Thanks, TechWriter. Didn't realize there was a newer Hopper, so we don't have the capability to transfer to iPad but would love to! Will be checking with Dish about the HWS!

[TechWriter]

Goostoff wrote:

TechWriter wrote:

Goostoff wrote:
The sluggish remote thing is the biggest PITA as far as I am concerned.

Do you have one of the original Hoppers? or a Hopper with Sling?

We have one of the originals. We made the switch as soon as it came out. We made a decision to upgrade to HD programming and went to Radioshack since they carry both providers. As soon as the sales rep showed us the hopper and how it worked we were sold. Like I said it has its problems but well worth the trade off.

You might want to upgrade to a Hopper with Sling (HWS). Even if you don't care about the Sling feature, an HWS performs better than the original Hoppers. I did the upgrade and have no problems with sluggish remotes.

You'll have to commit to a new 2-year contract + there may be an upgrade fee. If you're interested, you also might want to contact a DIRT (DISH Internet Response Team) member on the Satelliteguys web site. DIRT members can often get you a better deal than by just cold calling DISH directly.

When I did this upgrade, DISH just sent me a HSW which I hooked up myself. Then I just sent back my original Hopper.

[Goostoff]

TechWriter wrote:

Goostoff wrote:
The sluggish remote thing is the biggest PITA as far as I am concerned.

Do you have one of the original Hoppers? or a Hopper with Sling?

We have one of the originals. We made the switch as soon as it came out. We made a decision to upgrade to HD programming and went to Radioshack since they carry both providers. As soon as the sales rep showed us the hopper and how it worked we were sold. Like I said it has its problems but well worth the trade off.

[ghiotom]

We had 2 hoppers with sling and 2 joeys installed 3 weeks ago (been with Dish since 2003) and so far, very impressed with system. The sling feature has allowed us to use our 30" monitor on the computer as another tv option and being able to watch all of our programming virtually anywhere is a nice feature. Have not tried hooking up the hopper in the RV yet, but I have a solo node on order and will do a test here at the house to make sure there are no surprises when I do go camping.

[TechWriter]

Goostoff wrote:
The sluggish remote thing is the biggest PITA as far as I am concerned.

Do you have one of the original Hoppers? or a Hopper with Sling?

[TechWriter]

Happily Retired 2 wrote:
Lap527, We have the Hopper and an iPad but are not familiar with the transfer you mentioned. Could you elaborate, please? Thanks!

Hopper iPad App transfers

[Goostoff]

we switched from dirctv to dish when the hopper came out. We love the system. It does have its issues, like locking up or the joey just randomly shutting off and taking 5 minutes to turn on and reboot but all the issues are no big deal. Its a PITA but still well worth the trade off of having thr system. The sluggish remote thing is the biggest PITA as far as I am concerned. Not sure it is really the remote or the software in the system, but when you push a button it will not register right away so you push it again, and again. Pretty soon it will all take off at once and you have stff popping up or jumping a bunch of channels.

[MrWizard]

K Charles wrote:
Off topic but it's hard to find anything worth watching on one tuner.

I guess you are being funny
If one tuner will find nothing to watch
Four tuners will find nothing
The only reason to have more tuners is because there is too much that you want to watch

[Happily_Retired]

Lap527, We have the Hopper and an iPad but are not familiar with the transfer you mentioned. Could you elaborate, please? Thanks!

[Goodpete]

I've had my hopper for almost a year now. I love it. It does lock up sometimes and it reacts slower now than when it was new

[K_Charles]

Off topic but it's hard to find anything worth watching on one tuner.

[TechWriter]

DanKirk wrote:
I currently have Dish Network at home, and have 3 TV's connected to 2 DVR's (a VIP722K and a VIP612).

I want to add a TV, and to upgrade to a whole-home DVR system, and am considering the Hopper. I spoke to a Dish rep, and they suggested that 2 Hoppers and 2 Joeys would be best for my set up.

I'd go for 3 Hoppers and one Joey -- that's 9 tuners or 11 when the Super Joey is released. A guy on the Satelliteguys.us forums has 4 Hoppers in his house (that's 12 tuners).

Anyway, you pay only $5 more per month for a Hopper, since a Hopper is $12/mon and a Joey is $7/mon. I went from 1 Hopper & 2 Joeys in my RV to 2 Hoppers & 1 Joey.

BTW, work with a local installer, not DISH directly. You'll have more options.

DanKirk wrote:

I've done some reading online, and it seems that many people are having issues with the Hopper system since the last software update. The complaints are that the Hoppers lock-up, the remotes are sluggish, and the Joeys disconnect regularly.

Is the Hopper system unreliable, and should I look at other options? Or, are the online complaints just isolated incidents?

How are your Hoppers working?

The remotes are "sluggish"? That's a good one. I used to have a DirecTV HR20 -- now that's slow! I've never had a Hopper "lock up", but I did have one reset itself.

There are bugs, but to me no show stoppers. For example, I bought an external USB hard drive, connected it to my Hopper to store TV programs, but my Hopper did not "see" it no matter what I did. Then I bought two of the DISH recommended drives and they both worked fine.

You'll love Hoppers, especially PTAT with AutoHop.

[lap527]

We switched to dish and the hopper last year and have had a few hiccups but just googled the error and fixed things. Love the prime time anytime and hopper transfer using iPad.