Hopper Curious? This May Help.

Marlin Guy · May 21, 2012

As a former DirecTV subscriber, I was curious about how the Hopper functioned and performed. I found some information online, but I would have appreciated if someone had posted something like this before I committed.
I ultimately jumped onboard anyway, so I made this video with the hope that others may find it helpful.

It's not meant to be all-encompassing. Just somewhat informative and educational.

The one thing that continues to impress me about the Hopper DVR is its performance, especially during playback.

Sorry for the low quality. It's tricky working a remote with one hand and holding a smartphone steady in the other.

You can find more information on the Hopper/Joey system here.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=201721

If you are unclear on anything, please don't hesitate to ask a question on these forums.
Everyone's here to help.

FilmMixer · May 22, 2012

"Marlin Guy" said:
As a former DirecTV subscriber, I was curious about how the Hopper functioned and performed. I found some information online, but I would have appreciated if someone had posted something like this before I committed.
I ultimately jumped onboard anyway, so I made this video with the hope that others may find it helpful.

It's not meant to be all-encompassing. Just somewhat informative and educational.

The one thing that continues to impress me about the Hopper DVR is its performance, especially during playback.

Sorry for the low quality. It's tricky working a remote with one hand and holding a smartphone steady in the other.

YouTube Link

How do you find the HD picture quality?

P Smith · May 22, 2012

OMG !

You exposed your serial numbers ! Doomsday coming to you ! Red Alert !

BTW, you didn't mentioned FW version. Sort of important to know, some buttons, functions changing from one version to other.

3HaloODST · May 22, 2012

Fellow Hopper/Joey user here, great vid!

Marlin Guy · May 22, 2012

FilmMixer said:
How do you find the HD picture quality?

It's just fine for my use.
I never was one of those who claimed he could tell 1080i from 1080p anyway, and 3D makes my head hurt.

Marlin Guy · May 22, 2012

P Smith said:
OMG !

BTW, you didn't mentioned FW version. Sort of important to know, some buttons, functions changing from one version to other.

It's not about the buttons as much as it is about showing the general look and feel of the DVR.

3HaloODST · May 22, 2012

P Smith said:
OMG !

You exposed your serial numbers ! Doomsday coming to you ! Red Alert !

BTW, you didn't mentioned FW version. Sort of important to know, some buttons, functions changing from one version to other.

FW version is right at 3:29.

sregener · May 22, 2012

FilmMixer said:
How do you find the HD picture quality?

As a confirmed pixel peeper and recent DirecTV customer (switched at the end of April) I feel qualified to answer this question.

On some channels, Dish HD is almost as good as DirecTV's HD. There is a slight loss of picture detail, and some evidence of color quashing. On others, particularly on Fox Sports Net, the picture quality on Dish is greatly inferior. I would describe the differences as mostly subtle, with the exception of FSN. The average person is probably not going to notice the difference.

What made it worth switching for me is that Dish has some channels that I watch quite a bit in HD that DirecTV does not have (BBC America comes to mind) and DirecTV's SD quality makes a worn-out VHS tape look good. By comparison, Dish's SD quality is quite good, better than VHS but worse than DVD by a wide margin. The similarly-priced package I switched to included several movie channels that I am likely to watch, which replaced channels I never watched on DirecTV. There are a few odd channels that are not in HD - Disney, ABC Family and ESPN News, for instance. And Dish appears to be saying goodbye to AMC, which doesn't matter a bit to me, but I know it will to others.

The other factor was that I had one of the slowest DVRs on the planet from DirecTV. It was awful, and created all sorts of problems for me. The Hopper works the way a DVR should - fast and responsive, even while recording 3 things at once. I understand that the problems with the DirecTV DVR's was not universal, and while I was assured DirecTV was aware of and working on the problem, I figured giving them over two years to fix it was enough to convince me that they'd probably never get it right.

duda007 · May 22, 2012

What does this feature offer o the hopper?

P Smith · May 22, 2012

duda007 said:
What does this feature offer o the hopper?

See/read many thread/posts about "EHD".

domingos35 · May 22, 2012

duda007 said:
What does this feature offer o the hopper?

u can transfer recordings from your dvr to an external hard drive

duda007 · May 22, 2012

How many shows can I record not including PTAT?

I'm looking into 1 hopper & 3 joeys set up.

Can I use the blockbuster, dish on demand and apps only from the hopper or joeys also?

Can I initiate recording from the joeys also?

Thanks.

Marlin Guy · May 22, 2012

duda007 said:
How many shows can I record not including PTAT?

I'm looking into 1 hopper & 3 joeys set up.

Can I use the blockbuster, dish on demand and apps only from the hopper or joeys also?

Can I initiate recording from the joeys also?

Thanks.

There are three available tuners in the Hopper. The Joeys tune and playback via the Hopper. PTAT can be disabled, allowing all three to be used for user-defined recording and tuning during Primetime. If PTAT is on, it will use one tuner, leaving two for your other needs.

Yes. All functions, including scheduling recordings, are available from the Joeys. Think of the Hopper as a server and the Joeys as thin clients attached to that server. The Joeys are merely extensions of the Hopper.

RasputinAXP · May 22, 2012

i think my brain may collapse if someone asks that first question there again.

P Smith · May 22, 2012

RasputinAXP said:
i think my brain may collapse if someone asks that first question there again.

Judging by the push of h2k/j you will read the question each week at least during following years ... Guaranteed !

3HaloODST · May 22, 2012

Especially with the confusion that PTAT creates when Dish claims you can record 6 at once.

Marlin Guy · May 22, 2012

RasputinAXP said:
i think my brain may collapse if someone asks that first question there again.

It's to be expected. It can be annoying to people who are familiar with the system, but it's essential information for those who are unfamiliar.
One of the main reasons I made the video was to show some of the features and the interface to people who haven't used Dish products.
I was with them years ago, but the new stuff is vastly different from that to which I was accustomed.

Marlin Guy · May 22, 2012

3HaloODST said:
Especially with the confusion that PTAT creates when Dish claims you can record 6 at once.

I'll have to agree with that. It's a bit of a misleading statement. Perhaps a bigger asterisk is in order.

P Smith · May 22, 2012

To continuation of questions coming up again and again: how many h2k already installed ?
What is your estimation ?

RasputinAXP · May 23, 2012

Marlin Guy said:
It's to be expected. It can be annoying to people who are familiar with the system, but it's essential information for those who are unfamiliar.
One of the main reasons I made the video was to show some of the features and the interface to people who haven't used Dish products.
I was with them years ago, but the new stuff is vastly different from that to which I was accustomed.

I know, I'm just saying it's in both FAQs.

Sigh. Kittens give Morbo gas.

Hopper Curious? This May Help.

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