I've been a long time DirecTV customer and have had DVR's since the UtimateTV days. I have always wanted a whole home type setup. Most recently I've had 3 HR2* DVR's networked for sharing. I never liked the fact that you had to go to the individual DRV to manage timer settings and all the juggling of which program to record on which box.
Last week I called D* and went to the retention department. After a few calls to try to get the HR34 for no charge (which I know for a fact they did for a coworker). After some investigation I decided to give Dish and the Hopper a try. Last Saturday I had a 1H/3J installation put in.
The installation went great. The installer was better than any I have ever had from D*. I love the features of the Hopper/Joey. It is very nice not having to wait several seconds for a response any time you hit a button. I can actually scroll through the guide faster than I could read it. The picture is comparable. The setup of only one cable to each box is a welcome improvement. We ripped out about 8 cables coming down the side of my house and replaced them with 3.
I am still waiting for the Sling to be delivered.
So far I have only found a few quirks/bugs.
1. Custom channel list. I created a custom channel list and I missed adding one of the local channels. Now I cannot get it to add that channel to the list. I edit it, check the missing channel, save, and go check. Still no channel 9. If I go back into the custom list it is again unchecked. I also confirmed that it does show up when in "My Channels".
2. DNLA does not work. I have the Hopper hard wired in. It can see the DNLA sources but never will bring up a folder list when one is selected. Also the Joey's cannot do DNLA through the Hopper even though the installer stated that they could. I have read in other threads that I could most likely get it to work by adding a HIC. Since I have either an xbox360 or a BluRay player at each location, I already have a fully working DNLA client and don't really need the Hopper/Joey one to work.
3. With DirecTV if you were watching a show from the beginning an at some point decided you wanted to record it, the DVR would capture what was in the buffer and record the show from the beginning. With Dish it only records from the point you started recording the show.
4. Last night I was watching a show and hit record. When it was over the next show came on the same channel and I thought it looked interesting. It was 11pm so I hit record to watch it later. Since the first show was still doing its 3 minute past the end recording the Joey would not let me start recording the show starting at 11pm since it was already recording that channel. I had to go in and manually stop the 1st shows recording in order for it to let me start recording the next show. I suppose I could have switched tuners too.
Overall I am very happy with the switch. I have much better equipment, more channels, and 4 TV locations instead of 3. My monthly bill went down $1 (not much, but consider I am adding things at the same time).
Since the switch DirecTV has twice offered my the HR34 for free. I told them it is too late now.
Last week I called D* and went to the retention department. After a few calls to try to get the HR34 for no charge (which I know for a fact they did for a coworker). After some investigation I decided to give Dish and the Hopper a try. Last Saturday I had a 1H/3J installation put in.
The installation went great. The installer was better than any I have ever had from D*. I love the features of the Hopper/Joey. It is very nice not having to wait several seconds for a response any time you hit a button. I can actually scroll through the guide faster than I could read it. The picture is comparable. The setup of only one cable to each box is a welcome improvement. We ripped out about 8 cables coming down the side of my house and replaced them with 3.
I am still waiting for the Sling to be delivered.
So far I have only found a few quirks/bugs.
1. Custom channel list. I created a custom channel list and I missed adding one of the local channels. Now I cannot get it to add that channel to the list. I edit it, check the missing channel, save, and go check. Still no channel 9. If I go back into the custom list it is again unchecked. I also confirmed that it does show up when in "My Channels".
2. DNLA does not work. I have the Hopper hard wired in. It can see the DNLA sources but never will bring up a folder list when one is selected. Also the Joey's cannot do DNLA through the Hopper even though the installer stated that they could. I have read in other threads that I could most likely get it to work by adding a HIC. Since I have either an xbox360 or a BluRay player at each location, I already have a fully working DNLA client and don't really need the Hopper/Joey one to work.
3. With DirecTV if you were watching a show from the beginning an at some point decided you wanted to record it, the DVR would capture what was in the buffer and record the show from the beginning. With Dish it only records from the point you started recording the show.
4. Last night I was watching a show and hit record. When it was over the next show came on the same channel and I thought it looked interesting. It was 11pm so I hit record to watch it later. Since the first show was still doing its 3 minute past the end recording the Joey would not let me start recording the show starting at 11pm since it was already recording that channel. I had to go in and manually stop the 1st shows recording in order for it to let me start recording the next show. I suppose I could have switched tuners too.
Overall I am very happy with the switch. I have much better equipment, more channels, and 4 TV locations instead of 3. My monthly bill went down $1 (not much, but consider I am adding things at the same time).
Since the switch DirecTV has twice offered my the HR34 for free. I told them it is too late now.
