# Upgrade to Hopper/Joey from 508 DVR?



## NCCaniac (Apr 4, 2012)

I have had DISH service for a number of years and have the 508 DVR receiver (owned, not leased). Even though I have all LCD HD TVs now, I had held off on moving up to DISH's HD service because of the extra per/month HD DVR fee and as I was waiting to see if uVerse would soon be in my neighborhood for a price comparison (my brother switched from DISH to uVerse and has been happy with the service).

Well, after two years there is still no timetable for when uVerse will come to my neighborhood and with the new Hopper/Joey system, I am considering that as my house is already wired with two RG6 coax connections in each room and a patch panel so I can essentially route a connection from any room to any room. (Seems perfect for the Hopper and Joey.) So, now a few questions:

1) It seems there is the option to buy the Hopper/Joey as opposed to leasing it, true?
2) Checked the DISH site and the channel packages and don't see mention of the monthly DVR fee for the Hopper system, true?
3) As I don't currently have DISH HD service with the 508 DVR and a DISH 500 antenna, I would need a new antenna for the HD service also. So...would my best bet be to just go the upgrade install route...or is there a way to save some money knowing that I originally installed my first DISH system myself back in the day....and that my current house is already pre-wired?

Thanks for any suggestions and input.


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## jdskycaster (Sep 1, 2008)

1) One call to Dish and they will give you the purchase price. They are also for sale on Ebay but I would not personally purchase these and attempt an install given the issues currently being posted. Also, what are your motivations for owning the equipment? 
2) There is a whole house DVR fee of $4/mo which is tied to the first hopper.
3) If you need a new dish I would expect what you save on installation as part of an upgrade to the new system would be well worth the money actually spent.

You have definitely held out a long time waiting to upgrade to HD service. I thought it took my parents a long time to make the switch even after they already had an HD capable TV for many years. This was over three years ago. As I told them when I made the switch it was like night and day. You will never want to go back to SD. Good luck with your decision.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Check the thread first http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=201721
then 
other http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=203714
and
another http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=203038

Good reading, diagrams - all in one spot ! http://www.dishuser.org/hopper.php


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## NCCaniac (Apr 4, 2012)

jdskycaster said:


> 1) One call to Dish and they will give you the purchase price. They are also for sale on Ebay but I would not personally purchase these and attempt an install given the issues currently being posted. Also, what are your motivations for owning the equipment?
> 2) There is a whole house DVR fee of $4/mo which is tied to the first hopper.
> 3) If you need a new dish I would expect what you save on installation as part of an upgrade to the new system would be well worth the money actually spent.
> 
> You have definitely held out a long time waiting to upgrade to HD service. I thought it took my parents a long time to make the switch even after they already had an HD capable TV for many years. This was over three years ago. As I told them when I made the switch it was like night and day. You will never want to go back to SD. Good luck with your decision.


1) I was hoping that owning the equipment might avoid the monthly DVR fee (as I never had it with my 508 DVR as I was grandfathered in before they started charging the monthly fee with the newer DVRs). But I see in #2 that this is not the case. (It just bugs me that you are already paying for the program package and then have to pay another $4/mo for the DVR.)

I bought my first HD TV 4 years ago, so yeah, I did not expect to hold out this long on getting HD service, but I have certainly not been watching only SD content. I get the local stations in HD with an antenna in the attic and get HD content from other sources than sat. Also, I probably would have made the move to upgrade to HD on DISH two years ago if there had not been rumors of uVerse coming soon to the area (and I did not want to get locked in to another 2-year contract with DISH if that were the case until i could compare prices/service). But...hear two years later uVerse is all over the area....just not in my neighborhood yet. So, it is time to make the move.

With the economy the way it has been the last few years, I was just trying to avoid tacking another $10-$20/month on to just about every service I have. (Most service providers don't like me because I am one of the long-term customers that is not always adding new services every other year.  )


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## NCCaniac (Apr 4, 2012)

P Smith said:


> Check the thread first...
> then other...
> and another...


Thanks! I had seen the first two threads, but not the third one.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

NCCaniac said:


> 1) I was hoping that owning the equipment might avoid the monthly DVR fee (as I never had it with my 508 DVR as I was grandfathered in before they started charging the monthly fee with the newer DVRs). But I see in #2 that this is not the case. (It just bugs me that you are already paying for the program package and then have to pay another $4/mo for the DVR.)


DISH charges the same fees whether owned or leased on all of their receivers. It has reduced the value of owning a receiver.

The $6 to be able to record (per account) _PLUS_ $4 for the whole home fee can add up ... but the fees pay for technology that those not paying the fees are not getting. I suppose that DISH could just raise everyone's rates $5 and call it even (not charging separately for DVRs and whole home on top of the package price).

A long time ago DVRs were included in the top package (AEP) but technology changed and so did the pricing.


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## NCCaniac (Apr 4, 2012)

James Long said:


> DISH charges the same fees whether owned or leased on all of their receivers. It has reduced the value of owning a receiver.
> 
> The $6 to be able to record (per account) _PLUS_ $4 for the whole home fee can add up ... but the fees pay for technology that those not paying the fees are not getting. I suppose that DISH could just raise everyone's rates $5 and call it even (not charging separately for DVRs and whole home on top of the package price).
> 
> A long time ago DVRs were included in the top package (AEP) but technology changed and so did the pricing.


Oh, I did not realize the $6/mo for DVR + $4 for whole home. Looks like there is no way to avoid increasing my bill $20 month to move to HD to stay on DISH. ($10 for HD + $6 for DVR + $4 for Hopper/Joey support) Since my 508 was grandfathered in, I had not been keeping up on that.


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

HD Free for Life with 2 year commitment and Autopay.


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