# Simple side-by-side of DISH hopper system vs. Directv whole home DVR?



## Xyzzy.dude

Does such a comparison exist? I've gone through a lot of this site without finding one. I apologize if I missed it. Not looking to delve into all the technical details, just want to know the capabilities of each system, assuming a 4 room set up, particularly along the lines of how multiple people can use each one independently, like:

1. How many people can independently watch, pause, and rewind live tv with each setup?
2. How many channels can be watched/recorded at the same time (similar to question 1) indendently by people in different rooms?
3. Are all the above in HD, or does it drop to SD after a certain number of tuners are used?

I've also tried Directv live customer chat, they say I can do what I want but refuse to tell me how many tuners are available which makes me suspicious. 

I'm currently a DISH customer evaluating Joey upgrade vs. Dish whole house DVR. Direct has the edge on cost since they'll do it free and DISH wants existing customers to pay for the upgrade, but need to verify all the capabilities I need will be there with Direct. 

Thank you!


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## lparsons21

I'll try to make some simple answers.


1. How many people can independently watch, pause, and rewind live tv with each setup?

DirecTV with HR34 - 4 people can watch independently. 1 on the HR34 itself, 3 others on other boxes. If those other boxes are also DVRs, they can do trickplay(pause, etc), if they are just receivers, then can't do it with live TV. 

Dish w/Hopper+ 3 Joeys - 3 can watch live TV independently, 1 additional can also watch live one of the other 3 shows. All with trickplay from what I've read.


2. How many channels can be watched/recorded at the same time (similar to question 1) indendently by people in different rooms?

DirecTV w/HR34 - 5 shows recorded at once on it, but more can be recorded if you also have your client boxes be DVRs.

Dish w/Hopper - 3 shows recorded at once anytime, 6 shows during primetime using PTAT.

3. Are all the above in HD, or does it drop to SD after a certain number of tuners are used?

All in HD on both, no drop down.


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## Xyzzy.dude

lparsons21 said:


> I'll try to make some simple answers.
> DirecTV with HR34 - 4 people can watch independently. 1 on the HR34 itself, 3 others on other boxes. If those other boxes are also DVRs, they can do trickplay(pause, etc), if they are just receivers, then can't do it with live TV.


So if I'm reading this right, this means that the HR34 can really only distribute recorded (and not live) programs to other boxes in the house? And live TV watching is strictly local to the box being watched?



> Dish w/Hopper+ 3 Joeys - 3 can watch live TV independently, 1 additional can also watch live one of the other 3 shows. All with trickplay from what I've read.


This seems to be significant leap over the Direct system in capability, am I reading that right?



> DirecTV w/HR34 - 5 shows recorded at once on it, but more can be recorded if you also have your client boxes be DVRs.


In that case, the recordings on the clients are only local to those clients, is that correct?

Thanks for the help!


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## Stuart Sweet

There will be a client for DIRECTV DVRs that will be like the Joey, and provide DVR function to all rooms. In the meantime, DIRECTV uses H25 receivers so that a 4-room system has a total of 8 tuners, including 5 that can record (and an additional 1 for on-demand.)

If your remote clients are DVRs, they can share all programming with any other recievers.

With the current setup (without DVRs) all TVs can watch live, all TVs can watch recorded, but only the TV attached to the HR34 can pause live. 

There are a few Samsung TVs that can work to provide DVR function to remote TVs but the technology is still in a very early phase.

It's also worth noting that if you are an existing customer, DIRECTV customers can keep their existing equipment while Dish customer have to take all existing equipment out.


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## lparsons21

Xyzzy.dude said:


> So if I'm reading this right, this means that the HR34 can really only distribute recorded (and not live) programs to other boxes in the house? And live TV watching is strictly local to the box being watched?


Not quite. Currently the D* gear is added to existing equipment in most cases. So right now using that gear, you would be sharing recorded video from the HR34 since the clients already have their own tuners. In the future, assuming D* actually does release an RVU client, then it would need the HR34 because RVU clients don't have tuners.

Hope that doesn't confuse.



Xyzzy.dude said:


> This seems to be significant leap over the Direct system in capability, am I reading that right?


Not really. The D* HR34 has 5 tuners available all the time for Recording/viewing, while the E* only has 3 available at all times, with effectively 6 available during broadcast primetime for broadcast channels.

From my POV, either system is fine as I watch practically zero live TV. All recorded, as does my son.



Xyzzy.dude said:


> In that case, the recordings on the clients are only local to those clients, is that correct?
> 
> Thanks for the help!


With D*'s gear, you can share videos from any DVR to any other box. With E*'s gear, only the Hopper can share videos because it is the only box to have tuners. Dish has said that 2 Hoppers can be installed and at some date in the future and most think that will be this summer, the management will be unified. IOW, all units would share control of the system with a unified todo list and management of the DVR and tuner functions.

Currently with D*'s gear, there is no unified management. That means you have to be on the DVR (IOW, any HR) you want to make the recording on.  With the HR34 in the mix, I would think you'd make the bulk of your series recordings on it and then just record on others for movies or one off shows.


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## lparsons21

Xyzzy.dude said:


> I'm currently a DISH customer evaluating Joey upgrade vs. Dish whole house DVR. Direct has the edge on cost since they'll do it free and DISH wants existing customers to pay for the upgrade, but need to verify all the capabilities I need will be there with Direct.
> 
> Thank you!


I'll address this seperately from the other posts.

Signing up with D* will certainly save you some money because of the free gear and the discounts they offer. While D*'s HRs are a bit slower than Dish's Vip gear, it is only a minor irritant for most. Go in the D* forums and do some reading there about the slowness to get a feel for what others are saying. Some are more irritated than others, some don't seem to notice.

Staying with E* is a good choice if :
1. You currently have an external HD on the Vip DVRs (612, 622, 722, 722k), as they will work just fine and all the movies and shows you have on the EHD will be available with the Hopper/Joey setup. D* doesn't use external HD's the same way at all and an external HD is unique to the receiver it is attached to, not the account.

2. You like E*'s service and channel selections overall AND they will give you a decent upgrade price.

Right now I'm considering going back to E* in August when my discounts expire, but it isn't locked in stone. At the moment, E* has a better HD channel fit for me, and I like having an external HD that adds to the storage capability. Also the unified management is more appealing to me than the way D* is doing it. In August, even though I'll pay a $240 ETF, I'll still save another $240 because of differing equipment needs and the generally lower cost of the packages.

I've had both services and frankly, both do a good job for their clients. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Just pick one and go with it.


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## rickwhoo

I think they pro-rate the etf's now. It might be just $20 per month remaining on contract.


lparsons21 said:


> I'll address this seperately from the other posts.
> 
> Signing up with D* will certainly save you some money because of the free gear and the discounts they offer. While D*'s HRs are a bit slower than Dish's Vip gear, it is only a minor irritant for most. Go in the D* forums and do some reading there about the slowness to get a feel for what others are saying. Some are more irritated than others, some don't seem to notice.
> 
> Staying with E* is a good choice if :
> 1. You currently have an external HD on the Vip DVRs (612, 622, 722, 722k), as they will work just fine and all the movies and shows you have on the EHD will be available with the Hopper/Joey setup. D* doesn't use external HD's the same way at all and an external HD is unique to the receiver it is attached to, not the account.
> 
> 2. You like E*'s service and channel selections overall AND they will give you a decent upgrade price.
> 
> Right now I'm considering going back to E* in August when my discounts expire, but it isn't locked in stone. At the moment, E* has a better HD channel fit for me, and I like having an external HD that adds to the storage capability. Also the unified management is more appealing to me than the way D* is doing it. In August, even though I'll pay a $240 ETF, I'll still save another $240 because of differing equipment needs and the generally lower cost of the packages.
> 
> I've had both services and frankly, both do a good job for their clients. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Just pick one and go with it.


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## rickwhoo

I had dish's 722 receivers and they work a lot faster and work better than Directv's HMC receiver. I will miss some of Dishes functions, but I will love having 5 tuners with Directv. Has anyone found any comparison details between the 2 new receivers?


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## martim92586

I would like to share my experience. I was really considering the H34 media center receiver because of the 5 tuners. First it’s important to know that Directv charges a 20 dollars advanced receiver fee. Hopper has only 3 tuners and you lose once tuner during prime time. But something dish network doesn’t advertise is that you can have 2 hoppers, you can have 2 hoppers with dish network and it only cost an additional 200 dollars compared to Directv’s 100 dollars fee for the HMC and you get 6 tuners plus two 2tb DVRS. You also pay less a month for all the equipment with dish network.

So with Directv I was going to pay a onetime fee of 100 dollars plus a 20 dollars fee for the advanced receiver plus 6 dollars per each additional room. 
With Dish network I received the first hopper and a joey for free and I paid 200 dollars for an additional hopper. My month fee for the equipment is a 10 dollar DVR fee plus 7 for the second hopper and 7 dollars for the joey. 
I can’ t explain how great my two hopper system is, recording can be accessed from either hopper and videos can also be transferred across network.


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## rickwhoo

I wish Dish Network would stop losing channels. I had to switch to Directv because they have more. Dish network lost too many important channels. They SUCK!


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## Curtis0620

martim92586 said:


> I would like to share my experience. I was really considering the H34 media center receiver because of the 5 tuners. First it's important to know that Directv charges a 20 dollars advanced receiver fee. Hopper has only 3 tuners and you lose once tuner during prime time. But something dish network doesn't advertise is that you can have 2 hoppers, you can have 2 hoppers with dish network and it only cost an additional 200 dollars compared to Directv's 100 dollars fee for the HMC and you get 6 tuners plus two 2tb DVRS. You also pay less a month for all the equipment with dish network.
> 
> So with Directv I was going to pay a onetime fee of 100 dollars plus a 20 dollars fee for the advanced receiver plus 6 dollars per each additional room.
> With Dish network I received the first hopper and a joey for free and I paid 200 dollars for an additional hopper. My month fee for the equipment is a 10 dollar DVR fee plus 7 for the second hopper and 7 dollars for the joey.
> I can' t explain how great my two hopper system is, recording can be accessed from either hopper and videos can also be transferred across network.


DIRECTV $20 Fee is $10 HD fee, $7 DVR, $3 Whole Home.


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## MattScahum

"Curtis0620" said:


> DIRECTV $20 Fee is $10 HD fee, $7 DVR, $3 Whole Home.


Which you save $10 off of that if you sign up for abp.


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## smitbret

martim92586 said:


> I would like to share my experience. I was really considering the H34 media center receiver because of the 5 tuners. First it's important to know that Directv charges a 20 dollars advanced receiver fee. Hopper has only 3 tuners and you lose once tuner during prime time. But something dish network doesn't advertise is that you can have 2 hoppers, you can have 2 hoppers with dish network and it only cost an additional 200 dollars compared to Directv's 100 dollars fee for the HMC and you get 6 tuners plus two 2tb DVRS. You also pay less a month for all the equipment with dish network.
> 
> So with Directv I was going to pay a onetime fee of 100 dollars plus a 20 dollars fee for the advanced receiver plus 6 dollars per each additional room.
> With Dish network I received the first hopper and a joey for free and I paid 200 dollars for an additional hopper. My month fee for the equipment is a 10 dollar DVR fee plus 7 for the second hopper and 7 dollars for the joey.
> I can' t explain how great my two hopper system is, recording can be accessed from either hopper and videos can also be transferred across network.


I think some of your info is needs clarification here. The $20 Advanced Receiver fee encompasses all of the following services:

HD service=$10/month
DVR service=$8/month
Whole-Home=$3/month

They then round it down to $20. It is a global charge and adds those services to all compatible equipment on the account whether you have 1 or 100 devices. So, you are paying for the service on the account and is independent of the equipment. If you were to add more HDDVRs to the system, they would be covered under that same $20 Advanced Receiver Fee for those services. The first location is free and DirecTV charges $6 for each additional location whether you have a traditional Receiver, a DVR, an HDDVR or client.

So if you have an HR24 with 2 H25:
$20 Advanced Receiver Fee
$0 1st location
$6 2nd location
$6 3rd location

If you have an HR34 and 4 clients
$20 Advanced Receiver Fee
$0 1st location
$6 2nd
$6 3rd
$6 4th
$6 5th

If you have 3 SD receivers
$0 1st location
$6 2nd
$6 3rd

They don't allow multiple HR34s, yet. You can however add more HDDVRs and still keep everything on the MRV setup. The add'l HDDVR would be covered under the global $20 Advanced Receiver fee and just be $6 for the additional location.

They are no longer charging new installs for the HR34 with up to 3 clients.


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## some guy

Direct tv

HD service=$10/month
DVR service=$8/month
Whole-Home=$3/month

I have dish and a hopper setup and heres what i pay.

DISH

HD = $0 (hd free for life)
Whole home DVR fee = $10

I'd much rather pay $10 than $21 for the same things basically.


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## smitbret

some guy said:


> Direct tv
> 
> HD service=$10/month
> DVR service=$8/month
> Whole-Home=$3/month
> 
> I have dish and a hopper setup and heres what i pay.
> 
> DISH
> 
> HD = $0 (hd free for life)
> Whole home DVR fee = $10
> 
> I'd much rather pay $10 than $21 for the same things basically.


One thing to note is that you can also still get the HD costs waived through DirecTV which makes the difference only $1. What's your receiver fee per location?


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## lparsons21

The fees for each receiver in a hopper/joey situation is $7/box after the 1st one.

Compared to $6/box after the 1st with DirecTV.

On the other site I did a cost comparison for a new customer signing up with either service with just a single box, Premier/Everything (adding sports pack to Dish to match), HD Extra/[email protected] and the DVR/MRV fee. After all discounts taken into account, and a bit of rounding up, the total bill per month average in that case was $112.25 w/Dish and $114.38 with DirecTV. Essentially a wash.

Then add in whatever additional hardware for other TVs to get a more accurate cost.

Right now with the Hopper/Joey and Genie+C31, the effective usefulness of both providers is almost a wash. Which brings us back to the real reason you should pick one over the other, and that is which has the channels you want in HD, or more of them?


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## smitbret

lparsons21 said:


> The fees for each receiver in a hopper/joey situation is $7/box after the 1st one.
> 
> Compared to $6/box after the 1st with DirecTV.
> 
> On the other site I did a cost comparison for a new customer signing up with either service with just a single box, Premier/Everything (adding sports pack to Dish to match), HD Extra/[email protected] and the DVR/MRV fee. After all discounts taken into account, and a bit of rounding up, the total bill per month average in that case was $112.25 w/Dish and $114.38 with DirecTV. Essentially a wash.
> 
> Then add in whatever additional hardware for other TVs to get a more accurate cost.
> 
> Right now with the Hopper/Joey and Genie+C31, the effective usefulness of both providers is almost a wash. Which brings us back to the real reason you should pick one over the other, and that is which has the channels you want in HD, or more of them?


This.

For the smart consumer, it will always come down to this.


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## TMan

Does DirecTV's $10 discount for having one's account on automatic bill pay continue indefinitely, or is it a 24-month thing? 

I really don't care for it being phrased on my bill as "Advanced Receiver 24 Mo Discount w/Auto Bill Pay, $-10.00."


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## dpeters11

It was for two years, unless the subscriber joined as a new customer during a promotion that gave it free for e life of the account.


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## Laxguy

One might want to consider picture quality. DIRECTV® sends out more pixels for HD.


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## sat01

hopper has built in bluetooth to stream audio to bluetooth compatible devices. direct tv devices (from what i've researched) does not have this capability.


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## domingos35

Laxguy said:


> One might want to consider picture quality. DIRECTV® sends out more pixels for HD.


to bad u can't see the diference


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## Laxguy

domingos35 said:


> to bad u can't see the diference


"U"?? "Too"? "Difference"??

You have no idea what I can or cannot see. You may speak for yourself, not others.


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