# Why New Hopper 3 Remote Sucks - It has a fatal flaw



## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

The new remote has a serious flaw that cannot be overlooked. I can overlook many problems but not this one:

The skip forward button is located just above and very near to the channel up/down rocker. The slightest miss while watching a show that is still being recorded (read ball games) and you will be rudely jerked out of your game and have no easy way to get back to your place. Because the remote isn't backlit this affliction can and does happen a lot. Previously recorded shows are a little better since you can resume the show when you find it again. Whoever designed or approved this remote had their head you know where. Yuck. The problem can be solved if Dish swaps the volume and channel rockers. Dish this was a baby mistake in remote design.


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## ejbvt (Aug 14, 2011)

fwampler said:


> The new remote has a serious flaw that cannot be overlooked. I can overlook many problems but not this one:
> 
> The skip forward button is located just above and very near to the channel up/down rocker. The slightest miss while watching a show that is still being recorded (read ball games) and you will be rudely jerked out of your game and have no easy way to get back to your place. Because the remote isn't backlit this affliction can and does happen a lot. Previously recorded shows are a little better since you can resume the show when you find it again. Whoever designed or approved this remote had their head you know where. Yuck. The problem can be solved if Dish swaps the volume and channel rockers. Dish this was a baby mistake in remote design.


This sounds like what Directv did to their latest Genie remote. It has poorly located buttons and loud clicking rockers where buttons should be. I feel your pain. Do the old remotes work with the receivers that come with the new remotes? For reference, in other words, the old white Directv remote still works in IR mode on the Genie receivers that come with the awful new one, so maybe you can do the same.


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## RBA (Apr 14, 2013)

Or he could get a small LED flashlight to illuminate his remote.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

fwampler said:


> The problem can be solved if Dish swaps the volume and channel rockers.


So, you'd rather crank up the volume every time you miss the button you're aiming for. That seems like a really bad idea especially since every remote ever made has the volume on the left and channel on the right.

The real solution is for DISH to recall and destroy the 52.0 remotes and replace them with the 40.0 remote


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## ally68 (May 10, 2005)

I love the new remote and have never had the issue you speak of


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

RBA said:


> Or he could get a small LED flashlight to illuminate his remote.


I have a small LED light and it still doesn't help the design problem.


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

n0qcu said:


> So, you'd rather crank up the volume every time you miss the button you're aiming for. That seems like a really bad idea especially since every remote ever made has the volume on the left and channel on the right.
> 
> The real solution is for DISH to recall and destroy the 52.0 remotes and replace them with the 40.0 remote


One errant push is not a crank-lup. At least on my system. One push on that channel button is a tear-down though.


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

ally68 said:


> I love the new remote and have never had the issue you speak of


Just hang in there and you will reap the full glory of it.


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

ejbvt said:


> This sounds like what Directv did to their latest Genie remote. It has poorly located buttons and loud clicking rockers where buttons should be. I feel your pain. Do the old remotes work with the receivers that come with the new remotes? For reference, in other words, the old white Directv remote still works in IR mode on the Genie receivers that come with the awful new one, so maybe you can do the same.


I've been told they do. But the whole connection process on my Hopper is so iffy I'm somewhat afraid I'd never get any remote reconnected.


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## david_jr (Dec 10, 2006)

The old 40.0 remotes most certainly do work with the new Hopper 3!!


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## fwampler (Dec 2, 2005)

david_jr said:


> The old 40.0 remotes most certainly do work with the new Hopper 3!!


Good to know.


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## 63thk (Feb 11, 2010)

I have to say I like new remote. I just felt the old one was way to busy. I do miss the On Demand and few other buttons. Back-lighting would be nice,but 4.0 needed that also.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

fwampler said:


> The new remote has a serious flaw that cannot be overlooked. I can overlook many problems but not this one:
> 
> The skip forward button is located just above and very near to the channel up/down rocker. The slightest miss while watching a show that is still being recorded (read ball games) and you will be rudely jerked out of your game and have no easy way to get back to your place. Because the remote isn't backlit this affliction can and does happen a lot. Previously recorded shows are a little better since you can resume the show when you find it again. Whoever designed or approved this remote had their head you know where. Yuck. The problem can be solved if Dish swaps the volume and channel rockers. Dish this was a baby mistake in remote design.


That doesn't bother me so much, but what were they thinking by not including a stop button? I've only had it for a couple of days, but have yet to find any way to tell it I'm done watching a program and not to continue playback, or to stop recording either. Every single recording and playback device I have ever seen in 50+ years has a stop button, except this one. The process to restore programs from an EHD seems much clunkier than on the original hopper as well. So far, I am not liking the UI at all.

I'm going to give the new remote a little more time, but I will probably go back to my old one.


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## bmetelsky (Mar 1, 2009)

4HiMarks said:


> That doesn't bother me so much, but what were they thinking by not including a stop button? I've only had it for a couple of days, but have yet to find any way to tell it I'm done watching a program and not to continue playback, or to stop recording either. Every single recording and playback device I have ever seen in 50+ years has a stop button, except this one. The process to restore programs from an EHD seems much clunkier than on the original hopper as well. So far, I am not liking the UI at all.
> 
> I'm going to give the new remote a little more time, but I will probably go back to my old one.


Hit the select button when you are done watching a recorded video. You will then be presented with several options, one of them is to stop viewing.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

bmetelsky said:


> Hit the select button when you are done watching a recorded video. You will then be presented with several options, one of them is to stop viewing.


So four button presses (Select, right, right, Select) instead of one is supposed to be an improvement?


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## bmetelsky (Mar 1, 2009)

4HiMarks said:


> So four button presses (Select, right, right, Select) instead of one is supposed to be an improvement?


I didn't say it was an improvement. I simply responded to your inquiry about a "stop" button. Perhaps it will help us all keep our minds sharp so that we won't experience early onset Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia... :nono2:


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## DN2014 (Mar 29, 2014)

Please don't change the volume & channel locations. The bumps on my wife head are just going down and healing from me telling her about them. Especially since every remote ever made has the volume on the left and channel on the right


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

bmetelsky said:


> I didn't say it was an improvement. I simply responded to your inquiry about a "stop" button. Perhaps it will help us all keep our minds sharp so that we won't experience early onset Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia... :nono2:


OK, so there is a way to stop it, but that doesn't excuse them for the boneheadedness of not including a button to do so. If they removed the brake pedal on your car and said you could still stop it by flipping a switch to disengage the accelerator then shifting the transmission into Park, would you consider that to be a smart design move?


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## bmetelsky (Mar 1, 2009)

4HiMarks said:


> If they removed the brake pedal on your car and said you could still stop it by flipping a switch to disengage the accelerator then shifting the transmission into Park, would you consider that to be a smart design move?


Very dramatic, but not quite the same.


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## SevenSixTwo (Feb 8, 2016)

This is why other countries hate us


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## xfoneguy (Feb 1, 2006)

The new remote has a nice "feel" but I prefer the fewer buttons needed to get where I'm going with the old 40.0 remote. My solution is to have BOTH remotes paired with my H3 - works well for me anyway.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

xfoneguy said:


> The new remote has a nice "feel" but I prefer the fewer buttons needed to get where I'm going with the old 40.0 remote. My solution is to have BOTH remotes paired with my H3 - works well for me anyway.


I'm with you. I currently have the new one by the couch, and the old one by my desk chair behind the couch, but I may very well swap them.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

I've got both the old and new remote, didn't like the new one at first. Now it is the one I use all the time. Yeah, a bit more fiddly, but not enough to lose sleep over.


Sent from my iPad Pro using Tapatalk


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## daryllafferty (Apr 15, 2006)

Do all the buttons on the old remote work with the Hopper 3? 

-- Do the color buttons have the same features? (e.g. Green for Closed Caption, Blue for Delete?, etc.)
-- Does the stop button immediately stop the program being played?
-- Will the "Skip Forward" button advance by one frame when paused?

I let the installer take my old remote, and now I regret it. Maybe I'll buy another one on Amazon if these features work.


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## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

I solved the problem by not using either Dish remote. 
Really, if you want buttons to stay where they are, and want to customize behavior, get a Harmony.
I did have to jump through some hoops to get my Harmony to work, even though Logitech support assured me it worked perfectly, all the other customer comments saying the opposite notwithstanding. Basically, if you pick H3 config, it doesn't work, pick H1.

As for the older remote with the color keys, yes, works fine. Again, that's what I'm emulating with my Harmony (which also has color keys). Will this continue in the future? Hard to tell. The new remote seems to have just moved the color keys and renamed them to the operations they performed, those buttons still send the same control codes.


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## davethestalker (Sep 17, 2006)

I recently had a tech come out for a service call to install an extension to get the dish up higher. Snow is a MAJOR issue, it climbs up the antenna when it reaches the bottom. The last snow we had, the LNBs started getting covered. Of course they don't allow techs to install the 6" extension any longer. Another reason trying DTV two years ago was a mistake.

I was talking to the tech about the voice remote touchpad starting to fail (since October) and remarking about how uncomfortable it (and the other H3 remote) is in hand compared to the old DISH remotes. He went out to the truck and grabbed one! Having 2 zones feels more natural. The remote just feels better in my hand. The voice remote is FANTASTIC for searching and that's about it. So, that's what I use it for.

Yes, that black & white Genie remote is the worst piece of technology ever invented!!! Almost daily either the volume accidentally went up/down or a channel went up/down by simply grabbing the remote! Putting raised toggle switches right in the middle, pure genius right there!

I missed you old friend!


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## winstars (Jul 2, 2014)

xfoneguy said:


> The new remote has a nice "feel" but I prefer the fewer buttons needed to get where I'm going with the old 40.0 remote. My solution is to have BOTH remotes paired with my H3 - works well for me anyway.


Can I use the old 40.0 remote with my Joeys or just the Hopper 3???

Thanks


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## fudpucker (Jul 23, 2007)

winstars said:


> Can I use the old 40.0 remote with my Joeys or just the Hopper 3???
> 
> Thanks


You can use the 40 with the Joeys. I have two Joeys and a Hopper 3 and I decided to go to the 40 remote for all of them. I tried the new voice remote, and it was cool technology, but at the end of the day, my wife and I both prefer having a discrete button for all the functions. It's surprising, for example, how many times for some reason we can't understand what someone is saying on a show, we rewind, hit the green button, watch the closed captions (and say "Ohhhhh!") and then simply hit the green button again and the CCs are off. The 40 simply has a button for everything, and I prefer that.


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## jhsanchez (Feb 4, 2006)

4HiMarks said:


> OK, so there is a way to stop it, but that doesn't excuse them for the boneheadedness of not including a button to do so. If they removed the brake pedal on your car and said you could still stop it by flipping a switch to disengage the accelerator then shifting the transmission into Park, would you consider that to be a smart design move?


How about a record button too!


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## patmurphey (Dec 21, 2006)

This thread is nonsense, especially the title. If you don't like the 52 remote, get a "big" 40 and have button for everything. All commands are available with the 52, but might take an extra step or two as the price for a compact design. Learn the steps, most are simple, like hitting select or option and picking your command.


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## winstars (Jul 2, 2014)

fudpucker said:


> You can use the 40 with the Joeys. I have two Joeys and a Hopper 3 and I decided to go to the 40 remote for all of them. I tried the new voice remote, and it was cool technology, but at the end of the day, my wife and I both prefer having a discrete button for all the functions. It's surprising, for example, how many times for some reason we can't understand what someone is saying on a show, we rewind, hit the green button, watch the closed captions (and say "Ohhhhh!") and then simply hit the green button again and the CCs are off. The 40 simply has a button for everything, and I prefer that.


Thanks.

I also ordered and then received the voice remote yesterday. Its kind of cool and having an Apple TV 4 I am used to swiping gestures. The voice search is very accurate. Backlight feature is very cool.

But the shape of the 40 seems to fit my hand better. I will have both the voice remote and 40 out and see what happens. At the very least I have spares now!

I just got the Hopper 3 and 2 Joeys after upgrading from 722k and 612's, and I think having to purchase the voice remote for $30 instead of just getting it with the new equipment (or having a choice between the 50 or 52) is/was a bit of nickel and dime BS for Dish...


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