Dish Network starts rolling out Hopper / Joey multiroom DVR setup today (video)
We're still not sure what inspired Dish Network to choose a kangaroo theme for its new multiroom DVR setup -- going as far as bringing out a live baby 'roo during its CES 2012 unveiling -- but if there's room in your home and heart for the Hopper (XiP813) and Joey (XiP110) boxes, they're available now. As we saw in our hands-on in January, they have a UI similar to the previous 922 boxes, with a few new screens added for new features and icon-based tile navigation. The Hopper DVR itself packs a 2TB drive which is put to use by PrimeTime Anytime, a feature that records three hours of network programming every night (using only one of its three tuners, thanks to the magic of satellite transponders) and stores them for eight days, just in case you missed something. The Joey multiroom extender boxes bring the video to other spots in the house and can be wired up over the existing coax thanks to MoCA technology. The price for all of this is a whole home DVR fee of $10 per month for the Hopper, and $7 per month for each Joey, while subscribers on the America's Top 200 plan or higher can get a free installation with up to three extenders. The folks over at SatelliteGuys.us got some early hands-on time and have posted detailed impressions, hit the link below for those or check out the press release and our CES video demo after the break. Oh, and the Exede-powered satellite broadband package that was announced at CES? We're hearing that's still on the slate for this summer, although the potential LTE portion may have to wait a while.
I’ve wanted a Hopper and a few Joey’s pretty much since CES, so I’m very happy to hear they are finally available! I have my installation scheduled for Monday morning and can’t wait to put the PrimeTime Anytime feature and 2 terabyte hard drive into good use. At first I was a bit surprised of the name too; until one of my co-workers at DISH explained to me the reasoning behind it. It’s called the Hopper because now DISH customers can “hop” from room to room and watch whatever they want. It feels like it’s been a long wait for a whole-home solution from DISH, so I’m very excited as a long time customer to finally get one. PrimeTime Anytime is definitely one of the coolest features ever and I can’t wait to put my recording conflicts to rest. :)
I waited a long time for a whole-home solution from Dish too Kaylah, so I completely understand what you mean. I'm glad I waited too, because the Hopper really is the best whole-home solution I've ever had, especially now with the new Auto Hop feature. I'm assuming you've heard about it already; since you like me work for Dish, so I wanted to see how you like it? I finally found the time to try it out last night and am really digging the fact I can choose to watch commercials or not on some of my PrimeTime Anytime recordings. I saved a whole 20 minutes watching Revenge's season finale without having to exhaust my skip-forward button. It was great!
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I’ve wanted a Hopper and a few Joey’s pretty much since CES, so I’m very happy to hear they are finally available! I have my installation scheduled for Monday morning and can’t wait to put the PrimeTime Anytime feature and 2 terabyte hard drive into good use. At first I was a bit surprised of the name too; until one of my co-workers at DISH explained to me the reasoning behind it. It’s called the Hopper because now DISH customers can “hop” from room to room and watch whatever they want. It feels like it’s been a long wait for a whole-home solution from DISH, so I’m very excited as a long time customer to finally get one. PrimeTime Anytime is definitely one of the coolest features ever and I can’t wait to put my recording conflicts to rest. :)
ReplyDeleteI waited a long time for a whole-home solution from Dish too Kaylah, so I completely understand what you mean. I'm glad I waited too, because the Hopper really is the best whole-home solution I've ever had, especially now with the new Auto Hop feature. I'm assuming you've heard about it already; since you like me work for Dish, so I wanted to see how you like it? I finally found the time to try it out last night and am really digging the fact I can choose to watch commercials or not on some of my PrimeTime Anytime recordings. I saved a whole 20 minutes watching Revenge's season finale without having to exhaust my skip-forward button. It was great!
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