DISH’s new whole-home DVR solution, The Hopper, is being very well-received among video enthusiasts and regular television viewers alike. A recent review by Big Picture Big Sound gives the Hopper high marks after the reviewer had the new system installed in her home.
Cutting directly to the chase, the reviewer gave the Hopper 3.5 out of a possible four stars and was clearly impressed with the new DVR that is “…actually making the digital video recorder category exciting again.
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Although the team that showed up to install the system for the reviewer did run into some problems and took much longer than expected, the end result left the reviewer sounding quite satisfied with her new installation.
The reviewer does not go into a lot of detail regarding what the installation problem was, but did mention that swapping the equipment out for other units solved the problem. Perhaps the first units that were installed were simply defective.
The most controversial feature of the Hopper system certainly did not go unnoticed by the reviewer. The system’s “Primetime Anytime” with “Auto Hop” feature allows users to record all primetime programming from the big four networks and is capable of automatically skipping commercials during playback of the recordings if the user chooses to do so.
As one might expect, legal battles are getting started over the whole commercial-skipping thing and it’s likely to be some time before there are any decisions made by the courts. History shows us that these things often take time. Sometimes, a lot of time.
When all was said and done, the reviewer summed up her list of turn-ons and turn-offs regarding her experience with the Hopper.
Turn-offs included no built-in Sling adapter, no built-in Wi-Fi, No OTA (over-the-air) support (something that may be coming in the future) and no more access to standard definition channels that are already included as high definition channels.
Turn-ons included the “Auto Hop” commercial-skipping functionality, “Primetime Anytime,” more space for recording programs, the graphical user interface and a better overall user experience.
Not really surprising after such a positive review, but Big Picture Big Sound did declare the Hopper as one of their “The Biggie” award winners.
The Hopper is surely something a lot of TV viewers were waiting for. With revolutionary new features such as the “Auto Hop,” this new whole-home DVR system is setting the bar high and it appears that other pay-TV providers will be playing catch-up in their attempts to compete with the Hopper.
