DISH Just Got Even Better!

I'm super excited to tell you all about my upgrade to the Hopper 3 with DISH satellite television services. With DISH, things just keep getting better and better, and this upgrade was no different. First off, I'm always impressed with how friendly the DISH technicians are.  The two gentlemen who installed my DISH upgrades were Steve and Curt. They were both friendly and professional. It only took about an hour for them to make the changes, which included adding a whole new Hopper.  Since they rook away my old Hopper, all my recordings were erased, but they put them all back for me manually so my family wouldn't have to worry about missing any of our favorite shows. Curt & Steve explained every step of what they were doing along the way and were happy to answer all my questions and even to pose for the camera!   

The Hopper is like a combination of a  DVR and cable box. It controls the channels but also allows you to record your favorite programs. As you can see, the box takes up very little space and their aren't many wires. I've had DISH for a few years now, and I didn't think the Hopper could get much better than it already was, but they managed to come up with some improvements. Hopper 3 operates as the heart of the whole-home DVR experience and has the capacity to support up to six Joeys simultaneously. That means six different people in six different rooms can each watch whatever they like. You can even switch from one room to the other and pick up where you left off.  Even your favorite Netflix titles can be integrated into your Hopper.

 One thing that I noticed right away is how much quicker things load. DVR selections come up in a flash and when downloading is required, it takes only a minute or so.  You can also record more than twice as many shows at one time now. With the new tuners, we've gone from a total of six recordings to up to sixteen possible recordings at one time! You can also store up to 500 hours of programming. Plus, the whole system works at a speed seven times more powerful than DIRECTV’s newest Genie, and two times more powerful than the TiVo Bolt.

Along with the new Hopper 3, I also got a new remote. This has been simplified too. The new remote is a lot smaller than the original and has about half the buttons, but the menu is still really easy to use. You can search for shows with the guide, go directly to your recordings by hitting the DVR, and you can even fast forward if you want to skip commercials or rewind if you happen to miss something important.

If all that isn't enough, here are just a few more of the fun  features that will be available through the Hopper 3 in the very near future.

·        Sports Bar Mode – Sports Bar Mode is a multi-channel view that divides the TV screen into quadrants, each with the ability to display a different program in HD.

·        4K content from Netflix – In addition to the 4K titles found on-demand in your DISH programming guide, you will soon have access to Netflix’s library of 4K content.

·        Voice Remote – With the Voice Remote, customers can use natural language to search for movies and TV shows by title, actor or genre. It also works to control the basic functions of the Hopper, like setting recordings and changing channels.

·        YouTube app – Hopper 3 supports the most popular OTT video apps in the market, including Netflix and Vevo, and we’re soon adding YouTube to the mix.

You get all of these new features and many of my old favorites are still available as well.  Some of the perks of DISH services include the ability to watch Prime Time shows anytime without commercials, being able to see what the kids are watching no matter where they're at, and the fact that the hopper will shut itself off after two hours if no one is using it. And of course, one of the biggest advantages is the DISH Anywhere service. This allows you to watch TV anywhere you can get an internet connection on your tablets, phones, and iPads.

Believe me when I tell you, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. DISH is so awesome, I couldn't possibly fit it all in one post. There are lots of things that make it a great service, not the least of which being the affordable packages they have available.  Keep following New Age Mama for more of my personal experiences with DISH. In the meantime, you can visit the DISH website to learn more about their packages. Also be sure to follow them on face book. Now, I am off to enjoy over 300 channels!