New to Hopper Duo, not happy - Is the Hopper 3 UI better?

[AppliedAggression]

We recently had the Hopper Duo installed. Coming from the 722k, this seems like a downgrade in most aspects. The UI is clunky and not well thought out. It seems to require multiple taps to get to important information. I know you can program the diamond buttons to be record and stop, but why is one of the most critical functions not on the remote in the first place?

Here are a few of my gripes, hoping that I'm overlooking a few things:

- The DVR list and guide now include promotions without the ability to remove them.
- The DVR list now has an image for each record instead of text

Is the Hopper 3 any better in terms of tuning to a Streaming channel, or does it have a better UI? I understand it has more tuners and supports 4k.

 

[Jim5506]

Hopper DUO is just a ViP722 in a different box with GUI software.

Go with the Hopper 3 no question, faster, connects to internet for programming, 4K channels 16 tuners. PTAT, and so on.

 

[tjboston5676]

It's the exact same interface but as mentioned way faster and more features. The hopper duo is a piece of junk that should of never existed.

 

[Strega]

I have one of the diamond keys programmed to toggle the closed captioning on and off with a single button press. If my old 722 had the functionality, then I never figured it out. That alone makes the H3 better for me.

I don't miss a record button. Press enter in the guide, and you get a menu for record this, record series, or information. That seems fine to me. I think I used to end a recording with Stop, arrow(s) delete, now it's more like Back, arrow(s) delete. It's been a while, but it seems like getting to upcoming shows and the timer list is easier now. And the timer list allows more entries I think and I don't think you could sort it by name on the 722? (It's been a while, so I may be forgetting things about the 722.)

Honestly, without looking at it (which I'm not now) I couldn't tell you if my H3 has promotions. I do recall that on the 722, I had to press DVR twice to get past some screen that I never used, which included promotions I think.

I think some of the big old remotes (40?) will work (at least on the H3!) so if you want more buttons (Stop and Rec and more), that may be an option. I was thinking about going that way prior to the H3 install, but I quickly got used to the the 54 Remote.

It seems like adding and programming remotes is easier now too. (But it's been a VERY long time since I did that on the 722.)