After weeks of controversy surrounding Dish's new Hopper with Sling DVR, the much ballyhooed set top box is now available nationwide.
The HD DVR is capable of a great many things, including recording up to 2,000 hours of video (500 hours for HD), and streaming that content to mobile devices anywhere with an internet connection through the Dish Anywhere app.
Consumers can even download recorded programs to iPads without any internet connectivity necessary, so they can continue watching all their favorite shows on the go.
The Hopper will also include the AutoHop feature, which allows users to skip commercials on select programming and landed the DVR in a bit of a hotseat at CES.
Common ad sense
Originally nominated for the "Best in Show" award at CES 2013 by CNET, the tech site's parent company CBS stepped in, and forced the Hopper to be removed from the running.
CBS and Dish are currently in litigation over the technology which allows the set top box to skip commercials, which led to a bit of a kerfuffle with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET.
The CEA took back control of the CES awards, and gave the "Best in Show" prize to Dish for the Hopper with Sling, and terminated the partnership with CNET for further awards.
Fortunately, Dish was still able to get the Hopper out to the general public, and now new customers have the chance to own one of the most remarkable home DVRs available.
Slingin' in the rain
New Dish subscribers for either the America's Top 200 or DishLATINO Dos programming packages, or above, will be able to get a Hopper with Sling for free, as well as up to three free Joey units.
There will be a $10 rental fee per month attached for the Hopper, and the Joey sets will cost $7 per month each.
The Joey is a smaller box that allows consumers to watch any of the content provided by the Hopper with Sling on another television in the same household.
Provided there's enough room on the Hopper's massive 2TB hard drive, there's no limit to how much content is shared through the Dish Anywhere app, or how much you can download to an iPad.