Time for a new PVR

Looks like the audio output from my Humax has died, so it's time for a
new one.

I'm thinking of trying a different brand, as there have been issues
with support from Humax.

What's the brand of choice?

I'm not into a self-build, so save your energy, ta.

TIA

 

http://www.utorrent.com/

 

Humax or topfield are the only two that I'd consider , so if you want to
avoid Humax......

 

My Topfiield's pretty good, though rather pricey. Has its quirks though,
and I swear it forgets to record things occasionally.

 

Here's a thing: my Humax has become a complete PITA - its response
time to the remote can be literally tens of seconds, so it ends up
getting power-cycled a lot.

I gather that a lot of PVRs are susceptible to this, so I would guess
that there are only a limited number of PVR-specific CPUs out there.
As manufacturers of STBs generally base their software stacks on those
provided by the chip manufacturer, I would be interested to know which
manufacturer uses what, so I know what to avoid.

I have tried Googling but information on which PVR uses which chipset
is thin on the ground. I suspect that this is a long shot and I'm
probably at least as well placed as others to find this out, but does
anyone happen to know who uses what?

 

Are there freetoair PCI cards available in the UK for PC's?

 

Urgh. I should have said: I don't really fancy the self-build route,
or having a PC in the lounge.

 

I don't know what model you have, but there's a 36-page thread on
Digital Spy about the 9200 slowing up.

 

Go through your channel list and delete anything you don't use and the
data channels, etc. Cycle the power, nice and speedy again.

 

Appears not to be a problem, any longer.

After 4 hours sitting in a corner, deprived of eleck-trickery and in
utter disgrace, it's working again. WTF? Working perfectly. I thought
the days of stuff getting too hot and needing a break went out with
valves.

Ah well, saves me splurging on a new one... for a while.

 

For years.

 

Probably a sign that something's on the way out. A similar thing happens
with the ZIF tuner module on a Skybox I have. Leave it to cool for a bit
and it's fine for days. The module can be replaced cheaply enough but
it's not worth it now, especially as I have several of the things.

 

Ah, any recommendations for a decent one, that requires no Sky card, can
connect to the satellite dish and can deliver HD channels?

 

TiVo. ;-)

Tim

 

Been thinking about getting the latest Dream Multimedia Dreambox 8000
HD. Unfortunately the £879 price tag is too much for me at the moment.

https://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/en/dm-8000-hd-pvr

Fortunately there's a slightly cheaper model, the DM800 HD PVR for £389
https://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/en/dm-800-hd-pvr

http://www.satstore.co.uk/digirec.htm

 

I just want a PCI satellite card, TBH. I've already got 3 PC's at home
and would use one of those.

 

I'm using a SkyStar 2 (was £35) which is perfectly capable of HD
decoding with the right drivers. Unfortunately, the machine it's on,
isn't, very well, so gets left at SD. The SS2 is superceded by now, so
have a look at
http://www.technisat.com/indexd606.html?nav=PC_products,en,76-15023 if
you want HD out of the box.

The supplied software is a bit shit, but serviceable. I recommend
DVB-Dream - freeware and rock solid.

 

Nice one, ta.

 

Bad form, etc, etc.

If I bought a quad LNB (just in case, for the future like) would I
need terminators on the connectors I don't connect straight away?

 

Nah, just a wrap of self-amalgamating tape to weatherseal them. You'd be
as well running all four cables for future use; saves all that tedious
uppy downy laddery shit.