Noisy Box
 

Hello everyone - I've never been here before, please be gentle ;o)

As it will become clear, I have very limited technical knowledge or
know how. I have recently bought a box for watching freeview on which
also has a hard drive. I bought the cheapest one I found which also
had a topup tv slot on it.

Now I have my new box and I do like freeview and love the hard disk and

pausing live tv thing. But the box is really noisy. There's a general

hum coming from the box (!) and it makes the woofer on the telly hum,
too. The sky box didn't hum, nor did it make the woofer hum.

Is there any way I can know before I buy another box, whether or not it

will also be noisy? I expect it's because I bought the cheapest I
found. I'd happily buy a more expensive one (well, happyish...!) if I
knew it wouldn't hum.

Ho hum. I hope you can help me.

Thanks,
Linda

Noisy Box
 

LindaMcK wrote:

snip

Is there any way I can know before I buy another box, whether or not
it will also be noisy? I expect it's because I bought the cheapest
I found. I'd happily buy a more expensive one (well, happyish...!)
if I knew it wouldn't hum.

Toppys (i.e. the Topfield TF5800PVR) are totally silent when the hard
disk isn't recording or playing back, and the noise when they are
using the disk is inaudible under normal circumstances. They also have
many other virtues, but not, alas, cheapness relative to other PVRs.

What make is your PVR?

André Coutanche

Noisy Box
 

André Coutanche wrote:
LindaMcK wrote:

Toppys (i.e. the Topfield TF5800PVR) are totally silent when the hard
disk isn't recording or playing back, and the noise when they are
using the disk is inaudible under normal circumstances. They also have
many other virtues, but not, alas, cheapness relative to other PVRs.

Oooh, yikes £240? Or thereabouts. Still, if I knew for sure it had
no hum...

What make is your PVR?

blush it's a (mumble mumble) daewoo. The very cheapest freeview box
with hard drive and top up tv slot I could find. ;o)

Thanks,
Linda

Noisy Box
 

"LindaMcK" wrote...

There's also a Humax 9200T for about the same price - does anyone
know anything about those? I've never heard of Humax or Topfield.

The Humax is almost silent, and I'm pretty happy with mine.

Matti

Noisy Box
 

In article . com, LindaMcK
wrote:
Is there any way I can know before I buy another box, whether or not it
will also be noisy?

There is no reason why it shouldn't be near enough silent; certainly better
ones are but that may vary from one machine to another. IMHO there is no
reason why it shouldn't be entirely silent.
Near silence (at least) is a basic requirement of what you have purchased; get
your money back.

BTW - do say which model you have bought so that others can comment on whether
their box (same model) is silent or not.

--
John Cartmell [email protected] followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Noisy Box
 

"LindaMcK" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello everyone - I've never been here before, please be gentle ;o)

As it will become clear, I have very limited technical knowledge or
know how. I have recently bought a box for watching freeview on which
also has a hard drive. I bought the cheapest one I found which also
had a topup tv slot on it.

Now I have my new box and I do like freeview and love the hard disk and

pausing live tv thing. But the box is really noisy. There's a general

hum coming from the box (!) and it makes the woofer on the telly hum,
too. The sky box didn't hum, nor did it make the woofer hum.

Is there any way I can know before I buy another box, whether or not it

will also be noisy? I expect it's because I bought the cheapest I
found. I'd happily buy a more expensive one (well, happyish...!) if I
knew it wouldn't hum.

Ho hum. I hope you can help me.

Even if the box is noisy itself, it shouldn't make your woofer
speaker on the TV hum, too. Check that the SCART lead(s)
are all pushed in correctly as it could be an 'earthing' issue
with the SCART audio connections. Try a different SCART
lead too, if you can swap with another. If that makes no difference,
I'd actually class it as a faulty machine and would try and get it
repaired/replaced under warranty.
HTH
--
Rob

Noisy Box
 

LindaMcK wrote:
André Coutanche wrote:

Toppys (i.e. the Topfield TF5800PVR) are totally silent when the hard
disk isn't recording or playing back, and the noise when they are
using the disk is inaudible under normal circumstances. They also
have many other virtues, but not, alas, cheapness relative to other
PVRs.

There's also a Humax 9200T for about the same price - does anyone know
anything about those? I've never heard of Humax or Topfield.

I've had a Humax 8000T and now a 9200T and both have been excellent.
It's nice and quiet and has been faultless so far

--
Alex

Sig on old laptop - new one coming soon.
www.drzoidberg.co.uk www.ebayfaq.co.uk

Noisy Box
 

In article .com,
LindaMcK wrote:

André Coutanche wrote:

Toppys (i.e. the Topfield TF5800PVR) are totally silent when the hard
disk isn't recording or playing back, and the noise when they are
using the disk is inaudible under normal circumstances. They also have
many other virtues, but not, alas, cheapness relative to other PVRs.

There's also a Humax 9200T for about the same price - does anyone know
anything about those? I've never heard of Humax or Topfield.

The Humax is nearly silent but some have reported an occasional hum that
usually goes when the machine is turned off (count to 20) turned back on
again. I think the two are the best two available at the moment. Try to get
the Humax under 200 GBP but the Toppy will probably push 300 (depending on HD
size). Get the largest HD you can afford - you'll fill it faster than you
imagine. ;-)

--
John Cartmell [email protected] followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Noisy Box
 

John Cartmell wrote:
In article . com, LindaMcK
wrote:
Is there any way I can know before I buy another box, whether or not it
will also be noisy?

There is no reason why it shouldn't be near enough silent; certainly better
ones are but that may vary from one machine to another. IMHO there is no
reason why it shouldn't be entirely silent.

That's what I assumed in my ignorance. Only afterwards when I was
doing internet searches, did I find talk of noisy boxes.

Near silence (at least) is a basic requirement of what you have purchased; get
your money back.

I have organised for it to be collected on Saturday and refunded.

BTW - do say which model you have bought so that others can comment on whether
their box (same model) is silent or not.

It's the Daewoo DSD9520. It has a noticable hum constantly. It
"ticked" a bit when I first used the hard drive but that went away
after about 10 secs and never appeared again.

Thanks,
Linda

Noisy Box
 

"LindaMcK" wrote:

blush it's a (mumble mumble) daewoo. The very cheapest freeview box
with hard drive and top up tv slot I could find. ;o)

Often the cheapest is fine. Not in this case, it seems. Half the
reviews at DigitalSpy complain about the hum.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds27745.html

--
Dave Farrance

Noisy Box
 

Dave Farrance wrote:
"LindaMcK" wrote:

blush it's a (mumble mumble) daewoo. The very cheapest freeview box
with hard drive and top up tv slot I could find. ;o)

Often the cheapest is fine. Not in this case, it seems. Half the
reviews at DigitalSpy complain about the hum.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds27745.html

Thanks - there's loads of useful stuff about them on Digital Spy. D'oh
- never even crossed my mind to look.

Linda

Noisy Box
 

John Cartmell wrote:
In article .com,
LindaMcK wrote:

André Coutanche wrote:

Toppys (i.e. the Topfield TF5800PVR) are totally silent when the hard
disk isn't recording or playing back, and the noise when they are
using the disk is inaudible under normal circumstances. They also have
many other virtues, but not, alas, cheapness relative to other PVRs.

There's also a Humax 9200T for about the same price - does anyone know
anything about those? I've never heard of Humax or Topfield.

The Humax is nearly silent but some have reported an occasional hum that
usually goes when the machine is turned off (count to 20) turned back on
again. I think the two are the best two available at the moment. Try to get
the Humax under 200 GBP but the Toppy will probably push 300 (depending on HD
size). Get the largest HD you can afford - you'll fill it faster than you
imagine. ;-)


Thanks a lot for your advice. I have seen HD sizes and thought "well,
that doesn't really matter, I won't use all THAT much space"... :o)
....off to see where I can get the Toppy or the Humax from and then just
plump for one or tuther.

cheers!
Linda

Noisy Box
 

Thanks, everyone, for all your comments and advice.

I am about to plump for the Humax PVR9200T. I've a funny feeling I
need a cam to beable to have top up tv - best go off and find out!

I'm really excited. You can expect posts from me in the future all
glum coz I can't work something out... :o) I'm already a bit daunted
at the thought of crawling around behind the telly trying to plug
things in. Wish me luck!!!

Linda

Noisy Box
 

"LindaMcK" wrote:

I am about to plump for the Humax PVR9200T. I've a funny feeling I
need a cam to beable to have top up tv - best go off and find out!

No, it doesn't need a CAM. Just plug the TopUpTV card into the slot.

Some digital TV's don't have a TopUpTV slot as such. They have a larger
laptop-style "PCMCIA" slot instead. So a CAM is plugged into the PCMCIA
slot, and the TopUpTV card is plugged into the CAM.

--
Dave Farrance

Noisy Box
 

In article ,
Dave Farrance wrote:
"LindaMcK" wrote:

I am about to plump for the Humax PVR9200T. I've a funny feeling I
need a cam to beable to have top up tv - best go off and find out!

No, it doesn't need a CAM. Just plug the TopUpTV card into the slot.

It's a CAM slot on the Humax - unless there is another one hiding somewhere!

Some digital TV's don't have a TopUpTV slot as such. They have a larger
laptop-style "PCMCIA" slot instead. So a CAM is plugged into the PCMCIA
slot, and the TopUpTV card is plugged into the CAM.

BTW where do you get CAMs from - and how much?

--
John Cartmell [email protected] followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

Noisy Box
 

John Cartmell wrote:

In article ,
Dave Farrance wrote:
"LindaMcK" wrote:

I am about to plump for the Humax PVR9200T. I've a funny feeling I
need a cam to beable to have top up tv - best go off and find out!

No, it doesn't need a CAM. Just plug the TopUpTV card into the slot.

It's a CAM slot on the Humax - unless there is another one hiding somewhere!

Whoops. So it is. I was still thinking of the Daewoo.

--
Dave Farrance

Noisy Box
 

Dave Farrance wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:

In article ,
Dave Farrance wrote:
"LindaMcK" wrote:

I am about to plump for the Humax PVR9200T. I've a funny feeling I
need a cam to beable to have top up tv - best go off and find out!

No, it doesn't need a CAM. Just plug the TopUpTV card into the slot.

It's a CAM slot on the Humax - unless there is another one hiding somewhere!

Whoops. So it is. I was still thinking of the Daewoo.

Phew! I'd just ordered the CAM... (hope it arrives...)

Noisy Box
 

John Cartmell wrote:

BTW where do you get CAMs from - and how much?

I ordered the box and the cam from empiredirect.co.uk - rather
worryingly, it says "due soon" next to it now. I didn't notice that
yesterday when I ordered it (doesn't mean it wasn't there..).

Nervously waiting.... :o)

Noisy Box
 

LindaMcK wrote:
John Cartmell wrote:

BTW where do you get CAMs from - and how much?

I ordered the box and the cam from empiredirect.co.uk - rather
worryingly, it says "due soon" next to it now. I didn't notice that
yesterday when I ordered it (doesn't mean it wasn't there..).

Nervously waiting.... :o)

I needn't have worried. Humax box and CAM arrived yesterday. I am
loving them already ;o)