Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

"Zimmy" wrote in message
...


There is a very rare sound sync problem after doing a lot of
rewinding/f.forwarding, but it is easily fixed by pausing and unpausing
again. Mine doesn't have series link as such, just a repeating record I
think but I don't really use it.
I've not had random reboots, on the one or two occasions (in several years)
it has crashed (possibly due to a poor signal), it reboots itself.

It seems infinitely more stable than any other box I've used and I would
hope such things are fixed in the latest models, but I suspect there is no
box out there that is 100% reliable and foolproof.

Well that sounds promising, especially if you've been using it for several
years.
Although, I suspect the newer models might try (and fail) to implement 'series
link', whereas yours doesn't have it at all, meaning there's less stuff to go
wrong. :-)

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

"airsmoothed" wrote in message
...
On Nov 19, 6:05 pm, "jamie powell" wrote:
Argos are currently selling a T825 (branded as the Alba ALDTR160) for
£99.99 .
However there are reports of them freezing/locking up, the sound randomly
disappearing, the menu navigation becoming sluggish, and series-linked
timer
settings disappearing whenever the box is put into standby.

Someone also said that the hard disc spins up every 45mins when the box is
in
standby mode, and the noise of this is annoying.

Have you experienced any of these issues?

Thanks.

In a word ...no. The menu / EPG navigation has always been fairly
slow, but it hasn't got any worse since the boxes were new. Series
links are for sure not dissappearing on standby, the HDD is not
spinning up every 45 mins - and when it does it's still very quiet.
I've been pleasantly suprised by the complete lack of lock-ups on
these boxes - or maybe I'm just lucky..

Noted - thanks.
It seems that some people experience loads of problems with these units, and
others none at all.
btw, does the hard disc never spin up in standby mode? or does it just happen
less frequently than every 45minutes?

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote
In article ,
Alan wrote:
My Topfield fits all that - and is actually easier to use than most
VCRs. For basic record/replay.


I suspect that it doesn't out-of-the-box!

It does. The various TAPs tend to add facilities rather than simplify
things. To record a prog not yet on all you have to do is find it in the
EPG and double click on OK. Don't think any VCR could be set that easily.


I have a lot of bug fix patches on my Toppy that didn't come from Topfield.
I suspect that the OP wants a machine where the user doesn't have to fix it
themselves before it becomes reliable. The OP stated "no software glitches,
no crashes, no random resets/reboots".

Don't worry Alan - I'd already ruled out the Topfield range, and I know better
than to take notice of Plowfool, along with certain others on here. :-)

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote

What TAPs would you think essential for an elderly person? Many make the
on screen graphics less legible in the name of 'graphic design' or
whatever.

The native on screen graphics are poor on a Topfield. No consideration
was given to the fact that everyone doesn't have 20:20 vision. Anyone
for light grey text on a dark grey background or white text on a light
blue background?

At least with a Topfield third party software can change the user
interface - although at times some people go overboard with the
(configurable) skins they use.

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

In message , jamie powell
wrote

Don't worry Alan - I'd already ruled out the Topfield range, and I know
better than to take notice of Plowfool, along with certain others on
here. :-)


Although I would take the reviews with a tiny pinch of salt, the link
below rates boxes by ease of use
http://www.ricability-digitaltv.org....tal_tvs/digita
l_tvs_search_results.asp
(Use the 'sort by' box on the page)


--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

In article ,
jamie powell wrote:
I have a lot of bug fix patches on my Toppy that didn't come from
Topfield. I suspect that the OP wants a machine where the user
doesn't have to fix it themselves before it becomes reliable. The OP
stated "no software glitches, no crashes, no random resets/reboots".

Don't worry Alan - I'd already ruled out the Topfield range, and I know
better than to take notice of Plowfool, along with certain others on
here. :-)

Reading between the lines it's too expensive for you anyway. One day
you'll learn you often get what you pay for.

--
*It is wrong to ever split an infinitive *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

In article ,
Alan wrote:
What TAPs would you think essential for an elderly person? Many make the
on screen graphics less legible in the name of 'graphic design' or
whatever.

The native on screen graphics are poor on a Topfield. No consideration
was given to the fact that everyone doesn't have 20:20 vision. Anyone
for light grey text on a dark grey background or white text on a light
blue background?

Just like a motorway sign, then? ;-)

At least with a Topfield third party software can change the user
interface - although at times some people go overboard with the
(configurable) skins they use.

They do indeed.

--
*When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message , jamie powell
wrote

Don't worry Alan - I'd already ruled out the Topfield range, and I know
better than to take notice of Plowfool, along with certain others on here.
:-)


Although I would take the reviews with a tiny pinch of salt, the link below
rates boxes by ease of use
http://www.ricability-digitaltv.org....tal_tvs/digita
l_tvs_search_results.asp
(Use the 'sort by' box on the page)

Thanks, although it's interesting to see some Vestel-based units scoring more
highly than others, even though most of them are the same as each other.

Out of interest, do the press still publish Videoplus+ code numbers in their
TV listings? And do any PVRs or freeview-based DVD recorders accept them?

(Being under 30 and not a builder, I don't use paper-based newspapers myself
at all, but some older people still do).

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

Reading between the lines it's too expensive for you anyway. One day
you'll learn you often get what you pay for.

What are you on about now?
I have expensive taste as it happens, but in this case it isn't me that's
paying.
I'll be buying and installing around 10 digital recorders after switchover for
a group of elderly 'church people', all of whom are currently still using VHS
(quite happily).
I'd rather not land them with a defective, half-baked product.

Best PVR for older/non-techie people
 

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote
In article ,
Alan wrote:

The native on screen graphics are poor on a Topfield. No consideration
was given to the fact that everyone doesn't have 20:20 vision. Anyone
for light grey text on a dark grey background or white text on a light
blue background?

Just like a motorway sign, then? ;-)

Motorway signs also use large rounded "friendly" fonts where the design
was first tested for readability.

Topfield's GUI designers forgot that we in the UK use an interlaced TV
system and used fonts that have horizontal lines equivalent to less than
two TV frame lines that flash as a result, especially on CRT receivers.

While I'm very happy with my Topfield (with 60 off third party bug fix
or enhancement patches and a few popular third party software
applications) it's not a box that I would recommend for someone without
some basic technical knowledge and an inclination to 'fiddle'.

Most of Topfield's (good) reputation is based on the older 5800 model,
older firmwares, a very knowledgeable active user base and a wealth of
third party software that can be run on the box. With the newer 5810
model Topfield released some truly awful firmware and walked away from
any bug fix support for the last year or more. The UK distributor has
resorted to shipping the box with a limited number of third party bug
fix patches.

For the purpose for which the OP wants the boxes a Topfield is not the
best choice and probably very poor value for the money.

For others thinking of buying a Topfield then the capability for
running third party software can transform a mundane out-of-the-box
experience into something that is close to the top in it's class, but it
requires some effort to make it so. Before buying it's worth doing some
research at
http://www.toppy.org.uk/
and especially in the user forums at
http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/index.php
Third party software at
http://www.tapworld.net/

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk