Recommendations PVR - Dual freeview and upgradeable hard drive

Hi - sorry if this is an FAQ - I could not find it.
I'm looking for recommendations - warnings.

I want a PVR - which has dual freeview tuners and the hard disc is
upgradeable.
I'm happy to open the box - just don't want to be tied to an 80 or
160gb hard drive - when next year you will be able to get 1gb hard
drives cheap.

Regards Andy

In message om, silver
wrote
Hi - sorry if this is an FAQ - I could not find it.
I'm looking for recommendations - warnings.

I want a PVR - which has dual freeview tuners and the hard disc is
upgradeable.
I'm happy to open the box - just don't want to be tied to an 80 or
160gb hard drive - when next year you will be able to get 1gb hard
drives cheap.


Er, 1G is a lot smaller than 160G!

The disks will probably be formatted in a different way to that used in
you computer. Make sure that the PVR is capable of formatting a
replacement disk and/or that you can obtain third party software
allowing formatting.

The original disks chosen for PVRs may be selected for low noise and low
power consummation rather than massive capacity. You need to minimise
the need for noisy cooling fans.

http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1328

The Topfield 5800 has twin tuners and a well support UK forum.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message om, silver
wrote

The original disks chosen for PVRs may be selected for low noise and low
power consummation rather than massive capacity. You need to minimise
the need for noisy cooling fans.

http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1328

The Topfield 5800 has twin tuners and a well support UK forum.

There is now a 250GB version. It would take a while to watch that lot!

See also Jukka Aho's post " Recording from Digital out" about Dreamboxs


--

Michael Chare

humax 9200t great machine 160gb 2 freeview tuners .
rasler


"Michael Chare" wrote in message
news
"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message om, silver
wrote

The original disks chosen for PVRs may be selected for low noise and low
power consummation rather than massive capacity. You need to minimise
the need for noisy cooling fans.

http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1328

The Topfield 5800 has twin tuners and a well support UK forum.

There is now a 250GB version. It would take a while to watch that lot!

See also Jukka Aho's post " Recording from Digital out" about
Dreamboxs


--

Michael Chare

Thanks Guys - yes I meant 1Tb rather than 1Gb.
Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know quite a
lot about that.
I'll watch the drive current ect.
Probably go for the newer Seagate SV35 family which are really aimed at
this type of product.
I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size, if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the system
seeing it, formating and using it.

Also the general reliability, quality of the product.



rasler wrote:
humax 9200t great machine 160gb 2 freeview tuners .
rasler


"Michael Chare" wrote in message
news
"Alan" wrote in message
...
In message om, silver
wrote

The original disks chosen for PVRs may be selected for low noise and low
power consummation rather than massive capacity. You need to minimise
the need for noisy cooling fans.

http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1328

The Topfield 5800 has twin tuners and a well support UK forum.

There is now a 250GB version. It would take a while to watch that lot!

See also Jukka Aho's post " Recording from Digital out" about
Dreamboxs


--

Michael Chare

"silver" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks Guys - yes I meant 1Tb rather than 1Gb.
Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know quite a
lot about that.
I'll watch the drive current ect.
Probably go for the newer Seagate SV35 family which are really aimed at
this type of product.

The Samsung Spinpoints have a reputation for being quite.

I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size,

I don't suppose that manufacturers deliberately limit the size so much as the
fact that hard disks are always outgrowing their architectural limits!


if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the system
seeing it, formating and using it.

The TF5800 formats a new disk when it is inserted. Read the forums for advice
about the maximum sizes that people have tried.


--

Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:

"silver" wrote in message
roups.com...

Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know quite a
lot about that.

The Samsung Spinpoints have a reputation for being quite.

A reputation for being quite what exactly? Quiet?

I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size,

I don't suppose that manufacturers deliberately limit the size so much as the
fact that hard disks are always outgrowing their architectural limits!

if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the system
seeing it, formating and using it.

The TF5800 formats a new disk when it is inserted. Read the forums for advice
about the maximum sizes that people have tried.

It would be a real faff for folk if a dead HDD required sending back
to the manufacturer to format a new disk. Has any manufacturer been
that stupid? After all it's not a case of if a HDD will fail but when.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Phil Cook" wrote in message
...
Michael Chare wrote:

"silver" wrote in message
roups.com...

Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know quite a
lot about that.

The Samsung Spinpoints have a reputation for being quite.

A reputation for being quite what exactly? Quiet?

I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size,

I don't suppose that manufacturers deliberately limit the size so much as the
fact that hard disks are always outgrowing their architectural limits!

if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the system
seeing it, formating and using it.

The TF5800 formats a new disk when it is inserted. Read the forums for advice
about the maximum sizes that people have tried.

It would be a real faff for folk if a dead HDD required sending back
to the manufacturer to format a new disk. Has any manufacturer been
that stupid? After all it's not a case of if a HDD will fail but when.

Well they might be bright enough to work out they could make an appropriate
charge, or tell you that you can only order replacement disks from them at a
suitably inflated price.

--

Michael Chare

Michael Chare wrote:

"Phil Cook" wrote in
message ...
Michael Chare wrote:

"silver" wrote in message
oups.com...

Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know
quite a lot about that.

The Samsung Spinpoints have a reputation for being quite.

A reputation for being quite what exactly? Quiet?

I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size,

I don't suppose that manufacturers deliberately limit the size so
much as the fact that hard disks are always outgrowing their
architectural limits!

if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the
system seeing it, formating and using it.

The TF5800 formats a new disk when it is inserted. Read the
forums for advice about the maximum sizes that people have tried.

It would be a real faff for folk if a dead HDD required sending back
to the manufacturer to format a new disk. Has any manufacturer been
that stupid? After all it's not a case of if a HDD will fail but
when.

Well they might be bright enough to work out they could make an
appropriate charge, or tell you that you can only order replacement
disks from them at a suitably inflated price.

You can't just stick a HDD in a TiVo. It has to be prepared in a Linux
PC. Fortunately it's relatively easy by booting the pc into Linux using
a cd.

--
Ashley
For Windsor Weather see www.snglinks.com/wx

t
"Ashley Booth" wrote in message
...
Michael Chare wrote:

"Phil Cook" wrote in
message ...
Michael Chare wrote:

"silver" wrote in message
oups.com...

Yes I can select the hard drives - I'm in the industry I know
quite a lot about that.

The Samsung Spinpoints have a reputation for being quite.

A reputation for being quite what exactly? Quiet?

I'm more interested in if manufacturers have either specifically
limited the HDD size,

I don't suppose that manufacturers deliberately limit the size so
much as the fact that hard disks are always outgrowing their
architectural limits!

if the OS lives on the HDD rather than a silicon
drive etc, or if something stops just adding a raw drive - the
system seeing it, formating and using it.

The TF5800 formats a new disk when it is inserted. Read the
forums for advice about the maximum sizes that people have tried.

It would be a real faff for folk if a dead HDD required sending back
to the manufacturer to format a new disk. Has any manufacturer been
that stupid? After all it's not a case of if a HDD will fail but
when.

Well they might be bright enough to work out they could make an
appropriate charge, or tell you that you can only order replacement
disks from them at a suitably inflated price.

You can't just stick a HDD in a TiVo. It has to be prepared in a Linux
PC. Fortunately it's relatively easy by booting the pc into Linux using
a cd.

--
Ashley
For Windsor Weather see www.snglinks.com/wx