freeview boxes - are most lousy ?

The TV Licensing people must think we're a little strange... we've had
3 boxes in the last month alone...

Anyway - the first was from Tesco, an Astratec in a Setanta sleeved
box, works *really* well, no missing channels that we're aware of.
Lots of handy stuff on the handset like an "info" button that tells
you about the programme. Neither of the others are comparable for
features !

The second - cheapest in store at Argos - crap EPG, channels missing
all over the show (ITV / C4 and all variants). None of the niceties of
the Tesco one, just a crap interface all round. I'll be trying to take
this back tomorrow, despite their receipt saying it's exempt from the
normal 30 day exchange policy... Argos, meet Mr SOGA and his friend
"Fit For Purpose", with "Credit Card Chargeback" on quickdial.

Last but not least, a "new" sealed box unit today by Thomson from
Martin Dawes. The boxes looked new, they were sealed, foam wrap around
the main unit, but the handset must have literally been chewed by a
dog - one corner was *completely* missing / chewed off. Got a refund
on it, but the shop staff claimed they were all new stock. Well f*ck
me, but their quality control is slipping, and they must allow pets to
work where they're manufactured !

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?

I was still fighting Echostar until this morning over their split NIT
problems. Then rec'd this:

"Good Afternoon
We are working on having an over the air update some time in the not too
distant future. In view of the long period of inconvenience, we would like
to offer you an option to send your boxes here, where we will update them,
and then return to you.
I would suggest that you should send your box to arrive here either a Monday
or Tuesday so that we can have it updated and send back to you before the
following weekend.
The approximate cost of shipping the box here is around £2.65 (no leads or
remotes necessary just the box itself)
Unfortunately we don't have a specific date for the download but would like
to apologise and thank you for your patience
Please make sure you include your return address when sending the box."

This is a definite move in the right direction!

I recently bought a box from CPC when ordering some other stuff (MET2
FTA-T2624 = £17.82 inc VAT.) The kids have it in their lounge and it appears
to be fine although it has an external PSU in case that's a problem. It's
dearer at Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freeview-Rec.../dp/B001NPIIPA

"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message ...
The TV Licensing people must think we're a little strange... we've had
3 boxes in the last month alone...

Anyway - the first was from Tesco, an Astratec in a Setanta sleeved
box, works *really* well, no missing channels that we're aware of.
Lots of handy stuff on the handset like an "info" button that tells
you about the programme. Neither of the others are comparable for
features !

The second - cheapest in store at Argos - crap EPG, channels missing
all over the show (ITV / C4 and all variants). None of the niceties of
the Tesco one, just a crap interface all round. I'll be trying to take
this back tomorrow, despite their receipt saying it's exempt from the
normal 30 day exchange policy... Argos, meet Mr SOGA and his friend
"Fit For Purpose", with "Credit Card Chargeback" on quickdial.

Last but not least, a "new" sealed box unit today by Thomson from
Martin Dawes. The boxes looked new, they were sealed, foam wrap around
the main unit, but the handset must have literally been chewed by a
dog - one corner was *completely* missing / chewed off. Got a refund
on it, but the shop staff claimed they were all new stock. Well f*ck
me, but their quality control is slipping, and they must allow pets to
work where they're manufactured !

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?


the last example reminds me of a DVD player a friend purchased. Like yours
it was all sealed, as new, from a high street shop. When opened, the handset
had the batteries installed AND there was a DVD in the player.

In article ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
writes

snip

It's certainly a bit of a minefield.

I got a Daewoo DS608 some years ago which had to be thrown out when
something in the digital transmission changed and broke it. Daewoo
won't produce a fix. When it was working it was ok. It had an UHF-out
so I could use it with an old portable with no SCART.

Now I use an el-cheapo Pacific something-or-other in the bedroom which
despite only having Now'n'Next EPG is pretty good. It's quick, the
remote is well laid out, it just works and the pic is very good.

In the other room I have an Inverto 7000 PVR which is rather quirky but
I like it. Again, something in the digital transmissions has recently
changed so it doesn't work as it should and there's little prospect of a
firmware update to fix it as the firm appears to have given up on UK
support.

I also have a Daewoo DVD recorder which my parents gave me after trying
to get it to work and giving up in frustration. Never tried the DVD
recorder bit but the built-in Freeview box is very good, and it has
progressive-out which is well worth watching DVDs with.

What you have to realise is that a lot of these boxes don't adhere
strictly to the DTV guidelines so they break when the TV companies
change things. Of course, they should be easily fixable with an update,
but...

Either get a cheapy that works well (like the one you got from Tesco)
and regard it as disposable, or spend on a brand name that has some hope
of support down the line.

Personally, I don't think it is worth spending a lot on them. With
attempts to squeeze an HDTV channel into Freeview, I expect there will
be further changes that will break things in new and interesting ways.

--
(\__/)
(='.'=) Bunny says Windows 7 is Vi$ta reloaded.
(")_(") http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/windows_7.png

...
The TV Licensing people must think we're a little strange... we've had
3 boxes in the last month alone...

Anyway - the first was from Tesco, an Astratec in a Setanta sleeved
box, works *really* well, no missing channels that we're aware of.
Lots of handy stuff on the handset like an "info" button that tells
you about the programme. Neither of the others are comparable for
features !

The second - cheapest in store at Argos - crap EPG, channels missing
all over the show (ITV / C4 and all variants). None of the niceties of
the Tesco one, just a crap interface all round. I'll be trying to take
this back tomorrow, despite their receipt saying it's exempt from the
normal 30 day exchange policy... Argos, meet Mr SOGA and his friend
"Fit For Purpose", with "Credit Card Chargeback" on quickdial.

Last but not least, a "new" sealed box unit today by Thomson from
Martin Dawes. The boxes looked new, they were sealed, foam wrap around
the main unit, but the handset must have literally been chewed by a
dog - one corner was *completely* missing / chewed off. Got a refund
on it, but the shop staff claimed they were all new stock. Well f*ck
me, but their quality control is slipping, and they must allow pets to
work where they're manufactured !

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?

You forgot the golden rule. "He who shops on price alone seldom gets a
genuine bargain".

Peter Crosland

In message ,
Colin Wilson o.uk
writes
The TV Licensing people must think we're a little strange... we've had
3 boxes in the last month alone...

Anyway - the first was from Tesco, an Astratec in a Setanta sleeved
box, works *really* well, no missing channels that we're aware of.
Lots of handy stuff on the handset like an "info" button that tells
you about the programme. Neither of the others are comparable for
features !


Why did you return this one?
--
Ian

While granting that you said "price alone" rather than just "price",
which makes me more inclined to agree with you, I suspect that paying
over the odds on something is unlikely to get you better quality.

When I first moved in here, I went round the stores looking for a
washer(/dryer but I never use that functionality). I was told that
Bosch had a name for build and reliability, so although it was
significantly more expensive, I bought the Bosch (I'm sure there's a
joke in there somewhere, but with the coffee cup still half full I'm
not sufficiently awake yet to see it). Within a couple of years or
so, just beyond the guarantee period of course, it started stopping in
the middle of washes, though it could be restarted from the same point
in the wash simply by turning it off for a few seconds and then on
again. I called out a repairman who advised me to put up with it, as
it would cost hundreds to fix it, so it's been driving me mad ever
since. On occasions, it's taken about four resets and all day just to
complete one wash.

And, remember this? Let's all give a big hand to welcome back ...
http://tinyurl.com/kkhy9n
.... standing in for ...

"TOT Conundrum - Kettles"

http://groups.google.com/group/uk.te...2 a5b9d5794ce

I eventually bought an "Eco friendly technology cordless kettle" (I've
only just realised there doesn't appear to be a brand name as such),
which seemed like a good idea at the time. It has two compartments.
You fill the top one at the beginning of the day with enough water to
last the day, and then for each boiling let down enough water at one
go to make whatever it is that you're making. So far so good, BUT:

If you actually have a little more water in the boiling compartment
than is needed, as you tilt the kettle back upright after pouring,
this remaining water comes back into contact with the element,
instantly reboils and splutters out of the spout. I never did have my
hand in the way, but it was very dangerous. I wouldn't have such a
kettle in any house with children or infirm people.

We more or less decided in the original thread that exposed elements
were almost certainly more efficient than concealed elements, yet this
had a concealed element.

When, like everybody else in the world, you've been raised on the
routine of filling a normal kettle and then switching it on, even
after a year or so you're likely to forget occasionally that not only
do you have to fill this kettle, but you also have to let some water
down into the lower compartment before you can boil anything. There's
a thermal cutout to protect the kettle, but this having been invoked
recently may have something to do with the kettle stopping working not
long afterwards. Presumably the element has burnt out.

Which brings us to another disadvantage of concealed elements. You
can't simply replace it when it dies.

So, as the CO2 and other pollution involved in making and disposing of
the kettle when 'written off' as an 'overhead' over it's tragically
short life, is likely to be of the same order of magnitude as any
energy saved during its use, I can't really say that it was really
"eco friendly" at all. However, I can definitely say that it was
dangerous.

So to bring us back to price, I've been in the market for kettles
again. There was a rather nice looking Mitsubishi (IIRC) in Curry's,
which seemed quite well designed (compact jug design, so you can boil
small quantities of water efficiently, and the build quality seemed
reasonable, as far as one can judge that by looking and working the
controls), but it was £40, and when I read the label more closely,
that was half-price! So I didn't buy that, but a bog-standard Asda
own brand for a little under £17.

My reasoning was based on the following roughly remembered statistics:

1967 - 1988 Two RH 'Forgettles', the first automatic ones. (The
second was necessary because the first was dropped and one of the feet
was knocked off, leaving a hole in the bottom.) If you grabbed the
handle too near the back, steam escaping through the switch mechanism
would give you a slight burn, and they both needed a replacement
element or two, and not a jug design, which I would now prefer for
boiling small quantities of water. But, particularly these days, such
a lifespan is impressive.

1988 - 1997 Morphy Richards. Cordless, jug, exposed element, early
tendency to leak from the fill height indicator, which, for as long as
I could obtain one, when it got too bad I periodically cured by
replacing the O-ring at the bottom. When I try and use it now, I
think the coffee is tainted, but I don't remember noticing this at the
time.

1997 - 2007 RH Cordless, jug, concealed element. Gave up when it too
started to leak.

2007 - 2009 'Eco' kettle, as described.

So, there doesn't appear to be any relationship between price,
eco-friendliness, and reliability, but there is a clear tendency to
increasing unreliability throughout my lifetime, so I thought: "If
even the brands with a reputable history are now as crap as everything
else, why not buy the cheapest and cut your losses!".

On Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:43:11 +0100, "Peter Crosland"
wrote:

You forgot the golden rule. "He who shops on price alone seldom gets a
genuine bargain".

======================================

Please always reply to news group as the email address in
this post's header does not exist. Alternatively, use one of the
contact addresses at:
http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/JavaJive.html
http://www.macfh.co.uk/Macfarlane/Macfarlane.html

"Doctor D" wrote in message
o.uk...

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?

I was still fighting Echostar until this morning over their split NIT
problems. Then rec'd this:

"Good Afternoon
We are working on having an over the air update some time in the not too
distant future. In view of the long period of inconvenience, we would like
to offer you an option to send your boxes here, where we will update them,
and then return to you.
I would suggest that you should send your box to arrive here either a
Monday
or Tuesday so that we can have it updated and send back to you before the
following weekend.
The approximate cost of shipping the box here is around £2.65 (no leads or
remotes necessary just the box itself)
Unfortunately we don't have a specific date for the download but would
like
to apologise and thank you for your patience
Please make sure you include your return address when sending the box."

This is a definite move in the right direction!

I recently bought a box from CPC when ordering some other stuff (MET2
FTA-T2624 = £17.82 inc VAT.) The kids have it in their lounge and it
appears
to be fine although it has an external PSU in case that's a problem. It's
dearer at Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freeview-Rec.../dp/B001NPIIPA



Is this for a t-101 ? ..
they promised an over the air update that's now over due. The thing is,
they say the patch is ready but they dont pay for it to be broadcast... I
think they are just trying to take the cheaper option.

Tom E wrote:
"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message ...
The TV Licensing people must think we're a little strange... we've had
3 boxes in the last month alone...

Anyway - the first was from Tesco, an Astratec in a Setanta sleeved
box, works *really* well, no missing channels that we're aware of.
Lots of handy stuff on the handset like an "info" button that tells
you about the programme. Neither of the others are comparable for
features !

The second - cheapest in store at Argos - crap EPG, channels missing
all over the show (ITV / C4 and all variants). None of the niceties of
the Tesco one, just a crap interface all round. I'll be trying to take
this back tomorrow, despite their receipt saying it's exempt from the
normal 30 day exchange policy... Argos, meet Mr SOGA and his friend
"Fit For Purpose", with "Credit Card Chargeback" on quickdial.

Last but not least, a "new" sealed box unit today by Thomson from
Martin Dawes. The boxes looked new, they were sealed, foam wrap around
the main unit, but the handset must have literally been chewed by a
dog - one corner was *completely* missing / chewed off. Got a refund
on it, but the shop staff claimed they were all new stock. Well f*ck
me, but their quality control is slipping, and they must allow pets to
work where they're manufactured !

Sadly, the only obviously decent one from Tesco is now out of stock in
at least two different stores - has anyone else had similar
experiences with these things ?


the last example reminds me of a DVD player a friend purchased. Like yours
it was all sealed, as new, from a high street shop. When opened, the handset
had the batteries installed AND there was a DVD in the player.

There are companies that specialise in reboxing returns etc to make them
appear "as new" - even down to being able to spray things with a "new
equipment" scent!

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Is this for a t-101 ? ..

Yes.

they promised an over the air update that's now over due. The thing is,
they say the patch is ready but they dont pay for it to be broadcast... I
think they are just trying to take the cheaper option.

In reality both of my T-101 boxes have been in a drawer for months as they
are virtually unusable to all but the most masochistic who enjoy searching
for the required channel. An over the air update would be useless unless it
was well publicized so I knew to have them plugged in and set up!