Freeview STBs and TiVo

In article ,
Tim Downie wrote:
In my limited experience, the software & ergonomics of the TiVo still
stands head and shoulders above other PVRs. We have a Sony PVR as well
which is a huge pile of poo by comparison. You can request it to
record programs by genre or keywords in titles, a feature that I don't
think is available in other machines. It's easy say to ask it to
record anything with "cycling" or "athletics" or "sheep shagging" in
the title. ;-)

The Topfield has the ability to load in your own software - called TAPS.
And there is a lot of it out there. Could be someone has written exactly
what you need.

--
*Two many clicks spoil the browse *

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

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

8

Really wishing I'd paid the lifetime though....

If everyone paid for a lifetime subscription the EPG would be dead by now.
They wouldn't have any income so it would not be worth continuing.


I know TiVos were well respected, though I've never used one, do they
still have "killer" features that aren't available anywhere else?

Killer feature?
That is purely personal.


In my limited experience, the software & ergonomics of the TiVo still
stands head and shoulders above other PVRs.

Have you tried Sky+?
Sky+ is by far better than anything else i have used.

We have a Sony PVR as well which is a huge pile of poo by comparison. You
can request it to record programs by genre or keywords in titles, a
feature that I don't think is available in other machines. It's easy say
to ask it to record anything with "cycling" or "athletics" or "sheep
shagging" in the title. ;-)

Also, left to it's own devices, it will automatically record programs
similar to ones that you've recorded in the past building up a library of
"TiVo suggestions". These will never overwrite any specifically requested
recordings and are the first to be automaticaly deleted if space is
needed.

IMHO that is no longer really needed, just use iPlayer, sky player, ITV
player, etc.


If you want to record programs to keep that a media centre PC is hard to
beat, you can drop the programs onto another media (DVD, network drive, USB
stick, etc.) with ease. The EPG is pretty good too.

In article , Paul Ratcliffe
writes
On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:55:38 +0100, fred wrote:

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Try these:
http://uk.farnell.com/panasonic/eeuf...10v/dp/9691952

That's only 1000 instead of 2200.

Ooops, sorry bout that, the one below is the right one and still pretty
cheap.

Any stock problems and these will also work and have a slightly better
spec (at a slightly higher cost):
http://uk.farnell.com/panasonic/eeuf...10v/dp/9691979

Seems to be the proper replacement, assuming it's physically small enough
to fit.
Yes, agreed

Strangely:
Farnell do these for 59p each exc. VAT, min. qty. 5, free postage,
total £3.44
CPC do these for 55p each exc. VAT, min. qty. 1, postage £5.95,
total £7.48
seeing as Farnell and CPC are supposedly the same company...
Different cost models, free post offset by higher margins on the goods,
quite handy for little orders like this one.
--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs

[email protected] wrote:
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

8

Really wishing I'd paid the lifetime though....

If everyone paid for a lifetime subscription the EPG would be dead by
now. They wouldn't have any income so it would not be worth
continuing.

I know TiVos were well respected, though I've never used one, do
they still have "killer" features that aren't available anywhere
else?

Killer feature?
That is purely personal.


In my limited experience, the software & ergonomics of the TiVo still
stands head and shoulders above other PVRs.

Have you tried Sky+?
Sky+ is by far better than anything else i have used.

Have you owned a TiVo? I've tried Sky+ at a friends house. Still, IMO, not
as good or as simple as the TiVo. Additionally, my friends got through 4
Sky+ boxes in about 4 years. Our TiVo is knocking on for 10 years old now.
Has probably crashed about 3 times in all those years and only lost data
only once when the HD needed replacing.


We have a Sony PVR as well which is a huge pile of poo by
comparison. You can request it to record programs by genre or
keywords in titles, a feature that I don't think is available in
other machines. It's easy say to ask it to record anything with
"cycling" or "athletics" or "sheep shagging" in the title. ;-)

Also, left to it's own devices, it will automatically record programs
similar to ones that you've recorded in the past building up a
library of "TiVo suggestions". These will never overwrite any
specifically requested recordings and are the first to be
automaticaly deleted if space is needed.

IMHO that is no longer really needed, just use iPlayer, sky player,
ITV player, etc.

Rather missing the point. With those, you only see what you know about or
can be arsed searching for. The TiVo will record stuff that you perhaps
wouldn't have thought of recording but that you might enjoy (when there's
b*gger all else on).


If you want to record programs to keep that a media centre PC is hard
to beat, you can drop the programs onto another media (DVD, network
drive, USB stick, etc.) with ease. The EPG is pretty good too.

I rarely want to archive programs forever, just time shift them and for that
the TiVo excels in performance and most particularly reliability. The TiVo
really is, IMO, the canines cojones of PVRs. I say "is" rather than "was"
as I think it still outperforms the vast majority of PVRs even today. Just
a shame you can't get a new one in the UK. :-(

Tim

Tim Downie wrote:
Andy Burns wrote:
On 15/09/09 20:39, Tim Downie wrote:

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a
look inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but
because TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes
for the TiVo, I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in
this field but would I be right in assuming that capacitor in the
centre of the picture isn't right?

Yep, capacitors (especially within PSUs are a common failure)

Thanks to all for the advice. I've ordered a capacitor and will let you
know the outcome.

Tim
Indeed. Most electronics is super reliable, and generally its one stray
thing that goes. Identify it and replace it and all is well.

Its the identifying that is the problem.

I had a TV years agpo that randomly lost colors..hitting it restored
them. One day even that failed to work.


I ran it caseless and prodded things with a long plastic knitting needle.

It became apparent that there were dry joints, so I looked at what I was
prodding and found eyelets instead of plated through holes Yuk!. These
looked distinctly dodgy, so I resoldered them on that card. That fixed
one set of probelms. Thenh I got mad and resoldered every single eyelet
on every board.

The set was perfect for several years until the house took a direct
lightning strike on the telephone wire. The TV went then as did anything
else on 'standby'..

Sigh. I liked that TV.

In your case that capacitors is almost certainly the output smoother of
a SMPS. It has to take a LOT of high frequency ripple current, and is
the one most likely to suffer if its even slightly suspect in the first
place. It will get hot and eventually either short, or cease to do its job.

I am pretty sure you have identified the correct cap.

Old valve sets are similar - the caps all dry out. Many a valve radio
will spring to life after all the paper and electrolytic caps are replaced..

Roger R wrote:
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

Thanks to all for the advice. I've ordered a capacitor and will let
you know the outcome.

You will find the job easier by using a desoldering device to remove
the solder from both contacts before pulling the old capacitor out.

Got one already thanks. A handy tool.

Tim

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

Thanks to all for the advice. I've ordered a capacitor and will let you
know the outcome.

You will find the job easier by using a desoldering device to remove the
solder from both contacts before pulling the old capacitor out.
A manual suction device is the the best thing.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97040
There are lots to choose from on the Farnell site:
http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/bro...1003126+500006
from around 3.40 to over 22 pounds. take your pick - I found these ok:
http://uk.farnell.com/miller-abeco/g...-gun/dp/419011

It will then be easy to mount the new capacitor passing the wires through
the holes.

Roger R

At 11:05:55 Wed, 16 Sep 2009, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Indeed. Most electronics is super reliable, and generally its one stray
thing that goes. Identify it and replace it and all is well.
Its the identifying that is the problem.

How true...

I had a TV years agpo that randomly lost colors..hitting it restored
them. One day even that failed to work.

My CRT monitor is on the blink. It will run perfectly for hours and
then the picture goes almost black. The slightest tap on the casing is
often enough to bring it back to life. Sometimes it takes a thump.

I ran it caseless and prodded things with a long plastic knitting needle.

I've tried that, but frustratingly I can't find the fault. The soldered
joints on the PCB all seem to be sound. It will be shame to dump this
monitor since it's less strain on the eyes than my flat panel screen.

Old valve sets are similar - the caps all dry out. Many a valve radio
will spring to life after all the paper and electrolytic caps are replaced..

I have a 9-valve National HRO that still works after 70 years...

--
John Legon

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

8

I rarely want to archive programs forever, just time shift them and for
that the TiVo excels in performance and most particularly reliability.
The TiVo really is, IMO, the canines cojones of PVRs. I say "is" rather
than "was" as I think it still outperforms the vast majority of PVRs even
today. Just a shame you can't get a new one in the UK. :-(

AFAICS the only thing TiVo offers above a media center PC is that it decides
to record stuff by its self.
If that is something you need then you need a TiVo.
I prefer the better quality that you get on Sky+ and on MCE.

On 16/09/09 12:55, [email protected] wrote:


"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...

I rarely want to archive programs forever, just time shift them and
for that the TiVo excels in performance and most particularly
reliability. The TiVo really is, IMO, the canines cojones of PVRs. I
say "is" rather than "was" as I think it still outperforms the vast
majority of PVRs even today. Just a shame you can't get a new one in
the UK. :-(

AFAICS the only thing TiVo offers above a media center PC is that it
decides to record stuff by its self.

I have built a mythtv box (will readily admit it's not suitable for
everyone) it does the usual "pause live TV" tricks, can record specific
programmes from the EPG, it does series-record, can record based on
keywords, and save recordings to DVD if required.

Because I have digital tuners it can record multiple programmes from a
mux at once, and because I have multiple tuners it can record from
multiple muxes at once, I can control it via an web interface (at a push
view recordings remotely too).

Occasionally I get a bit of grief from linux upgrades breaking
something, usually audio glitches but smooth video playback breaks from
time to time, but I wouldn't be without it really.