PVR release dates - Page 26

Ruck and Maul · 14-12-2006, 19:22

Booked mine too, 6th of Jan tho

RS100 · 14-12-2006, 22:53

got a call from installs my install date is now brough forward to the 23rd of december

Andy C · 15-12-2006, 16:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by swanny

Any initial thoughts on it vs the mighty TIVO sir?

Hmm, to be honest if you're happy with a single tuner then I'd stick with the TiVo right now, at least until there's a few more bug fixes.

Don't get me wrong, when the TVD is playing nice it's a great bit of kit, however it can be bloody fustrating when it isn't.

The most annoying thing is the box appearing to lock up causing the remote to be unresponsive until the box comes back to life. It happens A LOT when playing back recordings, almost every 10 minutes. The counter on the front of the box also freezes, so don't bother pressing any buttons until the counter is running again. I was watching a recording of Stargate last night and I started to fast forward the ads 30 mins into the show, by the time I could use the remote again I had watched the rest of the show whizz by.

The guide data needs a bit of work. I have a series record for Greys Anatomy which airs on Thursday night, but TVD also wants to record a repeat on Sunday causing a clash with Lost and Torchwood. You can get around this by giving Greys a lower priority than the other two shows though. Some shows such as Standoff (Sky One), Click (BBC NEWS 24) and some others I can't remember off hand wont currently allow you to set a series record. I think there's a a number you can call to request these though.

Finally, as others have said, it would be nice if there was a way to search for shows by keying in the start of the title and have it list upcoming episodes. It would make sorting out clases and setting up series records much easier.

Still, it is a nice bit of kit and once the bugs are sorted it'll be great.

Oh, and it does work nicely with TiVo using the Pace 20020 codes. Handy if you're going away to still record things remotely. However each morning my TVD has tuned to channel 0 and the miniguide is on screen. The miniguide being there prevents TiVo changing channels, so I'm hoping if I turn the miniguide off when away it should be ok.

A.

enigmatic2 · 15-12-2006, 16:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

Mates wife just rang CS here in Belfast. They said that nothing is happening until January and wont be taking any orders until after each area has been leafleted

Try again, Terry - that's what they initially said to me too, but I'm in Belfast too and - fingers crossed - am booked in for an installation next Wednesday.

Mike RB · 15-12-2006, 18:58

FYI

I got an install booked for Sat Jan 6th in the Reading area. Guy seemed really knowledable. Thought I'd have to tell them what a TV Drive is.

Does anyone know if they will install an additional point in the bedroom or if they are going to route cable all round the house from the master TV point?

swanny · 15-12-2006, 19:17

Cheers Andy for info.

I think I will wait for the software to get sorted and a few bugs killed. Couldn't put up with the wife moaning about faulty tech.

Andy C · 17-12-2006, 17:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by swanny

Any initial thoughts on it vs the mighty TIVO sir?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy C

Hmm, to be honest if you're happy with a single tuner then I'd stick with the TiVo right now, at least until there's a few more bug fixes.

I thought I should add to my post as it may have sounded quite negative, which wasn't meant to be the case, so to clarify... If anyone has a TiVo and is perfectly happy which just a single tuner setup then yes, stick with it for another couple of months until the remote bug is squashed - that's the only thing I've found annoying so far. However if you haven't got a PVR, or if you find programme clashes a pain, then go ahead and order yourself a TVDrive! Some of the good points....

- 3 tuners! This is a godsend. This is a huge bonus over any UK TiVo. Once you've got them they're addictive, hell I've already had times where I want to record three shows at once!

- Recordings and Series Links are working well. I've got 15 series links and have recorded 20 or more shows so far, often using both tuners. Nothing as yet has failed. A couple of hour long recordings have ended at 58 minutes chopping the end of the shows which is a bit odd, but only twice and I believe this is a known bug.

- Picture quality. I have a 37" standard def. plasma and the picture quality from the TVDrive using RGB over SCART is excellent. Recordings are just the same as the original broadcast, much sharper than the re-encoded TiVo video.

- The EPG is fast and responsive compared to the current STB code. Guide data for channels and VOD loads quicker also.

- Did I mention 3 tuners?

Cheers,

A.

swanny · 18-12-2006, 12:54

Cheers Andy.

Think I may line up an install early in the New Year.

gazzaaa · 18-12-2006, 17:41

Hi,
booked mine for the 13th Jan. (apprently the first to be booked in Northampton). Hopefully the various mods to the software will have been sorted by then.

Gazzaaa

Jonathan David · 19-12-2006, 00:56

Sorry mate, don't want to burst your bubble but mine was install in NN2 on Monday morning (18th)

Its a great bit of kit, well it will be when my smartcard gets paired to the box!!

Some advice, don't let the installer go until you have all your channels.

Jonathan

rdhw · 19-12-2006, 15:15

TV drive PVR installed this morning in Cambridge - everything working except for "On demand". It is unclear yet whether this is a temporary local problem, or a more serious issue.

On high-def over HDMI, the internally-generated menu text and graphics look quite poor at 1080i, but good at 720p. No difference in broadcast programme quality can be seen, however, between 1080i and 720p output selections on normal programme material - it's a pity no-one broadcasts test patterns any more.

It's unfortunate that, if you select HDMI, the box insists on rescaling everything to the fixed preconfigured 720p or 1080i format, since source material could be either (or SD). It would have been better, surely, to pass through to HDMI whatever format the source material is, to avoid unnecessary processing or rescaling in the box. Let the TV do the only rescaling that is necessary - to the pixels on the screen.

As others have noted: if you select HDMI output, the analog outputs shut down.

fishpie · 19-12-2006, 18:32

Had my install this afternoon in NG24, the first install for the engineer concerned and the second for a second engineer who came to help him through his first one.
Everything seemed to go really smoothly and everything works well apart from VOD which seems to be empty at the moment.
Chatting with the engineers it seems that a cose drop in Feb is going to enable a few new features, the eSata will be enabled alond with the ethernet port to enable copying of recordings and control of the box via your PC
Anyone else missing the VOD content?
Fishpie

---------- Post added at 18:32 ---------- Previous post was at 18:30 ----------

forgot to say that the engineers reckoned that NTL would have the full roster of HD channels in Feb too.

enigmatic2 · 20-12-2006, 17:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishpie

Anyone else missing the VOD content?

Yep, I was told that there are quite a few problems with it (quelle surprise) so it's not an option for the time being.

Also had my installation today (Belfast) and like you it was the engineer's first ever install aside from the one day's training he said he'd had. Up and running in an hour or so, leaving my trusty Tivo disconnected...

First thoughts - even the SD picture quality is so much better than the reprocessed Tivo output, however as I expected from reading this forum the system needs a LOT of improvement. Only ten minutes after the engineer left, the channel change started locking for five minutes at a time, then the entire TV guide switched to data from the middle of the night.

I'll perservere. As with you, the engineer promised more HD channels for "early next year", presumably when the big ad campaign starts. So far am suitably impressed with the BBC channel.

In a sentence - nice pictures, shame it's not Tivo.

mrm1 · 20-12-2006, 19:29

Just had my TVDrive installed this afternoon. Enginerr admitted he did not know much about it, but had the install done and fully working as well as running a cable outside for my old box to be installed upstairs in under an hour.

So far no problems, and just in time for christmas.

dranny69 · 28-12-2006, 14:19

anyone managed to order tvdrive, or even better had it installed yet in the leeds area? just wondering whether its worth a 30 minute wait on hold to C.S. to try and book ?