New PVR - Dion DTR250SS10 (Merged)

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 50
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    creddish wrote: »
    The FERGUSON F20320DTR is a Vestel T835. Other T835 at Argos are the Bush here and here and the Hitachi here and here. I don't know if Asda are currently selling any Vestel PVRs

    Colin

    Thank you very much for that; I read the reviews on Argos (I always start with lowest rating first), and they don't look good to me, and not of the same quality as the previous Vestel's so I am going to give them a miss I think. Not sure what to buy now, as the space where it was going to go is small, and cannot be made bigger (small work area under the stairs).

    Any ideas ?

    Still playing with the Dion pvr and apart from a few niggles (no resume and cannot see progress bar when f/forwarding to the resume part when playing the recording again), it seems reasonable, small and neat, though very basic in functioning. Only time wil tell if it gets on my nerves, or keeps going wrong.
  • creddishcreddish Posts: 5,285
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    audiofi wrote: »
    Thank you very much for that; I read the reviews on Argos (I always start with lowest rating first), and they don't look good to me, and not of the same quality as the previous Vestel's so I am going to give them a miss I think. Not sure what to buy now, as the space where it was going to go is small, and cannot be made bigger (small work area under the stairs).

    Any ideas ?

    Still playing with the Dion pvr and apart from a few niggles (no resume and cannot see progress bar when f/forwarding to the resume part when playing the recording again), it seems reasonable, small and neat, though very basic in functioning. Only time wil tell if it gets on my nerves, or keeps going wrong.
    TVonics (website here) made some very small PVRs in the past but they have got bigger recently. Possibly a second hand option if space is a major issue.

    Colin
  • HowardHoward Posts: 344
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    Sorry its on Amazon for £59.99!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 50
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    Well. I took the plunge and ordered the Ferguson one, thinking it might be better quality then the other makes, and received it on Friday.
    Plugged it into the tv I have and the tv's freeview started to stutter continuously. Presuming that it must have been the fed through from the antenna, I removed it from the Ferguson and still it was stuttering. Then I removed the scart lead and it stopped ???????????

    I tried this on the other tv's in the house, and the Ferguson works without problem.

    Any ideas ?

    Could the scart socket be un-buffered (in an electronic sense nothing to do with stream buffering), and the load from the Ferguson is making a problem for the tv ?

    The tv is a Currys model c15digb10

    I have since found that the Dion box is making recordings that randomly (but frequently, say at least 3 or 4 times in 15mins) make a sort of blocky jump and the sound is missing for about 2-3 seconds. Now I am wondering if this is because of the tv and not the Dion.

    Any help much appreciated; What I thought would be a simple matter, is turning out to be more complicated than I imagined.
  • SouriauSouriau Posts: 95
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    Does Tesco Dion DTR250SS10 PVR have MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 DVB-T tuners?
  • ekimqekimq Posts: 28
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    Tesco site (http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.210-7328.aspx) says that this does not have Freeview HD, so no M-PEG4
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 36,630
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    HD in the UK uses the newer DVB-T2 standard. So even if the Dion/Tesco recorder had an MPEG4 decoder chip inside, you would still not be able to receive Freeview HD broadcasts in the UK as the Dion has only DVB-T capable tuners.

    It also looks like, from the Tesco page, that the Dion has only scart sockets. So even if it could tune into the HD channels, it couldn't display them in HD anyway.
  • SouriauSouriau Posts: 95
    Forum Member
    I know UK use DVB-T2 MPEG-4 for Freeview HD but I asked does this STB does DVB-T MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 as I live in NI and I get Irish Saorview and it is DVB-T MPEG-4
  • KlauttuKlauttu Posts: 302
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    I have just purchased a cheap and cheerful Dion DTR250SS10 DIGITAL TV 250GB twin tuner recorder. Great little machine for what I want, except for one annoying problem.

    If I have switched off, using the television remote control, & then, after a few hours, switch back on, I get a blue screen, so I then have to press the red standby on the Dion remote control to get back up the channel I was previously watching.

    This only happens after the TV has been off for some time. If I switch back on after a couple of hours, using the TV remote, it goes staight to the channel. At present I am unsure as to the exact time when it will fail to do so.

    Is there a logical reason why the recorder does this, or should I return the item while I can for a full refund?

    Like to hear how other Dion owners rate their machine.
  • gomezzgomezz Posts: 44,505
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    I am unclear as to whether the channel you were previously watching is on the TV or on the Dion? When you turn the TV off do you also turn the Dion off (put it into standby)?
  • PTDPTD Posts: 1,807
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    Some pvrs time out after approx. 3 hours of inactivity and go automatically into standby. That seems to fit with your description of events.

    I don't know this machine, there might be a user setting to modify this behaviour.
  • prkingprking Posts: 9,791
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    That was my thought as well, the power saving was kicking in. Its probably best to switch both PVR and TV to standby when you've finished watching.
  • CharnhamCharnham Posts: 61,148
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    I was looking at some Dions today, not sure what people have against manual record, I prefer it, gives me more control.

    Can I still do manual control, or at least add padding? can I stop a recording, or add chapters as and when?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4
    Forum Member
    Charnham wrote: »
    I was looking at some Dions today, not sure what people have against manual record, I prefer it, gives me more control.

    Can I still do manual control, or at least add padding? can I stop a recording, or add chapters as and when?

    Nah, you can't do anything advanced like that.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 36,630
    Forum Member
    Souriau wrote: »
    I know UK use DVB-T2 MPEG-4 for Freeview HD but I asked does this STB does DVB-T MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 as I live in NI and I get Irish Saorview and it is DVB-T MPEG-4

    Not unless the Dion had an MPEG4 decoder chip/codecs inside, which I am pretty sure it doesn't. Freeview HD boxes and recorders DO work for Irish DTT, including for HD broadcasts, but most UK SD recorders wont receive the Irish HD channels because they cannot decode the MPEG4 streams.
  • GlomperGlomper Posts: 3,250
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    Bought one from Tesco Outlet eBay £40.

    Quite pleased with it.

    Recording / Playback Quality looks to be around SD on SKY quality.

    It appears to only allow a maximum of 16 recordings to be set in the planner.

    Series link works very well.

    The PLAY button is far too small, and surrounded by other small buttons.

    Don't like the Alphabetised recording schedule.

    Otherwise, a good buy for £40.

    The "Secret" TestCard W on ch105 (Yellow, PR-, PR+, Green, Green) shows a high quality Freeview signal, all 6 gratings clear.

    Data, so cannot record & play back TestCard.
  • MuzerMuzer Posts: 3,668
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    With digital signals, for example Freeview, you don't get a difference in picture quality as signal quality decreases, until you reach a certain point. There's basically only three states of a Freeview signal: "Works all the time", "Works sometimes", and "Doesn't work". So the gratings being clear isn't an indication that the box receives a good signal. What it DOES indicate, however, is that the output from the box to the TV is high quality.
  • ty webbty webb Posts: 225
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    Just to note, the 250gb Dion PVR Freeview box is now on Tesco e-bay Outlet for £30 re-furbished.
  • davetechdavetech Posts: 286
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    Purchased a DION DTR250SS10 from Ebay via Tesco Outlet for only £29.97 was a little unsure as it has received many poor and bad reviews but was satisfied with a 12 month warranty that i was protected. :)

    I do not seem to fine any problems, at present, I noted the software is very similar to lOGIK L250STB11. (Had 3 Months)

    This unit also had similar reviews but have not had any of them, but there is some steps taken to help.

    1. I do not put the box into StandBy

    2. Deleted all Rubbish channels

    3. I also Ensured I have a good quality signal above 50% on some and 90% on others (but this can vary on your location)

    All has worked fine and never missed a recording yet on either box.

    I Think the more you switch on and off in Standby may make the box Fail more.

    The Main fact is that they are cheap boxes but for this price its worth it!

    I have also noted that when i had one under the TV the box did get very very hot even with 3 inches either side and 5 inches above.

    I have now placed it onto and open shelf above the TV and the box and the box runs smooth and cool so maybe heat could be making these boxes more unstable as non have a fan inside for cooling.

    The one thing I would say is the software is slow but as long as you not to quick it works well

    Also I have Replaced the 3 amp fuse to a 1amp (not a shaving size) you can get standard size which works up to 250 watts as the unit only draws 25 watts in use.
  • StigidStigid Posts: 2,392
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    I used to use Sharpie blacked erasers as vertical spacers for my TV boxes, I now use the black Pepsi (Max) bottle tops double sided pads onto the base of equipment, for a decent airflow.

    Not quite as much resistance to sliding as the erasers, but a larger gap.

    Regarding the small Play button on the Dion remote, I bought a programmable multi-remote with a large Play button.

    £4 ebay HK.

    I have two of the Dions under my TV, just one remote works either individually, just select DTV on the TV, manually turn on one of the Dions, TV switches to Dion, do anything except press a numerical button, and the other Dion ignores commands.

    Switch off the Dion by remote, TV goes to DTV, then the other Dion as it switches on !!

    SCART control !

    Dions will record if left on, and you can watch the programme being recorded at the same time, and I think a different replay too.

    Ability to record two programmes at the same time.

    Quality, yes it is only SD, but it is only a SD box !

    Good quality SD IMHO though.

    Backups to my HD boxes.

    Both have had to be reset, unplugged for a few seconds, about once every 4 months, usually because I have been too quick with the remote.

    Occasional annoying LCN changing whilst trying to set up EPG recordings, just go away for a few hours, and try again.
  • ty webbty webb Posts: 225
    Forum Member
    Picked up one of these Dion boxes the other week too, very basic, no display on front of unit etc but it hasn't missed a single recording. For the £29.97 i paid i'm satisfied. I've now had a couple of "re-furb" boxes from tesco e-bay outlet and can't fault them, I cannot say the same for a Logik 160gb pvr i purchased a while back from an independent co. on e-bay though, awful, set a recording and it seemed to cut signal/knock out the other tuner! Can't fault the Dion 250gb pvr though, its a good little extra recording option.
  • ty webbty webb Posts: 225
    Forum Member
    One or two other things to note are- the menu's/EPG/user interface are the exact same as the Technika STBHDIS2010 box i have (e.g. Press "back button" twice on the Dion remote whilst viewing a tv channel and you get to see channel info/signal strength) A drawback is no Manual Tune option for individual tv channel muxes, the tuners are pretty sensitive though in Auto Tune. My box doesn't appear to become hot as previous poster suggested. While on the subject of Freeview SD boxes, using Scart, does using "gold-plated" Scart connectors really make any difference to viewing/reception? Thanks
  • davetechdavetech Posts: 286
    Forum Member
    ty webb wrote: »
    Picked up one of these Dion boxes the other week too, very basic, no display on front of unit etc but it hasn't missed a single recording. For the £29.97 i paid i'm satisfied. I've now had a couple of "re-furb" boxes from tesco e-bay outlet and can't fault them, I cannot say the same for a Logik 160gb pvr i purchased a while back from an independent co. on e-bay though, awful, set a recording and it seemed to cut signal/knock out the other tuner! Can't fault the Dion 250gb pvr though, its a good little extra recording option.

    I to have a logik 160 box, and has not been any problem, although something did ping in my head today, although i have not evidence it may improve performance but on the back it has a link from tuner 1 to tuner 2 - My thinking instead of linking 1 to 2 perhaps, if possible to do run each one on indvidual feeds direct from the aerial similar to satellite boxes have 2 signal inputs

    Maybe when recording and viewing is used together the splitting of one signal in some areas where the signal is just ok using 1 but not when using 2.
  • ty webbty webb Posts: 225
    Forum Member
    Good idea Davetech, by-passing the RF Loop through like you say may help. I have found the Logik 160 box to be real slow though,and tv channels froze on occasion among other things, I even contacted Curry's (its their own-brand box) via e-mail about my concerns/problems and they were'nt really interested, told me to call a number that would probably have cost as much as I paid for the Logik box on e-bay! I'm glad i took a chance on the Dion 250 pvr, seems to work very well, if only it had a display on front of the unit. Couple of tips for the Dion pvr are- after typing in a channel number, press OK and it'll change much quicker, also press BACK once or twice after switching channel and signal strength info for that channel should appear. Its a good SD Recorder box for the price and i can live with its shortcomings. Thanks Davetech
  • davetechdavetech Posts: 286
    Forum Member
    ty webb wrote: »
    Good idea Davetech, by-passing the RF Loop through like you say may help. I have found the Logik 160 box to be real slow though,and tv channels froze on occasion among other things, I even contacted Curry's (its their own-brand box) via e-mail about my concerns/problems and they were'nt really interested, told me to call a number that would probably have cost as much as I paid for the Logik box on e-bay! I'm glad i took a chance on the Dion 250 pvr, seems to work very well, if only it had a display on front of the unit. Couple of tips for the Dion pvr are- after typing in a channel number, press OK and it'll change much quicker, also press BACK once or twice after switching channel and signal strength info for that channel should appear. Its a good SD Recorder box for the price and i can live with its shortcomings. Thanks Davetech

    It worth a try, my signal on quest for example 89/92 sig / qu not sure how this varies in the uk regions, I agree i always like a display on the front, but for £29.97 I can do without.

    Also if anyone does try 2 feeds please let me know how you get on and my signal it to high to notice.

    all the best and thank you for your kind comments david
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