[myron]

The GHD8015F2 has recently been released. Have you noticed any annoyances with the GHD8015F2 PVR? Any bugs? Anything making this PVR hard or uncomfortable to use? Any strange noises that should not be there? Etc.....

Discuss in this thread. Chances are that the people involved with the GHD8015F2 may take an interest in this particular discussion thread.

[chaotic_uk]

i have had my GHD8015F2 for nearly a week now with no problems so far , this is my first pvr and i must say i am impressed with it so far (makes my old thomson dti2300 seem out of the ark) . i cannot get over how fast the text and guide load (just makes me wonder why it is not listed on the goodmans uk site)

[gordonm4427]

I have 2 Goodmans PVR's and they have notbeen working as well as an ordinary freeview box. They have tended to freeze when changing channels and the only way to release them is to unplug the unit. Bit of a pain.
I contacted Goodmans and they suggested it was my aerial but after upgrading the aerial it is still doing it. Any ideas about how to stop it or is it th ebox that's faulty. Strange if it is the 2 though!

[myron]

Exactly at what point is your GHD8015F2 is only freezing-up? As an example, when the PVR wants to spin-up its hard disc? Can you be more specific? You have two PVRs. Are they both GHD8015F2s or are they different models? If they are different PVRs then it could be something else?

Need more information !!!!

What transmitter is your PVRs listening to? I'm receiving broadcasts from on Winter Hill and recently Crown Castle started to transmit a one digital test channel on UHF 50. The clock on that test channel is wrong and some PVRs might show the wrong time and then the right time. Blame the transmitter owners for that. Not the PVR. Crown Castle should not better. Sultion is to remove `506: Test Channel 6` from the channel line-up.

[gordonm4427]

The both PVR'sare Goodmans GHD...... models. The freezing occurs when you change channel and maybe it when you scroll or select a particular number. Sometimes the screen goes black and the sound can be heard. Sometimes the picture freezes and the sound stutters and sometimes it just goes black.
I spoke to Goodmans again today and they told me how to reset the unit by holding the standby button in for about 5 secs then releasing it and the unit checks the disk etc and returns. They said if it continues to return the units to the retailer.
Don't know where the signal is from. I think Winter Hill.

[audiofi]

Hi
I have just bought a ghd8015f2 with v1.2 software. My problem is that the channels keep freezing or going black with sound or the picture freezes with stuttering sound. I have noticed that the signal levels on the white meter is very low on some channels. I c annot understand this as the aerial is going through a 4-way booster. The booster feeds 2 computers that have freecom dvb sticks (both show full signal level on the signal meters) and a dvd hard drive recorder with it's own freeview tuner (this shows around 80% signal strength). All these items have had no problem at all with reception through this booster. I have even tried to use the loop through of the dvd hard drive recorder but this makes no difference. I have therefore concluded that the signal is good enough so do you think that the goodmans is faulty. Anyone with any ideas as I would really like to keep it since it seems very well thought out having looked at all it's features.
Thanks

[myron]

I got to admit I've not seen the `freezing` and `going black` problems. I'm currently using and evaluating a GHD8015F2 and at the moment the PVR is quite rock-steady. What happens if you disconnect the 4-way booster and connect the PVR directly to the TV arial?

[chaotic_uk]

the only problem i can see is that i cannot change the time , everything either starts late or 5 mins before no matter what i set it at

[myron]

Originally Posted by chaotic_uk

the only problem i can see is that i cannot change the time , everything either starts late or 5 mins before no matter what i set it at

I believe there is an option that causes the PVR to start recorording early and finish recording late and both these parameters are veriable.

[chaotic_uk]

i have them set to start dead on time and not early or late , but the time seems to be out by a few min

[myron]

The problem with many FreeView PVRs is that they are unable to alter the programmed scheduled recording times once set when the EPG times change. Also blame the broadcasters not managing to stick to the right program start and stop times! End if the day what is really needed is a FreeView PVR that has the features of the GHD8015F2, but can also monitor for any changes on the EPG.

In the defence of Goodmans, I like the feature where I can set a recording to start 2 minutes early and stop 5 minutes after the end of the scheduled recording period.

[myron]

Oh.. If you still have `506: Test Channel 6` on your channels list, erase it.

[chaotic_uk]

i set it last night to record tourchwood via the epg 21:00 ,but the pvr time was 20:58 when tourchwood started so when i pressed the record button it said deep impact . i wish they would should these small problems out though lol (other than that the box works a treat)

[goodmans]

Originally Posted by myron

I got to admit I've not seen the `freezing` and `going black` problems. I'm currently using and evaluating a GHD8015F2 and at the moment the PVR is quite rock-steady. What happens if you disconnect the 4-way booster and connect the PVR directly to the TV arial?

Hi Audiofi,

Have you tried as Myron has suggested and connect the PVR directly to the aerial?

B. Rgds

Mark

[goodmans]

Originally Posted by chaotic_uk

i set it last night to record tourchwood via the epg 21:00 ,but the pvr time was 20:58 when tourchwood started so when i pressed the record button it said deep impact . i wish they would should these small problems out though lol (other than that the box works a treat)

This is a problem with the EPG data, if the programme starts early and you press record, it will obtain the information from the EPG. As you say, it was 20:58 when you press the record button, therefore it look at the EPG data and saw that the programme that was on at that point was Deep inpact.

Unfortunately there is not a lot that we can do with this issue.

Sorry that I cannot help more on this issue.

B. Rgds

Mark

[chaotic_uk]

but i forgot to mention it was 21:00 on teletext , the clock was slow on this pvr (weather it was the epg that caused this i am not sure)

[myron]

I think Mark is right. Blame the broadcasters as they transmit the time signal to all the PVR's listening for clock data. Not that long ago Crown Castle decided to put a blank test channel on-air the this caused a problem where the time on the PVR kept jumping between 16:XX and then the right time.

When Crown Castle (who operate the Winter Hill transmitter) got their knuckles rapped they took the test channel [which should have NEVER been on the channel line-up] off-air and the jumping time problem was fixed there and then.

If the broadcasters and/or transmitter operators can't get the EPG and time data right the there is nothing you, me or anyone else can do apart from complain about inaccurate EPG data and an inaccurate clock.

Hope that makes sense.

[chaotic_uk]

but where do we complain to ? (more to the point , will they take any notice ? )

[myron]

Now there, my friend, is a very good question . . .

[chaotic_uk]

just noticed a new problem , i have deleted the quiz channels etc from the channel list . but every time i turn the machine on from standby the channels are back , why is this ?

[socks779]

Hi

My mum bought 1 of these machines today and is happy with it, but the 1 thing bugging me is that while you are able to pause live tv, you cannot rewind live tv. Is this normal? Also don't know if it makes a difference but as she got it from Argos and I didn't know the model number so I got it off of their website, her model number is ghd8015f. It doesn't have the 2 on the end of it.

TIA

[creddish]

Originally Posted by socks779

Hi

My mum bought 1 of these machines today and is happy with it, but the 1 thing bugging me is that while you are able to pause live tv, you cannot rewind live tv. Is this normal? Also don't know if it makes a difference but as she got it from Argos and I didn't know the model number so I got it off of their website, her model number is ghd8015f. It doesn't have the 2 on the end of it.

TIA

It's normal for this PVR. Some PVR's have the Live TV buffer (the temporary recording of the live programme) initiated automatically, others require you to press Pause to initiate it. Once Paused you can then subsequently rewind live TV. Some PVR's allow the buffer length to be varied. There are pros and cons to both options. Having it running means a bit more noise when and power consumption when otherwise the HD could be run down. But some PVR's enable the buffer and the remainder of the programme to be recorded permanently so you can decide you'd like to keep the complete programme part way through (subject to buffer length). So having a running buffer is useful in this case.

Colin

[chaotic_uk]

i wonder what harddrive this has (make/model) , would it be easy to upgrade it ?

[Echo1]

My Fusion FVRT100 is dead (power supply most likely) so am sending it back to where I bought it - a catalogue. Anyway, They don't stock them anymore and the closest PVR they have is the Goodmans GHD8014F2.

Is it a worthy PVR? Is it as easy to use as my old DigiFusion? Can you record two programmes at once?

[blancoivan]

I've now had my GHD8015F2 for three weeks and am very pleased with its performance. It was very easy to set up and, so far, I have found it very easy to use.
However, Echo1 the User Manual specifically says that it cannot record two channels at the same time.
I have a VHS/DVD Player combi attached but I have not so far tried using the RF loop to record on VHS from an analogue channel whilst recording another digital on the hard drive. I'll try it sometime and report unless anyone else can report the actual result.
I must say that recording via EPG is simplicity itself but I have also had one instance of it receiving false information for a film on Film 4 which then started half an hour earlier than the start of the actual transmission. It's a pain that PDC cannot be applied to digital.
In this case it was not critical because the film will most certainly come round again but it was a wake up signal and the thought to do the timer manually if it is something very important to me.
A question I have is whether it is possible to transfer the hard drive recording to another medium via a VHS or DVD recorder and if so what is the procedure?