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New update for Sony VTX-D800U ?
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I switched on my LG 26LD350 in the spare room half an hour ago to get a message saying a new update was available.
I've just checked the DTG update site to see what update version was available for the LG only to see a proposed new update for my Sony VTX-D800U !
http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/download_schedule.php
I know the current update for this was re-transmitted last week but I'm amazed a discontinued product of several years is to get a new update.
Has anyone got an idea what this update could be for ? DSO fixes perhaps ?
It's a pity Sony haven't made a Freeview HD version of the VTX-D800U.
I've just checked the DTG update site to see what update version was available for the LG only to see a proposed new update for my Sony VTX-D800U !
http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/download_schedule.php
I know the current update for this was re-transmitted last week but I'm amazed a discontinued product of several years is to get a new update.
Has anyone got an idea what this update could be for ? DSO fixes perhaps ?
It's a pity Sony haven't made a Freeview HD version of the VTX-D800U.
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Strange that this weekends repeat doesn't mention the version number, it just says "Information Withheld"
As the VTX-D800U was basically a disaster, Sony aren't interested in doing it again
People wouldn't pay a decent price for a decent box back then, so there's no point in them doing so now.
Haven't they also said they will be launching a Freeview HD PVR in the near future too?.
It is a shame they pulled out of the market back then, I still have my Sony VTX-D800U going strong in the bedroom and everyone who did buy them still seems to rave about them.
Just checked the site : http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/download_schedule.php
Software version stated as : 1_15_01z Which is for the older hardware version of the VTX-D800U
I hope my post has been of use
Almost all Sony Freeview recorders have been badged products, the current ones (HDD/DVD) appear to be from Samsung - and aren't a patch on the previous Pioneer made ones (but unfortunately Pioneer pulled out of the market).
The odd Sony manufactured ones haven't been very good - there's a VERY long thread in the PVR forum about the disasters and software updates that occured.
Sony certainly don't have much of a name for making Freeview or DVD recorders - I don't think you can beat their TV's, but not all of their products are great.
I would expect so, presumably just another bought-in unit?.
That's not such a bad thing, Sony don't have the expertise, so a third party unit with Sony service and backup 'can' be a decent unit.
Like I said, it was a disaster
People wouldn't pay a decent price for them, it was only when they were sold off at a loss that people became enthusiastic about them.
Some are on amazon at £40 second hand.
I bought one about five years ago,when they first came out,absolute awful machine, freezes at times, Sony could never cure it. I agree with Nigel Sony TVs are top notch, the recorders are re badged, the recorder made me think twice about sony and I bought a Panasonic TV three weeks ago,TLX32G20, but I am sure it as a major problem, starts to switch itself off & on after software downloads, so I have to factory reset, if it occurs again it will go back.
Would that be the RDR-HX890? - if so it was made by Pioneer, and they have been an absolutely cracking machine. We've sold hundreds, and only ever seen one faulty one - and that was just a failed HDD.
Biggest (only?) prolem with them is the useless GuidePlus EPG - we get more calls about that than anything else. But as long as you can get Freeview, then using the Freeview EPG cures those problems.
No it was RDR HXD710.
Nigel are you saying, it is the guideplus that is the biggest Panasonic problem on freesat & using freeview EPG cures the problem of switching itself on and off, having read a few more sites, it seems the Panasonic may well have a back light problem not getting enough power,so it switches itself off & on and Panasonic are aware of this? it is dam annoying. Any help will be welcome,lucky I have both f/sat & f/view.
PS had I studied the guideplus epg before buying, that would have turned me off ever getting a Panasonic TV, in fact it is only an advertising page which keeps changing,so must be bug ridden,
If I recall the 710 was the one that was the worst ever made - check these forums for the hundreds of posts about them.
Perhaps your's was already updated before you got it?.
EDIT: You said you have only had it a year - it's a FAR older machine that that, presumably it was well secondhand, and had been through all the troubles previously?.
That's the model. It's a great machine all round. Use analogue to record ROI channels. Have since bought RDR- DC100 and had problems with slow response to remote and failed recordings. Got it fixed but nowhere near as good a machine in my opinion as the HX890.
As far as I can tell, the DC100 is made by Samsung, and it's rubbish compared with the 890's
Even worse, while it has an analogue tuner, you can't even get the crappy GuidePlus EPG unless you can also get Freeview.
no five years I have owned the 710,
The current Sony (Samsung) crop of recorders have attracted some of the worst customer reviews I've ever seen (check out Amazon) and seem very crude.
Cheers, Mike.
I think the 860 is a Sony manufactured machine?, they are also fairly troublesome, with failure of the HDD or main PCB quite common.
Cheers, Mike.
I agree. I bought two, a month apart in 2003. The first was £130 and the second £120. They have been brilliant and are both still in use. One is in the kitchen and the other in the living room as a back up for viewing when the PVR is fully occupied.
I've got 3 Echostar T101 FTAs and given the huge price difference I think they were better value for money even though not nearly as sophisticated as the Sony. Echostar are still supporting them and seem to be prepared to do so as long as people are using them.
I do agree. I have two, and they are excellent. The Guide-Plus is a fiddle to set up, because the handbook is so vague, but it's fine once you crack it. That dies next week, and we'll see how the Freeview guide makes out.
Unfortunately it's not 'fine when you crack it', even then you get loads of problems with it, such as entire channels disappearing, and only limited times on it.
You say it's 'dies next week', is that entirely, or just your area?.
I've never had a single disappearance or limited times, on either machine. It seems to update itself twice a day, provided the machine is left in standby. Were your customers perhaps switching the power off?
The analogue transmissions are being switched off in the Channel Islands next week - our DSO is single stage. I assume the GuidePlus transmissions will not be carried on Freeview, so that's why I expect it to die.
No, it's the unreliability of GuidePlus - and earlier this year it stopped working entirely, and there's no one to ring about it.
Eventually it was found to be a fault well down the distribution chain, caused after another fault had been rectified.
The current (Samsung based) Sony DVD recorders still provide GuidePlus, but it ONLY works if you have Freeview, so presumably there shouldn't be any problem?.
Personally I'd advice using the Freeview one instead.