Getting TopUp TV on a 9200?
Grand Dizzy
Posts: 7,369 Forum Member
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My friend uses TopUp TV, but his Thomson PVR has been nothing but trouble. He’s had to take it back to Comet about 6 times now because it keeps breaking. (According to the people at Comet, almost everyone who buys one ends up taking it back and they’re completely useless machines.)
I’d like to order my friend a Humax 9200 because I think it would be much better than the box he has. I read that you can use the 9200 for TopUp TV by buying something called a CAP.
With that in mind, a few questions:
1. Can anyone confirm that a 9200 can be used for TopUp TV? I haven’t been able to find any talk about this recently. I wondered if it was no longer possible for some reason?
2. I’ve no idea what a CAP is really. Are there different types, for different PVRs? Or will any do?
3. I think there are different models of 9200, some have slightly different letters after them. Can they all use TopUp TV?
4. Is the Humax a reliable box for TopUp TV usage? Are there any known problems (like with the Thompson)?
5. Will my Friend be able to use his TopUp TV card with the Humax (which he’s been using in his Thompson)?
6. Is a 9200 actually the best model to get? My friend doesn’t want to spend too much money, and he’s not very technical. His requirements are quite basic. But as I understand the Humax is probably the best all-round PVR for someone who doesn’t have any interest in tweaking and going online.
By the way, it was a toss-up between posting this here and in the TopUp TV forum. But I pretty much know I want a Humax, so I thought I’d come to the people who know that machine best of all.
Thanks
I’d like to order my friend a Humax 9200 because I think it would be much better than the box he has. I read that you can use the 9200 for TopUp TV by buying something called a CAP.
With that in mind, a few questions:
1. Can anyone confirm that a 9200 can be used for TopUp TV? I haven’t been able to find any talk about this recently. I wondered if it was no longer possible for some reason?
2. I’ve no idea what a CAP is really. Are there different types, for different PVRs? Or will any do?
3. I think there are different models of 9200, some have slightly different letters after them. Can they all use TopUp TV?
4. Is the Humax a reliable box for TopUp TV usage? Are there any known problems (like with the Thompson)?
5. Will my Friend be able to use his TopUp TV card with the Humax (which he’s been using in his Thompson)?
6. Is a 9200 actually the best model to get? My friend doesn’t want to spend too much money, and he’s not very technical. His requirements are quite basic. But as I understand the Humax is probably the best all-round PVR for someone who doesn’t have any interest in tweaking and going online.
By the way, it was a toss-up between posting this here and in the TopUp TV forum. But I pretty much know I want a Humax, so I thought I’d come to the people who know that machine best of all.
Thanks
0
Comments
The Humax is only half compatible with TUTV. It will not download the overnight programmes and can not be changed to do this. To use the part th eHumax can do (access to the channel stream part), a CAM is needed, plus the TUTV card. You put the TUTV into the CAM and then the CAM into a Humax . If your friend has not already got a CAM these can be obtained by watching out for a cheap introduction Sentana deal which will include not only a Sentana card but also a CAM. Unfortunately the CAM only holds one card at a time and so your friend will not be able to use them both at the same time.
From forums my impression is that TUTV PVRs are not reliable compared to non-TUTV PVRs but also that "Thompson+TUTV = worst PVR in the UK". To find a more reliable PVR for the full TUTV functionality then try the TUTV forum and forget Humax as it can not do the over night download.
Please post back if you find a TUTV PVR with a good reputation.
Thank you so much for that very detailed and helpful answer. I feel a lot more informed now.
Seems my suspiscions were right about the Humax not being ideal these days. First thing I’ll do is ask my friend if he ever uses the Anytime feature. He’s really not very technical at all so I suspect he may not, but we’ll see.
I’m probably going to go over to the TUTV forum, as you advised, and figure out what is a good machine to get for the full TUTV service. I will come back here and let you know when I’ve found some kind of answer.
Shame TUTV can be written “TUTV”, “TopUp TV”, “Top Up TV” and “Top-Up TV”. Makes it much harder to search the Web for answers!
Colin
Edit:- There are threads here and here on this topic.
It does seem that any PVR specifically made for TUTV (with the TUTV software, that downloads stuff overnight) is much more likely to have problems than a regular PVR — even if it’s from the same manufacturer.
I found all this “Vestel” business a bit confusing at first, so I will clarify in case anyone reading also finds it confusing…
Vestel is the company who make pretty much all the TUTV boxes. They make a variety of different boxes, all with different names like Digihome, Sagem, Alba and Bush. (Some are TUTV and some are not.)
What Colin meant by “Vestel T845” was the software version. T845 is pretty much the latest version of their PVR software (used on several different boxes). Common sense would say that getting a box with newer software probably = less glitches. (Although I’ve heard it said that they fix one problem but cause another.)
Here’s quite a detailed page about the different Vestel software versions and which boxes they’re on which is probably essential to check if you’re buying a box:
http://www.futaura.co.uk/vestel.html
It seems that almost every TUTV box has problems, and you can read about them all here somewhere. Of course, some people have no problems at all; but many do, and there seems to be no box that is without glitches and minor bugs.
So I’ve pretty much decided to go for the Bush TU500DTR (500GB Top Up TV PVR). I think I’ve noticed fewer complaints about the Bush on the forum than others, but that’s probably just coincidence.
It’s only £115 (+£6 p&p) from this site (GogoDigital) and, vitally, you get a 12 month warranty (compared to £150 Argos with only 30 days money back).
GogoDigital also sell the Bush TU320DTR 320Gb version for only £80 (+£6 p&p).
Colin
But ...
1. TUTV broadcast via 3 simultaneous streams so you can only download a subset of programs.
2. The EPG schedule is approximate ... so you have to use a manual timer reservation then split.
CAMs can be bought without TUTV cards for ESPN.
Thanks for the corrections, Colin.
Yeah. But if I have to pick a box at random (which is more or less what I’m doing) I may as well give myself some justification for my choice. I don’t seriously expect the Bush to be any more reliable, but I have to make some choice!
Oh, blimey. I never noticed that!
Back to square one…