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Satelite PVR's getting cheaper
davebav50
18-05-2009
I see that Maplin are offering a Free Satelite PVR, twin tuner, 350gb for £179.99.
See link -
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=229148

Whilst this is not a "proper" Freesat box, it shows the way the market is going.

DTT receivers were hundreds of pounds when they first came on the market, but can be had for under one hundred pounds now (£75 at ASDA).

They also do an HD Sat box with USB PVR for £129.99.

Rather than accept the buggy Freesat offerings available for £279 now, I will be waiting till I can buy a "Finished" Freesat PVR for under £150. How long do you think I will have to wait?
Nigel Goodwin
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by davebav50:
“Rather than accept the buggy Freesat offerings available for £279 now, I will be waiting till I can buy a "Finished" Freesat PVR for under £150. How long do you think I will have to wait?”

I take it you're very young?, even so the expectancy isn't good.
davebav50
18-05-2009
Young enough to have bought my first pocket calculator in the seventies for £80, when they first came out. The same spec now would be a fiver - or much, much less if you factor in inflation.
Young enough to remember Harrods displaying the first Flat Screen TVs at £20000. The same spec now costs £500 - £600.
You can see where this going..............
Bob_Cat
18-05-2009
I can say with some confidence that it won't happen in the next 18 months at least, not saying in 18 months it will get that cheap, but based on the numbers I have it won't be where you want it to be inside 2010. Unless A.N Other vendor manages it... I doubt it though.
Tern
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“I take it you're very young?, even so the expectancy isn't good.”

I will be extremely surprised if they have not come down to that level within five years.

Which is a much shorter wait than that for Freeview!
ian-d
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by Bob_Cat:
“Unless A.N Other vendor manages it... I doubt it though.”

They'd have to be lucky enough to get approval from Freesat first
Tern
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by ian-d:
“They'd have to be lucky enough to get approval from Freesat first ”

Ian, could another vendor make a box that displayed the Freesat EPG and just not all it a 'Freesat' box?

Or would the need approval to actually display the EPG?
Bob_Cat
18-05-2009
The mechanism for receiving the Freesat EPG is copyrighted, if someone derives another mechanism to receive the EPG then they might be able to use it, but again the information contained (event descriptions) is copyright.

Plus, it would be difficult to sell a product which receives the EPG but doesn't use the name freesat. The Fortec products do receive some sort of EPG data, but they have yet (to my knowledge) to get significant volume.
davemurgatroyd
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by davebav50:
“I see that Maplin are offering a Free Satelite PVR, twin tuner, 350gb for £179.99.
See link -
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=229148

Whilst this is not a "proper" Freesat box, it shows the way the market is going.

DTT receivers were hundreds of pounds when they first came on the market, but can be had for under one hundred pounds now (£75 at ASDA).

They also do an HD Sat box with USB PVR for £129.99.

Rather than accept the buggy Freesat offerings available for £279 now, I will be waiting till I can buy a "Finished" Freesat PVR for under £150. How long do you think I will have to wait?”

That is SD only and similar have been available around Europe at similar prices for over two years - when I purchased my Targa twin tuner 250 Gb PVR as a "new" clearance item at £99 - which Lidl were selling at £199 in November 2006.

So £20 price reduction in two half years and only 70 Gb HDD size increase - a long, long way to go for twin tuner HD PVRs at £150
Flyer 10
18-05-2009
No series link, no HD. This is worse value than paying the extra £100 for the Humax.

Wouldnt surprise me if it was far more buggy too.
hillel
18-05-2009
Originally Posted by Bob_Cat:
“I can say with some confidence that it won't happen in the next 18 months at least, not saying in 18 months it will get that cheap, but based on the numbers I have it won't be where you want it to be inside 2010. Unless A.N Other vendor manages it... I doubt it though.”

Glad the Firmware thread didn't scare you off. I knew you were made of sterner stuff!
alkasteve
18-05-2009
Am I the only person worried you'd be buying a lemon of a PVR?

I'll get my coat...
Bob_Cat
18-05-2009
hillel,

I don't worry too much, plus I currently can't read every post anyway. To be honest I also don't read every post as I used to because I would just be repeating myself. I leave it to those on here to be informed by my previous ramblings and in tern comment. I think it works for now, if I find an interesting point or see something heading in the wrong direction I might comment.

On topic:
Buy cheap, pay twice.

Bob
Mike000000001
22-05-2009
Originally Posted by Bob_Cat:
“hillel,

I don't worry too much, plus I currently can't read every post anyway. etc etc

On topic:
Buy cheap, pay twice.

Bob”

I bought a "cheap" Toshiba LCD rather than an "expensive" Panasonic mainly because Which? says Toshys were far more reliable.

I paid a packet for an HDR that fails to communicate correctly with anything via HDMI!

There is cheap, as in shoddy, and cheap as in low cost.

PS A tern is a bird.
Flyer 10
22-05-2009
Mine fails to communicate too but we will have 2 manufacturers blaming each other for it.

Hardware wise, the HDR is very, very good. Software wise, its very bad and its taken a long time to fix.

But at least it can be fixed.
Mike000000001
22-05-2009
Originally Posted by Flyer 10:
“Mine fails to communicate too but we will have 2 manufacturers blaming each other for it.

Hardware wise, the HDR is very, very good. Software wise, its very bad and its taken a long time to fix.

But at least it can be fixed.”

It CAN, but will they?
nigelbb
23-05-2009
Originally Posted by Bob_Cat:
“The mechanism for receiving the Freesat EPG is copyrighted, if someone derives another mechanism to receive the EPG then they might be able to use it, but again the information contained (event descriptions) is copyright.”

I don't think that displaying something that is copyright that is freely broadcast would be a problem. The programmes themselves are copyright.
Nigel Goodwin
23-05-2009
Originally Posted by Mike000000001:
“I bought a "cheap" Toshiba LCD rather than an "expensive" Panasonic mainly because Which? says Toshys were far more reliable.
”

Well I wouldn't trust anything Which print

They aren't renowned for their accuracy, as for Toshiba vs' Panasonic, at least Panasonic make more of their own TV's - all smaller Toshiba sets are just cheap sets bought-in and badged.

Quote:
“
I paid a packet for an HDR that fails to communicate correctly with anything via HDMI! ”

Never had any problems at all with the Humax PVR, they have all worked perfectly on every set we've tried them on.
Flyer 10
23-05-2009
Originally Posted by Mike000000001:
“It CAN, but will they?”

Who knows but that will sway my opinion on the product either way.
Tern
23-05-2009
Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin:
“Never had any problems at all with the Humax PVR, they have all worked perfectly on every set we've tried them on.”

Your experience, as so often seems to be the case, would appear to be at odds with that of a lot of posters here.
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