[captainlockheed]

OMG so what are our options now ?

reading the forums there are NO reliable pvr's out there and 145 has given 4 years of sterling service with only a couple of hic ups along the way........

Even worse my mrs has only just got it worked out how to use the box and now i'm going to have to buy a new one

ok guys what are the best alternatives to digifusion ?

bearing in mind that vestel boxes are struggling on the winter hill transmitter

[RalphB]

Originally Posted by marcdavis

About other PVRs available, there are some all new PVRs that are coming out in the second half of this year with the new DVB-T2 tuners capable of receiving the HD channels on Freeview. There are some HD PVRs already out now - ranging from unfit for sale to 'a few bugs here and there'. Perhaps its because each of them wanted to be announced as the first freeviewhd PVR on the market and available in time for the World Cup and in other words rushed. Here is a list of what is available with a comparison http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/resourc...eeviewhd-pvrs/

Thanks for that list, very useful but it will take some time to figure out a suitable replacement (esp. if I want to wait for HD later this year). What do I do next month?!!

[Shoog]

I don't really want to give up the Digifusion. It's a shame the reverse engineering effort never got very far.

If anyone's considering Sky there's an offer on this site for a free Sky+HD box, free install and £25 M&S vouchers.

Or, if you're interested in HD I can send a referral code for free Sky+HD box, free install and 6 months free HD subscription. PM me if interested.

(Minimum subscription £18. HD pack is an extra £10. 12 month contracts.)

[captainlockheed]

thanks for the kind offer shooq but i only have an SD CRT panasonic tele which i'm more than happy with.

Cost£150 5 years ago and have never had a problem with it....... I shouldn't have said that coz you know what's gonna happen now

[Shoog]

The Sky box will still work with your CRT. Sky don't give out standard def boxes any more, but the HD box performs output SD via scart and records just like Sky+. Obviously no point in paying the extra £10 for HD channels though.

[IWantPVR]

I've already swapped my lounge Digifusion for a Humax 9300t and promoted the fusion to the bedroom. I originally wanted a Topfield 5800 but they were discontinued. I managed to get the Topfield today for £79.95 from Curry's. A bargain.

So I now have Topfield (unused), Humax (Daily use, Good series link, a few unpleasant quirks, loses recording schedule once a month, slow to pause or load EPG but essentially stable) and Digifusion (Heavily modded, caps, fan, 160Gb, 0.1.1 Noscenes, extended front panel mounted under plasma, DigiDave, Massive box of spares, more stable than Humax).

If I could have three stable and futureproof Digifusions I'd swap the other boxes tomorrow.

[RalphB]

Originally Posted by IWantPVR

If I could have three stable and futureproof Digifusions I'd swap the other boxes tomorrow.

That says a lot for our FVRTs and does not bode well for any replacement we decide to go for.

I suspect none of them will live up to a (modified) Digifusion box.

[RalphB]

Originally Posted by IWantPVR

... Humax (Daily use, Good series link, a few unpleasant quirks, loses recording schedule once a month, slow to pause or load EPG but essentially stable)

What we need is more real-life feedback like this. I'd like to buy with my eyes wide open and not discover the particularly irksome 'quirk' after buying something!

[Dancc]

Genuinely shocked about this news. Our two trusty FVRT145s have served us excellently over the years and are surely among the most stable and reliable Freeview PVRs ever made.

I must admit I did plan to replace the box early next year purely so I could receive & record HD broadcasts following switchover here next April. Now I am stuck in a bit of a quandary because I've been forced to upgrade nearly a year early!

Do I take the plunge on one of the early HD models now so that I am ready later despite the high likelihood of bugs? Or do I settle for a cheap non HD PVR for the time being that could well be unstable only to upgrade again come next year?

One thing is for sure, as much as I love my Digifusions, I cannot continue with a PVR that has no EPG data.

[marcdavis]

This might help someone - Just checked and see that I have a couple of test PVRs that are no longer being used. This might be an idea for those thinking they may want a stop gap PVR until later buying a new HD PVR.
I'm not interested in trying to obtain top dollar so they will go cheap - [halo] just for fellow forum members [/halo] If no takers I guess I will just put them on ebay now that I have remembered i have those two in the loft! So if you can come and collect, (not far off J4 of the A1M in hertfordshire), PM me.

• 250GB Thomson 6300-25
• 500GB Sagem DTR 67500

Both have had not much use and haven't been a main PVR. They have been kept in their packaging for a long time now. The Thomson is 2.5 years old and the Sagem will be a year old in September. The Sagem uses the freeview EPG and the thomson has both the Inview 14 EPG and had a TUTV+ softeware update to give you the choice of the freeview EPG with the freeview+ features.

Note also that Topfield TF5800 is going cheap at Currys at the moment, if you can find a store that has some left. £80 for 250GB

[Prilicla]

I am also sadden to hear that there will be no more epg to my Digifusion FVRT200. I knew this will happen sometime and now it is come. I will have to input it the old fashion way and have to live with it

[RalphB]

I've added a new thread in the Humax forum to see if those guys can assist in sorting the wheat from the chaff, Humax-wise.

That manufacturer certainly is still thriving and sending out OA updates for their machines (they, too, have several quirks which we have all seen and had resolved on the Digifusion boxes).

I don't want an unknown brand, I want the Ford Focus of PVRs - not necessarily the best ride in the world but does most things perfectly well and plenty of support (either from the manufacturer or other owners).

I await their responses (other than 'Have you tried Google?') with interest...

[Inview]

As you know we have had to bring to an end the broadcast of the 4TV 14 day guide.

Unfortunately this has been caused by circumstances beyond our control - simply put the bandwidth contract has run out and we have been unable to secure a new arrangement.

As you know Inview has tried hard over the last few years to keep this service running but it seems that its time has now passed. We do hope you will manage to find a suitable new arrangement.

Just to clarify one point - when the current listing expire on your Thomson/Digifusion devices both will revert to a simple now/next guide.

Best regards, Inview

[trphil]

Originally Posted by Inview

Just to clarify one point - when the current listing expire on your Thomson/Digifusion devices both will revert to a simple now/next guide.

Does this mean that pressing the red circle record button will record the current programme still?

[trilobite]

When I read the news on the Digitalspy home page, I nearly fell off my seat! My beloved Thomson DHD4000 is now to be of as much use as an Ondigital era box, and to become obsolete far quicker than I wanted. I'm bloody fizzing to say the least!

Let that be a lesson to us all: never purchase a box which uses a proprietary EPG. Always go for the Freeview 7/8 day EPG.

In practice, I never found the 14 day guide to have full information. It only ever had reliable info for about 8 - 10 days in advance; the rest of the time it had "to be announced" and simplistic synopses in the discriptors.

From what I read on other forums, Guideplus EPGs (as used in some DVD recorders) are unreliable.

It looks as though Humax will be getting my custom. I still have a Humax 8000 that will tide me over until I can afford to buy a twin tuner one. The 8000 is one year older than the DHD4000 and at least it receives the Freeview EPG, albeit haphazardly.

[Dancc]

There are going to be a lot of people out there who won't have any idea this is happening and are going to get a nasty shock next week.

[captainlockheed]

Originally Posted by trphil

Does this mean that pressing the red circle record button will record the current programme still?

Yes and now and next also appears in the EPG

only found that out when i bought a spare 145 from ebay and plugged it in.

it's gonna be a pain i think i will give it a go without the guide and see how it pans out....... i'm trying to not be pessimistic now lets be honest we had to do it the hard way with VCR's

maybe something reliable will come along soon

[slimgym]

ISTR at the time I bought the DHD4000, there was no freeview EPG, just the now and next. The standards were still being sorted out. I found as you did - 14 days was a bit ambitious, the broadcasters didn't seem to give out data for it. It was largely regular programming only, soaps, news etc.

Just a bit of a shame the original developers who were so ambitious can't re-appear and write code to use the Freeview one. But I expect they have also moved on.

As has everything else - the padding lovingly added to timers is largely unnecessary as the broadcasters (might) send a signal. Weekly/daily repeats are no longer needed now series links are supported. Timers can fire on things that match text in descriptions of programmes. You can dual record and watch something off the same mux.

This could easily be a Watchdog moment. A lovely story for them the boxes turned off just because a contract was not renewed I wonder how many boxes are out there still?

[Shoog]

Originally Posted by slimgym

This could easily be a Watchdog moment. A lovely story for them the boxes turned off just because a contract was not renewed I wonder how many boxes are out there still?

Was just thinking that. It surely deserves a bit of publicity.

Contact BBC Watchdog

Contact BBC Working Lunch

[tealady]

Just ordered the Humax PVR9300T-G following RalphB thread in the Humax forum.
Ho hum.

[Stig]

Does anyone have a definitive list of which models are effected, particularly Sony ones?

[MarkA]

Wow. Sad news. I recently purchased a Grundig GUFSDTR500HD Freesat+ PVR to complement my two Digifusions. Seems serendipitous now. Very pleased with it so far. Easy to use and it's done everything fine. We have moved most recordings onto the Grundig - the Series Link being really useful during all the rejigging of schedules due to all the sport. But we still use the FVRTs for channels that aren't on Freesat or when there's a multiple channel clash. I guess we'll see how we go with manual recordings.

Bigger problem is that I set my parents up with an FVRT a while ago. They'll never cope with manual recordings. So a replacement will be required.

[IWantPVR]

Has anyone experimented as yet with setting recordings using just now and next?

Biggest downside would be waiting for the programme to start to record but once it's on weekly you can forget that.

Otherwise there's the diddly manual method. I use that when Cbeebies has problems. I'll see how it goes but most of my schedule is daily and weekly.

[Shoog]

Originally Posted by Stig

Does anyone have a definitive list of which models are effected, particularly Sony ones?

Sony SVR-S500, which is pretty similar to the Digifusion FVRT200.

There's a list here: Digifusion & Inverto EPG Updates Switched Off

[tin]

Originally Posted by trilobite

When I read the news on the Digitalspy home page, I nearly fell off my seat! My beloved Thomson DHD4000 is now to be of as much use as an Ondigital era box, and to become obsolete far quicker than I wanted. I'm bloody fizzing to say the least!

Let that be a lesson to us all: never purchase a box which uses a proprietary EPG. Always go for the Freeview 7/8 day EPG.

In practice, I never found the 14 day guide to have full information. It only ever had reliable info for about 8 - 10 days in advance; the rest of the time it had "to be announced" and simplistic synopses in the discriptors.

From what I read on other forums, Guideplus EPGs (as used in some DVD recorders) are unreliable.

It looks as though Humax will be getting my custom. I still have a Humax 8000 that will tide me over until I can afford to buy a twin tuner one. The 8000 is one year older than the DHD4000 and at least it receives the Freeview EPG, albeit haphazardly.

Agree entirely, in fact wrote, and re-wrote a post saying the same, and decided not to actually post it. There's been too many scandals in freeview-land with boxes becoming obsolete, being updated only for a fee, or updated with dodgy software (teletext), EPGs failing or breaking completely, and standards not being adhered to making stuff break, usually a couple of years after the manufacturer has disappeared.

On GuidePlus I am concerned about this as it's the system that Panasonic insist on using now in their TVs and DVD recorders, I understand it's different to the standard EPG but I am less clear how - with 4TV it was quite obvious. Panasonic used to use the standard freeview EPG quite happily - I cannot fathom why they've decided to go for GuidePlus.

However on Humax I would not agree, I finally sent my 9300T back because it would wind me up on a daily basis with it's repeated failure to record. Humax have premium prices, but bargain basement level support. Updates would take months to come and addressed only minor issues. I'm now using an old access devices based PVR - it's missing features but very rarely conspires to do my head in.