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Should I change from Humax to Topfield? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 45
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Should I change from Humax to Topfield?
Our Humax 9200t has been misbehaving.
I don't think it is faulty, but it is missing recording and cutting others short etc. I have reformatted and performed all the resets etc. I suspect it is having difficulties post 30 September as many other PVR owners have spoken of. We are getting quite frustrated now and are thinking of jumping ship and moving to a Topfield. However, I read of problems here too, as well as poor customer support etc. In addition I would want to move to Freeview HD when it becomes available towards the end of 2010. I am looking for advice: 1. Should we move over to the Topfield? 2. If so which model? 3. Should we sit tight and put up with the glitches and hope that a patch will come to tide us over until Freeview HD? 4. Should we say a plague on both your houses and opt for something different? 5. Any other suggestions? I am quite computer savvy so could probably handle TAPs OK |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 45
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No Topfielders around?
Or are the Topfields just as problematic? |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Huddersfield
Posts: 139
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No, they are very good indeed. Try over at http://www.toppy.org.uk you'll find lots more people there.
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bucks
Posts: 344
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Quote:
1. Should we move over to the Topfield? 2. If so which model? 3. Should we sit tight and put up with the glitches and hope that a patch will come to tide us over until Freeview HD? 4. Should we say a plague on both your houses and opt for something different? 5. Any other suggestions? I am quite computer savvy so could probably handle TAPs OK 2 TF5800, unless your TV has an HDMI socket then the TF5810 looks smarter 3 Have you aerial checked first, look at signal level, or is you Freeview TV fine? 4 There is nothing better than the Topfield (with MyStuff tap) I didn't know Corrie was on lasy night, but the Topfield recorded it ![]() 5 No All above imho btw
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SW London, Crystal Palace Tx
Posts: 2,769
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I don't think the Humax's bad behaviour is related to the rescan on 30/9, mine did it 6 months ago and creddish* keeps a Vestel as backup for important programmes because of the missing starts and/or ends.
I have a Topfield 5800 (refurb from Turbosat on eBay), bought in March, been extremely reliable and, as you will see, infinitely customisable if that's your thing. *As he has publicly stated. parthena
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Brighton
Posts: 4,796
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My toppy 5800 went into split NIT's over a year ago giving me more and more channels in four digit numbers each time I retuned until I literally only had ch5 and bbc4 on single figures.
Then the 30th september actually gave me back about a half of them back where they should be. I've got both machine. Toppy in the lounge, Humax 9200 in the bedroom. Unless your going to install the taps onto the toppy and I know people say about how easy it is I've tried several times but have never succeded so gave up and use what it comes with perfectly adequate for what i want in the lounge but the EPG isn't very good and theres no series link. Whats good about the toppy though is that when you go to the list of programs you can see the program info whilst still watching whats already on where as if you want to do that on the humax you've got to do it via the menu and then you loose the tv picture and sound as the library button doesn't give you any info. For general viewing I find the toppy much better. You don't have to skim through the program even though the humax goes at x64 you can just type in 50 and it'll start the program half way through it. You can also move programs to keep into different folders so if you're someone who want to keep recordings to watch again and can cope with out series link and a very good epg then straight out of the box I'd got for another toppy. For ease of use though and so I don't have to remember to set things up in the bedroom when I'm also doing it all in the dark I'll replace it again with a humax if it went wrong. Humax you virtually don't have to think about anything, toppy you need either TAPS or another source of tv /epg to look up be it on the tv or an online one. You've probably gone to bed now OP but if you take a look in the morning hope this has helped. EDit - just seen when the thread was started. Come back OP, you must have made a descision by now, let us know what youv'e decided. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SW London, Crystal Palace Tx
Posts: 2,769
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Quote:
Toppy... the EPG isn't very good
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Whats good about the toppy though is that when you go to the list of programs you can see the program info whilst still watching whats already on where as if you want to do that on the humax you've got to do it via the menu and then you loose the tv picture and sound as the library button doesn't give you any info.
You've reminded me - that was another reason I sent my Humax back. That; the dreadful remote; the poor time-keeping... Intolerable! Shame, cos it's a nice quality unit.parthena |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Brighton
Posts: 574
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I love my Toppy (5800) but if you can live with the glitches for the time being then personally I'd wait until the Freeview HD PVRs start appearing.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 45
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Quote:
My toppy 5800 went into split NIT's over a year ago giving me more and more channels in four digit numbers each time I retuned until I literally only had ch5 and bbc4 on single figures.
Then the 30th september actually gave me back about a half of them back where they should be. I've got both machine. Toppy in the lounge, Humax 9200 in the bedroom. Unless your going to install the taps onto the toppy and I know people say about how easy it is I've tried several times but have never succeded so gave up and use what it comes with perfectly adequate for what i want in the lounge but the EPG isn't very good and theres no series link. Whats good about the toppy though is that when you go to the list of programs you can see the program info whilst still watching whats already on where as if you want to do that on the humax you've got to do it via the menu and then you loose the tv picture and sound as the library button doesn't give you any info. For general viewing I find the toppy much better. You don't have to skim through the program even though the humax goes at x64 you can just type in 50 and it'll start the program half way through it. You can also move programs to keep into different folders so if you're someone who want to keep recordings to watch again and can cope with out series link and a very good epg then straight out of the box I'd got for another toppy. For ease of use though and so I don't have to remember to set things up in the bedroom when I'm also doing it all in the dark I'll replace it again with a humax if it went wrong. Humax you virtually don't have to think about anything, toppy you need either TAPS or another source of tv /epg to look up be it on the tv or an online one. You've probably gone to bed now OP but if you take a look in the morning hope this has helped. EDit - just seen when the thread was started. Come back OP, you must have made a descision by now, let us know what youv'e decided. Thanks to all for your input. Purely by chance whilst walking past the TV dept in John Lewis I noticed a 320 GB Humax 9300T reduced to £149. I opted for this Humax. Sorry Topfield fans ![]()
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,738
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Quote:
My toppy 5800 went into split NIT's over a year ago giving me more and more channels in four digit numbers each time I retuned until I literally only had ch5 and bbc4 on single figures.
Then the 30th september actually gave me back about a half of them back where they should be. OK so TAPs are not the thing for you, but there are a couple of versions of the firmware that do not have the split nits issue. Have you tried loading the toppy.org.uk recommended firmware 5.13.65T for your TF5800? It solves the split NIT issue and makes a TF5800 reliable. To quote from the Toppy site "The easiest way to update firmware, if you are using Windows, is by using the Toppy.org.uk firmware loader, which will automatically fetch the latest recommended firmware from this site and install it on your PVR for you" http://www.toppy.org.uk/downloads/firmware.php Quote:
I've got both machine. Toppy in the lounge, Humax 9200 in the bedroom. Unless your going to install the taps onto the toppy and I know people say about how easy it is I've tried several times but have never succeded so gave up and use what it comes with perfectly adequate for what i want in the lounge but the EPG isn't very good and theres no series link.
... The 5.14 version of the TF5800 firmware does have series link. So any one buying a new one now should find this already installed and ready for action. I have not used a 5.14 version but a relative of mine (who does not want to try TAPs but did load 5.14.09 firmware) says it is usable despite issues. |
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 38
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I loved my Toppy 5810 and liked meddling with TAPs. I became increasingly annoyed with bugs and system crashes. When my HD failed I went to the dark side and bought a Humax HDR T2. Works straight out of the box. Does all my Toppy did faster smarter and a much better picture upscaled to 1080P
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Planet Earth (Tacolneston!!)
Posts: 13
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I'll add my two-pence worth.
I have both a Hummy 9200 and a Toppy 5800, so I can offer an opinion on both. Humax good points:[LIST][*]Humax provide regular(ish) automatic over-the-air software updates[*]It fully supports 'Freeview +' (with the current OTA software)[*]Menu system is quite good for less technically advanced/competent persons[*]You can access the EPG whilst viewing recorded programmes[*]The PIP is quite good, three different sizes inc split screen[*]Remote control is very clear and user-friendly[/LIST]Humax bad points:[LIST][*]Humax is VERY unreliable (box crashes, locks up, looses recorded programmes, and probably more undesirable traits I have forgotten)[*]Recorded programme library listings don't show file sizes (which would be handy to know if free space on HDD is getting tight)[*]The front panel display has 'issues' (diming over time, clock loosing time in standby)[/LIST]Topfield good points:[LIST][*]The Toppy is VERY stable in its operation[*]Has a great way of being able to sort recorded programmes into sub-folders of your own choice (say 'movies', 'drama', 'comedy', 'music', 'soaps', etc)[/LIST]Topfield bad points:[LIST][*]It does not allow EPG access whilst watching recorded programmes[*]The EPG 'graphics' are very rudimentary (much less visually appealing compared to the Humax)[*]The EPG does not support series link recording[*]The PIP is limited to just one size, and doesn't support true spit screen viewing[*]The box crashes when selecting digital text on either ITV or Ch4 (not that this now matters, since they both abandoned any factual text content! )[*]The remote control is very poor design.[/LIST]ETTO, though.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 95
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Quote:
Topfield bad points:[LIST][*]It does not allow EPG access whilst watching recorded programmes[*]The EPG 'graphics' are very rudimentary (much less visually appealing compared to the Humax)[*]The EPG does not support series link recording[*]The PIP is limited to just one size, and doesn't support true spit screen viewing[*]The box crashes when selecting digital text on either ITV or Ch4 (not that this now matters, since they both abandoned any factual text content!
)[*]The remote control is very poor design.[/LIST]But with the MyStuff TAP the EPG and the whole experience is much improved. The graphics are excellent, skins avaiable as well, MyStuff searches are much more powerful than a simple series link, and managing recordings/searches is very good, and you can see the EPG while watching recordings. There is another TAP, PIPswitch, which I've not used, which says it can do two 50% screen size images on the screen. I've not experienced crashes with ITV or C4 text, but then I've hardly ever used them. Personally I find the remote OK, |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SW London, Crystal Palace Tx
Posts: 2,769
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Personally I find the remote OK. It so soured me against the brand that I won't even buy Humax's HD PVR, though it is generally acknowledged to be the best on the market. There were a few other "functional flaws" that also led me to conclude that Humax and I were never going to agree about what made a user-friendly device.Even though Toppy with MyStuff has never been intuitive to operate like, say, a humble Vestel, yet I appreciate its reliability and the huge range of functions should I wish to use them (which would involve RTFM closely ).parthena
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,105
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Quote:
Our Humax 9200t has been misbehaving.
I don't think it is faulty, but it is missing recording and cutting others short etc. I have reformatted and performed all the resets etc. I suspect it is having difficulties post 30 September as many other PVR owners have spoken of. We are getting quite frustrated now and are thinking of jumping ship and moving to a Topfield. However, I read of problems here too, as well as poor customer support etc. My Humax has never really worked properly. Even with the latest software (v23) it can still come on late to record a program, turn off early. i.e fails to respond properly to the Accurate Recording Flag sent my the broadcaster. & Series Link is flakey. On one occassion the HD ran away with itself and wouldn't stop recording. Handheld would lock up needing a power cycle. . . . . all poor stuff really. And the handheld with that "silly" slide flap with the tiny buttons underneath. . .. it has to be seen and tired to be believed! Today if you look on the Humax site under support for the 9200 their answer to loosing the start of programs is to add Pre-Padding. . .. obviously nobody has told Humax Technical Support that adding Padding stops Accurate Recording and Series Link!. . . And as a result the machine then doesn't support Freeview + So all in all I don't think there is much, if any, (decent) support from the manufacturer. **** In the end I gave up with my Humax 9200 as I found I was still using my Technisat as the Humax couldn't be trusted. I took the plunge with a Topfield TF5800t. I got my head around the TAPs and Patches. I am really happy with the performance of my Toppy. Series Link works. It doesn't start late or stop early. No Lock ups or crashes. IMO the biggest asset to a Toppy is the MyStuff TAP. It turns a good machine into a Great PVR http://www.satshop.co.uk/section214/...f5800pvrt.html |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Planet Earth (Tacolneston!!)
Posts: 13
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If you rely on the native interface, then I'd agree in part.
And I certainly don't wish to be-little or dis-credit in any way those who created these TAPs and other tweaks - but I feel very strongly that the actual makers of the Toppy should have either done these from new, or continued with official on-going aftersales support and solutions - just like Humax endeavour to do. Quote:
But with the MyStuff TAP the EPG and the whole experience is much improved. The graphics are excellent, skins avaiable as well, MyStuff searches are much more powerful than a simple series link, and managing recordings/searches is very good, and you can see the EPG while watching recordings.
But I've yet to find a SIMPLE step-by-step guide to (a) what these TAPs actually are - or what they can do [in simple, plain english terms], and (b) how to 'apply' said TAPs to Toppy! I've had a goosey on the Toppy.org website, and the Topfield.co.uk site - and I have failed to find a really simple guide to updating my Toppy. I honestly think that whoever creates (or hosts) these TAPs - they really, REALLY need to go right back to basics. Think of the very lowest common denominator. I personally would like to be 'spoon-fed' - mouth by mouth, to coin a pun, on how to update the Toppy. If there are any such spoon-feeding websites, please point me to them. ![]() Quote:
There is another TAP, PIPswitch, which I've not used, which says it can do two 50% screen size images on the screen.
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I've not experienced crashes with ITV or C4 text, but then I've hardly ever used them.
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Personally I find the remote OK,
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,105
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And I certainly don't wish to be-little or dis-credit in any way those who created these TAPs and other tweaks - but I feel very strongly that the actual makers of the Toppy should have either done these from new, or continued with official on-going aftersales support and solutions - just like Humax endeavour to do.
As for Humax support please take a look at this link http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/suppo...=56&faq_seq=92 I am struggling to see how the response to this question could be described as support. At v23, which is now at about its 8th repeat OverAirUpgrade, with the 9200 if you do this accurate recording and series link fail to function! Now I would have expected the technical support experts at Humax to have known this! Quote:
But I've yet to find a SIMPLE step-by-step guide to (a) what these TAPs actually are - or what they can do [in simple, plain english terms], and (b) how to 'apply' said TAPs to Toppy! I've had a goosey on the Toppy.org website, and the Topfield.co.uk site - and I have failed to find a really simple guide to updating my Toppy.
I honestly think that whoever creates (or hosts) these TAPs - they really, REALLY need to go right back to basics. Think of the very lowest common denominator. I personally would like to be 'spoon-fed' - mouth by mouth, to coin a pun, on how to update the Toppy. If there are any such spoon-feeding websites, please point me to them. ![]() http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/emjbtaps/MyInfo/MyInfo.pdf http://www.toppy.org.uk/~mystuff/cgi/Downloads.cgi http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Topfield_5800/Stable_Toppy http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Topfiel...roubleshooting http://www.toppy.org.uk/~simonc/tapcommander.html http://www.toppy.org.uk/~simonc/dp.html http://www.topfield.cc/files/Firebird/FWPatcher.zip |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SW London, Crystal Palace Tx
Posts: 2,769
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Quote:
I honestly think that whoever creates (or hosts) these TAPs - they really, REALLY need to go right back to basics. Think of the very lowest common denominator. I personally would like to be 'spoon-fed' - mouth by mouth, to coin a pun, on how to update the Toppy. If there are any such spoon-feeding websites, please point me to them. ![]() What OS does your PC run? Quote:
Strange how remotes can devide opinions! I personally think the major crime of the Toppy remote is the red-green-yellow-blue buttons are WAY to low down - your thumb has to stretch uncomfortably far from the main 'ring' buttons. The Hummy remote has these placed right, and the $ky remote is also acceptable.
Toppy's red/green/yellow/blue are not set as low as some others and at least one has the pointy end to cop hold of - with my Smartbox remote, me being left-handed it's very awkward, the red being the most frequently used and requiring bending-under of thumb to reach it However, Hummy designers deserve castration for minimising crucial (for me) buttons and hiding them under a low-slung slider ![]() parthena |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 95
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Linky please? That would be a vast improvement to the existing PIP.
http://www.mynetcologne.de/~nc-lueckth2/Right at the bottom of the list. As I say I've not tried it myself. |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 132
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... 99% of peeps, be they PVR owners, TV owners, microwave owners, car owners, etc - just want products to work in an 'acceptable' manner straight out of the box. ... Out of the box, the Toppy is considerably less user-friendly!
I was like you, I thought "Why should I have to hack my PVR with software like MyStuff?". But it turns out the answer for me at least is, "Because all PVRs suck." |
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SW London, Crystal Palace Tx
Posts: 2,769
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But it turns out the answer for me at least is, "Because all PVRs suck."
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 132
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The only thing I'd add to that is: "And I have to have one!" (Or in my case, rather a lot
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Planet Earth (Tacolneston!!)
Posts: 13
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Well that is the clever part of a Toppy, and all credit to Topfield. They allow you to change features and functionality to suit yourself.
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Which Humax and others what you see is what you get.
Anyway, has anybody actually been successful (or even tried) hacking the Hummy? Quote:
As for Humax support please take a look at this link http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/suppo...=56&faq_seq=92 I am struggling to see how the response to this question could be described as support.
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At v23, which is now at about its 8th repeat OverAirUpgrade,
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with the 9200 if you do this accurate recording and series link fail to function!
One crucial point is down to the incompetence of Channel Five (and maybe other similar broadcasters) - they repeatedly fail to correctly 'programme' series link (if say you set the Gadget Show to record every Monday evening at 8pm, you also get the Sunday morning repeat, and also the midweek 3am repeat - rather than just the regular Monday slot!) - on both digital terrestrial AND digital satellite - $ky-Plus users also report the same probs with Channel Five! From what I can gather, the REAL cause of these particular problems is soley down to the actual broadcasters - the BBC, ITV, Ch4, Five, etc - and specifically how they 'action' the EPG data (which explains the Channel Five issues). ITV currently have a very annoying habbit of starting recordings about 3-4 minutes BEFORE the start of the actual program, thus getting all their junk trailers and adverts. The BBC is just as bad - the One Show regularly starts about 3 minutes early, yet the EPG is never adjusted to allow for the earlier start! Quote:
Now I would have expected the technical support experts at Humax to have known this!
I think the crux of this (for both Humax and Topfield) is that they are both manufactured very cheaply, and the companies are based in the Far East - no doubt their actuall tech support is based in Korea or Taiwan, where they never actually experience our 'British' broadcast issues, and also that stuff gets lost in translation between the English-speaking chaps at Humax UK and the Korean/Taiwanese speakers back in the Far East. I'm sure if a decent British quality A/V manufacturer made PVRs, you'd get a much better product out of the box, and much better support - but you'd probably end up paying not £200ish (for a Toppy or Humax) but nearer to £2,000 for a decent product!! Quote:
Some simple links to get you started on what you can do with a Toppy.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/emjbtaps/MyInfo/MyInfo.pdf http://www.toppy.org.uk/~mystuff/cgi/Downloads.cgi http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Topfield_5800/Stable_Toppy http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Topfiel...roubleshooting http://www.toppy.org.uk/~simonc/tapcommander.html http://www.toppy.org.uk/~simonc/dp.html http://www.topfield.cc/files/Firebird/FWPatcher.zip
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Planet Earth (Tacolneston!!)
Posts: 13
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I'm a half gaga ole lady - if I can do it, so can you.
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Recipe = Read and sift carefully; swallow pride and ask stoopid questions on Toppy.org. Juwlz in particular is a diamond.
![]() I've now managed to update the firmware to 5.13.65T (which fixed the dreaded 800+ channels) - but I still don't have any series link in the EPG! Quote:
What OS does your PC run?
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Toppy's red/green/yellow/blue are not set as low as some others and at least one has the pointy end to cop hold of - with my Smartbox remote, me being left-handed it's very awkward, the red being the most frequently used and requiring bending-under of thumb to reach it
However, Hummy designers deserve castration for minimising crucial (for me) buttons and hiding them under a low-slung slider ![]() parthena - this never happens with the Hummy remote!
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Planet Earth (Tacolneston!!)
Posts: 13
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http://www.mynetcologne.de/~nc-lueckth2/
Right at the bottom of the list. As I say I've not tried it myself. or in English . . . "You have requested a page that our system does not exist or is temporarily unavailable."
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)[*]The remote control is very poor design.[/LIST]ETTO, though.
)
- this never happens with the Hummy remote!