I've had a PVR80 for just over three years and it works flawlessly. On that basis I set my mum up with a DTR160 and it does work, but it has some odd quirks.

First, it records all the repeats of anything that has been previously recorded. For example, if you set it to record Top Gear on a Sunday it will also record all the repeats of that show in the following week.

Second, it cuts off the end of The Archers (and presumably other radio shows) and has no way to set an extra few minutes either side of the recording.

Third, it records things in series link without us asking it to (there's no such option in the settings menu). For example, if one of the kids records Shaun The Sheep it will keep on recording them. In fact, the box is starting to get full of Shaun The Sheep recordings that nobody asked it to do!

Complicating things slightly, it doesn't do this for all recordings all the time. Only some of them (perhaps it is related to certain channels and certain broadcasters sending series identifiers).

Has anyone else had these problems? Is it a faulty unit or is this a proper function of Freeview+? It seems odd that we can't tell it NOT to record things we don't need!

She's about to get the house rewired and will be getting digital points in more rooms, so we might just give up on this box and get a better one. But it's a shame because she's very familiar with the GUI now and likes it.

It's common for most Vestel PVRs with Series Record functionality to record duplicates of recordings occasionally. It's partly due to the way that Vestel implement the Feeeview+ functionality. This can also be caused by the broadcaster sending incorrect data. This has been common on Five recently.

Colin

Thanks. That at least confirms it's not a faulty box.

There doesn't seem to be any option to turn series link off. I don't recall seeing an option to turn it on either, but it might be on one of the coloured buttons on the EPG (I've never really looked).

I've seen on here previously people saying that the "extra few minutes padding" option is not available on Freeview+ because the broadcasters send the signals to start/stop recording. That might be true for TV, but apparently not radio. It has never recorded the end of The Archers!

Yep, that's my complaint too.

Totally unreasonable arrogance on the part of the specification authors, IMHO (making the assumption that all broadcasters were going to implement AR at exactly the same time.)

tim

Regarding duplicates, it helps to get in the habit of either not deleting watched recordings until a week later (after the repeats have shown) or not deleting them at all and instead setting the box to automatically deleted watched recordings when there is not enough space left for new recordings. Under these circumstances I find that repeats are not recorded.

Series link is optional by design. Normally to set up a series timer, you press OK in the EPG and select the relevant option. Pressing the record button instead should set up a single event timer. Does Shaun the Sheep show up in the timer list, and if so, does it have a "S" symbol next to it to indicate series link?

I know series link is optional to turn on, but my point is slightly different: I'm saying that the box records all broadcasts of certain shows (but not all shows), including repeats and further episodes, without us asking it to.

Unfortunately the box is currently 110 miles away from me (I feel obliged to point out that I don't live with my mother!) so I can't look at the timer section. I'll keep it in mind for my next visit, though

Padding is allowed by Vestel T825 PVR's (and I assume T835/T845Rs too), but the individual companies who buy their boxes can disable it. Hitachi do this for example, you can't add padding but you can with other makes.

As for series record, when you set a recording via the EPG it asks whether you want to record single episode or whole series, just choose single episode. That of course means you'll have to manually add each episode every week/day or whatever though.

Yes Vestel could have done a bit better, but the vast majority of problems are caused by the broadcasters sending the AR data at the wrong times and messing up series link data, this is especially true of Five channels who just can't seem to get it right. I don't have problems on BBC/ITV/CH4 channels or even on channels like Virgin 1, Quest etc. (well, occasionaly BBC but that's very rare now).

I would doubt if that's correct to be honest.

If a recording fails for some reason then the Vestel boxes will try and record another instance which is usually a good thing. However if your box is doing it all the time I would be willing to bet the recording is a series linked one and most of the duplicate and odd recordings will be on Five channels (FIVE, FIVER, FIVE USA). It does happen occasionally on other channels such as Channel 4 channels but not all the time. What Vestel boxes will do is record the first instance of the next episode. Say for example you set Hollyoaks to series record on Channel 4 at half 6 tonight, it will then record the E4 episode that follows it and not tomorrow's Channel 4 showing.

AFAIK none of the T825 Vestel software versions allow padding. Indeed no change to timing is possible on recordings scheduled from the EPG. Only manual recordings allow flexibility of timing. Can you quote any specific examples of T825s which allow padding?

Colin

Yeah, I think it was only before the advent of Freeview+ / Freeview Playback support that padding was available. All boxes shipping with those endorsements need to have accurate recording and therefore no padding options are available. IIRC, there were some early builds of Hitachi T816 boxes that shipped with no accurate recording, etc, but that's about it apart from the T810 obviously.

I had an Hitachi 80GB (don't know the exact model) about 3 years ago from Argos.

The unit didn't have padding but the instruction manual said it did. Even phoned Hitachi UK but they didn't know the model even existed and advised that I take it back.

So I took it back but I'd not heard of accurate recording then which it must have had because it didn't miss anything I'd set.

On a side note, their have been no PVR's at my local Argos and haven't been since just after Christmas or I'd have exchanged the Hitachi that packed up on me.

Funnily enough my Mrs. has noticed the same problem in the last week on our DTR160/T825. She recorded a couple of films ( on Film 4 as it happens.....) in the week ( NOT using series record), watched them and then deleted them yesterday. Today the box has decided to record repeats of both films. It seems odd this has just started, I'm sure we'd have noticed if it had always done it.

Resurrecting this thread because with the introduction of ITV1+1 this has become an insanely annoying problem.

The other day we set it to record something on ITV1 (Marchlands, I think). Just before that recording stopped, the box popped up a message to say another recording was about to start and we must switch channels or cancel. Now, that's something that occasionally happens with only two tuners.

BUT... it turns out the other recording was the timeshift of the SAME THING on ITV1+1. Absolute insanity!

Despite other posters' assurances to the contrary, I must repeat that the box does this WITHOUT US ASKING IT TO.

It has also lost its "extra info" ability. When you press the "info" button twice, it should pop up a box with some extra info about the show you are watching, but it stopped doing that quite a while ago. My trusty old PVR80 still does it after four faultless years of operation, so I'm not sure why the newer model has suddenly stopped.

Another problem that crops up from time to time is that the volume/mute controls don't work. That can carry on for a few months and then suddenly they start working again. I've always blamed the nephews for changing the settings when we're not in the room, but maybe it IS a problem with the box.

Is anyone else suffering with any of these problems? Especially the ITV1+1 thing. Surely we're not the only ones.

Unless it's a faulty box. Could these faults all manifest themselves and yet the box still function perfectly in all other respects? If it is faulty, I suspect it would be impossible to fix, so we'd have to get a new box (and choose another brand, because these faults are too major to ignore).

The ITV1 problem is the same that has affected ITV2 for a long time. The root of the problem is that ITV1 and ITV2 support accurate recording signalling, whereas ITV1+1 and ITV2+1 do not. So, as far as the recorder is concerned all programmes start at the exact time specified in the EPG and timer for the +1 channels. Whereas programmes often actually start later than the published EPG time. So, with Marchlands signalled starting at 21:02 on ITV1, the signal will come through from ITV1+1 dead on 22:00, but the recording is running late on ITV1 so the two programmes overlap. That is the technical reason why it is happening. Ultimately it is ITV's fault - it would not happen if the +1 channels supported accurate recording. Channel 4 do it right - the signals on C4 are mirrored by C4+1, which is what ITV should be doing. That said, the software could be fixed to be aware of this problem.

The info button functionality was removed in the v13.x software update due to patent infringement "issues". It will work on the EPG screen still though.

Thanks for the reply, and thanks for your excellent website, which I browsed for some time yesterday.

I understand the technical reasons, but I don't see WHY the box (software) deems it necessary to continually record stuff we've already watched. Even given your technical explanation about AR, *why* does the box try to record something that is already BEING recorded. The problem simply should not ever arise in the first place.

I presume all boxes based on this Vestel software will suffer the same problem, and it's not always clear which brands use this underlying platform (although your website helps a great deal).

I should really buy my mum a new box before this drives her mad, but I don't know which one to choose. Not a Vestel anyway!

Sure, but from a manufacturer's viewpoint, it is understandable that they did not cover the case where the same programme episode from the same series can be signalled by the same broadcaster as being broadcast simultaneously on two different channels when the published EPG times indicate that this won't happen. As I say, ultimately it is ITV's fault - I don't see why they can't mirror the accurate recording on the +1 channels.


All except the older T810 and T816 models, yes . Freeview+ has its good and bad points - it's just a shame that not all broadcasters support it properly.