I was originally a big fan of the Vestel based PVR's - Digihome, Alba, Hitachi etc etc. I saw them as easy to use and when Freeview plus came along they seemed an ideal replacement and alternative to paying Sky £10 per month for a Sky+ box. I bought one and recommended them to friends and family. Here are our experiences.

1. I bought a Hitachi HDR80 for myself - after 11 months the audio failed on one channel, I took it back to Argos and they swapped it for a new one. The new HDR081 only hangs occasionally.
2. My daughter bought a Digihome - its power supply failed but was 13 months old so Argos wouldnt exchange it. She bought a TopUp Vestel model to replace, it failed and Argos exchanged it. The exchange failed (twice more!). Fifth time lucky she got an Alba which seems to work ok.
3. My daughter's partner's sister bought a Digihome - it died at 13 months - power supply problem.
4.I bought my father one - it failed after 3 months, Argos exchanged it and the new one works ok.
5. My mother bought a Digihome, it started stuttering on recording after digital switchover. Via a slightly devious means we eventually persuaded Argos to exchange it for a newer Alba - that is still working.

So - five case histories, everyone I know who has bought one. And every one has failed. I dont how long the replacements will last, but I will never buy a Vestel based product again.

My Mark 1 Sky+ box happens to be still working with an old Sky card that I dont pay for. It must be nearly 10 years and has never failed. Perhaps a Humax box is the way to go next time?

On the flipside, I have a T816 that is well over 3 years old and it is worked just as well now as when I first got it. Likewise for my parents' Digihome DTR80 (T816 again) which is a few months short of 3 years old. I also have a T835 that has had heavy use over the last 9 months.

Regarding the HDR080 losing sound on one audio channel, were you using scart or the digital optical out? It's a bit late to diagnose this now, but I'm guessing the solder joint left or right pin on the scart socket worked itself loose.

I'm sure many of the failures reported (not just by you) are down to cooling issues and not leaving adequate ventilation around the unit. One of the advantages of Vestel boxes is that they are quiet, since they don't have a cooling fan. But, this in turn means that great care must be taken to stop the units from overheating. The manuals mention the recommended spacing/clearances, IIRC.

As for the TUTV boxes, Vestel made a big mistake taking the TUTV project on, and that's largely down to TUTV's rubbish software - Vestel's own solution is much better IMHO.

The digital switchover issue is a whole different ball game, and I'm angry and frustrated about Vestel's recent lack of action on this subject, especially given the huge amount of work that they went to fixing the problem earlier this year. I'm not sure we'll ever get to the bottom of the problem, and the longer Vestel remain silent on the matter, the more guilty they make themselves look.

I can imagine how you feel, and I had a similar reaction with my first PVR which was a Sagem which had a fundamental bug of managing not to record half the stuff I'd tell it to. I still have faith in Vestel, and the boxes that I have are generally reliable, although the software is far from being optimal, so a lot of room for improvement. I fear this is the end of the Vestel PVR software as we know it, with development no doubt switching to their Freeview+ HD box.

I have to say I have never heard of anyone being so unlucky. It must be incredibly irritating for you.
I personally, haven't had any power failures. (two T816, a T825 and a T845R).

Likewise I've had several T816s and T825s over a 3 year period and not had a single hardware failure.

Colin

I've been holding off bewailing the fact that my precious T816's power supply failed a couple of weeks ago

Do you think that adding a new one is within the capabilities of old ladies?

(Yes, I have replaced the 5amp fuse in the plug, I tried three different ones!)

parthena

Its possible to buy a T816 on eBay for £15, so it would be an idea to buy one for spares. If its in good condition, swapping the hard drives would be straightforward.

Thanks for the responses guys, but nearly everyone has a stack of boxes under the TV - DVD, Sat Receiver, Freeview PVR, old Video machine or whatever - manufactures know this and should be realistic in their testing prior to selling something.

Regarding soldering things - I used to be a Radio Technician in the Royal Signals and can diagnose and repair to component level. But why should I have to? Assemblys should be robust enough to survive my living room environment.

People always moan about Microsoft, but they seem to send out weekly software updates for their products for years after you have bought them - PVR's are dedicated little computers and need the same maintenance aftersales service.

Lastly, why cant all manufacturers include a USB socket on their equipment and post software updates and patches regularly on the web without prompting. Samsung do this for the last TV I bought.

True, but common sense has to prevail in the end. If you have a unit littered with ventilation holes on the top, it stands to reason that it is not a good idea to stack anything on top of it otherwise the lifespan may be reduced. Some units have no holes on top, but a few on the side/back instead maybe with a fan too to compensate, and those should obviously be placed on the bottom of any stack. I cooked an old VCR once, by having it positioned in an enclosed space with hardly any clearance for air circulation.


Probably because such methods are subject to user error - the OAD method is more foolproof and ensures that all units will pick the updates up (and not just those who visit a website and manually update). However, IIRC the manufacturer has to pay the DTG to broadcast these updates, which is not cheap. But, as I've said elsewhere, surely it is cheaper to broadcast the update compared to what Hitachi are currently doing (individually paying for courier collection+delivery and updating customers' boxes to V12.8 via RS232 via their service centre). I don't understand why the T825 OADs still haven't been broadcast.

I've never seen them at that price but have not browsed the category regularly for ages (that should read categories, they're scattered over several in Consumer Electronics ). If that's including P&P it will be worth doing, thanks for the suggestion

Re the perils of stacking - my tower of PVRs is conscientiously punctuated by the polystyrene packaging blocks - it looks swish, I don't think

parthena

As I've previously explained to Futaura, there's now a "general clash" between how Vestels work - their particular design - and the UK's "broken" Freeview system.

If your Vestel currently works, fine, but if you have problems, then most likely your Vestel will never work correctly again, and no OAD "updates" will fix this.

Regarding hardware replacement, the power supplies are unreliable, this is a longstanding issue. However, if you do get an old one for spares, the T810/816/825 power boards are directly interchangable, with no soldering, just a screwdriver and un-plug the board connectors.

Note that, these are switch mode supplies (as are all modern appliances), and there may be a large charge stored on the "big capacitor" even when disconnected from mains power, be aware of that! Careful where you put your fingers.......

Thanks for the PSU info, Spiney

I wonder if I can persuade Futaura to explain the Vestel/Freeview "clash" to me, even though he knows I won't understand it

parthena

No good asking me as I don't really understand a lot of the stuff that Spiney said . You can see all Spiney's explanations in their full glory at http://pvrbugs.futaura.co.uk/view.php?id=167 although I'm not totally convinced of their accuracy, but maybe that's because I don't know any better.

Thank you

parthena

Well ...... it's a "mismatch", between the particualar way the Vestels are designed, and the UK-specific Freeview system, which constantly changes (there's no fixed specification).

Humax and Vestel PVRs have suffered from broadcast changes introduced as part of DSO. Both manufacturers are in the process of producing software updates to correct these issues.

Colin

It seems like Vestel based boxes are a waste of money then? I got a Goodmans on Friday, I presume that is Vestal based, I was returned yesterday for a refund, now thinking about my options.

My brother got a hitachi a few days back, but I have heard they are not great either.

Maybe I should get another Thomson TUTV box, even with the problems I had with mine, it still worked better than that Goodmans.

I bought a Luxor (Vestel) a few months ago due to the EPG issue with Fusions and didn't want to get fleeced on a FreeviewHD unit. Generally I'm pleased with it but it does go to show just how ahead of their time the Fusions were and how well made.

I'm hoping that it won't be long before BT Vision have a good FreeviewHD box and I will then go back to them as I found it the best (and most reliable) overall.

Not all Goodmans boxes are Vestel based. What was the model number? The user interface would of course be a giveaway, although I'm not aware of any recent Goodmans boxes made by Vestel.

GDB1225DTR is the model number, why would the model number be a give away?

The box was useless, it juddered on playback, it did not want to switch to standby and then it decided not to do anything at all. I Switched if off at wall and set up to record something and came back from work to find it did not record anything.

It was limited to amount of events you could have set up, is this a Freeview+ limit or just that box? My Top up T.V Thomson have at least 20 events in the timer to record.

There was other minor problems with the box, including the one where it flicks my T.v to External 1 when it starts up to record something from standby.

I would not recommend it.

it is really sad when you see these makes, like Grundig, Goodmans and bush that years ago used to be great and now are chucked into the cheap end of the market and rubbish

i used to have a Bush mono record player years ago, fantastic little thing, my brother had, in fact i got it in the lft a Grundig reel to reel Tape deck, again fantastic. Goodmans used to make great speakers. Three great names that have no been reduced to the budget market

These "great names" are little more than that these days - just names bandied around from company to company. Argos own the Bush name currently, and last time I checked Goodmans was part of the old Alba group (although Argos own the rights to use the Alba name - confused yet? ).

I'm pretty sure the GDB1225DTR is not made by Vestel - certainly doesn't look like it from the look of the box. I said the user interface would be a giveaway as it is the same on all Vestel made boxes, whatever brand name has been stuck on the front. The Vestel software certainly isn't limited when it comes to setting events, and that would be badly written software on the GDB1225DTR - it has nothing to do with any Freeview+ limitations.

The manual is easy to find for once. Doesn't look like Vestel, my guess is Zoran. Use of the colour buttons for -2/+2/-24/+24 hour epg zipping seems familiar, but I can't quite place it.

Goodmans and Grundig is part of Havard international, I remember that name from the CB days.

it is all confusing, that is the problem now, you have no idea who makes what, you got out and spend a few hundred quid on a branded name like Sony and then find out that you can buy the same product under a different name for a couple of hundred quid less.


Still not deciding what I am doing, my old Thomson TUTV box is back in line and seems to be working for a while a while anyway.

It recorded and playback V last night ok, which is more than it did last week.

My brother got a hitachi and he was explaining different things and it seemed different than mine, but since i have never seen or used a Vestel box, I would have no idea if they are all the same or not between models.

Vestel really seem top be the budget end of the market and it seems to show from what I have read.

So what is the difference between different versions of Vestel boxes?

Futaura ........ he da man !

http://www.vestelpvr.futaura.co.uk/

i saw that site before, I will have a better look, thanks