Noticed the system info (manual p24) page [Menu/0] shows the software version at the time as A2YST10_1F_011E, not a Vestel designation as far as I know, but xxST10xx suggests an STi chip like the Vestels use.

i presume you mean the Goodmans? I got a Hitachi yesterday which is a vestel clone, so I just hope it is ok. so far okish, but I did have a problem when I fast forwarded something i recorded to miss the adverts, then rewound back as I went to far, I lost the picture, I went back into live T.V and still had no picture, the 9only way I could get it back was to switch the box off at the mains.

So far everything recorded that was suppose to record, but it gets pretty close sometimes to the start, which is where i like the guard time on the thomson TUTV box.

We will see what happens over the next few days, it does seem better than the Goodmans.

When using the REW on the Hitachi (or any Vestel I've had since and including the T816) I press the key once for x1 and wait for it to take effect before pressing a second time for x2, then a shorter wait before x4 - once it gets going there's no need to worry about it locking up. The main thing is to see a response to a button-press before hitting the button again.

parthena

In my experience the Vestel boxes have always recorded like clockwork, in constrast to my Sagem box from a few years ago. Any box fully supporting Freeview+ accurate recording will behave the same way and will only start recording when signalled by the broadcaster, which on the whole works pretty well in my experience. On most channels the signalling usually covers the entire programme properly, although most problems come when programmes start earlier than the EPG scheduled time, where the broadcaster signals are tied to the EGP schedule and not the actual start times (FIVER and ITV2+1 spring to mind - BTW, ITV2 has proper signalling). The main problems I find are on series recordings where the broadcaster changes the series CRID midway through a series - i.e. any Freeview+ box will stop recording that series, so it pays to check the timer list every now and then.

Do you know the Hitachi (and other Vestel models) have 2 minute and 30 seconds skips on the arrow keys.

Pressing left or right skips forward or back 2 minutes, pressing up or down skips back or forward 30 seconds. Great for skipping adverts when playing back recordings.

When fast forwarding press the button and make sure the relevant speed is shown on the info bar (i.,e. 1x, 2x, 4x) before pressing again. Too many key presses too quickly can confuse the box.

Does rewind work "properly" on your box? On my Hitachi T835 there are two problems
- it seems very "slow" - 8x rewind doesn't seem anything like that fast - perhaps x2? The box really seems to wheeze and puff, it's quite comical (though annoying)
- when you press play to go live again you start from a random position which can be many seconds (up to 30?) from where you thought you were. Which kind of renders rewinding pointless IMHO.

It's so bad on my box I've got in the habit of pressing -30 seconds and then using FF to get where I want to go. Hardly ideal

+1. My Vestel T835 hasn't missed a recording yet, It's probably done more than 150 recordings over 4 weeks. It hasn't missed a start or end time either. In the same period my Sagem DTR67250 has missed at least 3 recordings completely, probably a couple more. The Vestel seems rock solid from this point of view (... touches wood ...).

noooooooooooooooo, not another rewind bug, I can't cope with it, I had enough problems with my TUTV Thomson bug and a rewind bug


Thanks, I will try that.

cheers peoples, had a minor problem when I got home from work, I took the box from standby as I was going to have a look at what I set to record, and the banner that displayed the channel and the programme just stayed on, the box would not respond to the remote, I had to switch it off at the mains and back on again. Twice now it two days i had to turn it off from the mains.

I hope this is not going to be a constant thing, I think there is a update on Fri 29, in fact I know there is a update, there was one on the 18th but I did not have the box then, maybe that will make it better.

Regarding the rewind problems, I guess I've just gotten used to it. And besides I hardly ever need to use rewind anyway. All models of Vestel PVR suffered similar problems and I half wonder if part of those problems are down to the STM5100 chipset - IIRC, one of its features is smooth FF/RW which is therefore performed in hardware. And I think the Thomson uses the same chipset, as do many other PVRs too. Sagem models did after they ditched the PowerPC based chipset.

That's what I find odd, my Thomson DHD4000 has the same 5100 chipset and it has very good FF/RW. My Sagem DTR67500 IIRC also uses the STM5100, but it has very odd FF/RW showing a series of freeze frames rather than a smooth sequence. But it does drop back to "play" mode at the point you expect. Maybe I am wrong about Sagem using the STM5100.

That's not good. Mine crashed twice in the first 10 days or so. Once at least it was at x32 FF and refused to come back to play. The other I can't remember the circumstances, it might have been in the EPG. It got its software updated to V3.4 a week ago now, and it has been completely stable since then, and quite heavily used (40 plus recordings, 15-20 hours playback). (... again, touches wood ...). Hopefully V3.4 will fix your bugs.

Thanks to captainkremmen Saying about the skip buttons, I used that last night, so that was ok.

I just hope the box don't crash again.

There was no problem with Rewind on my old DHD4000 either, when I first had the box it crashed a few times and froze, but after the last update it was fine.

i have not noticed the frames on my Hitachi.

I hope it will, a shame I have to wait until the end of this month for it. My brother must have got the new update.

You're not wrong. It's always puzzled me why the DHD4000, oldest of all the machines using that chip, is second to none for playback control.

That's a great tip - many thanks. The only thing I miss having recently switched to an Alba160DTR (Vestel) is the ability to switch between 2 channels at the press of a button. It has the PIP facility but I don't like 2 pictures on screen. Is there a simple SWAP facility that I haven't found?

It's there on the remote control!

The P<P button in case you're not sure where

Hello Futaura!

I might eventually get round to saying something general about Vestels. Supposedly, the the reason I originally registered ........

Thanks for this but the SWAP button on my ALDTR160 only works if you press PIP first and then it swaps between the main channel and the one in the small box. What I miss is the ability to toggle between 2 channels (full-size) which I had on my old digibox.

Umm... I mean the P<P button directly underneath the 9 button. You're right that the SWAP button is only for PIP, but P<P should do what you want (you might need to press INFO first if it doesn't work).

It's always puzzled me why the DHD4000 could do all kinds of things in 2003 which none of the current boxes I've come across can do. You know the list....
- record a whole programme when you press record, including the part in the buffer
- pause a channel and leave it paused while you watch something else, it will retain the pausage as long as it can
- FF and RW cleanly with sensible increments & allow you to speed up & slow down using the opposite key
- allow you to delete recordings in progress without doing some amazing four finger salute
- start up instantly from standby, rather than the 30 second joke that my Sagem is (and even then I don't have an EPG)
etc etc etc
I think that's why I've been through so many boxes, to find one which seems like an improvement on the Thomson. I guess I'm not alone in this. I was gutted when the Thomson started stuttering after DSO. I'm even more gutted now someone has told me I could have fixed it with a 2.5" HDD and got another year plus out of it.

Many thanks for your patience and help. I was so sure that something seemed wrong with the SWAP button that I hadn't even noticed P<P. It does exactly what I wanted. That's two great tips picked up on here.

By the way, have had my ALDTR160 (V12.8) for over a month now and think that its picture quality and features are top notch. Well done Vestel!

I've just acquired a Technika Smartbox HD recorder - some aspects of it are Neanderthal*, it's as if the software (firmware?) writers have come to the task with no experience of the history of PVRs. You'd think anyone making a new PVR would have a look at the old ones and learn from them

*And it's faulty

Re the glitchy Vestel REW - the 2min and 30sec skips on models from T825 onwards are extremely reliable and handy

parthena