[Wima]

Hello all, I bewailed the end of the 14 day epg on my FVRT100 so bought an Alba ALDTR160 from Argos yesterday . Cheap at 70 quid.
But to my horror, there are so many functions that I had on my digifusion box that are not available on the Alba e.g.

1. Instant rewind live TV. I often don't pay attention to what I am watching so need to rewind and replay. Can't do that on the alba. Can't rewind current prog.

2. Swap channels - I was able to watch 2 channels and something from the library if I had delayed live on both channels. Great when ads are on and cursory watching of channels.

3. If a prog is selected from the epg to record, the start/stop time cannot be changed. I can't bear missing ends of progs so always used to pad the end by 5 mins or so. I can do a manual record but that is pointless.

So my question is, has anyone bought a DVR that has the same functions as my beloved digifusion box?
Also one of the reasons is that I only had a 40gb disk so need more space.

Thx in advance everyone.

[tealady]

Not sure why you bought a box and then asked which one to buy!

Substitute candidates are humax 9200, 9300, topfield 5800. Others in the epg thread have tried the Luxor 250 gb.
Scan through from here for more details etc
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...116344&page=11

[Wima]

I bought the box, presuming that rewind current prog would be standard. Also to be able to edit timers would be standard. Alas no.

But I will check out the luxor and the link you supplied
Thx for your reply

[IWantPVR]

You won't find anything which is exactly the same but you can hopefully find something which is nearly equivalent and better in some ways too.

After the Fusion I've most experience with the Humax 9300t. It's not as intuitive to use as the Fusion but the interface is prettier, it's quieter and with a firmware upgrade a bit more stable.

You can rewind live TV but if you plan to record something half watched be sure to rewind to the beginning or it'll only record from where you are. Not sure of the buffer size but it's at least the 30 minutes that he Fusion has.

You can pad timers or use the accurate record signal although the latter isn't as accurate as the name suggests. You can't do both. I've got a Topfield too and I think on that you can.

Haven't found a way to swap channels but I can go to the library and restart playback at exactly where I left off last time for all programmes.

I've yet to properly get into MyStuff on the Topfield but it promises to do all I need and more. Not sure if I can swap channels on that either yet. Mystuff adds a lot of functionality I'd never have even though of but it's not an option for someone who just wants plug and play.

I've no experience of the Luxor or others. Have a scan here:

http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/resourc...freeview-pvrs/

[Wima]

Thx for your reply. Great info. Re the Luxor, the ebuyer site had a pdf manual and it appears that it will function with all the features I need, well want.
Thx for the link as well. Good details on there

[tealady]

Originally Posted by IWantPVR

Not sure of the buffer size but it's at least the 30 minutes that he Fusion has.

There is no mention of the buffer size in the manual. Received wisdom in the Humax forum is that a fixed amount of space is allocated to the buffer which equates to about 2 hours.

[nvingo]

I've seen mention that the Humax PVRs reserve 8GB of HDD space, for the timeslip buffers.
It's a bit OTT really, as:
The PVRs will only timeslip for max two hours, or since the last channel change/playback stopped;
Even BBC channels run at a typical data rate which rarely exceeds 1.5GB/hr;
The timeslip of two channels simultaneously can only be invoked by having PIP onscreen for the duration.

[Luis Essex]

Originally Posted by nvingo

I've seen mention that the Humax PVRs reserve 8GB of HDD space, for the timeslip buffers.
It's a bit OTT really, as:
The PVRs will only timeslip for max two hours, or since the last channel change/playback stopped;
Even BBC channels run at a typical data rate which rarely exceeds 1.5GB/hr;
The timeslip of two channels simultaneously can only be invoked by having PIP onscreen for the duration.

I thought that some of that 8GB space is for mpgs and jpgs, not available for use on at least the 9200 and 9300T. Occasionally my 9200T and not using PIP the buffer does not quite reach two hours. I've had it wrap round at 1hour 50 minutes when tuned to BBC1 and pre DSO. Post DSO I'm expecting the limit to be pushed out and reach a constant 2 hours.

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by Luis Essex

I thought that some of that 8GB space is for mpgs and jpgs,

No there's a separate partition of 5GB(?) for those. The video partition contains the buffers - probably 4GB each then if you've had restriction to below 2hrs. If you do a "buffer rewind record", I believe that part of the buffer becomes incorporated into the recording, and space for the buffer is allocated elsewhere.

[Luis Essex]

Originally Posted by Wima

Cheap at 70 quid.
But to my horror, there are so many functions that I had on my digifusion box that are not available on the Alba e.g.

1. Instant rewind live TV. I often don't pay attention to what I am watching so need to rewind and replay. Can't do that on the alba. Can't rewind current prog.

There are a lot of brands on the market that have live pause but not a constant buffer. The Alba is a Vestel and although not my personal favourite has some features that IMO are not bettered. I’m not sure about the Vestel top-up-tvs and whether they have a constantly running buffer but I’ve never heard of a normal Vestel having one.
With Vestels there are things I have difficulty with, and that includes the buffer, but if mine conks out I’ll be checking out this site for initial candidates for a replacement http://www.vestelpvr.futaura.co.uk/

Originally Posted by Wima

2. Swap channels - I was able to watch 2 channels and something from the library if I had delayed live on both channels. Great when ads are on and cursory watching of channels.

I doubt whether this will be found on a PVR ever again.
If you switching to recording everything you watch, then if it was me, playing the recordings back I’d find using the Alba’s -120 -30 +30 +120 second skip buttons easier to get to the end of the adverts

Originally Posted by Wima

3. If a prog is selected from the epg to record, the start/stop time cannot be changed. I can't bear missing ends of progs so always used to pad the end by 5 mins or so. I can do a manual record but that is pointless.

My Vestel does not have a 100% record at recoding at least something of the programmes. But if yours does then don’t worry about it for your TV programmes. Occasionally the broadcaster will muck things up but on the other hand if there are severe timing swings the Alba will work far better than you have been use to with your digifusion.

[Luis Essex]

Originally Posted by nvingo

No there's a separate partition of 5GB(?) for those. The video partition contains the buffers - probably 4GB each then if you've had restriction to below 2hrs. If you do a "buffer rewind record", I believe that part of the buffer becomes incorporated into the recording, and space for the buffer is allocated elsewhere.

If that is really true then the details on the HDD Control screen are misleading. On both the 9200 and the 9300 only 8GB are shown as being not available for normal recordings. There is no mention of an additional 5GB being reserved.

But you sound confident. How do you know that the media 5GB is a separate partition to the 8GB partition?

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by Luis Essex

How do you know that the media 5GB is a separate partition to the 8GB partition?

In the transfer utilities (eLinker and Media Controller) for putting MP3/JPG files onto the HDD, you must select the media partition <D1> to send the files to, and the freespace report with no files is ~5GB.

One of the gurus who wrote the software to read/check/write the Humax disc in a PC has confirmed the value, as well as stating the buffer size.

[Luis Essex]

Originally Posted by nvingo

In the transfer utilities (eLinker and Media Controller) for putting MP3/JPG files onto the HDD, you must select the media partition <D1> to send the files to, and the freespace report with no files is ~5GB.

One of the gurus who wrote the software to read/check/write the Humax disc in a PC has confirmed the value, as well as stating the buffer size.

How do you account for the 9200T HDD Control screen only reporting that a total of 8GB is reserved? 5Gb for the media area and 8GB for the buffer adds up to 13GB of reserved space and the HDD Control screen only reports 8GB.

[nvingo]

Originally Posted by Luis Essex

How do you account for the 9200T HDD Control screen only reporting that a total of 8GB is reserved?.

Because it's only reporting for the video partition. Free space on the MP3/JPG partition cannot be used to record programmes, so is irrelevant to that display.