No firmware update on the Samsung website so it looks like they are going to miss their deadline.

It does however have another less than favourable review so someone at Samsung must be working today.

Automan.

Pretty much what I expected from Samsung, last week I had had enough of it and took it back and got a HDR instead and very glad I did.
I hope they do fix this box but the censoring of the first round of reviews (and this and other forums) and the missed date for the firmware just confirms that this was a complete bodge job from the outset. I would suggest returning the box for a refund and wait until it has been fixed before buying again. In the coming months I think there may well be many cut price refurbs on the market due to all the returns.

They are now saying 2nd may. Just logged a support email this morning.

2011?

i hope the Samsung UE55D8005 tv doesnt have these/similiar problems.. i'll be buying this box aswell (for second tv) if they actually fix them..

I got all call from the guy at Samsung this morning (!) who has been dealing with my support issue, apologising for the delay on the update and saying it's now expected to happen May 2-3.

He noted that he had an email in to the engineers in the UK but had not had a reply at the time he called, and expected they were on holiday. (I presume he was calling from some Far-Eastern call centre.)

I certainly give them (or this guy at least) full marks for following up on promises made - he had promised to call me if he had any news on the update.

I also got an update from them on their support area...


As it will be an over the air update two days later, I hope they have got it right and it does not make them any worse (if possible).

I also see John Lewis have them on sale but I think they have the Product Information a little wrong.

No download of iPlayer material, no ITV player and no S-Video out (unit does have scart btw).

http://www.johnlewis.com/231236076/P...x?source=46387

Automan.

Just trying to watch Blu-Ray of Doctor Who Series 5 which has DTS sound but my amp was only giving me LPCM stereo.

What has this to do with the Samsung Freesat you ask?

Well, it's because the HDMI audio on the Samsung only works if you set your AMP to send HDMI audio to your TV.

And because my TV does not handle DTS HD it makes the amp select an alternate format.

Earlier in this thread someone had the same issue with BBC HD only giving them LPCM.

I was at least getting DD as my TV understand DD 5.1 sound.

Also I see at the JoinFreeSat site this box scored 7.33 out of 10 (82 votes).

How is that possible?

Automan.

Yes that was me, this and many of the problems that it has, in the end I just could not live with so it went back and I got the HDR.

The score on the joinfreesat site was that high before the box was even released, I bet a lot of those who scored it that highly would change their minds now.

This box has lots of bugs, but it is definitely not a crap, as reviews say. I have read at least 3 lists of bugs and none of positives!
Lots of issues have been found (special thanks to Automan, you are my test-guru ). Several of them are critical, several not. For instance, one can live without manual timers, they are useless in case of accurate recording working. In my opinion, this is lack of implementation of useless feature rather then a "critical bug".
I was really hoping Samsung would fix critical issues and and deliver the software upgrade on 22.04, that's why I was really disappointed they didn't meet their deadline
Still, I believe fixing critical issues (especially pvr-related ones) would make this box really good, and it doesn't deserve such low ratings. Performance - 1? Design - 2??? "Terrible box awful to use" ??

The thing is most people who buy a product like this expect it to do at least the basics well, this box fails to deliver even at that level and until the box is fixed then it is what it is and low ratings are to be expected. You can't give a false high rating on a "yeah this box will be great when it's fixed" as there is no guarantee this will be the case. Harsh as it is, that review is pretty much spot on considering the current functionality of the box, if and when it is fixed then I would expect reviews to reflect that.

Totally agree. All the critical issues affect the overall ratings and it is fully understandable. I just cannot agree that the box is poorly designed or it's performance couldn't be worse.

The physical box design is okay except for no support of USB drives.

However the design of the user interface is poor and even when the bugs are fixed it still has room for improvement.

And of course if the makers had done just a little pre-launch testing all such negative feedback and views could all be avoided.

Automan.

From following this thread I think that the only way the performance could be worse is if if didn't switch on!!

I think it fully justifies its poor ratings,because currently that is a fact.
However when the issues are resolved satisfactorily then that is when an improvement in its current low rating is to be expected and justified.

I see comet and currys are selling now for £249 , is that something to reflect the lack of sales\ returns as a result of the Bugs !

I do like the look of box and the interface seems good.
The remote looks more user friendly than the Humax as the buttons are bigger and I believe some light up ?

I will however hold back on purchase until the software release due 2nd May , to see what happens ?

I see the box now has three reviews - all pretty negative.

One error I made in reporting a bug relates to the recording playback time-line starting at 1 hour rather than zero.

This only happens if you press the info key during playback. If you press pause, ff/rw or skip it shows the time-line correctly.

Automan.

This box is beginning to get me down

I set it to record several films on ITV3 over easter e.g. On The Busses trilogy.

How many did it record? None of them

Just gone to watch yesterday's Ironside.

I have four recordings to pick from.
Ironside 00:00:01
Ironside (2) 00:00:01
Ironside (3) 00:00:01
Ironside (4) 00:00:16

So if I put them all together I have 19 seconds of Ironside.

Having to keep deleting 1 to 30 second in length recordings is also becoming a pain.

EDIT: I see Samsung have restored previous reviews to their website so now it has eight reviews all negative and all would not recommend to a friend.


Automan.

Not sure why they haven't fixed the most important issues first and released patches as they go. Would have kept people a bit happier when the basics started working, even if other stuff didn't quite work.

Or maybe there's just one guy doing a lot of late nights!

And of course the next planned date is also a bank holiday again.

Also included past questions. Why don't Samsung post up some of the answers themselves? or do they not read what they have uploaded!

Can anyone please have a look to see if they can answer the questions about DiSEqC, timer recording in non-freesat mode etc.

ztoppes photos of tuning other satellites were encouraging and I would have expected DiSEqC settings to have been somewhere before or after these screens. Can anyone help me out?
Last edited by rozet : 27-04-2011 at 11:51

I know in non freesat mode you can select a program from any epg data it has to record.
No manual timer option.

Re the DiSEqC, I am not sure but it does give you different satellites to pick from when you go for a non Freesat scan.

I did not see any advanced options.

Automan.

Manual Freesat Scan Offers this with a big list of Satellites to pick from

http://i336.photobucket.com/albums/n...4-27134921.jpg

Auto Freesat Scan offers this also with a long list of Satellites to pick from

http://i336.photobucket.com/albums/n...4-27135003.jpg

Automan.

Some FAQ Have Been Added and Answered on the Samsung Website...





I guess they don't know that not all channels run on schedule or have accurate start control?

I set my box yesterday to record 16 items by one-off recordings.

Checked this morning and not one of them is now listed to be recorded.

Still, all will be fixed on the next Bank Holiday, Monday 2dn May...

Automan.

If they operate the updates from outside the UK the bank holiday date might not be an issue.

I've looked at the FAQ's tab and seen if you sort by newest you get about 20 Q's with A's which apply to this box but don't come up under most relevant.

However it seems some of them won't be addressed until June and others felt to be bugs are A'd as product features by design/freesat limitation. Some are just listed for future review.

The ignorance of end time faults and apparent refusal to add manual timers or padding is worrying.

I am quite convinced now it won't have the diseqc I would need as someone would have found it by now and S would have answered my question.

The fact that the transponder database contains transponder data for other than 28.2/28.5E would seem to suggest that diseqc support is built in. Has anyone simply tried connecting a diseqc switch with a feed from other than 28.2/28.5E ?. Support might be entirely automatic.

Thanks for that tip - I should have realised they would not be in a logical sorted order

As you say, some of the fixes seem to be in the distant future


I just had 16 vanish, something I guess we have to live with?


Surely not a fix but fixing poor software?


Fingers crossed this one works





I have found pressing 0 on the remote works best, back quits the guide.


This is ONE MEGA FIX!

Automan