[kurgan2]

Originally Posted by Ray Cathode

There is a Channel Zero thread formerly named Trove where you can read all about it. It is live on Mux D and sends data via 4 streams totalling 30kbps to proprietary boxes which were/are? sold in Tesco. Unlicensed boxes receive a blank screen.

Thanks for reply, what exactly do you mean by a licensed box?

[Ray Cathode]

Originally Posted by kurgan2

Thanks for reply, what exactly do you mean by a licensed box?

One that has already been licensed by Electra for its Channel Zero service. IIRC there is no user charge unless subscribing to premium services.

[kurgan2]

Do you happen to know if the Technika V model sold by tesco is licensed? I cannot view channel zero and I am not sure if I should be able to do so.

[lbear]

Originally Posted by kurgan2

Do you happen to know if the Technika V model sold by tesco is licensed? I cannot view channel zero and I am not sure if I should be able to do so.

No only the IS model which is probably why it appears to be the one they are retaining while clearing the last of the Vestels and the Harvard clone H.

[TheCableGuy]

Which is best to get, the STBHDV2010 (Vestel) box or the 'IS' box that's being sold for £30 on Tesco direct?

I could do with a basic HD box now that my area has gone digital and got the HD Mux, but I don't want to spend a fortune on it. I know these tesco boxes wont be as polished as Hunax boxes, but are they usuable or do they suffer from crashing and picture problems?

[stylo]

I have a couple of the 'H' (Harvard) types, which is supposed to be the third preference on these boxes. Had no problem with it whatsoever, and the picture is great.

They were bought to convert kitchen / bedroom TVs to HD, so like you, didn't want to spend over the top on them.

I've no idea what the 'V' and 'IS' EPG's are like in comparison, but the 'H' model has one of the best out of all the other kit I have around the house. For me, this justified the purchase of the Harvard type.

At 30 quid you can't go far wrong, and I certainly wouldn't pay more for an HD box now.

The next step would be an HDR, but this would of course require a little more research, and most likely going with a 'known' brand.

[lbear]

The H is definitely the same box as sold by Harvard as the Grundig and Goodmans and elsewhere as the Manhattan. A typo in the Technika manual refers the purchaser to the Manhattan site and the instruction booklet is word for word the same for the Manhattan and the Goodmans (apart from brand names of course)


FYI, the "IS" version is now on the Tesco web site for £30

[egal]

Originally Posted by lbear

The H is definitely the same box as sold by Harvard as the Grundig and Goodmans and elsewhere as the Manhattan. A typo in the Technika manual refers the purchaser to the Manhattan site and the instruction booklet is word for word the same for the Manhattan and the Goodmans (apart from brand names of course.

Could you point me to a download site for one of these manuals? Thanks.

[Winston_1]

I've not experienced the IS but between the Harvard or the Vestel the Vestel has several advantages, see my post 15 in this thread.

[stylo]

Originally Posted by Winston_1

I've not experienced the IS but between the Harvard or the Vestel the Vestel has several advantages, see my post 15 in this thread.

For me personally, the only advantage in your list of post 15 would perhaps be the channel display.
After seeing the Harvard's EPG however, this would definitely be the deciding factor if the Vestal's EPG doesn't match up to it.
Would be interesting to see a screen-cap if anybody has one!.

I do like some of Vestal's stuff by the way, I have a couple of old Vestal-based PVRs which have been great over the years, and apart from a couple of failed power caps, they have been totally reliable recording-wise, and are still used every day

[alien2k]

Originally Posted by Winston_1

I've not experienced the IS but between the Harvard or the Vestel the Vestel has several advantages, see my post 15 in this thread.

I note that in the post you refer to you mention not being able to manually tune the Harvard. I don't know about the Harvard, but the Vestel gives the option, after scanning, of which region you want to use. This is useful for me since I can now receive some sort of signal from Mendip (HTV West, which Sky insist on giving me anyway) as well as the usual Caradon Hill (Westcountry). This behaviour might be part of the Freeview HD spec (one would certainly hope so, given that even traditionally well regarded manufacturers, such as Humax, seem to have such trouble with it—my mum's PVR9150T is coping very poorly now it can see Wenvoe as well as the usual Mendip, with a bloody set top aerial perched on top of a small cardboard box on a downstairs windowsill and only accidentally pointing in the right direction, no less!). No idea how the Vestel would cope with multiple transmitters broadcasting the same region, though.

Does anyone know if an update is likely to bring the Vestel up to Dbook 6.2.1 spec (for iPlayer compatibility)? I bought it without checking, naïvely thinking that, after the fiasco of the Freesat iPlayer, Freeview HD boxes would be required to be compliant, and tested by the DTG for compliance, with the required technology from the very beginning. But that would've been sensible, I suppose, and now it looks like we'll have the exact same situation as before, with thousands of people owning boxes with an ethernet port they'll never be able to use!

I'll probably get the IS (I'm off to do the shopping in a bit—yay for 24 hour opening!—and I'll see if it's £30 instore) and try to return the Vestel—Channel Zero promises iPlayer (and other internet services) "very soon" on the IS, and I've taken a few screenshots of their web site because I somewhat expect them to go the way of 4TV and Teletext Extra. The fact that Tesco have discounted the box so deeply certainly doesn't bode well!

Sorry about going on, but pretty much the whole reason I got the box was for iPlayer (iPlayer on the Wii isn't terribly great, Boxee on Apple TV ditto with knobs on and the steaming pile of farce that Sony pass off as a web browser on the PS3 is indescribable, at least in polite society), and I'm currently thinking that the whole thing's more trouble than it's worth.

To Tesco!

Sam

stylo: If I don't manage to return it, I'll try to remember to take some photos of the V's UI. I'd be interested in seeing the H's UI if anyone is able to take some pics of it—the cockups many manufacturers ship their boxes with should be enough to convince even YouView's most vocal opponents of the need for at least a common EPG on as many Freeview boxes as possible!

[hansol2005]

I got one of the IS ones the other day.. The only reason I got one was many for BBCIplayer, but the Ethernet port doesn't do anything.. Was I bit disappointed..

[lbear]

Originally Posted by egal

Could you point me to a download site for one of these manuals? Thanks.

This is the equivalent Manhattan box to the H. You need to register on the site to enable download

The Goodmans box user guide can be found by clicking through from here which incidentally shows BBC IPlayer although this may be an error on the support site.

[Winston_1]

Was asked by a relative to pick up one of the Technika HD boxes. Picked up £1-50 worth of groceries at the same time and asked for separate receipts. Imagine my surprise the £1-50 receipt had a £4 off £30 or more voucher with it. Cashed it in immediately for the HD box.

[stylo]

Originally Posted by Winston_1

Was asked by a relative to pick up one of the Technika HD boxes. Picked up £1-50 worth of groceries at the same time and asked for separate receipts. Imagine my surprise the £1-50 receipt had a £4 off £30 or more voucher with it. Cashed it in immediately for the HD box.

Result!! Nice One!

[TheCableGuy]

I picked up a V box from Tesco earlier. I thought it was a bit suspect when the box looked like it had been opened before. My suspicions were right it boots up and just says INIT on the LCD screen and the hdmi outputs a green striped screen. Anything I can do to fix it myself, or us it a return to store job?

[lbear]

Originally Posted by TheCableGuy

I picked up a V box from Tesco earlier. I thought it was a bit suspect when the box looked like it had been opened before. My suspicions were right it boots up and just says INIT on the LCD screen and the hdmi outputs a green striped screen. Anything I can do to fix it myself, or us it a return to store job?

Return to store. Suggest you might look at the IS now it is down to £30. The Channel Zero page suggests they are to implement IPTV services including catch up.

[Winston_1]

As it's clearly a customer return perhaps you should contact trading standards if it was sold to you as new.

Or have a go at the manager and tell him you are going to Trading Standards. Perhaps he will offer you money back and a free box to keep you quiet.

[stanandjan]

Originally Posted by Winston_1

Was asked by a relative to pick up one of the Technika HD boxes. Picked up £1-50 worth of groceries at the same time and asked for separate receipts. Imagine my surprise the £1-50 receipt had a £4 off £30 or more voucher with it. Cashed it in immediately for the HD box.

we NEVER EVER get those sort of vouchers 'Down South'..
'Do you live Up North'

Stan

[antenna1]

i was going to buy one of these then my local asda had the philips/pace HD boxes for £50 and sainsburys has the humax hd-fox t2 for £74.99 so i got one of them

[brumlad36]

Has anyone else noticed that the left & right audio channels are reversed, when connected via HDMI? In other words, when a car travels from the left of the screen to the right, the audio travels from right to left!
This only happens using HDMI. The SCART output has the left & right audio correct.
I've tried a different HDMI lead and socket at the TV end, but evidence points to the STB outputting reverse stereo on its HDMI output.
When receiving BBC HD Preview audio test (from Sandy Heath) I was able to prove the fault.

Chris.

[CraigC]

Originally Posted by lbear

Return to store. Suggest you might look at the IS now it is down to £30. The Channel Zero page suggests they are to implement IPTV services including catch up.

Might also wish to stear clear of the IS version too. The firmware is nowhere near usable. The box crashes and deletes the HD channels when it sees the same programme broadcast on the SD version. EPG always comes on when and tuned to the first channel when you switch box on from standby.

Really, the software is not acceptable. There is no excuse now as the box has been out a long time. It would appear the fact it's been reduced to £30 tells me they have no intentions of fixing it. It true value is probably £0 with the software problems.

[Howard_T]

Originally Posted by CraigC

Might also wish to stear clear of the IS version too. The firmware is nowhere near usable. The box crashes and deletes the HD channels when it sees the same programme broadcast on the SD version. EPG always comes on when and tuned to the first channel when you switch box on from standby.

Really, the software is not acceptable. There is no excuse now as the box has been out a long time. It would appear the fact it's been reduced to £30 tells me they have no intentions of fixing it. It true value is probably £0 with the software problems.

Got the IS version yesterday before reading this. I don't have HD yet (Waltham, August) .
No HDMI Cable in the box.
The box picked up all sd channels, identified duplicates and allows you to select between them.
Set to 16:9 and 1080p as it was set to 4:3 and 1080i.
Small, decent looking box with internal power supply. Very good SD picture via HDMI. Good epg. Quick response to remote.
No lockups so far.
Haven't tried Channel Zero yet as it hasn't got all the data yet even though I did leave it in standby overnight.
I connected the ethernet port to my router but it didn't pick up an IP address.
Summary? Decent box, easy to set up but reported HD problems may be a deal breaker???

[Winston_1]

Originally Posted by stanandjan

we NEVER EVER get those sort of vouchers 'Down South'..
'Do you live Up North'

Stan

Even further south than you. It was the Welling store SE London/Kent borders.

[Winston_1]

Originally Posted by CraigC

Might also wish to stear clear of the IS version too. The firmware is nowhere near usable. The box crashes and deletes the HD channels when it sees the same programme broadcast on the SD version. EPG always comes on when and tuned to the first channel when you switch box on from standby.

Really, the software is not acceptable. There is no excuse now as the box has been out a long time. It would appear the fact it's been reduced to £30 tells me they have no intentions of fixing it. It true value is probably £0 with the software problems.

Can confirm all of that. One I bought recently (post 59) is going to have to go back and be exchanged for a Vestel. Also no manual tuning.