Hi

wonder if anyone has opinions about the Alba STB300HD Freeview HD Digital which is on sale at Argos here http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...s|14419633.htm

Need a replacement for my Alba 160 G which died a few days ago.

Thanks all
John

Not really, but I can tell you it's not a recorder if that's any help.

Bit of a rip off, I don't know what the fascination is with HD.

I don't understand the price either - weren't Vestel T8300 boxes available for £40 or so recently? Argos have the Bush variant for £60. What is so special about the Alba? Unless it really is a PVR, but the description says otherwise.

There's a HotUKDeals spot from about two month ago where it turns out Argos had it in store for ~£40. I think the new price suggests an imminent was/now sale.

Also note the link to Makro for an £18 Akura AVX665 which also seems to be a bona fide DVB-T2 HD receiver according to the manuf., but Makro describe it online as DVB-T MPEG4. Proceed with caution.

The Alba - now £100 is not a Vestel T8300 clone, it is the same internally as the Goodmans, the ex-Harvard Grundig, Manhattan Plaza 700 and the Tesco Technika STB HD H 2010. NONE are PVRs despiite the Argos price for the Grundig which was £170 before they dropped it after Harvard lost the rights to the name and Manhattan took it up. The Technika "H" is available for £30. Argos sell the Vestel T8300 as the Freeview HD Bush DVB680 at £60 although the Bush B650 for Ireland's Soarview at £50 looks suspiciously like a reincarnation.

Tesco may still have a few Technika STB HD V 2010 which is a Vestel T8300 clone at £30 in store. Their STB HD IS 2010 is a completely different box, is now £60 after being £30 for a while but is still being firmware supported.

Thanks all

Trust me to miss the fact that it wasn't a recorder, must have been the 300HD in the name that confused me.

still need a new recorder though it's getting confusing reading all the different comments on various sites as to whether the various boxes are worth getting or not. Don't want to spend much over £150 if possible.

What is this Hitachi like ? http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...s|14419636.htm

Or the Goodmans http://direct.asda.com/Goodmans-GDB1...efault,pd.html

Thanks
John
Last edited by WatchTheChaos : 01-08-2011 at 19:50

I haven't got first-hand experience of any of the standard definition models currently on the market. I do know the interface of the Hitachi thru owning earlier models, presuming it's a T836 Vestel. You will not find a more user-friendly PVR, and it will give you a good picture where the transmission is of decent quality.

There is a "Bush T836" 320GB £20 cheaper. If "T836" is the Vestel number then you could save if you don't desperately need 500GB. Bear in mind that it's not easy to transfer recordings from a Vestel hard drive, you'd best record onto DVD if you want to archive permanently.

I'm wondering what the 500gb Bush is that's £30 cheaper. The only obvious difference in the specs is that one holds 240 hours of recordings and the other 250, but specs are not reliable. Someone might know if the Bush is a Vestel.

I love Vestels so I definitely wouldn't go for the Goodman's at Asda.

Sorry about the ramble.

parthena

I agree with your recommendation of Vestels over the Goodmans.

Did you really mean T816 rather than T835 in your second para?

Argos now have a Bush 320GB (Vestel) for £89.99 (reduced from £129.99) here. Maybe this was the one you were referring to above and they have reduced the price further?

I think we need futaura to come along and clarify if the T836 models are only Top Up TV software models. His site here suggests this.

Colin

I was so tired, Colin but you know what I'm like when I see an unanswered Q - normally I try to "do no harm" even if I can't answer with knowledge.

Yes, Colin, if this is a T835 I would recommend it. The user reviews seem to indicate a very occasional glitchy one but generally well received.

Best value, as long as it's a T835.

parthena

Do you have a HD ready TV (virtually all flat screen sets are). If so, do not muck about with technology that will become outdated fairly quickly once DSO is completed and with a recorder that is glitchy.

You can get a Humax HD Fox T2 for £90 or an Icecrypt T2200 for £60
- also currently the Tesco Outlet store on Ebay has a HD Fox T2 for £75.

On both you can add a USB hard dri ve for about £40-£45 depending on how large a drive you choose. The total is under your budget. The Humax has slight advantages as the later software allows reservation from trailers (BBC and Channel 4 at the mo) plus their Portal for iPlayer among other things. The Icecrypt's USB socket is on the front so does not look quite as neat.

You can watch another channel on the same mux even though you only have one tuner (e.g. watch BBC HD while recording ITV1 HD). If you do not have a Freeview tuner built in, get a Tesco Technika STB HDIS 2010 from the Outlet for £20 (you will likely need to update the software from the awful original firmware, once done it is better than any of the other budget FVHD boxes)

The Humax and the Technika (with the latest software) both recognise the HD simulcast flag transmitted by the BBC and Ch 4. The Humax gives an on screen prompt, the Technika can be set to autoswitch.

OK you will not be able to record two programmes at the same time but how often have you done that? It s also a two/three box solution but the hard drive can be concealed behind the Humax and you will not get the constant fan noise if you select the right hard drive.

I think you meant to quote WatchTheChaos #7, lbear

Given the abysmal standard and choice of HD programmes being transmitted, I wouldn't bother rushing into getting a Freeview HD PVR - as long as you have a decent SD PVR and a TV that does good upscaling (most do, I understand).

And that's not even taking into account the glitchiness of most HD PVRs.

I do have one but it was cheap, second-hand, like nearly all my equipment

As for not needing to record two programmes at the same time I even have more than one twin-tuner PVR to cope with peak time clashes

It used to - it hasn't for a little while. I've not seen any posts online from anyone with a T836 who has confirmed exactly what the box is like. AFAIK, it's basically a T835 with CI slot added (and possibly 2 scarts if the catalogue is to be believed). And software-wise, I initially suspected that it was TUTV, but the indications I've seen are that it uses the normal Vestel software (unlike the T845).

Thanks everybody for the opinions,

but

I made a decision while in ASDA today as we really wanted to get something, and bought the Goodmans.

My first impressions are not very good really, when the 8 day EPG is on screen there is a shimmer on it and the text is not as crisp as the ALBA was. Not as many channels listed at a time as the previous. Cannot view a list of timers in a separate screen from the recordings already made afaics.

They had some Bush recorders there too but they seemed to be the older ones as the box stated Freeview not Freeview+. Already I think I have made a mistake this time but thought I had seen somewhere that the Goodmans was a Vestel machine. I'm hoping that my other half sees the problems like I have and agrees that we should return it. That way I will get a Bush or Hitachi from Argos.



I know serves me right this time not waiting a bit longer.

John

I believe you have made the wrong choice.

There have been some Vestel PVRs marketed under the Goodmans badge but not for several years.

From what I recall from posts on this forum there have been other issues in addition to the ones you mention on the Goodmans (non-Vestel) PVRs,

Colin

Today I made another decision, I returned the Goodmans to ASDA for a full refund without problems and picked up the Hitachi 500Gb PVR for the same price of the Hitachi 350Gb also on sale there. The 500Gb was priced at £129.99 when I looked yesterday but is now at £119.99 plus I got a £5 extra back by way of a voucher. So anyone in the market for a new PVR should definitely check first. And thanks to futaura for your on-line info pages, very useful.

I did phone up the Hitachi sales help first just to check that it was a Vestel machine just to be sure.

All up and running, masses of space and at least we know how to use it, much more intuitive. Is it worth adding a new post to give the specs and impressions for others? If so I'll do it in the next day or so if you just let me know where to post it.

Lesson learnt.

John

I don't think you will regret the change.

New reviews are always welcome. I would suggest you start a new thread in the Digihome Sub-forum as you did with the current thread.

If you can wait for the unit to boot up and re-populate the EPG (Guide) each time you use it I would suggest you set the Low Power option to "Yes" in the Configuration Menu. This will prevent the slowing down of the user interface. You possibly didn't have this option on your original Alba.

Colin