£299 is a bit steep, but I guess if it is TUTV compatible it's ahead of the other units.

I tend to agree. But again, if it's got a 180 Gb hard disc that's also something in its favour.

I too have emailed Turbosat, and in his reply to me, David Macauley confirmed that the box will have MHEG support, which is good news.

Nigel

Oooh thats good. I don't think it sounds too bad for £299. Glad to see that it 'should' work with TUTV and have MHEG support. As long as it does most of what my Pace Twin does then I'll be fine, hopefully there wont be too many 'additional features' aka bugs!

If it's substantially the same box as the Australian one, but merely with added MHEG, then we should be relatively safe from bugs, I would hope.

Presumably the new model number is to indicate that it's the UK (and big disk) version.

I do hope it's largely an evolution, rather than a ground-up rewrite. Looking at some of the documentation for the TAP system (well, skimming would be more accurate), I did wonder if things like MHEG interactive and the EPG could be added simply by sticking TAPs on the hard drive. Certainly there seem to be plenty of alternative EPG things available for download on the 5000.

There's even a project on Sourceforge to link one up with a box that forms a USB<->Ethernet bridge, so you can access the recorded files via your network, which is pretty neat. And I'm delighted to see that there's a program for the Mac that will retrieve files from the 5000t too.

Let's just hope that all the good bits of the 5000 are still in there...

Nigel.
Last edited by nwhitfield : 22-02-2005 at 13:38

The community that has sprouted up behind this box in Australia, is the reason i'm sold on it. Along with it being technically the best of the current crop of units.

I think that if this box has added MHEG it will fly off the shelves, (even more so when the price is lowered).

Can't wait till this box is released. I will have to fork out for a CAM too, so the lower priced the box, the better.

digiperson

I have had a quick look at what MHEG is, as I didn't know, but what does it allow you to do on a PVR that you otherwise wouldn't be able to? Sorry if it's a stupid question, but I have looked at several sites about it, and I'm none the wiser! Maybe I'm just having a bad day! TIA!

MHEG isn't specifically to do with PVRs.

Consider it as a bit like a TV version of HTML, the code that's used to create web pages. MHEG is used to provide the interactive features - the 'red button' stuff. It's what allows receivers to jump to a different video stream, like the News24 interactive stuff, the different tennis courts during Wimbledon, the Spooks Interactive game and so on.

So, it's not essential by any means - and in many other countries they use something called MHP instead, hence the questions about whether or not boxes originally sold elsewhere will have MHEG - but if it's there, it's handy, and it allows you to make full use of the interactive facilities provided by the various broadcasters.

It's something I'd look for in a box, though I'm not sure how often I really would use it; just like analogue teletext, it tends to be something that's handy to have around, even if you do just use it once in a blue moon to check the news headlines, or look up a flight arrival.

Nigel.

Where is this exactly?


As you know, Nigel, I've got an Elgato EyeTV and I must admit I find the lack of MHEG a bit annoying at times if only for the Channel ID banner when you change channels. It's fine if you've got the TV picture in a window on the screen as you see the channel name at the top of the window but when you're on full screen and flicking through the channels, it can be a bit annoying if you get (what appears to be) no reaction while flicking through the TUTV or off-air channels.

On a PVR linked to a TV as the main viewing device in the house it's pretty necessry IMO.

This Topfield box sounds like the canine's gonads to me! Can't wait.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/puppy/

Some other TopField utilities here
http://sourceforge.net/projects/topfield/

Loads more if you Google for them or browse back up this thread.

matt

Right, thanks. I somehow managed to miss that part of the discussion.

Those two have never been specifically posted as links. The "loads more" I refer to are different

matt

If it's specifically the Mac software you're after, it's called MacTF and the site is http://www.noates.com

I had a quick look on the Australian forums, and it looks like it should be possible to convert files and burn them to DVDs on the Mac.

Nigel.

Puppy is the really interesting one, if you take the time to look around a bit.

It makes use of the NSLU2. Mean anything to you? Nope; nor me until I did some more hunting.

The Linksys NSLU2 is a USB<->Ethernet gateway. It's designed to let you plug USB2 hard drives in, and then makes them available on your network. It costs under £70 quid in the UK.

It appears that the Linksys box can be made much more useful by running a custom version of Linux on it. Puppy is a program that runs on that version of Linux, and allows one of the things plugged into the box to be a Topfield PVR5000, instead of a boring old hard drive.

The upshot of that is that you can then use the Linksys box to copy files from the PVR to, for example, a shared folder somewhere on your network.

That's pretty neat, though it looks at the moment like it needs a fair bit of technical knowledge to make the most of it.

Nigel.

So, and bear with me here, if I were to attach a wireless bridge to the Topfield via the USB connection, it would be possible to access the files on my Airport network?

I theory, yes, I think you would - though it would be tricky.

The Linksys box is designed for a wired ethernet connection, and that's the box that the puppy software runs on. You might be able to attach a wireless bridge (like an Airport express...) to the back of the Linksys, but then you're starting to add quite a lot of kit.

Also, compared to a wired link, the Airport (even Extreme, which is what I have here) is going to be a bit sluggish when you're slinging round large TV recording files.

Depending on where everything is in your home, you might find it's worth plugging the Linksys box directly into the LAN socket on the Airport.

In an ideal world, of course, the PVR would have Ethernet built in...

Nigel.

Hmm, so its a bit like the TiVO where people have gone all out and shoved a network card in the back

Handily helped by the fact that TiVO is Linux based and it will take most things you can throw at it without any configuration.

I see you can now order it from Turbosat - £15 delivery.

I very nearly ordered one but I think I'll wait until TUTV compatibility is confirmed - just in case!

Keep in mind that this is a Distributor, when they deal with the general public they tend to stick a huge markup on .. wait till nearer the time (of release) and see if any retailers are selling it.

(I've heard from a few insiders at various reatilers it could appear for £249-£269 - although unconfirmed - so if you can wait a week or two, then do so)

I was thinking of ording one, but would like to see more information about the PVR, I might even end up waiting until a few people on here have bought it so I can read if its any good.

Hmmm. I wonder if I can find a way to make this tax deductible

I feel a feature idea coming on....

Nigel.

thanks for the advice, Jay. I suppose a search at Kelkoo once it's released might be wise.

No skin off my nose, but he's pre-sold 80% of his first batch; and if it is a "rebadged" TF5000PVRt with MHEG (TF5000PVRt sellls in Europe at 619 Euros with a 160 Gb HDD), do you really think it's likely a dealer will get sufficient discount to be able to charge you £249 to £269?

When this thread first started Turbosat was picturing himself competing with the currently available (I do so love irony) Freeview PVR's and contemplating a selling price of £229 but his product is not in the same market segment as the "currently available" PVR's; indeed, if it is a "rebadged" TF5000PVRt it is in a segment higher than those we have been oh, so patiently waiting for now for months. So, £299?

My only fear is that whoever has been blocking the release of ALL of the HDD's with USB connectivity doesn't go and have a quiet word in young David's shell-like before the boxes actually land within these shores and prevent me from getting my grimies on one of the first to be yawned at by HM Customs.

Does anyone know if Topfield will put a fan in the TF5800t. It seems their other PVRs run hot already putting a 160gb drive in without extra cooling seems madness to me.