Hi

I have been told by a couple of suppliers of both the Topfield and the Humax that the Humax is going out of the door as fast as they can get them but the Topfield is a bit slow in selling.

Is there something I should know about the Humax that makes it sell so well compared to the Topfield apart from the price??

Regards

Price is probably the main thing; the Humax has also only relatively recently appeared, after quite a long delay, so it may be simply a case of pent-up demand being fulfilled at the moment.

The Toppy went through that months ago, just after it first arrived. Also, of course, the Humax probably has better brand recognition, since other of their products have been carried in stores like Comet and John Lewis.

Spec-wise, the two machines are almost identical - they're actually both built on pretty much the same hardware as well, and even have some bugs in common.

Nigel.

It's new and people have been waiting ages for it. There are probably quite a few Inverto waiters switching allegience too.

Jake,

If you read the Humax forum and all the threads therein you'll see that (like almost every other PVR at launch) the 9200 is not without its "teething troubles" and right now the Topfield (for the extra £40) is perhaps the more stable choice (it's also slightly higher specified in terms of features - esp. the ease of adding NEW features!)

Cliff

Brand recognition and availibility must be a big factor [edit: er, like Nigel says ]. Regular people, so I hear , prefer to buy stuff they've heard of, in actual shops, and don't hang around in internet forums like this much. Although I now have a Toppy, before visiting this and other sites like it I had never heard of Topfield, whereas they have Humaxes in Currys.

Unless you really do your homework the Toppy and Humax sound very similar in specification. If you see two items that appear the same but one is cheaper which would you choose? Unless one has a stronger brand name most would choose the cheaper option. Topfield don't have the kind of brand awareness that lets the likes of Sony get away with charging double the price for some of their kit.

The suppliers may also have other motives for "talking up" the Humax (e.g. bigger margin, not distributed by one of their competitors).

one pf the topfields main problems is its lack of prescence in the highstret.
If topfield boxes were available in the major chains and stores such as Dixons Group/comet/argos/john lewis, and other major retailers then the toppy looks set to remain as it is.

But can you imagine www.toppy.org.uk overrun by Regular People? Asking damn-fool questions, dissing the wise , kneejerk reacting badly with every MHEG change Auntie makes.......

Hi Guys

Thanks for your input.

My ISP has been causing me grief for the last few days so couldn't reply.

I think you have answered my question, thank.

Seems strange that if Topfield wanted to break into the market more, that they haven't priced more keenly to get the big stores to take them on.

I love down near Bournemouth and no retailers around hear have even heard of them. Sad

Thanks again.

Regards

What an odd comment. That's a bit like saying it's strange that Ferrari aren't selling their cars at Ford Fiesta prices to get them into the big dealerships ?!?

Cliff

Cliff
Always though my toppy is a Aston Martin, Beauty with a Soul.
Tanya