Hi,

I currently own "another" pvr, which I am generally happy with except for the difficulty of transferring recordings off the pvr. I am wondering about jumping ship to a different product. Maybe keep the Hxxxx for the missus, or maybe Ebay it.

How well does the Topfield handle transfer to PC?

It's pretty reliable, similar speed to the Humax, as far as I can gather, but doesn't seem to have the same oft reported problems with corrupted files.

Nigel.

I have used both machines - Humax and Topfield, and Topfield is without a doubt MUCH faster than Humax at transferring. This is acheived by putting it in 'Turbo' mode, which disables any remote control actions etc. Better by far!
Last edited by DJjay18 : 07-02-2007 at 11:35

Thanks for the responses.

I've actually never had a corrupted transfer from the Humax. The problems have all been along the lines of "device not recognised" errors, or the Humax only connecting as USB1.1, of the Humax locking up during a transfer. My guess is that the USB support in the software or firmware is flakey.

Looks like the Topfield may be a better option.

Tony S

Another small detail is the the USB socket on the humax is at the front of the box under the flap, and the toppys USB conection is at the reaer of the box together with everything else.
what this means is that you can set up a permananet USB conection from your P.C to your toppy, if you are able to.

Though if you are doing it in turbo mode, make sure you have no planned recordings coming up. Have found its better allround not to have anything planned when transferring, even in non-turbo mode.

Interesting; I thought that all turbo mode did was to disable (or ignore) the IR receiver.

Have you had specific problems you traced to transferring whilst recording?

In turbo mode the CPU in the toppy does nothing but transfer from the HDD to USB, infact I have even seen the picture freeze if there is impulse noise that interupts playback of live TV.

I do alot of transfers from my Toppy to my PC using a Slug and using getright on my PC. The good thing is the slug and getright allow me to build up a big transfer list that self-resumes when both the Toppy and PC are switched on at the same time.

I have never yet had a crash of the Toppy while transfering. Biggest transfer job I have done came in at around 28 episodes of a program at 750meg each.

IVe recently found out that you can stream video over the USB conection.

so in effect you can record two things at the same time, watch or record something else, and watch another recording as its transfered from the hard disk on your toppy tp your P.C.

Would it be possible to transfer your recorded program to a USB stick and then transfer too the PC? thus eliminating having to take the PVR to the PC.

No; the Toppy (and the Humax) are both USB devices, not hosts - same as a memory stick. You need a computer (host) involved to control the transfer.

Nigel.

Thats a shame If the PC is on the first floor of the house as min is could you run a usb cable from the PVR to the PC or would it be too long a run of cable.

you have got a few options open to you, one would be to use some USB repeater cables, and then either run the cables on the surface, or to make a few holes in your ceiling/wall/.floor and run the USB cable up that way.
it is also possible to connect the toppy to a wireless network, although that requires some aditional kit and a bit of know how, there should be some info on the forums at http://www.toppy.org.uk

you have got a few options open to you, one would be to use some USB repeater cables, and then either run the cables on the surface, or to make a few holes in your ceiling/wall/.floor and run the USB cable up that way.
it is also possible to connect the toppy to a wireless network, although that requires some aditional kit and a bit of know how, there should be some info on the forums at http://www.toppy.org.uk