Hi folks.

Apologies if this has been brought up before but I was just reading the download page for manuals on the Sharp website for the TU-R160HA (which I presume is a T816 as it can do dual record) when I noticed that a revised version of the manual has been published which is
"Only applicable to units produced after Oct 2007"

Wondering what is different I downloaded the manual and saw that this version handles split recordings automatically. Correct me if I am wrong but current T816s cant do this at the moment.

The screenshots show software version V.5.6.

If they are happy to let boxes be released with this software version on it, could the rest of us T816 owners be receiving an OTA download next month as well.

The original manual is here and the new revised manual is here.

Regards,
Bob

Just had a quick look through this manual and its looks very promising. The software is getting and better (as long as no new nasty bugs arrive!!)

I like the split recordings and conflict bit.

One question, about series record, does this only work for 7 days or will it record all events if the series is staggered over say several months....

Any news on this new 5.6 software for the T816 Vestels yet?

Unfortunately, it's looking like there will be no future updates and v3.7 will be the final version for the T816 .

Really! Thats a real shocker. I took my T816 clone on 3.7 back because of the many bugs, the worst one being the picture freezing, cant believe they are not going to update and fix it! Shame and vvery surprising..

Think yourself lucky you got one with v3.7. There's many out there stuck with v2.4.

???
I thought that 3.7 had some extra bugs introduced, and that it was better to stick with 2.4

- I have reserved a Wharfdale at Argos, as xmas pressie..

This is putting me off, had waited until now, hoping HDMI versions would come in stock, which I assume(d) would be latest firmware and/or chipset - but felt could wait no longer..

I might put off buying for now then and wait a little longer..

Futaura, any news/gossip about about when T816 replacement might be about??

All that work on the new Freeview Playback version has been put in, and it's now to be junked? Even when the boxes were advertised as Freeview Playback boxes? Looks like I'll be returning mine as well then.

It'll be my last Vestel box if they are incapable of providing the much needed update. I'll want a refund, not a replacement.

What email address do we use for Vestel to register our fury and ask for a refund?

To clrfy - I had a T816 v3.7 and it was just awful, Picture freezing on live TV the main problem but also channel changing by itself, unresponsice EPG, reminders changing to wrong channel etc etc... I took it back and abandoned thge whole idea of having a T816.... I went back to T810 and even though I miss dual record and Accurate record and a few other features it works much better...

I never had any experience with T816 v2.4 but from what I read in other forums etc I gathered it was best to have 2.4 than 3.7...

And as for a contact at Vestel to complain to - yes please, if anybody knows where to complain to post it here...

If it worked properly I would love to have a 816...

Hugely dissapointed....

It's not going to be junked, and there may yet be an update. It's just that, reading between the lines and from past experience, it's entirely possible there may not be any more updates for the T816, instead with development moving on to the T825 with the FP Group 2 software.


It has never been an ideal situation for customers since the boxes themselves are not Vestel branded. Technically you can't go complaining to them, because you didn't buy a Vestel product. It's places like Argos who arrange with Vestel to build these PVRs for them, and under different brand names, with different features. Not that complaining to Argos about technical features is going to help much.

Well, presumably it will be the T825 which AFAIK is T816 based with HDMI/upscaling, and presumably the Wharfedale HDMI boxes advertised in Argos are T825s, but I have no idea when they might hit retail.

What is most worrying though is how long will the T825 last? I mean, the T810 had software updates for 6 months or so, only to be superceded by the T816 6 months after updates stopped. Hardly environmentally friendly potentially having to upgrade the box at least once a year, to get better / less buggy software. I guess this is how Vestel make their money - churning out new designs every year (or less) and abandoning the old ones at the same time.

I'm more annoyed than anybody about the picture freezing, since I originally reported that to Vestel back in February (admittedly I had no way of reproducing it on cue back then, but I have since let them know how). Presumably it will get fixed (if not already) in the T825 software, but that doesn't help the T816 .

Was V2.4 freeview playback? If not then I presume anyone with that version would be given a full refund due to not doing what it said on the tin.

I was looking forward to FP2 software Looks like I'll just need to stick with 3.7.

Futaura, have you never tested fp2 yet??

Cheers

v2.4 and v3.7 are functionally the same - both Freeview Playback. IIRC, Hitachi units were initially shipped with v3.4 which was not a Freeview Playback build. And no, I've not had the opportunity to test any FP2 software .

in simple terms just what is freeview playback?

Freeview playback is the Freeview branded equivalent of what Sky+ is to Sky e.g. record, live pause...etc.

Freeview Playback group 2 (FP2) is an addition to the requirements set out by the DTG for receivers with FP firmware.

Thanks for that.

For any pvr to have the FP logo, do they only need to comply with the minimum spec?

So that's why these things have been going so cheap -- no future updates.

See this is what I was talking about on the Humax thread about not buying into any box until FP has been properly rolled out. Some boxes are going to end up in limbo, and it seems the T816 may be one of them.

No-one would listen. Ho hum.

Thats an interesting question. As I understand it, the specification is in two or three stages. There is no time scale specified but it could be argued that the expectaition is that any box receiving the Freeview Playback approval as indicated by the use of it's logo will at some stage receive updates to make it "fully" compatible with all stages of the specification. Otherwise what is the specification supposed to meam? A claim on these lines could possible be made against suppliers such as Argos.

Colin

We've only just got aboard this new ship and it might be starting to sink already

Freeview Playback appears to come in at least two parts. The T816, however, was advertised and marked in shops as 'Freeview Playback' compatible. Not only FP G1. Freeview Playback is a general macro term, and so one would reasonably expect that it included all parts that come under the heading Freeview Playback. If it was only ever going to include one part of the Freeview Playback software then it should have been marked as Freeview Playback Group One compatible only. Consumers cannot be expected to be mind readers.

I shall be talking with Tesco about this. I would, however, like to get confirmation from Vestel that the box will definately not be upgraded and that I will be expected to pay another £100+ for a very small bit of software.

Crikey, I could buy infinitely more complex pieces of software for my PC for a fraction of that price! And get updates into the bargain! I thought these Vestel boxes were supposed to be budget boxes, not the most expensive package on the highstreet. It's beginning to look as if Humax and even Topfield sell a cheaper package, all things taken in to account.