Ntl/upc Dvr

d8player

Hi,

Given the reduced price on the DVR I was wondering what people's impressions of it are? How is the menu system compared to the normal digital one? I already have a DVR but I have to mess with two timers (the DVR and the NTL one) and its a real pain. Would love to hear what people think good and bad.

Cheers,
D8Player

gerryo

d8player wrote: »

Hi,

Given the reduced price on the DVR I was wondering what people's impressions of it are? How is the menu system compared to the normal digital one? I already have a DVR but I have to mess with two timers (the DVR and the NTL one) and its a real pain. Would love to hear what people think good and bad.

I got one before xmas, previously had 2 pace boxes & 2 VCR's.

Used to be a major pain to setup when going away, had to mess with 4 timers (set memos on the 2 pace boxes & 2 timers on the VCR'S).

DVR replaced 2 pace boxes + 1 VCR & so far has been really good.

The menu's & guide are OK, but prob not up to $ky quality, guess these may get better with time but are 1,000 times better than the old Pace boxes.

Used to have a 3 day guide, now have a 7 day guide.

Definitely worth the extra €€ if you want hassle free recording with no extra boxes required. Only records one channel at a time, though there is a buffer for the "live TV".

You may still need a standard DVR if you want to record 2 different programs simultaneously & you will need the standard DVR if you want to "archive" something you recorded on the UPC DVR so it's not like you are replacing one with the other.

I am quite impressed with the performance so far, but then I never had Sky+ so maybe I'm slightly blind sided.

d8player

gerryo wrote: »

You may still need a standard DVR if you want to record 2 different programs simultaneously & you will need the standard DVR if you want to "archive" something you recorded on the UPC DVR so it's not like you are replacing one with the other.

Hi gerryo

Thanks for the reply. What is the interface for archiving what you have recorded? Would a laptop be enough (via USB) or would you need to use scart to another DVR?

Thanks,
D8Player

pizzahead77

You need to use Scart to another DVR or laptop to archive any recordings from the UPC DVR

SteM

Got this just before Christmas. It's nice and all but a DVR without a Series Link is a bit pointless IMO. It'll do the job but Series Link functionality turns it into something much more powerful.

An example of the problem I have with it came up on Sunday night. The missus was watching Sense & Sensibility on BBC 1. When it was over she asked if we could make sure it got recorded next Sunday in case she forgot about it but because the there is no Series Link it couldn't be set up. Also, because the EPG only goes 7 days ahead we couldn't get up the following Sundays listings to manually set the recording up.

We could set the recording up the following day but that sort of defeats the purpose because I could have forgotten by then. I also could have set up a manual timed record but wasn't sure if the program would be shown at the same time next Sunday.

To me NTL have released something that's OK but if they integrate 'SL' in the future they'll be on to a winner.

Puggy

Get one. Never had Sky+, but once you get one there's no looking back. Apart from the DVR, the EPG stuff is much better.

Only downside is the series link, it would make the box almost perfect.

Appleblossom42

What's the price reduction? Have they scrapped the installation fee? I see on their website that it's half price for 2 months now. I got it in 2 weeks before Christmas, got my bill since and no mention of the €50 fee. They have dvr subscription written on the bill from December to February, then 0.00. Don't want to ring them in case it's a mistake.:D

rinnin

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has tried connecting to the DVR with their laptops or anything using the USB port at the back? I presume its all encoded as an MPEG or something. Would be great to be able to Put some stuff onto DVD for archiving.
Or would it be encrypted?
Thanks in advance
R

DingDong

Appleblossom42 wrote: »

What's the price reduction? Have they scrapped the installation fee? I see on their website that it's half price for 2 months now. I got it in 2 weeks before Christmas, got my bill since and no mention of the €50 fee. They have dvr subscription written on the bill from December to February, then 0.00. Don't want to ring them in case it's a mistake.:D

They got rid of the install charge for all customers and reduced the rental charge to a fiver.

Deedsie

I didnt want to start a new thread, this seemed similar enough thread for my question.

*We are working hard to bring this service to all of our customers. However, for the moment it is only available in Galway, Dublin, Waterford, Mayo and parts of Kilkenny and Meath.

I copied that from the UPC website and was wondering if anyone outside these areas have DVR yet. I just wanted to ask before i rang chorus about it? Sound

Alun

rinnin wrote: »

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has tried connecting to the DVR with their laptops or anything using the USB port at the back? I presume its all encoded as an MPEG or something. Would be great to be able to Put some stuff onto DVD for archiving.
Or would it be encrypted?
Thanks in advance
R

AFAIK Both the USB and the Ethernet connectors are for the built-in cable modem only. Only way to get stuff off the DVR is analogue through the SCART output.

marcbrophy

Deedsie wrote: »

I didnt want to start a new thread, this seemed similar enough thread for my question.

*We are working hard to bring this service to all of our customers. However, for the moment it is only available in Galway, Dublin, Waterford, Mayo and parts of Kilkenny and Meath.

I copied that from the UPC website and was wondering if anyone outside these areas have DVR yet. I just wanted to ask before i rang chorus about it? Sound

it's in Limerick, Cork and Kerry now!!

SteM

Appleblossom42 wrote: »

What's the price reduction? Have they scrapped the installation fee? I see on their website that it's half price for 2 months now. I got it in 2 weeks before Christmas, got my bill since and no mention of the €50 fee. They have dvr subscription written on the bill from December to February, then 0.00. Don't want to ring them in case it's a mistake.:D

Same for me. We got it on 21st December, just got the bill yesterday but there was no mention of the €50 installation chanrge on it. We were told we'd be changed €50 when booked the install though.

Deedsie

marcbrophy wrote: »

it's in Limerick, Cork and Kerry now!!

Interesting. Im in Tipperary. Hopefully they will finish off Munster first. Probably wont though. Id love to get it in, id say its very good compared to the old guide.

PauloMN

Does it solve the "gathering data" problem that the small Pace box has i.e. the guide sometimes taking ages to load? According to the last UPC engineer who called to my house to try to resolve the blank channels problem I have, he says that the DVR box addresses some of the issues that occur on the Pace box, but I'd prefer to hear from someone who has actually used both.

Will probably get it to see if it solves my existing issues as well as for the whole DVR bit. I've still got my trusty VHS hooked up....

SteM

Yes it does. I used to have the same problem but haven't encountered it since switching to the DVR. The Guide takes a few seconds to load but once it's loaded it works perfectly when you're browsing the following 7 days.

Mikey23

Does this DVR affect your contract with NTL? To clarify, if we were to get one now, would that mean an additional 12-month commitment?

Kinda hoping to move out of town in 6 months' time so can only sign up if there aren't such strings attached.

SteM

Mikey23 wrote: »

Does this DVR affect your contract with NTL? To clarify, if we were to get one now, would that mean an additional 12-month commitment?

Kinda hoping to move out of town in 6 months' time so can only sign up if there aren't such strings attached.

We didn't re-sign for another 12 months when we got ours last month but we did have to sign up for Direct Debit which we didn't have set up before.

PauloMN

SteM wrote: »

Yes it does. I used to have the same problem but haven't encountered it since switching to the DVR. The Guide takes a few seconds to load but once it's loaded it works perfectly when you're browsing the following 7 days.

The "gathering data" thing is a well-known problem according to the UPC chap who was out here. In my case it's very hit and miss... sometimes it's up within a second, sometimes it would take literally minutes to load. Renders it pretty useless and I never use it.

I think I'll order the DVR, try it for a while. Seems to be the ideal solution to kids interrupting my evening's viewing! :mad:

subway

initial impressions, just installed -
*guide is slow to load,

*pressing the guide button also doesnt open the guide, opens a page where you choose
which section of the guide you want to see.

*box shows all channels, including ones you havent subscribed to, unlike the old pace box which skipped over the unsubbed channels

*box is huge, with extra internals that i dont need.

*i dont need the chanel info on the front of the box

*mine can record one channel while watching another

*no series link

*remote is a weird shape

Del2005

Didn't really want to start a new thread as it's sort of related. I've had my UPC DVR for a few months now. The only issue is that when I switch it on from standby the browse doesn't update straight away, but if I switch off/on again it updates straight away. Does anyone else have this issue? I know it's bad for the HDD to be doing this, put don't really want to have to call UPC unless it's just mine.

JimiMac

Alun wrote: »

AFAIK Both the USB and the Ethernet connectors are for the built-in cable modem only. Only way to get stuff off the DVR is analogue through the SCART output.

Is there no way to record digital to a DVDR?
Is scart only good for analogue?
After all the digital service is transmitted to the TV via scart?

gerryo

JimiMac wrote: »

Is there no way to record digital to a DVDR?
Is scart only good for analogue?
After all the digital service is transmitted to the TV via scart?

Scart output is analog, regardless of whether the source is analog or digital.

Unless UPC enable tranfer via USB or Ethernet, there is no other way to get recorded output from the DVR except via scart or the RCA sockets (audio only).

JimiMac

gerryo wrote: »

Scart output is analog, regardless of whether the source is analog or digital.

If you have NTL digital, that is output to the tv via scart. So are we looking at analogue quality on the tv?
There is a significant difference in the quality of this 'digital' service over the analogue.
If I had the DVR (thinking of getting it) and recorded something it would be recorded in the higher quality, I presume. If I was then to transfer this (via scart) to a HDD/DVDR and burn a disc would the resultant quality be similar to NTL analogue or NTL 'digital' ?

gerryo

JimiMac wrote: »

If you have NTL digital, that is output to the tv via scart. So are we looking at analogue quality on the tv?

IMHO it would be better than NTL analog, but be aware the digital signal is compressed & may have slight encoding artifacts.

JimiMac wrote: »

There is a significant difference in the quality of this 'digital' service over the analogue.

Depends on what you mean by quality. Certainly there is no added noise (caused by cable amplifiers) to the digital signal, but that's the digital advantage.
UPC analog TV is a bunch of TV channels muxed onto a cable using FDM that can be received by a standard TV, in a similar way to terrestrial TV signals.
Digital TV is very different & requires a special decoder between the cable & the TV to view the channels.

JimiMac wrote: »

If I had the DVR (thinking of getting it) and recorded something it would be recorded in the higher quality, I presume. If I was then to transfer this (via scart) to a HDD/DVDR and burn a disc would the resultant quality be similar to NTL analogue or NTL 'digital' ?

Best Scart output is RGB, not many HDD/DVDR's have RBG inputs, most use composite or SVHS. I am not sure if the DVR outputs SVHS, but it definitely outputs Composite from it's VCR port.

It would appear whatever is recorded on the DVR is the same quality as "live TV" (on the same DVR) when played back, there is minimal distortion & loss of quality when recording on the DVR as compared to a normal UPC box connected to a HDD/DVDR.

d8player

Got mine installed on Saturday. The picture quality is excellent, so much better than the analog signal. I found several programs I recorded at the weekend neither started or ended exactly on time so you need to add a buffer either side (can't they detect the start and end of a transmission?). Its nice to be able to record one thing and view another and even be able to pause the one you're watching while recording the other.

I also like that I can use the same remote for my TV for my DVR. I actually have another DVR already but it was not handy at all as it required setting two timers and the old pace box from NTL pretty much only showed times for the day you were on. If I want to put anything onto DVD I would need to connect up the NTL DVR to my existing one via scart but the quality is fine.

As someone else mentioned its a bit annoying that the TV guide shows channels we cannot view.

kersti

I just got the DVR installed because I was tired of the way the old PACE box would work with my Philips DVR. I had to turn off the PACE box, set my Philips to record at a particular time of day and then turn on the PACE box and set it to change to the appropriate channel at the appropriate time. Too fiddly.

Anyway, my initial impressions

*guide takes about as long to load as the old guide did

*no button for the old browse feature, which I used a lot more than I used the guide

*pressing the guide button also doesnt open the guide, opens a page where you choose which section of the guide you want to see - just like the old system did

*box shows all channels, including ones you havent subscribed to which is incredibly annoying, wouldn't mind if they made them a different colour or something

*i like the channel info on the front of the box

*no series link or even repeat recording

*remote is a weird shape

* I set up a week's worth of recordings but then accidently turned off the box, my agenda wasn't saved - this is extremely annoying! Last night the box seemed to crash at one point, so I lost the info again.

* My programmes doesn't show the time of day of a recording, so when you record a marathon it's a bit awkward to figure out which ones you want to watch

d8player

kersti wrote: »

*no button for the old browse feature, which I used a lot more than I used the guide

Try pressing OK and then left or right to browse

murpho999

kersti wrote: »

I just got the DVR installed because I was tired of the way the old PACE box would work with my Philips DVR. I had to turn off the PACE box, set my Philips to record at a particular time of day and then turn on the PACE box and set it to change to the appropriate channel at the appropriate time. Too fiddly.

Anyway, my initial impressions

*guide takes about as long to load as the old guide did

*no button for the old browse feature, which I used a lot more than I used the guide

*pressing the guide button also doesnt open the guide, opens a page where you choose which section of the guide you want to see - just like the old system did

*box shows all channels, including ones you havent subscribed to which is incredibly annoying, wouldn't mind if they made them a different colour or something

*i like the channel info on the front of the box

*no series link or even repeat recording

*remote is a weird shape

* I set up a week's worth of recordings but then accidently turned off the box, my agenda wasn't saved - this is extremely annoying! Last night the box seemed to crash at one point, so I lost the info again.

* My programmes doesn't show the time of day of a recording, so when you record a marathon it's a bit awkward to figure out which ones you want to watch

I have the dvr a number of months now,and whilst I by no means find it a perfect box , and as I have said in other posts I do not find it as good as Sky+, I must disagree with some points raised by kersti.

Firstly, the loading of the guide. This is MUCH quicker that the old pace box. On my old pace box, I could have the 'gathering data' screen for literally hours and sometimes nothing would load. New DVR takes about 6 seconds,and after that it is complete for a full 7 days. This is a huge improvement on the Pace box.

There is a browse feature, as already stated by someone else, just press enter and then scroll left or right. Works pretty well.

As for showing too many channels. There is a 'My Favourites' option and you can set up any channels there you want to see.

Agree about the series link being a major issue, but a repeat recording is possible by setting up an advanced memo. There you can choose a recurrence from once, weekly, daily or Mon to Fri.

Remote Control: Don't see anything weird about the shape, not exactly a normal rectangular shape, just wider in the middle than at the ends. Do not see how this could be an issue.

Kersti, I think you should download the manual from the UPC website and read it fully.

Hope this is some help.

kersti

d8player wrote: »

Try pressing OK and then left or right to browse

Cheers

kersti

murpho999 wrote: »

I must disagree with some points raised by kersti.

Umm... not just my points, but others as well

murpho999 wrote: »

Firstly, the loading of the guide. This is MUCH quicker that the old pace box. On my old pace box, I could have the 'gathering data' screen for literally hours and sometimes nothing would load. New DVR takes about 6 seconds,and after that it is complete for a full 7 days. This is a huge improvement on the Pace box.

I never experienced this problem with the old box. Perhaps I was lucky. Would take max 30 seconds to load up.

murpho999 wrote: »

There is a browse feature, as already stated by someone else, just press enter and then scroll left or right. Works pretty well.

However, this is not immediately obvious as it was with the other system and you'll note that I didn't say there was no browse feature, just that there wasn't a button to make it easy to find

murpho999 wrote: »

As for showing too many channels. There is a 'My Favourites' option and you can set up any channels there you want to see.

That's a very handy bit of info - thank-you

murpho999 wrote: »

Agree about the series link being a major issue, but a repeat recording is possible by setting up an advanced memo. There you can choose a recurrence from once, weekly, daily or Mon to Fri.

More handy info - again thank-you

murpho999 wrote: »

Remote Control: Don't see anything weird about the shape, not exactly a normal rectangular shape, just wider in the middle than at the ends. Do not see how this could be an issue.

Looks odd next to my other remotes, I'm sure I'll get used to it soon

murpho999 wrote: »

Kersti, I think you should download the manual from the UPC website and read it fully.

I have been searching for that and had not been able to find it when I wrote the email. This would have helped, as would being given a manual in the first place when the unit is installed.

I've since found the manual http://www.upc.ie/pdf/DVRManual.pdf

Stephen P

I have the DVR a few months now and find it very good. Sometimes it doesnt record the full programme but perhaps this is due to the programme going over its scheduled time. I like the display on the front. Now thats its €5 p/month is great.

MHP

murpho999 wrote: »

There is a browse feature, as already stated by someone else, just press enter and then scroll left or right. Works pretty well.

Sometimes, when I'm doing this, the mini-browser seems to take a fit and starts a rapid uncontrollable scroll through all the channels. Is this a known issue or just me?

murpho999

MHP wrote: »

Sometimes, when I'm doing this, the mini-browser seems to take a fit and starts a rapid uncontrollable scroll through all the channels. Is this a known issue or just me?

Oh yes, I have this too.

I thought it was just a button sticking on my remote but it obviously is a problem, and an annoying one at that.

Only solution I have found is to press the arrow buttons again. It is very frustrating though.

Also, sometimes, whilst browsing with right arrow, it comes up with channel no '5' on screen and then switch to RTE 1. This can be very annoying.

MHP

murpho999 wrote: »

Also, sometimes, whilst browsing with right arrow, it comes up with channel no '5' on screen and then switch to RTE 1. This can be very annoying.

Yes, I've had that too.

BostonB

stephen p wrote: »

...Sometimes it doesnt record the full programme but perhaps this is due to the programme going over its scheduled time. ...

Thats a BIG problem no?

d8player

BostonB wrote: »

Thats a BIG problem no?

You can set your DVR to always record an extra few minutes at the end. This causes a few other issues if you try to record consecutive programs. Not much you can do though if a program runs over.

BostonB

d8player wrote: »

You can set your DVR to always record an extra few minutes at the end. This causes a few other issues if you try to record consecutive programs. Not much you can do though if a program runs over.

Thats woeful in fairness.

subway

i called them last tuesday to remvoe the dvr.
i really dislike it, it needs another 6 months of "beta testing" before its ready for the home.

since last tuesday no one has been able to turn on my old box, and 2 engineers have failed to show up.

i ordered the box to replace windows mce, which is incredibly powerful as a PVR,
this box, besides being unbeliavably buggy, just doesnt have the features a PVR user requires.

Eire Go Brach

Been looking here over the past few weeks about the DVR. Got it today. So far so good. I know its bit early.

But so far i have noticed the menus's are alot faster at loading. The seven days tv guide is great. It is also alot easier to use than i expected. Great having to use just one control.

This is my first DVR, so i have nothing to compare it to. One thing i have noticed is the quality of the stations is a tiny bit worse than the pace box. Well i think anyway.Anyone else notice this? Im watching it on a HD samsung.

Well il post again when i record a few things.

Zaph

Just got mine today as well. Interesting to see that a lot of people find it quicker to load than the Pace box. I never had any problem with that loading the EPG and never once saw a "gathering data" screen, whereas by comparison the DVR seems to take ages to load the EPG. Haven't recorded anything yet, so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I can see the issue of programmes starting late or over-running and missing the beginning or end could be a bit annoying, must look into how you add a buffer.

iMax

Could someone post images of the epg & the front/back of the dvr please ?

Currently trying to decide whether or not to get one.

Moreard

iMax wrote: »

Could someone post images of the epg & the front/back of the dvr please ?

Currently trying to decide whether or not to get one.

I too am currently trying to decide whether to get one or not. I've heard it's a bit "chunky" A picture would really help.
Thanks!

DingDong

Pic's should be attached

zilog_jones

Anyone using one in Limerick? How does it compare to the Chorus Sagem boxes?

And does anyone know if it has s-video output? On the Sagem box the "VCR" SCART output can be configured to do either composite or s-video. Would be handy for recording to my PC...

iMax

Thanks Ding Dong !

dunworth1

i have the the DVR

it starts up way faster then the sagem box

the guide loads faster

there are still a few bugs but overall its better

as for the s-video i dont know?

i really enjoy the DVR being able to pause and rewind tv is really handy if you have to go to the toilet or miss a word

and recording programs is easy enough (just go into guide select the program you want and hit the record button and it will record it)

it really is true what people are saying once u get it you wont go back

zilog_jones

Cool, we're gonna order it so - it'll definately be an upgrade from ye olde VHS VCR anyway, and it'll be more functional and cheaper than a separate DVD/HDD recorder yoke.

as for the s-video i dont know?

I don't know how much the setup menu differs from the Sagem box, but in that it's like the "TV/VCR Settings" (I think it was called), in the same place where you set the 4:3/16:9 (widescreen) settings and RGB brightness you can also choose the VCR output to be composite or s-video (might say "video" and "SVHS" or something similar).

It's a handy option for anyone who might want to record from it to PC, DVD, or whatever else that doesn't have RGB inputs (a lot of modern DVD recorders do, but PC capture cards never do unless you spend 4-digit numbers on it), as the picture quality is significantly better than composite (no colour shimmering, dot crawl etc.).

dunworth1

i went looking in the menu and as far as i could theres nothing with vcr there

but in tv settings you can change the picture quailty from
high (RGB) to standard

scas

What is the ethernet connection for?? Is it to connect to the web to get on-demand tv or does it supply an inter net connection for your PC, ie allowing you to get rid of the out of place modem under my tv??

200motels

gerryo wrote: »

I got one before xmas, previously had 2 pace boxes & 2 VCR's.

Used to be a major pain to setup when going away, had to mess with 4 timers (set memos on the 2 pace boxes & 2 timers on the VCR'S).

DVR replaced 2 pace boxes + 1 VCR & so far has been really good.

The menu's & guide are OK, but prob not up to $ky quality, guess these may get better with time but are 1,000 times better than the old Pace boxes.

Used to have a 3 day guide, now have a 7 day guide.

Definitely worth the extra €€ if you want hassle free recording with no extra boxes required. Only records one channel at a time, though there is a buffer for the "live TV".

You may still need a standard DVR if you want to record 2 different programs simultaneously & you will need the standard DVR if you want to "archive" something you recorded on the UPC DVR so it's not like you are replacing one with the other.

I am quite impressed with the performance so far, but then I never had Sky+ so maybe I'm slightly blind sided.

Sky+ is so good you should try it, even better still SkyHD+ is the ultimate recorder.