Saorview PVR

holidaysong

Following the DTT 'launch' at the end of October, can we expect to see a Saorview certified set top box with PVR capabilities in stores by the end of the year? I'm thinking of a box like this Sigmatek one used in conjunction with an external hard drive.

[I already have an MPEG 4 tuner in my TV so a dual tuner box such as the Freeview+ ones would just be a waste of money.]

The Cush

Nothing official regarding certified receivers of any sort yet. In the next four to six weeks we may see some indication of what may become available with the "soft launch" due to happen by the end of Oct.

watty

With a dual tuner, because there is only probably be two mux, there is the possibility of 2.5T disk(s) and recording EVERYTHING, on a rolling seven days, all TV & Radio and at any time just picking what you want to save. Who wants poor quality RTE player compared to that?

Real PVRs have decent internal HDD and dual tuner. Setbox with one tuner and USB External drive (user supplied) is way to pretend to flog a PVR that's simply $2 more cost due to USB host. Then slap some cloned flaky free PVR SW on the basic Linux kernel...

Of course if you spend loads on a decent HD TV, why skimp on the setbox?

holidaysong

Does anyone know if the certified Walker box(es) can be used to record in conjunction with an external hard drive?

FREETV

holidaysong wrote: »

Does anyone know if the certified Walker box(es) can be used to record in conjunction with an external hard drive?

I would think so as it has a usb input, however I would wait until a Humax or other leading manufacturer dual tuner pvr+ receiver becomes available for Saorview for the major advantages which Watty outlined above aswell as better quality than a cheaply made and overpriced Turkish manufactured brand.

holidaysong

Thanks for the advice but they'd need to dramatically reduce in price first. I already own a Humax Foxsat HDR and it is an excellent piece of kit and worth the money for what it does, but I'd draw the line at splashing out another €200-€250 in order to record just 4 channels.

As I said in the OP, I already have a tuner in my TV so really I only want (need) a basic single tuner STB to record something of interest on RTÉ when I'm out.

watty

The service doesn't launch "really" till maybe April/May 2011. By that time you may be able to add 2nd feed or small dish and diseqc to record via the Humax foxSat HDR
Recent comment to question: http://www.techtir.ie/node/1003507#comment-1004315

holidaysong

Thanks for the suggestion but Saorsat isn't an option unfortunately. I'm unable to erect external satellite dishes or aerials. Everyone in the apartment block is connected to a communal Sky minidish, while I've an indoor aerial for the Saorview channels / analogue TV3.

watty

It will be trivial expense for the apartment block to add Saorsat to their satellite system next year. The same cables will supply both. A sky box will only see Sky. An HD DVB-S2 box with Diseqc can select either satellite automatically.

TV3 might be on Saorview tomorrow, or not on it till Saorsat is available. Or even later

noellinnane

Looks like this box from Technisat will do the job of a half decent PVR for Soarview... http://www.technisat.co.uk/index3ee5.html?nav=Antenna_DVB_T_,co,65-15240

Pretty looking box actually and not too expensive for the sake of just 4 Irish channels

Any confirm that this will work?

watty

It should. Nuances of difference between UK D-book Freeview HD and Nordig 2.0 + MHEG5 RTE NL spec.

Audio
MPEG1 & 2 Layer I, II, III (MP3)
Dolby Digital (Stereo downmix)
Dolby Digital Plus (Stereo downmix)
HE-AAC
VCR (CVBS, S-Video)

There is a nuance on Audio. RTE NL may not use that part of AAC spec in Nordig2.0 (AAC stereo instead of MP2 for Radio and SD TV sound), or even if they do it may be supported (likely) by Technisat, Sony, LG and Humax. I'd not place bets on panansonic though.

holidaysong

holidaysong wrote: »

Does anyone know if the certified Walker box(es) can be used to record in conjunction with an external hard drive?

There's no mention on the manual of the certified Walker box that it can be used to record using an external hard drive.

watty

Then it doesn't.

rsmike

noellinnane wrote: »

Looks like this box from Technisat will do the job of a half decent PVR for Soarview... http://www.technisat.co.uk/index3ee5.html?nav=Antenna_DVB_T_,co,65-15240

Pretty looking box actually and not too expensive for the sake of just 4 Irish channels

Any confirm that this will work?

Anyone tried the Technisat HDFV

I got the technisat HDFS for Freesat recently and really like the PVR functionality, I had a spare external hard drive so it was a cheap way of getting PVR.

If the HDFV worked for saorview, I would go for it for my second set and dump the Neotion CAM card ( which I admit as written by others is a dodgy solution), the PVR functionality would be nice as I could probably use the same external hard drive that I am currently using for the HDFS.

Maybe it would even be possible to record saorview programs on my 2nd set on the HDFV and play back on the HDFS

watty

Unless it's "Freeview+ HD" don't bother.

The Tesco http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-9147.aspx Seen in one UK Tesco at £170
The Humax http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10095 Shop around

Less than €30 inc postage if you have a laptop or PC with PAL TV and/or HDMI (1080i 25fps 50Hz, not US 60fps/60Hz) out:
http://www.techtir.ie/reviews/mobidtv-dual-usb-dtt
Use supplied software in XP or Vista. Use "media center" or supplied software on Windows 7.

rsmike

watty wrote: »

Unless it's "Freeview+ HD" don't bother.

The Tesco http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-9147.aspx Seen in one UK Tesco at £170
The Humax http://www.humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10095 Shop around

Less than €30 inc postage if you have a laptop or PC with PAL TV and/or HDMI (1080i 25fps 50Hz, not US 60fps/60Hz) out:
http://www.techtir.ie/reviews/mobidtv-dual-usb-dtt
Use supplied software in XP or Vista. Use "media center" or supplied software on Windows 7.

OK, thanks for that, but doesn't the + on Freeview HD just mean the hard disk is included?
If the Technisat Freeview HD works for Saorview then I could use my existing (HDFS) external hard disk for HDFV recordings.
The HDFV is £118 to Ireland from Amazon UK, and no postage.