trouble with walker stb

jamescc

hi guys i have a walker stb i am having trouble with it .

do not know if it is due to the trial service or it is the box it self. when i turn the box on i get no sound or picture i will get the guide displayed for a few seconds which is normal .

when i go to change station say from rte to tv3 i just get a blank screen . could it be a problem with the box being faulty or is it due to the tests.

when i hold the on/off button for a few seconds i get a message saying restarting and it will work fine untill i turn it off and switch it on again.

it goes the same way blank screen would it be worth bringing it back to the shop and having it replaced?:(

watty

yes

The Cush

Two posters that I recall had a problem with their Walker STBs crashing 12 months apart, they said they were returning them for replacement. They had 1 post each and no further updates since.

jamescc

i guess i will find the recept and box and return it

jamescc

ye just looked at that post sounds like a different problem . but worth replacing it before it gets worse

so would you say it has nothing to do with the signal or anything related
i have it about 3 months or so

The Cush

jamescc wrote: »

so would you say it has nothing to do with the signal or anything related
i have it about 3 months or so

Hard to say unless someone else reports a similar problem.

A replacement is probably the best route.

fj1200

Just got a Walker stb a couple of days ago. I had read this thread and when switching the stb on today I thought I was having similar problems. Switched it on and nothing happened. Blank screen etc. Kept pressing the power button and syptoms were as descibed above. But it turns out it's quite slow to boot up. Takes a minute or two. Maybe worth a try OP. Turn it it on and leave it for a minute or so.

danjo-xx

I think you get what you pay for. I would love to know what is the failure rate of Walker products.....and also who the hell are they....cant get any reviews or info from a google search...someone said they think their made by mitsubishi.

Only had one experience of a walker product (dvd player) it packed up after 6 months.

STB

They are made by Vestel. They make many STBs including those marketed under the Bush brand.

Bring it back if it is crashing rebooting or acting strangely.

Tom Slick

danjo-xx wrote: »

I think you get what you pay for. . .

. . . particularly when it's the only certified product available & you don't want to/can't wait for more choice. They're not exactly cheap either.

watty

Vestel make Walker. They are a Turkish company.

http://www.zorlu.com.tr/en/grup/ves_arge.asp

R&D in UK and USA as well as Turkey

Vestel, exporting to 103 countries with its products of the world standards from TVs to white goods, from air conditioners to
computers, today has a market share of 20% in the most developed countries in Europe such as Germany, England and France, and a market share of 5% globally
Vestel Group is comprised of 24 companies operating in manufacturing, technology development, marketing, and distribution fields in the consumer electronics, IT, digital technologies, and household appliances, with € 3.7 billion turnover. Vestel account for 21% of the total TV, 10% of the LCD TV, 25% of the digital set-top boxes, and 10% of the household appliances markets in Europe.

AFAIK Walker is the management buy out of Mitsubishi's Irish Distribution of "Black Diamond" brand, which was Vestel.

Most (all?) Vestel TVs and Set-boxes re-badged under familiar European and Japanese names.

fj1200

danjo-xx wrote: »

I think you get what you pay for....


If the Walker was €40 or €50 that statement would be true but at €100 a pop you expect something that is a bit more stable and user friendly. Not that I'm complaining as it's early days yet and the picture quality is excellent. And thats with an indoor amplified aerial.

Slightly off topic but does anyone know if the Walker will receive Freeview, in an area that receives Freeview?

jamescc

am still having trouble with it. will be returning it as soon as i find the receipt.
i still have the box which has a "power city" sticker on it from when i reserved it.
so i will find the phone number tomorrow and ring before i go to the store in tallaght and i paid just short of E100.00

will post on here tomorrow to let everyone know what happened

watty

yes, it will, but not Freeview HD.

The tesco Technika "Freeview HD" box £70 now, or £36 refurb. will do all.
http://www.saortv.info/about/n-i-digital/

recyclebin

I think Technika are the same as Walker and made by Vestel. I bought a 26 inch Saorview approved Walker TV a couple of weeks ago. They reveiwed supermarket TV's on The Gadget show on channel 5 last week and the Technika TV had the same remote and on screen menus as my Walker TV.

The Technika got the best rating of all the budget brand TV's. I'm pretty happy with my Walker TV but then again I only have it a few weeks.

watty

Technika is Tesco own brand. They use many different suppliers.

danjo-xx

STB wrote: »

They are made by Vestel. They make many STBs including those marketed under the Bush brand.

Bring it back if it is crashing rebooting or acting strangely.

It was last christmas and only cost €30 or €40 but got replacement no problem.

jamescc

feel like a fool. i found my receipt and i got the box back up to power city the guy plugged it in and it worked fine he switched it off and back on again no problems. just told me to check my conections which i had al ready done before i went up to the store .

Tom Slick

I would want at least 2 of those boxes for my €100 anyway, at least I'd have a spare.

fj1200

jamescc wrote: »

feel like a fool. i found my receipt and i got the box back up to power city the guy plugged it in and it worked fine he switched it off and back on again no problems. just told me to check my conections which i had al ready done before i went up to the store .

I told ya.

fj1200

Tom Slick wrote: »

I would want at least 2 of those boxes for my €100 anyway, at least I'd have a spare.

There not that bad. Overpriced obviously but they do the job. For me anyway. Hopefully we'll get some new firmware at some stage for recording to usb and maybe better epg.

jamescc

it happened again so i disconnted my lead from the ps3 and connected it in to the walker box same thing. i headed back up to power city . they tried to tell me it was a signal problem. nothing that they could do so i asked for the manager he started to tell me that it was a signal problem from my arial to the box . i asked him to plug it back in to his aerial so he did it was fine started up no problem. i turned it off and back on . it happened up there no picture no sound . just the menu. so they have sent it back to walker to have a tech guy to have a look at it

jamescc

fj1200 wrote: »

Just got a Walker stb a couple of days ago. I had read this thread and when switching the stb on today I thought I was having similar problems. Switched it on and nothing happened. Blank screen etc. Kept pressing the power button and syptoms were as descibed above. But it turns out it's quite slow to boot up. Takes a minute or two. Maybe worth a try OP. Turn it it on and leave it for a minute or so.

i did try all that i was getting the blue menu tellling me what was on now and next

jamescc

Just to let you know that they replaced the box. did not say what was wrong with the old one. not the same model that i had does not have a cam or card slot only one av connection and usb at the back of the box the program guide the same execpt for the saorview logo on the guide.

byte

jamescc wrote: »

Just to let you know that they replaced the box. did not say what was wrong with the old one. not the same model that i had does not have a cam or card slot only one av connection and usb at the back of the box the program guide the same execpt for the saorview logo on the guide.

Seems you got the new model so.

jamescc

ye so if and i do say if any pay tv ever comes out i will not be able to get it or replace the box or tv

watty

I suspect you won't see pay TV, or it you do, Sky will be better.

Sam Russell

Also, even if there is pay tv, will you pay?

I certainly have no intention of subscribing to any pay tv, ever.

jamescc

i think it would depend on the price and what is on before i would consider it . but i would not pay for sports. not in to it. now sci-fi i would be in but again depending on the price

i wonder how many people would be like me if the price is right?

JonathonS

jamescc wrote: »

does not have a cam or card slot only one av connection and usb

Any refund? Sounds like this one is not worth €99?

watty

There is no model for pay DTT.

You will never need a CAM or Card slot.

The problem is you need about 15 of the channels that are free on Satellite to make the platform viable before you add the actual pay channels. Sport x 2 or x3 are the most compelling reason for people to buy pay TV. Sky & UPC can undercut by same price for sport but x4 as many channels included.

So you left with space for about 4 or 5 non-Sport "actual" payTV that you can't get free on Satellite. The highest viewed payTV channel only gets about 2% viewing time.

The transmission costs are much higher for DTT than Satellite or Cable. Just the electric even never mind RTE NL recouping the Capital investment, feed costs and maintenance costs. Add about €800K to €1.6M p.a. for call centre costs. Add cost of encryption, subsidising CAMs for TVs and pay TV set boxes. Add content costs. The pay TV operator has to even pay royalties for all the FTA Satellite channels they need to carry to be competitive.

It's an interesting way to go bust after a few years owing €10M to €30M.

The Pay TV DTT licence has been on offer since 2000. I didn't see Sky, "Real Digital TV", Bertelsmann (previous Five owners), ITV, Canal+ bidding. All four prospective "bidders" have pulled out or collapsed.

In Sweden Boxer only added 1000 customers in the last year.
The much more likely to succeed ITV Digital/On Digital went bust.

If pay DTT as BAI and Government envisage it ever happens it will go bust.