These work well from china ...

JRH

just fooling around with this tonight ... 26 euro shipped
tucks away out of view ... good remote , good picture .
ideal for older tv etc ..
gotta love gadgets from china .
:rolleyes:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-FASHION-TRUE-HD-Digital-DVB-T-Terrestrial-Receiver-H-264-MPEG4-TV-BOX-/160670000979?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item2568ada753

winston_1

It says it's HD but where is the HDMI connection for sure as eggs is eggs you can't get HD through a scart?

In fact it's just another non Saorview approved thing without MHEG.

NUTZZ

winston_1 wrote: »

It says it's HD but where is the HDMI connection for sure as eggs is eggs you can't get HD through a scart?

In fact it's just another non Saorview approved thing without MHEG.

It says in the full specs that it has a scart & HDMI interface

JRH

Hdmi connection is on the side ... this is the newer version

honestly i wouldn't care about anything else ... it tells me whats on ... what its about ... whats on next ..
want more detail ... i have a laptop here :rolleyes:

watty

It's poor value and not compatible

JRH

i dissagree
its works great ... and its 26 euro :rolleyes:

Johnboy1951

JRH wrote: »

just fooling around with this tonight ... 26 euro shipped
tucks away out of view ... good remote , good picture .
ideal for older tv etc ..
gotta love gadgets from china .
:rolleyes:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-FASHION-TRUE-HD-Digital-DVB-T-Terrestrial-Receiver-H-264-MPEG4-TV-BOX-/160670000979?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item2568ada753

Nice price for that unit

JRH

yup ..its a bargain ... and works great

NUTZZ

What's with all the 'wink' and 'roll eyes' smilies in this thread, it's like you're discussing something dodgy!

JRH

Ok .. enough of the eye rolls ...
this is actually quite a good unit IMHO

Kristopherus

Sam's box by any other name. I'm sure he'll be along to comment in due course. Good value for the money, though.

Stinicker

Kristopherus wrote: »

Sam's box by any other name. I'm sure he'll be along to comment in due course. Good value for the money, though.

Bob the builder will be along with these installing "Saorview" for ignorant people and charging them "a bargain" at €100 - €150

drBill

I notice the words 'LOGO' on the side of it - wonder if this means the seller was supposed to put their own logo there, or is there actually a brand called 'Logo' !

Sam Russell

Kristopherus wrote: »

Sam's box by any other name. I'm sure he'll be along to comment in due course. Good value for the money, though.

If you insist.:)

It has the same chipset, but no picture of the remote. Probably two pin PSU and no cables. Goodvalue, if you can take the chance with customs - otherwise it might be a bit dearer. My one had the software set up to default to Ireland and Irish time, and a few nice modifications.

glineli

Sam Russell wrote: »

If you insist.:)

It has the same chipset, but no picture of the remote. Probably two pin PSU and no cables. Goodvalue, if you can take the chance with customs - otherwise it might be a bit dearer. My one had the software set up to default to Ireland and Irish time, and a few nice modifications.

Sam, have you any left?

Kristopherus

glineli wrote: »

Sam, have you any left?

Long gone iirc. Maybe pm Randyleprechaun - he had some similar ones a while back. Just may have one or two left.

glineli

Kristopherus wrote: »

Long gone iirc. Maybe pm Randyleprechaun - he had some similar ones a while back. Just may have one or two left.

thanks. yeah i got one off Sam, works very well i thought.

JRH

Heres a few pics of what you get ... and me mucking about with it :rolleyes:

' LOGO ' was gone when it arrived .. lol

22 euro is customs cutoff point so i'd say 26 is within theyre margins of ' couldn't be bothered billing him '

Two pin plug ... just stick it in :rolleyes:

Ran scan on 'england' RTE2 pic is through scart ...

http://i41.tinypic.com/28kpma9.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/29paoib.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2d11gyt.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2r43chu.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2ive7wp.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/zlruw6.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/34qr3up.jpg

glineli

JRH wrote: »

Heres a few pics of what you get ... and me mucking about with it :rolleyes:

' LOGO ' was gone when it arrived .. lol

22 euro is customs cutoff point so i'd say 26 is within theyre margins of ' couldn't be bothered billing him '

Two pin plug ... just stick it in :rolleyes:

Ran scan on 'england' RTE2 pic is through scart ...

http://i41.tinypic.com/28kpma9.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/29paoib.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/2d11gyt.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2r43chu.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2ive7wp.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/zlruw6.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/34qr3up.jpg

Sams one was already configured for Ireland, is this easy enough to set up, just plug in and off you go?

JRH

sure ... it was default on england .. i just hit scan

Sam Russell

glineli wrote: »

Sam, have you any left?

Read the sig. NO.

I decided to get them to sort myself out and some frinds/relative and sold the surplus (as you have to buy quite a few from China to be worth it). Sold them, and got some more and they are now gone.

I might get some more after Easter next year if prices have not fallen as much as they should - but I doubt it. Lidl might have another go as they sold out in half an hour in my local one, and I doubt I would compete wit them.

Sam Russell

That remote is quite different from the one I supplied, but similar. I would imagine it is made by a different supplier. Software lokks to be the same, but different version. Chip is Mstar 7818 (Ithink).

Try setting it to Country=Ireland and see if you get the channel numbers to be 1,2,3 etc. Also try the PVR function.

JRH

not in list for sure ... pvr will have to wait as my gear is else where .

Sam Russell

JRH wrote: »

not in list for sure ... pvr will have to wait as my gear is else where .

By the way, you can disable the LCN function which might cure the problem of channels in the 800s. At least my version has it.

JRH

Yes that worked , all on one to eight now ...
I'l be giving this to a friend but thats good to know , cheers .

Sam Russell

Glad to be able to help.

You can also re-order them.

glineli

Sam Russell wrote: »

Read the sig. NO.

Sorry Sam, was just asking. I bought one off you and recommended others also.

Sam Russell

glineli wrote: »

Sorry Sam, was just asking. I bought one off you and recommended others also.

That's OK. Thank you for the recomendation.

They are a good product and fill a void. RTE NL's obsession with certification is understandable but a little limited. It would have been better if they had levels of compliance. Also, if they had insisted on publicising the compliance conditions earlier with legal force such that the retailers were forced to display compliance information so the public would know what they were buying.

But that is all too late now, as the retailers are now stocking certified product. Some manufacturers are actually producing TVs that are compatible with Saorview and Freeview HD. Maybe that will become common.

watty

MHEG5 is part of the minimum compliance. As much as MPEG4, or AAC sound.

You can't have self certification. It doesn't work. So someone has to be paid to test and certify. They could have picked someone cheaper. But I think Teracom was to satisfy Boxer. RTE actually thought Boxer was happening. RTE was not the obstacle to Pay DTT, economic reality of competition with Cable and Satellite was.

The likely standard was clear in 2007 and published in Feb/March 2008. The Government could have been like French and mandated nothing not meeting spec sold after March 2009 (A years grace). But we are talking about a Government that was one of the worst in Irish History and responsible for us owing maybe 180Billion we didn't need to.

winston_1

Sam Russell wrote: »

If you insist.:)

My one had the software set up to default to Ireland and Irish time, and a few nice modifications.

Out of interest what were the "few nice modifications"?

Sam Russell

winston_1 wrote: »

Out of interest what were the "few nice modifications"?

Default country = Ireland
Default Time zone = GMT
Default sub titles =OFF
Default name for recorded progamme = CH_YYYYMMDDHHMM
Default screen = OFF for radio (audio only)

plus a few more that I cannot remember, but all designed to make the box suitable for RTE NL transmissions.

It meant that the box would autoscan and return to RTE 1 with not much intervention from the user. It was also shipped with batteries installed, and HDMI cable and aerial extension lead included.

Strangely, I sold two to the UK. The second one was a repeat order.

JRH

a slightly different version ...

no one selling them cheap though :rolleyes:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/HD-DVB-T-Digital-Terrestrial-Receiver-HDMI-Port-MPEG4-/120803817695?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2077f8df

watty

Why do you keep posting links to cheap incompatible almost junk?

Do you get eBay commission ?

Also by my calculation a Proper compatible certified box isn't x3 price, but less than 1.9x, assuming you don't get stung for extra VAT seeing it's over €20 and the Revenue are under pressure to increase VAT receipt by stopping more stuff. So if you get hit for VAT and An Post processing the saving is about 20%

For the 20% saving you lose protection under EU / Irish Sale of goods act (refund/replacement possible for 2 years), MHEG5, Teletext after 2012, Any additional Applications (like Red button type stuff), Broadcaster EPG, Over the air upgrades and who knows what else incompatibilities.

People can easily find this sort of "budget" gear on ebay with incompatible stuff being promoted on Ireland's most popular Social web site. It's irresponsible to promote this stuff as many people are not able to make an informed decision as to the long term value.

JRH

watty wrote: »

Why do you keep posting links to cheap incompatible almost junk?

Do you get eBay commission ?

Also by my calculation a Proper compatible certified box isn't x3 price, but less than 1.9x, assuming you don't get stung for extra VAT seeing it's over €20 and the Revenue are under pressure to increase VAT receipt by stopping more stuff. So if you get hit for VAT and An Post processing the saving is about 20%

For the 20% saving you lose protection under EU / Irish Sale of goods act (refund/replacement possible for 2 years), MHEG5, Teletext after 2012, Any additional Applications (like Red button type stuff), Broadcaster EPG, Over the air upgrades and who knows what else incompatibilities.

People can easily find this sort of "budget" gear on ebay with incompatible stuff being promoted on Ireland's most popular Social web site. It's irresponsible to promote this stuff as many people are not able to make an informed decision as to the long term value.

Im not promoting its sale ... Im just offering a review based on my own user experience .

Im sure most people frequenting this board are informed enough to make a decision as to its suitability to them as a TV viewer .
The fact that it dosn't have MHEG5 has been mentioned and because i dont use teletext and im happy with the EPG im giving a good review based on picture quality , design and low cost . ie 26euro

Just because its a low cost item from China doesn't mean its junk :rolleyes:
let me give analogy ...

This low cost TA2024 chipamp has a cult following among informed audiophiles who use it in conjunction with some very expensive esoteric equipment simply because its good . Many pick them up from China for about 20 euro .
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/MUSE-M15-EX2-TA2024-T-Amp-Mini-Stereo-Amplifier-15WX2-G-/110686813023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c572bb5f

rebeve

Realistically how long does shipping take.Still waiting for item bought from buyincoins two months ago .

JRH

rebeve wrote: »

Realistically how long does shipping take.Still waiting for item bought from buyincoins two months ago .

I'v never used that site ... but if it was actully dispatched id' think something is wrong if you dont have it two months later . Perhaps they can track it if you let them know.

My receiver was dispatched the next day and arrived 7 working days later ..

I'v ordered lots of audio gear and bits a pieces from china over the years ,never lost anything , it might run to three weeks but one to two weeks would be average for me ..
Sometimes you get a tracking number with the dispatch confirmation email , Hong Kong post tracking works remarkably well .

watty

JRH wrote: »

Im not promoting its sale ... Im just offering a review based on my own user experience .

Im sure most people frequenting this board are informed enough to make a decision as to its suitability to them as a TV viewer .
The fact that it dosn't have MHEG5 has been mentioned and because i dont use teletext and im happy with the EPG im giving a good review based on picture quality , design and low cost . ie 26euro

You are promoting it and your review is not backed up by ANY bench tests or compatibility tests. Simply a non-comparative subjective impression.

Your review is of little value.

Most people arriving here due to a search or not regular readers of this particular forum for some months are not suitably informed to know the value of the product you are promoting.

watty

Delivery from Asia to Ireland is typically 10 days to 2 weeks
USA economy can be 4 weeks
Australia 2 to 3 weeks
Canada POSTMARK 5th September arrived 3rd November.

Some Asian sites are slow for two reasons:
1) They accumulate enough orders before re-ordering from their supplier if out of stock
2) They may use bulk shipping to Ireland or UK and thus certain times in the month are faster and the rest of the month slower.

JRH

watty wrote: »

You are promoting it and your review is not backed up by ANY bench tests or compatibility tests. Simply a non-comparative subjective impression.

Your review is of little value.

Most people arriving here due to a search or not regular readers of this particular forum for some months are not suitably informed to know the value of the product you are promoting.

" non-comparative subjective impression "
Im happy enough with that and if anyone else gives one on this forum i'd be happy to read it .
like you said , i didn't make comparative claims so i dont need to provide data to back up my opinion .
It is just my opinion that this works well . I have used a string of sat receivers as well as edison combo , Avira combo ,Triax (christ i think that ones approved :rolleyes: ) as well as LG Philips samsung onboards ...
I didn't make direct comparisons ...
Im sure some people would find this a usefull option for an older or second TVs , when they might not want to spend 69 euro in argos for something that will pretty much the same* job for 26
I also like the design which could hide away behind most sets and perhaps even in the bracket gap of some wall mounts .

Again i'v got lots of stuff from the US and Canada ... your postage times list are mostly worst case scenarios
Actually I posted two boxed CDs in a large padded package recently from a village in Sligo on a Saturday and it arived in Auckland NZ the following Saturday .

watty

"can be"

My post times are not worst case. They are apart from Canada and USA "typical".

NewHillel

For people, from a non-technical background...

I would have two concerns re these products:

1. Electrical safety - There is no way of guaranteeing this, as it is being shipped from outside the EU. Given that the units themselves are low voltage, this concern relates to the power supply. The only way to be certain is to use an alternative power supply, which are readily, and cheaply, available.
This might seem overkill, but a cheap unit could be an electrical, or fire, risk.

2. Compatibility with Saorview. There are three issues here:

i. If Saorview channels change frequency, or new ones are added, a manual retune is required. This is a 'feature' of all non-certified receivers. It should be a rare occurrence, and anyone with a modicum of technical knowledge should be able to do the necessary.

ii. It may not work at all in the future. This is unlikely, particularly as we near the formal launch, and technical details should be nearly finalised. However, as some Panasonic TV owners have found, it could happen.

iii. It will never support Digital Teletext, or advanced 'Red Button' services.

All of the above have to be balanced against what is a cheap and easy means of converting an existing TV, to basic digital operation. In my case I have a wall-mounted TV in the kitchen. A standalone box is not an option, and other options, such as an attic box with a 'Magic Eye', too messy to bother with.
Rather than buying a new TV, and TV Bracket, I've just ordered one of these as a cheap and cheerful alternative. I'm happy to live with the limitations.

(If it doesn't work out I've lost very little. If it does, which is what I expect, it's an elegant solution, that I'll also use elsewhere.)

watty

A common issue with cheap Chinese PSUs is massive radio interference and DSL blocking as they save money by fitting no SMPSU filtering.

UK Trading standards seized a shipment of PC PSUs that had a CE mark. The filter coil had been replaced by two wire links and the 3 filter capacitors omitted. The interference was noticed as PCs with these fitted couldn't access DSL based (phone line) internet.

Dr. Nick

Is there a saorview-approved version that's not a box, i.e. fits behind a wall-mounted tv?

STB

JRH wrote: »

Just because its a low cost item from China doesn't mean its junk :rolleyes:
let me give analogy ...

This low cost TA2024 chipamp has a cult following among informed audiophiles who use it in conjunction with some very expensive esoteric equipment simply because its good . Many pick them up from China for about 20 euro .
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/MUSE-M15-EX2-TA2024-T-Amp-Mini-Stereo-Amplifier-15WX2-G-/110686813023?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c572bb5f

Look whilst stuff gets a cult following be aware the reason a lot of this stuff is cheap is because it is copied by EYE. The "subtle" differences are in the components which are normally weak and sometimes dangerous. Trust me I have tested a lot of cheap transmission gear from China. Its a hobby. Scary stuff.....

Given there is another thread on this perhaps the mod could merge.

I am in agreement that some of these devices are suitable for BASIC reception. But people shouldn't think that all of these devices are the same. The chipset and software will dictate whether they can decode both the video and audio codecs broadcast.

The MSTAR chipset in the Mini "Fashion" version say they do audio codecs HE-AAC, AC3+ as well as MPEG on the DVB-T end. You will have to take their word for that though for the moment as RTE are only using MPEG2 Audio. They will be using the other codecs in the suture - its part of the basic spec for Saorview.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=75331111&postcount=50

JRH

STB wrote: »

Look whilst stuff gets a cult following be aware the reason a lot of this stuff is cheap is because it is copied by EYE. The "subtle" differences are in the components which are normally weak and sometimes dangerous. Trust me I have tested a lot of cheap transmission gear from China. Its a hobby. Scary stuff.....

It helps if you know what to look out for alright ...
ok ... heres another example .. a TA2020 this time from Argen helder ... an QC engineer in one of the Shenzhen electronic plants ... ( see they are not all dodgy chinamen )
Trust me .. you won't get far calling his design and components ... weak and dangerous

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/MKll-Version-Tripath-TA2020-PCB-25w-CLass-T-amplifier-/260887862348?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item3cbe20dc4c

Dr. Nick

Dr. Nick wrote: »

Is there a saorview-approved version that's not a box, i.e. fits behind a wall-mounted tv?

Anyone, anyone, no?

Off to ebay I go so.....:pac:

watty

HDMI cables can go up to 15m.

Why does the box have to fit behind TV?

Sam Russell

watty wrote: »

Why does the box have to fit behind TV?

Because they can.

It is a very neat solution and as the box weighs very little, and has a very low power consumption (8W) they allow a simple conversion of a non MPEG4 TV set. And they hide out of sight.

Mstar are a reputable chipset manufacturer and their software is good. Unfortunatelay they look upon this 'solution' as too down market, and Ireland as too small a market, to bother putting a MHEG 5 middleware engine into it. The M7818 chipset is quick and plenty powerful enough to work well with MHEG5 but they are not interested. I do not know if the units actualy have the full set of codecs on board but in the absence of any broadcasts by RTE, we will have to wait and see. Other than that, I think the units are faultless. The PSU might be an issue, but the low power of the unit mitigates that. I have had faulty PSUs myself on well known brands, but not one of the ones I sold.

China are well known for selling dodgy rip-offs, but they also make much of the electronic equipment sold around the world, and most of it is not low quality. The rip-offs are a small percentage of the total. Buyer beware.

NewHillel

STB wrote: »

Look whilst stuff gets a cult following be aware the reason a lot of this stuff is cheap is because it is copied by EYE. The "subtle" differences are in the components which are normally weak and sometimes dangerous. Trust me I have tested a lot of cheap transmission gear from China. Its a hobby. Scary stuff.....

At least with the adapter itself, the worst that can happen is that it doesn't work, or work properly. The power unit, as I'm sure you know, is an entirely different story. Some of these really can be lethal - hence my post.

I'm not scaremongering, this link to Trading Standards seizures in the UK, gives an idea of the types of issue that can arise. Some UK Stats, here. It is indeed scary stuff.

Sam Russell

NewHillel wrote: »

At least with the adapter itself, the worst that can happen is that it doesn't work, or work properly. The power unit, as I'm sure you know, is an entirely different story. Some of these really can be lethal - hence my post.

I'm not scaremongering, this link to Trading Standards seizures in the UK, gives an idea of the types of issue that can arise. Some UK Stats, here. It is indeed scary stuff.

It should be remembered that in Ireland all most houses are protected by RCD (earth leakage breakers) while only 50% of UK houses are equipped with them. This increases the safety of the electricity supply, but since these power supply units are not earthed, there is still a fire risk.

People should not leave them powered 24/7. At least turn them off at the switch at night.

NewHillel

Sam Russell wrote: »

It should be remembered that in Ireland all most houses are protected by RCD (earth leakage breakers) while only 50% of UK houses are equipped with them. This increases the safety of the electricity supply, but since these power supply units are not earthed, there is still a fire risk.

People should not leave them powered 24/7. At least turn them off at the switch at night.

Firstly, all houses are not protected by a RCD, to imply otherwise is mischievous, at best. Secondly, many people don't power off their TV's 'at the switch', at night. They are unlikely to do this with these, either. (When you were retailing these units, did you include a notice to this effect?)