Detail on Samsung ES6300 as Freesat+Saorview+PVR+Smart TV

CWest

Hi

I'm another looking for a “superman TV”, in my case full Freesat (not FTA) + Saorview (inc. MHEG5), plus a good PVR and ability to play digital files from digital sources (MKV, AVI, etc).

I gather from this forum that this Samsung Smart TV is a rare beast in terms of supporting Freesat + Saorview. Sounds great but wondering about the detail - my questions on the Samsung ES6300 series...

1. TV as a PVR
Really keen to hear people’s experiences using this TV as a PVR?
Specifically:
- Can it do series link, or the like using EPG knowledge, so that the show is recorded correctly even if the time slot moves on the schedule?
- What type of storage do people use - is this powered from the TV (via a specific USB port) or does it need a separate power supply and left permanently on? (thinking of power consumption and noise here)
- Can you watch Terrestrial whilst recording with the other (satellite) tuner - and vice versa?

2. Playback of video files
Is the experience good when playing back video AVI, MKV, files, esp is it smooth and stable with MKV?

3. Any downside (re. ireland) when setup for Freesat (with UK postcode)?
e.g. RTE Player (although I'm not certain this is possible from TV in the first place)
(I’m aware that the Irish channels would being setup by default in the 800 range and requiring a one off manual re-ordering of the list. Also dkane post said Irish Teletext was fine when set this way)

4. WiFi performance
Is the transfer speed is good enough to simply leave HD video files on the PC and stream them via WiFi to the TV?

Still debating if a Vu+ Duo box is a better fit for my needs. I haven’t been able to confirm these from reading the online manual (and the “specialist” in the TV shop got lost when I asked about USB ports) - but then again Boards expertise is tough to live up to...

Interested to hear your experiences...
thanks
CW

watty

It's not and can't be a PVR. It's just a recording feature.

WiFi performance always depends on your own situation and local usage of spectrum and how many wifi clients are doing what.

dkane

Can it do series link, or the like using EPG knowledge, so that the show is recorded correctly even if the time slot moves on the schedule?

I only tried using it to record briefly. You can schedule recordings.
When recording you can watch another channel on the same MUX/Transponder or on the other tuner (i.e watch Saorview while recording Sat).

What type of storage do people use - is this powered from the TV (via a specific USB port) or does it need a separate power supply and left permanently on? (thinking of power consumption and noise here)

You need to connect an externally powered USb hard drive with a write speed of at least 54k. It will not work with a USB key. The drive has to be formatted for the TV (you can't plug it out and copy recordings to PC etc).

Can you watch Terrestrial whilst recording with the other (satellite) tuner - and vice versa?

Yes

Is the experience good when playing back video AVI, MKV, files, esp is it smooth and stable with MKV?

Playback of video files is very good. Both from USB key and over DLNA.

Any downside (re. ireland) when setup for Freesat (with UK postcode)?

RTE Player is an App. Works fine.
No real downside except for having to reorder the Saorview channels and having to swap between Air and Freesat modes.

Is the transfer speed is good enough to simply leave HR video files on the PC and stream them via WiFi to the TV?

I have had no problems with transfer speeds. Will play 1080 MKV files over WiFi with no issues.

The Ayatolla

How do you re-order the Saorview channels? At moment I have them in 800's

Johnboy1951

dkane wrote:

You need to connect an externally powered USb hard drive with a write speed of at least 54k. It will not work with a USB key. The drive has to be formatted for the TV (you can't plug it out and copy recordings to PC etc).

Just wondering ..... if you can play back video files from a USB stick, any idea why you cannot record to one?

Any idea what prevents the recordings from being used on a PC? Are they encrypted? other reason?

Thanks for any info you might be able to supply.

dkane

The Ayatolla wrote: »

How do you re-order the Saorview channels? At moment I have them in 800's

When on a Saorview channel go into Smart Hub.
Then go to "Channel"
On this screen press "Tools"
Then "Edit Channel Number"

dkane

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Just wondering ..... if you can play back video files from a USB stick, any idea why you cannot record to one?

Any idea what prevents the recordings from being used on a PC? Are they encrypted? other reason?

Thanks for any info you might be able to supply.

USB sticks have quick read times but relatively slow write times.

As far as I know the hard drive is formatted in ext3 and the files are encrypted. I haven't bothered much with the recording functionality so don't have much details on this.

CWest

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Any idea what prevents the recordings from being used on a PC? Are they encrypted? other reason?

Speculating - but I expect digital rights management is leading to this "non-portability" of the recording.
CW

CWest

Thanks dkane - very clear reply to my specific queries, thanks.
TV is a serious contender for my hard earned euros!
CW

Johnboy1951

Thanks for the response

dkane wrote: »

USB sticks have quick read times but relatively slow write times.

They work for other devices which is why I am surprised they don't work for this .... and yes they have to have reasonable write speeds of course.

As far as I know the hard drive is formatted in ext3 and the files are encrypted. I haven't bothered much with the recording functionality so don't have much details on this.

ext3 would not be a problem, but encryption certainly would be.

The Ayatolla

dkane wrote: »

When on a Saorview channel go into Smart Hub.
Then go to "Channel"
On this screen press "Tools"
Then "Edit Channel Number"

Am away from TV now, but to go into Smart Hub i just press the "Smart" logo in the middle of the remote?

Phibsboro

I think this is my next telly!

Anyone seeing it for less than this?

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/11833523/art/samsung/ue40es6300-3d-led-smart-t.html

edit - To dkane, would you recommend it? How is picture quality? I imagine HD looks grand? How bout SD? Acceptable? What size do you have?

JonathonS

Samsung do several series with sat tuner - ES6300/6500/6700/7000/8000.
Walker are due to launch a range of TVs with sat "soon".
Panasonic also have 3 or 4 ranges with sat tuner.

dkane

Phibsboro wrote: »

edit - To dkane, would you recommend it? How is picture quality? I imagine HD looks grand? How bout SD? Acceptable? What size do you have?

I'm very happy with it. Picture quality is very good, both HD and SD.
The only tweaking I did was to turn the backlight down a bit.

MAJJ

You could ask richersounds, they do price match and are great to deal with, you could check here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1105

Phibsboro wrote: »

I think this is my next telly!

Anyone seeing it for less than this?

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/11833523/art/samsung/ue40es6300-3d-led-smart-t.html

edit - To dkane, would you recommend it? How is picture quality? I imagine HD looks grand? How bout SD? Acceptable? What size do you have?

The Ayatolla

Its 849 euros on Amazon for the 40 inch inc shipping.

Phibsboro

By the way just to clarify re that pixmania price. It looks like that is actually a french model and I'm not confident it will have freesat. I'm in touch w pixmania to see if they'll ship the uxxu aka UK version for the same price.

Phibsboro

dkane wrote: »

Any downside (re. ireland) when setup for Freesat (with UK postcode)?

RTE Player is an App. Works fine.
No real downside except for having to reorder the Saorview channels and having to swap between Air and Freesat modes.

Just to double confirm this - you are getting both a soar view and freesat EPG? The reason I ask is that I had another look at the video that has me most excited about the Samsung. The video is http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i1PkQrAltA4 and at 3.00 you see him go to the sat EPG but its not freesat! No logo and only now and next showing for those channels that have any program data. So that is the same as a standard combo box :-(

So, can u confirm you are getting 7 day epg for both soar view and sat? Are they both logo'ed?

Thanks :-)

The Ayatolla

Phibsboro wrote: »

Just to double confirm this - you are getting both a soar view and freesat EPG? The reason I ask is that I had another look at the video that has me most excited about the Samsung. The video is http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i1PkQrAltA4 and at 3.00 you see him go to the sat EPG but its not freesat! No logo and only now and next showing for those channels that have any program data. So that is the same as a standard combo box :-(

So, can u confirm you are getting 7 day epg for both soar view and sat? Are they both logo'ed?

Thanks :-)

7 day EPG for both, all you have to do is when configuring select "Freesat" instead of "Satellite". It then asks you for a UK post code, so you can enter a Northern Ireland one to get BBC NI or a London one to get the UK variants.

It's a great TV. Have it set up in a kitchen when Saorview and Sat, full EPG's recordable and not a cable in sight. very tidy.

Phibsboro

This is an update on my situation, copied from my other thread, sorry if you're reading both but I wanted to clarify the pixmania situation after posting the link on here...

Just to finish this thread off, pixmania cannot supply the UK version (i'd generally be wary of buying TV's off them now tbh) and so I went into Powercity and bought the 46" ES6300. Totally delighted with it, the whole UI is like a generational shift from my old combo box. The switch between Freesat and Soarview requires a few keystrokes currently but I am searching for a discreet code to do it, otherwise I'll set up a sequence on my harmony remote.

BTW, I wouldn't go into detail but I would say its worth asking the assistant in Powercity for their best price- I got money off what was already a promo price...

Dummy

JonathonS wrote: »

Samsung do several series with sat tuner - ES6300/6500/6700/7000/8000.
Walker are due to launch a range of TVs with sat "soon".
Panasonic also have 3 or 4 ranges with sat tuner.

Jonathon - Any idea when Walker will launch their Sat TV? And did you hear if it will be Smart?

Rgds.

The Cush

Dummy wrote: »

Any idea when Walker will launch their Sat TV? And did you hear if it will be Smart?

Thread here - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=79741770#post79741770

http://www.powercity.ie/?brands=WALKER&pages=1&par=10-12&action=brandstory&cat=10-12
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-WP4270&pages=1&prod=WP4270&brands=WALKER&image=

Gwynston

watty wrote: »

It's not and can't be a PVR. It's just a recording feature.

So does that mean it can't do live pause using an external USB hard disk? Just scheduled programme recording?

The Ayatolla

Dummy wrote: »

Jonathon - Any idea when Walker will launch their Sat TV? And did you hear if it will be Smart?

Rgds.

It won't have 7-day EPG which is a downside from the Samsung

Gwynston wrote: »

So does that mean it can't do live pause using an external USB hard disk? Just scheduled programme recording?

Live pause will work and scheduled recording

Gwynston

Stopped by Currys to look at the Samsung UE37ES6300 (don't have Powercity in Galway). They only had the 40" version, but looks like a very nice TV! The 40" is on sale at €930 - they can get the 37" for me, but wouldn't budge on the price of €880 - same as Powercity (which is out of stock online anyway):
Link: 37" at Powercity

Amazon have it in stock for £594.78 which is over €100 less, so I might go for that.

I assume, as it's the exact same model number as Powercity with the "UXXU" suffix, then it should be the same Saorview-approved set? (unlike Pixmania)

The Ayatolla

Get the Amazon one. Cheaper and has the licensed Freesat Tuner as well as Saorview tuner.

Phibsboro

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Get the Amazon one. Cheaper and has the licensed Freesat Tuner as well as Saorview tuner.

Just to clarify that, Powercity are definitely also selling the UXXU aka UK model so they will have the FREESAT and Saorview options. And, as I said in my post, ask Powercity for their absolutely best price :P

JonathonS

The Ayatolla wrote: »

Get the Amazon one. Cheaper and has the licensed Freesat Tuner as well as Saorview tuner.

I am open to correction on this but as far as I can see ALL of the main brands are selling the same model TVs in the UK and Ireland.

Gwynston

Phibsboro wrote: »

Just to clarify that, Powercity are definitely also selling the UXXU aka UK model so they will have the FREESAT and Saorview options. And, as I said in my post, ask Powercity for their absolutely best price :P

Unfortunately, I'm in Galway, so didn't think this kind of negotiation is possibly buying from their web site. Anyway, I ordered from Amazon - should get it next week. In the end, once Amazon had recalculated the price to include the Irish VAT rate, the total came to €800 (free shipping), so an €80 saving over the Currys and Powercity list price. :cool:

Phibsboro

Gwynston wrote: »

Unfortunately, I'm in Galway, so didn't think this kind of negotiation is possibly buying from their web site. Anyway, I ordered from Amazon - should get it next week. In the end, once Amazon had recalculated the price to include the Irish VAT rate, the total came to €800 (free shipping), so an €80 saving over the Currys and Powercity list price. :cool:

That's a great price, well done

One point re setup - when I went through the initial setup, despite choosing UK as an option, the first auto tuning only offered air/cable/satellite instead of air/cable/satellite/freesat. Don't panic! The freesat option is available once the initial setup is done, via the Menu/Channel/Aerial option. Note also that I couldn't get it to brand both Saorview and Freesat - you need to go with UK as the country to get Freesat and that precluded branding the DTT EPG as Saorview. Only a minor point, Saorview appears to be all present and correct (having signal issues so haven't fully explored this).

Gwynston

Thanks for the info!
I'll be sure to post back my experiences when I get the set.

So what does the DTT EPG get labelled as if not "Saorview"?