Alba Argos box: good buy?

jasonc5432

Hi all

I have searched in depth for a suitable saorview box and come up with the following:
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5322745/Trail/searchtext%3ESAORVIEW.htm

^Argos Alba Basic Saorview box.


I had initially considered a combo box. I do not need a satellite box because I have two skyboxes running freeview. However, I was interested in being able to record freeview channels. Hence my interest in the combo box. However, I decided against a combo box for the following reasons:
1. they seem to be expensive (100euro upwards).
2. they do not seem to have a 7 day EPG for satellite channels.
3. the lack of a 7 day EPG for satellite channels sounds to me like I would not be able to set the box to record a week in advance (as with say a sky plus box).
4. none of the combo boxes i found have built in harddrives for recording. Hence, I would need to spend at least another 40 euro to have the PVR facility, meaning the minimum i would pay to have a satellite pvr with saorview is 140.

So, basically, I am looking at this alba now because it seems to have pvr capabilities if i choose to go that route (which is 50/50 because i would need to source a hard drive and do not quite need PVR). Of course, i would like PVR, but not if it puts the cost up to over 100euro, when I can have a basic box for 60.

So, first, am I correct in all the above?

Second, would you recommend an alternative to this alba box? Is it a good/bad buy? Why?

Thank you for all your advice,
Jason

The Cush

jasonc5432 wrote: »

So, basically, I am looking at this alba now because it seems to have pvr capabilities if i choose to go that route (which is 50/50 because i would need to source a hard drive and do not quite need PVR). Of course, i would like PVR, but not if it puts the cost up to over 100euro, when I can have a basic box for 60.

So, first, am I correct in all the above?

Second, would you recommend an alternative to this alba box? Is it a good/bad buy? Why?

I don't own this or any other Saorview STB, so I can't say what the pros and cons are with the one you mention.

The first Saorview approveed PVR is expected soon (this week?) but that will be in the region of €250.

Another STB to consider is this twin tuner Triax STB, it too requires a separate HDD - http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-set-top-box-receiver.html

jasonc5432

The Cush wrote: »

I don't own this or any other Saorview STB, so I can't say what the pros and cons are with the one you mention.

The first Saorview approveed PVR is expected soon (this week?) but that will be in the region of €250.

Another STB to consider is this twin tuner Triax STB, it too requires a separate HDD - http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-set-top-box-receiver.html

Thank you for your response The Cush.

250euro is just far too expensive for me. For that money I know I could come up with an alternative that I would prefer (e.g. sky plus for the year etc).

The Triax that you mention seems a good box. I can't see much benefit though on the alba aside from the fact that you can record one thing while watching another. It is probably limited the amount of times we will do this though. It is priced at 78euro plus delivery. Do you believe it is a much superior box?

Thanks again for all advice

Sponge Bob

Every store has stacks of them so I reckon €39.99 by January.

winston_1

jasonc5432 wrote: »

Hi all

I do not need a satellite box because I have two skyboxes running freeview. However, I was interested in being able to record freeview channels.

Freeview is the UK terrestrial service through an aerial and cannot be received on a Sky box. To record Freeview you need an aerial and Freeview PVR and most important be able to receive UK TV in your location.

FREETV

The Cush wrote: »

I don't own this or any other Saorview STB, so I can't say what the pros and cons are with the one you mention.

The first Saorview approveed PVR is expected soon (this week?) but that will be in the region of €250.

Another STB to consider is this twin tuner Triax STB, it too requires a separate HDD - http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-set-top-box-receiver.html

250 is a rip off and they should be no more than 199 from the start regardless of what size the hard drive capacity built in has. One could buy a new small lcd tv for that price with a single tuner USB PVR. Who will have the extra readies in this debt based economy con to purchase them at that price. I wouldn't mind 250 if they had four tuners.

jasonc5432

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Every store has stacks of them so I reckon €39.99 by January.

Yeah I am a little worried that the price will drop considerably immediately after we buy the basic box.

However, we need it for Christmas

jasonc5432

winston_1 wrote: »

Freeview is the UK terrestrial service through an aerial and cannot be received on a Sky box. To record Freeview you need an aerial and Freeview PVR and most important be able to receive UK TV in your location.

It must be called Freesat then?

All i know is, we receive loads of channels for free via our 2 sky boxes (bbcs, itvs, channel 4's, etc). It would be nice to be able to record them, but not if it costs 100-150 euro to do it.

jasonc5432

FREETV wrote: »

250 is a rip off and they should be no more than 199 from the start regardless of what size the hard drive capacity built in has. One could buy a new small lcd tv for that price with a single tuner USB PVR. Who will have the extra readies in this debt based economy con to purchase them at that price. I wouldn't mind 250 if they had four tuners.

Yeah the PVR prices are mad. If they included a hard drive then fair enough, but without a hard drive 100 plus for a pvr that does not have a 7 day freesat epg seems a waste of money.

Hence my current decision to go for a basic pvr ready saorview box for 60euro.

But if anyone has a better suggestion I am all ears. I am hoping not to have to spend any more in the next few years. I am a bit sick of spending money on television when most of the time all I see are wall to wall ads

zg3409

To answer some of your questions Jason:

decided against a combo box for the following reasons:
1. they seem to be expensive (100euro upwards).

If it lasts 10 years that's only 10 Euro per year. Good value in my opinion.

2. they do not seem to have a 7 day EPG for satellite channels.

Correct

3. the lack of a 7 day EPG for satellite channels sounds to me like I would not be able to set the box to record a week in advance (as with say a sky plus box).

You would need to set a timer to the correct time

4. none of the combo boxes i found have built in harddrives for recording. Hence, I would need to spend at least another 40 euro to have the PVR facility, meaning the minimum i would pay to have a satellite pvr with saorview is 140.

Yes

So, basically, I am looking at this alba now because it seems to have pvr capabilities if i choose to go that route (which is 50/50 because i would need to source a hard drive and do not quite need PVR). Of course, i would like PVR, but not if it puts the cost up to over 100euro, when I can have a basic box for 60.

Would you recommend an alternative to this alba box? Is it a good/bad buy? Why?

The alba will only receive and record the few Irish channels. It only has a single tuner meaning you can not watch other Irish channels while recording takes place. (I have not tested this, some boxes may allow this to some extent) It probably won't have series linking.

If you want to record the UK channels on the cheap then I would recommend this box:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056757154
It has 7 day EPG on UK channels and is cheap

If you want to record the Irish channels I would wait for the proper recorder to be launched and reviewed. At that point RTENL will start sending series linking information. Then all other boxes can be checked to see if any also work with series link. In this day and age any recordings should be done via 7 day EPG and series link and not by setting timer clocks to record. People should also invest in dual tuners to allow proper recordings. If people are paying 160 per year for a TV licence and 300+ for a TV the least they should have is all free UK and ROI channels with proper EPG based recording ability.

If you have questions on the above try to respond in the right thread on the box. This thread is for the Argos Alba only.

jasonc5432

@zg3409:

First, yes if it lasts 10 years then 100euro is good value. Will it last ten years though? My experience with most audio visual technology is that 10 years is unlikely (unless it is a CRT tv, which often go for 10yrs plus with zero problems... unlike the flat panels which seem to be nothing but pricey, pretty, money pits).

Plus, with the rate that tv technology is moving, spending 100plus now on a relatively new technology might be foolhardy if a whole range of far better boxes arrive on the market in 2 years. So, a 50 or 60 euro spend appears adequate for me for now, given the fact that aside from recording, there is little or no discernible difference between a cheap box and an expensive box... in my very very inexpert opinion (like I said I already have freesat, so do not need a freesat box, unless it offers PVR at a very cheap price (i.e. not 100 euro plus)).

The walker box you mention seems good, but am I correct that it does not receive saorview? Only saorsat?

zg3409

jasonc5432 wrote: »

The walker box you mention seems good, but am I correct that it does not receive saorview? Only saorsat?

The Walker is for Watching and Recording the UK channels, so yes you are correct.

The Saorview, say Alba, with an aerial is needed for Irish channels.

Stinicker

Could this alba box be used as a PVR for Saorview using say a 32GB USB Stick or would it have to be used with a hard-drive?

zg3409

Stinicker wrote: »

Could this alba box be used as a PVR for Saorview using say a 32GB USB Stick or would it have to be used with a hard-drive?

It depends. Normally a hard drive of 500GB or 1TB is recommended for a PVR. However the amount of space a recording takes depends on the quality of the channel so RTE2 HD would take more space than say RTE1. The length of the recording naturally makes larger or smaller files also.

USB Stick versus hard drive also has some implications. Basically USB sticks use flash memory. These have a limited number of writes before they go faulty from wear. For this reason it is generally not recommended to write to them continously. If the box has a "live pause and rewind" option then this should be disabled in the menu. The reason is for rewind to work the receiver needs to continously write and rewrite all the time it is on in case you want to rewind a show at any time.

So yes sticks can be used for small, short recordings but for lots of high quality recordings and live pause and rewind a large hard drive is the only realistic option.

JonathonS

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Every store has stacks of them so I reckon €39.99 by January.

Not unless they are prepared to make a big loss. Maybe €49.

jasonc5432

Lots of great information! Thanks

So, nobody can suggest a better basic-saorview box, than the Argos Alba for 59.99?

Thanks again