Saorview Connect

meelick

At this stage, I'm so glad I got my money back when I returned my connect box to Currys.

Schorpio

Ten Pin wrote: »

And it's been nominated for an award.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SAORVIEW/status/1019932618660466688?p=v
Must have the same nomination committee as the Golden Cleric.

That really takes the mick.

Looking at the spin put out, you might be forgiven for mistakenly believing that they actually invented catch-up tv. Instead they've just mirrored a foreign market, using established proprietary software, which still lacks the recording abilities of a VCR from the mid-90s.

ozmo

Ten Pin wrote: »

And it's been nominated for an award.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SAORVIEW/status/1019932618660466688?p=v
Must have the same nomination committee as the Golden Cleric.

Genuine Question - Am I missing something with this? or, when finished, will this box do exactly the same thing that's built into most Smart TV's

eg. with my Samsung I get Saorview, Episode Guide, Recording and rewind... as well as FreeSat.

it just works and has done for several years - one remote, one channel listing no wires.

and you can buy the whole TV for not much more than the Saorview box on it own? (well.. less than 300 anyway)

Tigerandahalf

What is the rte player like with other services like Sky, Virgin and Vodafone. How do you access it? Is there ads?

fman

Rte player on sky anyway has minimal content. Last time I checked it was virtually just their own productions. Little to no Uk or US content
Have to say I've never used it so can't comment on ads etc.

Schorpio

I had a mid-range LG TV, which came pre-loaded with the RTE Player app. It's the full app, with all of the content from the web player - but it does have ads.

Tigerandahalf

ozmo wrote: »

Genuine Question - Am I missing something with this? or, when finished, will this box do exactly the same thing that's built into most Smart TV's

eg. with my Samsung I get Saorview, Episode Guide, Recording and rewind... as well as FreeSat.

it just works and has done for several years - one remote, one channel listing no wires.

and you can buy the whole TV for not much more than the Saorview box on it own? (well.. less than 300 anyway)

You won't have catchup probably, which makes it easy to scroll back through programmes, reverse 7 day guide if you like, with just a list of available catchup programmes.

Tv manufacturers also are very bad for not updating apps after a certain period...as they want you to buy a new tv. They have no obligation to update the app. Saorview Connect would be supported.

I have the bbc iplayer on the freesat box and you can restart a programme after it starts which is very handy when you are late to a programme. The hope is that it would come to Saorview too but at this stage things look bleak.

Edit: E.g. tonight I watched The Game, the rte documentary on the game of hurling. I just had to scroll back on the tv guide to Monday and it was there. No need to go searching or typing in the rte player itself.
The 'no ads' is a real bonus at the moment. Everything just plays from start to finish.

suzy_2005ie

a little off topic....but since getting saorview installed - I've had ringing in my ears ever since, particularly upstairs closer to the aerial and satelite - thinking of cancelling subscription now..............

ozmo

suzy_2005ie wrote: »

a little off topic....but since getting saorview installed - I've had ringing in my ears ever since, particularly upstairs closer to the aerial and satelite - thinking of cancelling subscription now..............

It might be a poor quality power supply on something new.

Try unplugging stuff.

The Cush

ozmo wrote: »

It might be a poor quality power supply on something new.

Try unplugging stuff.

There's an LED bulb in my house that does that, it can get annoying if you're in the room for a period of time, but in a room not used often.

Sam Russell

suzy_2005ie wrote: »

a little off topic....but since getting saorview installed - I've had ringing in my ears ever since, particularly upstairs closer to the aerial and satelite - thinking of cancelling subscription now..............

It is free so no subscription.

STB.

lsjmhar wrote: »

RTE have provided the perfect box with full 7 day egp, rollback/on demand facilities and serie link coming soon. They have no obligation to provide uk freesat channels as they do not receive uk license fee money. The fact that uk now/next is on it is just luck. The company didn't have to provide this.

RTE license fee has to cover salaries, program development, payibg GAA fee for broadcast matches, pay FIFA money for games etc. There is not alot of money left after that. If people want bells and whistles they have to pay extra - sky, virgin, eir. Champions League is going as RTE do not havr enough money to pay the fee asked by UEFA. All this costs money but as I pointed out earlier I am sure all the disappointed people.will be able to provide the rest of us with this 'perfect' box that rte/saorview failed to deliver, and all for 99 euros. lmfao

They receive Irish TV licence money though.

For your information RTE/2rn where passed the tech end responsibilities of digital switchover, the FTA platform in place of analogue. They were also passed the responsibility for certified hardware by dcmnr now dccae.

Launching a FTA box for the platform and an rte focussed IPTV box are 2 different things. Saorview is not rte. It's a platform that includes organisations that are separate independent and commercial broadcasters.

There are already boxes that combine the 2 free to air platforms ie both satellite and terrestrial with combined 7 day EPG and associated recording for the afore mentioned 99 euro.

These existing boxes didn't require a shed load of development costs nor a 3 year lead in either. They have been around for about 10 years.

This is 2018 not 2009. Anyone reading this forum for the last 10 years could have told you the same basic requirements that people require in fta land in a certified and platform supported box. It's not as if the retailers weren't feeding this back too.

But hey let's not get that confused with the box that was produced that doesn't even achieve those basics. A vanity box for the organisation that will ensure that FTA as a platform is never a viable alternative to even the most basic sub TVbox because they didn't do the basics is combining both in the absence of commercial muxes.


I gather this yoke still isn't even recording and it's up for awards. Lol.

freshpopcorn

I won't lie. I haven't read all this thread.
We got Saorview Connect near the end of last year.
A few weeks ago the channels on the satellite started to go patchy and then stopped working after a few nights. When we did a rescan the channels still appear.
The RTE player played up the odd time but it normally settled down after plugging in and out the box. In the past week tough it won't play. We've no issues with it on other devices.
Does it sound like a fault with the box or is it external?

Tigerandahalf

I'd say it is problems with the player itself.
The few people on here that have the box have reported occasional issues. I have the iplayer on a freesat box and it sometimes doesn't work either. That is the internet for you.

Satellite channels can come and go sometimes depending on the strength of your signal. I doubt it is an issue with the box.

The old fashioned trick of plugging out and in the box usually does the job.

elsie1b

Any news on when the long promised update to allow recording is to happen on saorview connect box ?

The Cush

elsie1b wrote: »

Any news on when the long promised update to allow recording is to happen on saorview connect box ?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=107676261#post107676261

suzy_2005ie

ozmo wrote: »

It might be a poor quality power supply on something new.

Try unplugging stuff.

will give that a try, thanks

danm14

suzy_2005ie wrote: »

will give that a try, thanks

I'd be more worried that you're paying a subscription for Saorview, a free service, than about the ringing in your ears.

Either you've been scammed by whoever sold you the box and are paying a subscription to them for free content, or you've been sold an illegal subscription service that the seller is claiming is some sort of add-on to it for extra channels (or worse they're claiming it's Saorview itself).

Booms

Next time you hear ringing - cover your ears with your hands.

If you can still hear it, it's not something external!

(SOT - I still haven't worked out what to do about the phantom phone vibrations! )

breeno

Has anybody come across an issue where you open the on demand apps and the box seems to think its not connected to Internet despite it actually being connected to WiFi? It won't let me access apps until I go to Web settings and disconnect WiFi and then reconnect? It's pretty frustrating!

patsryan

breeno wrote: »

Has anybody come across an issue where you open the on demand apps and the box seems to think its not connected to Internet despite it actually being connected to WiFi? It won't let me access apps until I go to Web settings and disconnect WiFi and then reconnect? It's pretty frustrating!

Yes, I have noticed that its not remembering the IP address, it's fairly annoying as I require a manual DNS to be entered due to my network setup.

Tigerandahalf

I had the same issue and was told to use an ethernet cable. It is working fine now. I am using a homeplug to provide ethernet access.
Another fault for them to sort out.

breeno

I've had a few months with the box now and I have to say it's absolutely s**t. Clunky, buggy,split epg, lacking promised updates. Very poor experience all round.

Tigerandahalf

breeno wrote: »

I've had a few months with the box now and I have to say it's absolutely s**t. Clunky, buggy,split epg, lacking promised updates. Very poor experience all round.

Ya there is definitely issues. The box reboots itself every now and then too - just before the All-Ireland on Sunday!
The only saving grace for the box at the moment is the lack of ads on the player. It is a lovely experience to watch catch up without ads, especially when you want to fast forward.

Btw how long is it taking you to switch between saorview and satellite? I am just using the saorview side.

patsryan

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Ya there is definitely issues. The box reboots itself every now and then too - just before the All-Ireland on Sunday!
The only saving grace for the box at the moment is the lack of ads on the player. It is a lovely experience to watch catch up without ads, especially when you want to fast forward.

Btw how long is it taking you to switch between saorview and satellite? I am just using the saorview side.

The box has SO much potential BUT between delays and a buggy update they have ruined the experience.....


Anyone else notice that since the buggy update that they cannot enter a channel number on the satellite side of things?

Tigerandahalf

patsryan wrote: »

The box has SO much potential BUT between delays and a buggy update they have ruined the experience.....


Anyone else notice that since the buggy update that they cannot enter a channel number on the satellite side of things?

You could never enter a channel number on satellite side.

patsryan

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

You could never enter a channel number on satellite side.

Tigerandahalf - when the box came out originally I had gone through the painstaking effort of editing the channel numbers (because it would let you assign any number one liked) and you could change the channel by entering in the number.

I had a sort of hybrid between Freesat / Sky channel numbers setup.

Then an update was released where PowerPoint assigned numbers to sat channels and you would only get an error stating the channel was unavailable when entering in the channel number on satellite mode.

Bloody frustrating that they went off and undone hours of work in the first place but that they broke such a basic function secondly.

I will hold out hope though

Tigerandahalf

There is little point in editing the channel numbers so as each time they release a software update (for a satellite frequency change) your edits will be wiped.

The satellite section of the box has potential but they need to allow one to enter a channel number, e.g. you are on a bbc channel and want to move to a channel at the list's end, you have to scroll through the channels to get there. There is also no recall channel button so if you wanted to go back to the bbc channel you have to go through the same rigmarole.

The recall button is not an issue on saorview as you just press 1, 2 or whatever.

I have the humax freesat box and I can enter the channel number. However it also doesn't have a recall button which I find surprising.

Hibrasil

What is the best alternative to the Connect Box.....that will give you automatic updates (if there is an alternative)

patsryan

Hibrasil wrote: »

What is the best alternative to the Connect Box.....that will give you automatic updates (if there is an alternative)

Buy a TV that has a Freesat tuner you’ll get Saorview & UK FTA channels both with 7 day guide.

To the best of my knowledge only Samsung has all irish players (IE RTÉ player, 3player and TG4 player)