Saorview PVR Box has arrived.

zg3409 · 26-11-2012 03:26PM

Good Afternoon,

Thanks for the email, stock is due in around the second week in December.

Regards,

Powercity

I remain to be convinced.

mackersdublin · 26-11-2012 04:37PM

zg3409 wrote: »

Powercity now have the specs for the new Walker box online. No stock but they have the ability to take pre-orders.

Price 230 Euro

WALKER SAORVIEW 500GB TWIN TUNER BOX
Model : WP6500TTR

€230 seems very expensive for just a Saorview+ box, u can get PVR box for €60. God knows how much they'll charge for a Combo+ box!!

watty · 26-11-2012 04:51PM

You can't get a real PVR for €60
A real PVR has internal HDD as well as twin Tuners. €60 only gets a single tuner Saorview box with a recording feature, it's not a PVR.

zg3409 · 26-11-2012 04:54PM

A 500GB Drive is worth 80 euro on it's own.

The nearest twin tuner box is 80 Euro:
http://www.tvtrade.ie/saorview-set-top-box-receiver.html

So that's 160 for a twin tuner plus drive. The above linked to box may become approved but may never have series link.

For anyone serious about recording series link is essential in these days. Yes it's a premium, yes lots of people will consider it way too expensive. But compared to a VCR in the old days and what it offers I think it is a reasonable launch price. Saorview approval normally added a 20 to 50 Euro premium to boxes.

Powercity can also be slightly more expensive than some online shops.

The actual quality and performace of this box is yet to be tested.

There may never be a proper combo + box with series link on UK and ROI channels for reasons discussed before.

When you consider people pay 160 Every year for just the content, a once of cost to be able to record it properly is not real good value, especially if you value the time you spend watching ads instead of fast forwarding them.

zg3409 · 26-11-2012 05:08PM

Most 500GB UK Freeview + HD boxes are £200 - £240 (€250 -€310)

http://www.freeview.co.uk/Freeview-Plus/Freeview-Plus-Products/Freeview-HD

and that's long after most of the country has switched over from analogue.

Also single tuner boxes will struggle once the second multiplex is launched. While before on most boxes you could watch one Saorview channel while recording another, single tuner boxes will then only allow watching of a limited number of Saorview channels while recording and not all.

mackersdublin · 26-11-2012 05:53PM

watty wrote: »

You can't get a real PVR for €60
A real PVR has internal HDD as well as twin Tuners. €60 only gets a single tuner Saorview box with a recording feature, it's not a PVR.

Sorry I meant PVR Ready, Argos has one for €60. That's a huge hike in price to €230

Tony · 26-11-2012 05:57PM

mackersdublin wrote: »

Sorry I meant PVR Ready, Argos has one for €60. That's a huge hike in price to €230

Its not really a fair comparison though as they are very different types of products

Capt'n Midnight · 26-11-2012 06:24PM

mackersdublin wrote: »

Sorry I meant PVR Ready, Argos has one for €60. That's a huge hike in price to €230

"PVR Ready" is marketingspeak for "Not really a PVR" in exactly the same way that "HD Ready" meant "No HD picture"

Most old Analog TV's were "VCR ready" in the sense that you could record directly off the SCART socket without having to tune the VCR into what ever station you were watching at the time.

watty · 26-11-2012 07:37PM

Most so called "HD Ready" advertised sets had only analogue tuners, 1366 x 768 pixels (ALL HD formats have to be resampled) and some not even HDMI, only VGA or DVI. Many didn't support HDCP on DVI, so wouldn't even display ANY picture from a BD player... Even if they had Digital Tuners, it was for ordinary Freeview and none work with Freeview HD on the Digital Tuner.

"PVR Ready" is just as meaningless. "Has a recording feature" is more honest.

"HD Ready" means nearly CRT quality for an SD picture. For various reasons to do with sampling an SD LCD is terrible except with a soft noise free video source.

STB · 26-11-2012 10:26PM

Do walker not realise the number of stations we have here ?

I have never seen such a badly priced product!

This price range for a combo Quad version might be a runner, but not a Saorview only.

Madness. They will stuck with them.

galtee boy · 26-11-2012 11:00PM

STB wrote: »

Do walker not realise the number of stations we have here ?

I have never seen such a badly priced product!

This price range for a combo Quad version might be a runner, but not a Saorview only.

Madness. They will stuck with them.

It's not Walkers fault that we have so few channels on Saorview, ok it's a bit pricey, but at least we finally have a proper twin tuner Saorview Pvr with Series Link. In time, the price will drop and if Saorviews series link is compatible with Freeview Pvr's, then we will have more options.

watty · 26-11-2012 11:01PM

A combo quad that isn't Freesat compatible/Certified is brain dead, even just with generic Sat the price would be €300 to €350 for a true Combo PVR. Unfortunately the price is related to what is in the box, not how many stations we have

STB · 26-11-2012 11:23PM

watty wrote: »

Unfortunately the price is related to what is in the box, not how many stations we have

There is not a lot in that box that justifies the price. Especially the edited software. Trust me, I am a STB.

Willby · 27-11-2012 09:59AM

zg3409 wrote: »

I remain to be convinced.

So do I. Still no mention of the box on Walker's own site.

JonathonS · 03-12-2012 03:40PM

zg3409 wrote: »

I remain to be convinced.

+1. I have been told "end of next week" every week since early Nov.....maybe Santa has cornered them all?:rolleyes:

slicedpanman · 07-12-2012 03:16PM

Is there any sign of these boxes hitting the shelves before the holidays? I was hoping to sit down with the double-issue RTE guide, pick out a load of likely recordings and put one of these through its paces - doesn't look like its going to happen now

LordSutch · 07-12-2012 05:18PM

They're not coming from/via the USA by any chance, are they

Tony · 07-12-2012 05:21PM

LordSutch wrote: »

They're not coming from/via the USA by any chance, are they

Nah via the Red Cow

LordSutch · 07-12-2012 08:06PM

It was slicedpanman's reference to "the holidays" which threw me

Hotblack Desiato · 07-12-2012 08:41PM

The Triax twin tuner box is listed as approved now on the Saorview website.

watty · 07-12-2012 11:23PM

ninja900 wrote: »

The Triax twin tuner box is listed as approved now on the Saorview website.

But it's not a PVR. Just a Twin tuner with Recording "feature".

Hotblack Desiato · 08-12-2012 12:16AM

If the market was flooded with good value Saorview approved 'real' PVRs I'd be agreeing with you Watty. We're still waiting for the one and only 'real' PVR so far... sometimes perfection is the enemy of good. It's a shame that no Freeview+HD box vendors have provided software updates to enable their boxes to work fully here - can't be that hard can it?

Digital Satellite TV · 08-12-2012 09:18AM

ninja900 wrote: »

If the market was flooded with good value Saorview approved 'real' PVRs I'd be agreeing with you Watty. We're still waiting for the one and only 'real' PVR so far... sometimes perfection is the enemy of good. It's a shame that no Freeview+HD box vendors have provided software updates to enable their boxes to work fully here - can't be that hard can it?

as mentioned before... market too small + saorview approval costs too high. Pity though

Willby · 08-12-2012 11:29AM

Would it be asking too much for someone from Walker marketing dept. to give an accurate assessment here on this forum as to when we can expect the much anticipated approved Saorview PVR.
Members contacting them directly hasn't seemed to provide reliable information. There are lots of us waiting to take the plunge and holding off buying a Freeview HD PVR so I think we deserve an honest answer.

Tony · 08-12-2012 12:07PM

AFAIK Boards would ask for a "verified representative" account for Walker to do this which I'm not sure Walker would be interested in.

Willby wrote: »

Would it be asking too much for someone from Walker marketing dept. to give an accurate assessment here on this forum as to when we can expect the much anticipated approved Saorview PVR.

LordSutch · 08-12-2012 03:42PM

Willby wrote: »

There are lots of us waiting to take the plunge and holding off buying a Freeview HD PVR so I think we deserve an honest answer.

"holding off buying a Freeview HD PVR"
Sorry if I have the wrong end of the stick here, but does this mean that Freeview boxes also receive Saorview?

Willby · 08-12-2012 03:54PM

LordSutch wrote: »

"holding off buying a Freeview HD PVR"
Sorry if I have the wrong end of the stick here, but does this mean that Freeview boxes also receive Saorview?

Hi, yes the Freeview HD PVR will receive Saorview ok but we don't know if it will work ok with series link when it is introduced by Saorview. Also since it is notSaorview approved it will not receive ota (over the air) updates when these are automatically transmitted .
However lots of posters are already using Freeview HD pvr's for Saorview and are very happy with them. I intend to purchase the Humax Freeview HDR shortly myself if Walker don't hurry up.I already have the Humax Freesat PVR and am very pleased with it.
I should emphasise that only Freeview HD stb's will work with Saorview and not the non HD ones.

Capt'n Midnight · 08-12-2012 05:09PM

ninja900 wrote: »

no Freeview+HD box vendors have provided software updates to enable their boxes to work fully here - can't be that hard can it?

Remember that Sat4Free was pulled from the Irish market. It's a more a political issue than a technical one.

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2008/11/07/irish-freesat-shuts-website/

If you mean can they ship a knudged saorview box and use an OTA update to iron out the bugs - yes they can. BUT the % and number of users using Freeview is far higher than the numbers using Saorview and also the regulators over there regulate.

watty · 08-12-2012 05:46PM

LordSutch wrote: »

"holding off buying a Freeview HD PVR"
Sorry if I have the wrong end of the stick here, but does this mean that Freeview boxes also receive Saorview?

See www.saortv.info

No Freeview box does Saorview. A few Freeview TVs work, most don't. Most but not all "Freeview HD" (boxes or TV) works MOSTLY on Saorview (there will usually be some issues).

Hotblack Desiato · 08-12-2012 07:31PM

You left the word 'No' off the start when you quoted me, Capt'n

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Remember that Sat4Free was pulled from the Irish market. It's a more a political issue than a technical one.

But Sat4Free was using the proprietary Freesat EPG which it wasn't authorised to do. Freesat were able to take action to stop the boxes being sold here.

A Freeview HD box used on Saorview won't be doing anything it's not supposed to do. There are a few software issues which should be easier/cheaper to sort out on an existing box whose development has already been paid for, than to design a new box from scratch (or customise a generic Vestel) which is what the Saorview approved box manufacturers are doing.

Saorview PVR Box has arrived.

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