how to you make a decision on whats best for you
im trying to weigh up the cost of some options vs the aesthetics of others as well as the functionality of them all.I dont have foxtel and i dont want a pvr linked to a game console
How do you decide what to go for?
G'day,
About PVR's, it depends a little what you're after, but in terms of brand Topfield is the best out. BeyonWiz are also pretty good, but I think they've dropped the pace in terms of innovation a few years back. Tivo are in the game too, but the only thing they have over Topfield is "Season Pass" capability that you can get by other means with Topfield (IceTV subscription), while they are a bit more "locked in" and less capable in other ways.
Some general tips. Don't go for anything that says FreeView. This is a con by the free to air TV channels because any box with this label is limited so it can't skip ads or transfer recordings off the hard drive in an unencrypted format. Do go the extra for a twin tuner box - the difference is really worth it for recording two shows at once, or for recording one and watching another. Topfields will also record more than two shows at once, as long as two are from the same multiplex stream, i.e. ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 are all on the same multiplex stream and the recent topfield boxes can record 2 from each stream at once, with a total of four at once possible (this was also possible through a hack with the 5000 series via a TAP)
Topfield has a great reputation worldwide (Australia, Korea, UK, Germany…) in terms of the reception quality of their tuners, their user interface and ease of use, plus the ability to add extra functionality to the boxes via TAPs (Topfield Application Programs) that users can write and you can find on sites like the Topfield Australia forums (http://itopfield.com.au/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=98&SID=16…) or Tapworld (http://tapworld.net/). Toppy.org.uk used to be very useful too but the models have diverged a bit more between the two markets now and I'm not sure if their TAPs work here now. No other box that I know of offers the ability to customise the interface or abilities the way that Topfield TAPs do.
Both Topfield and BeyonWiz boxes can work with IceTV, which is a program guide service that will also allow you to remotely re-program your PVR via the web, as well as a "Season Pass" or "Series Recording" functionality to record all of a particular show for a particular season.
I haven't personally owned a hi-definition Topfield, but I have had several of the 5000 standard definition series and so has my Dad and my brother had a 4400 and we have all been very happy with them. Dad had some problems with a hi-def 7100HDPVRt, but these issues were fixed with the 7100HDPlus (see at the bottom of my entry).
If you go to the http://www.topfield.com.au (same as http://www.itopfield.com.au) site, then click on PVR, you'll get an idea of the range that Topfield have and you can compare capabilities by ticking up to three. The later ones include features like wireless networking (although only the TRF2460 has the dongle included in the box), weather, youtube, flickr, streaming from the topfield to computers etc (only in 24xx series, also not dead sure but I have heard that streaming HD video over wireless doesn't always work best (?), possibly unless you've got a dual frequency 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz 802.11n router, which not all 802.11n routers are).
If you are keen on a Topfield box, how do you pick between them? I wouldn't just get the 2460 for the extra hard drive space as the 2400 and 7100HDPlus are already expandable via an external drive connected via USB2 and/or eSATA, but the 2460 does have the wireless dongle that is an optional extra for the others ($69?). Some of the key differences between the 7100HDPlus and the 24xx models are that the 24xx's allow streaming from YouTube/Flickr to the box and from the box to your home network via a built in web server, but also importantly the 24xx's have analogue inputs that would allow you to plug in a cable/Foxtel STB or also record your old videos from your VCR or analogue video camera.
Toppys are available quite widely these days (Dick Smith, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Joyce Mayne). You can also get new and used Topfields on Ebay, often with a warranty. For more info look on the forums at topfield.com.au (same as itopfield.com.au), or search around on whirlpool.net.au, where you will sometimes see bargain alerts, or even here for that matter. You can also get a Toppy from IceTV bundled with a subscription (https://www.icetv.com.au/cgi-bin/webpage.cgi?op=products&typ…).
Some final words of warning. Avoid the original 7100 (TF7100HDPVRt as seen in the archived models section on the topfield site) at all costs. The old Aussie distributor (who still distributes beyonwiz I believe) cut some corners on that model and it had some electrical/motherboard issues, plus it wouldn't run TAPs. These have all now been sorted with the new distributor and a new model, the 7100HDPlus, or of course the 24xx series.
As you can see I am a little biased, though I don't work for them, but don't just take my word for it. Check the forums I mentioned above, but I think you'll find a lot of other success stories with topfield.
HTH,
Rygle.