Topfield PVR Twin HD Tuner 320GB
Along with full editing functions, web-server capabilities and able to pause live TV for up to 5 hours which will make this great exciting unit a great choice for everyday recording and multi-media playback with only twin recording.
Hard Drive Size-320GB
Playback Format-MP3 Player
Tuner-Twin Tuner
Input/Output-HDMI Output
Manufacturer's Warranty-1 Year
Against the well known Topfield…. and yes Ive used Topfield for years :) I may have had to repair the PSU myself but the software side of it is bloody good.
The Topfield seems like a better deal to me,only because ive had one before & it worked well.In saying that ive never heard of Altech so I cant really comment on qaulity/performance.Cheers
Why is this discontinued PVR a bargain?
"web-server capabilities" on a non-networkable PVR??
DS used to try to sell these for years around this price or cheaper. These are a pretty old basic model no longer stocked elsewhere.
Were being cleared for $133-136 19 months back.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/85215
Link to thoughts on specs, whirlpool forum, etc https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/97468#comment-1303087
Manual http://www.topfield.com.au/manuals/
very basic model, small HDD (about 150hr SD, 75hr HD recording), only supports 1GB external HDD, but it's a Topfield.
Worth reading carioca's post on whirlpool forums (mar 2014),
>
I bought the 2100 a couple of months ago, it works o.k. but has some glitches.
The user interface is rat-shit. And sometimes when I schedule a recording e.g. the France 2 newscast on SBS in the morning, I get the red R confirmation that it will be recorded – but then next morning it doesn't…
One very big minus for me is that the 500 GB hard disk in the unit will stop recording at the tiniest glitch in the transmission: we live in the bush some 75 km from the SBS transmitter and there's a good signal most times, but on some days/nights we get lots of drop-outs.
When actually watching the live program, the TFR 2100 will occasionally freeze or actually blank the screen and display a message saying "signal is scrambled or not available"or words to that effect – and then continue displaying the transmission…
If you try to record such a broadcast, the hard disk won't cope with such interruptions and you end up with an unusable recording!
One last thing: I've connected the TFR 2100 to my Dell screen via HDMI cable, which also supplies the attached speakers on the Dell.
So far so good – but this arrangement seems to confuse my PC (actually several) which may be attached to the Dell screen by separate DVD-I cable.
It apparently messes up the allocation of sound sources in the Realtek chip, with the associated software stating that DIGITAL output is now the default – hence you get NO sound from your attached analog speakers!
Resetting the software manually will "fix" the problem for a little while, but it returns!
This also seems to be the reason why Windows Media Centre – added to Win8.1 at $10 or so) – regularly falls over, with a message stating the program encountered an unknown error and MS will advise you once they've worked out what is happening…
This frustrated me for days/weeks until this morning I hit upon the brilliant idea of taking the TFR 2100 out of the loop altogether, disconnecting power and HDMI cable. Bingo! sound's back as normal!
Are you listening, MS and Topfield?
I detailed this at length in case someone else strikes similar audio problems. Had I tested this solution yesterday, I could have saved myself the 50 bucks I paid for a version of Nero 2014 Premium, in order to get past the WMC failure to even play DVDs with sound output…
Also, as others said, no TAPS (ie. Episode guide),
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topfield_Application_Program
Thx. The kids PVR died. I have had a Topfield before and they are very reliable.
Hopefully this will get the kids of Netflix so I can play a FPS without too much lag :-)
Note: no TAPS support
I think my comment "old basic model" pretty well covered that. I expect a person buying this is only interested in for the price, it records 2 programs on 2 networks at once, is a reputable brand, and would not know of TAPs. Didn't mention lack of TAPs above given the likely users, but had it in the link to my comment from over a year back.
Any MKV support?
All PVRs including Toppys now skip some recordings. Most use alpha search for series link recording and the descriptions by broadcasters now trips up many brands. For example, if they include something like "Includes sneak peek of X factor" in description, the series link recording skips it because it did not include this in the title of the original recording chosen. You basically need to get PVR's with internet EPGs these days or those that use CRID codes from broadcasters to get this right.
Can you still set them up to record at a particular time each day/week?
yes
Rubbish! And totally irrelevant to this deal, & likely to cause confusion to those interested in this cheap basic PVR!
Not all PVRs have series record function installed, and you don't have to use it even when installed!
Unless there has been an upgrade in firmware, this PVR can't series record.
Skip recordings when using series recording can be due to variation in program title, but also when networks change program schedules, that may result in overlapping recording times.
(I use recordings set to standard EPG with some padding if possible - for programs where the network keeps to regular schedule, and series record for programs on networks with irregular schedules especial late at night - as long as not too many programs overlap.)
"You basically need to get PVR's with internet EPGs" - This model can't be connected to the internet! What you are recommending costs many times this $155, plus the ongoing costs!!
On this basic PVR you set up recordings from the network provided EPG, set to daily/weekly/etc. Always wise to check times have not changed. But even the most up to date EPG etc will sometimes be wrong.
Why is this even being discussed with this discontinued very cheap basic model Topfield?
Yes I use IceTV with my toppy, I know its not cheap but its easy.
Nice, but won't work with this basic model.
Is it a deal ?
How about this one for slightly more, but a larger drive ($159 + delivery)?
http://www.thegoodguys.com.au/buyonline/Altech_UEC_PVR_Twin_…
Type Twin HD Tuner
Hard Drive Size 500GB
Playback Format Media playback via USB
Multi Region N/A
Tuner Twin HD Tuner
Input/Output HDMI
Manufacturer's Warranty 12 Months