My Topfield TRF-7170 died the other day. (I opened it up and found the hard-drive cable and the drive's power connector molten! I replaced the drive, even spliced power to it from another power source but no go. I've now got a tuner but no other features.)
My experience with PVRs so far - the Toppy and a Dvico TVIX (6500 I think) - has been less than great. Each has their own issues that one must learn to live with. I'm now looking for a replacement. The Topfield TRF-7260 looks okay for the price ($239 JB HiFi) but I'm worried it might have the same problems as the 7170 - including not being able to rename media or create folder structures via the remote, a limitation on the number of sub-folders that are recognised (it just disregards over a certain number!), the current time marker on the EPG skips randomly sometimes when going through programs, inability to play mkv, etc.
I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a PVR that they're happy with in most respects?
TIA
NUC running OpenELEC with TVHeadend backend enabled, paired with HDHomerun.
It's a network-based PVR. So now, all you have to do is run a low power box (e.g., Raspberry Pi) at your TV to play it there.
Playback will work on any device that runs XBMC (now called Kodi) as well.
http://www.standard.com.au/product-detail/peripherals/connec…
Celeron NUC for backend: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=Intel+BOXDN…
Add SSD for storing operating system: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=Sandisk+Ult…
Add RAM (DDR3L, 1.35v SODIMM): http://www.msy.com.au/wa/balcatta/pc-components/12482-kingst…
Add External Storage for PVR recording: http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=WD+Elements…
Raspberry Pi: http://au.element14.com/jsp/bespoke/bespoke7.jsp?bespokepage…
You'll also need an SD card and suitable power adapter (as well as a case) for the Raspberry Pi: get those from the above link.
This is pretty much the ultimate PVR, as you'll be able to record at least 2 channels at once, and have whatever storage space you need (e.g., 3TB with a WD 3TB Elements drive).
And you'll be able to watch it pretty much anywhere in the house, or download it to a computer to watch elsewhere.