Evening all,


I've recently moved to NZ from the UK, where I used to get my TV fix via a modified Topfield TF5800PVR DVB-T box running the wonderful MyStuff software. I've been reading up on the NZ digital situation, and think I've got a handle on it, but wondered if anyone could check my facts and recommend some DVB-S boxes.


First of all, DVB-T doesn't seem to be an option at my house - I'm in the Christchurch hills, in a shaded valley with no line of sight to the Sugarloaf transmitter, and I can only get TV1 (with lots of ghosting) and TV2. The previous residents just gave up trying and got Sky, and the dish and wiring are still in place. I don't care about HD, and I hate giving money to Rupert Murdoch, so DVB-S sounds like the best idea.


So, a few questions:


1) MPEG2/MPEG4 - should I get an MPEG2/MPEG4 box (do they even exist?), or is DVB-S Freeview going to be MPEG2 for the foreseeable? I'm not bothered about HD.


2) MHEG5 - as I understand it, some boxes have MHEG5 support, and some don't. Boxes with MHEG5 get automatic updating of the EPG when program times change, but are also locked into the "official" Freeview channels. Is this is all MHEG does, or does it also deliver teletext-style content and channel graphics like it does on the UK DVB-T? Is there a list of what channels I'd be missing out on if I went for an MHEG box?


2a) I understand TVNZ have just crippled their TV1 and TV2 feeds, but you can get fairly good ones from the Sky bits of the satellite - is this only an option with a non-MHEG5 box?


3) Is there any kind of Over-The-Air receiver firmware update system in place?


4) How do satellite PVRs work? My old terrestrial Toppy had two tuners in it, with a loop cable connecting them together - is it as simple as that for satellite, or do you need a fancier LNB?


Onto box recommendations. I find the market a bit bewildering, and I've never heard of any of the brands available (apart from Topfield). My priorities, in order, are:


Decent Grid-Style multi-channel EPG (vital)
RGB Scart socket (preferable)
USB-updatable firmware with decent vendor support (if there's no OTA system)


It doesn't need to be a PVR, but I quite like the sound of these semi-PVR boxes which can record to a USB HD/stick. I'm not bothered about upscaling, as I have no plans to get a HD display.


The Topfield TF6000Fe looks cheap and cheerful (and has Scart), but I can't stand the Topfield's single-channel EPG (which is why I replaced it with MyStuff), and MyStuff doesn't work with the fancier TF6000 PVR ES.


Cheers in advance.