MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

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19 posts

Geek

#369635 19-Aug-2010 03:24

Quick bit of advice. I finally got annoyed with this random skipping on recordings with lost segments and contacted magic tv. They said they would have a look at the box under warranty but said I would have to cover the costs of shipping it to them. Is this a normal thing in nz to have to pay to get you faulty machine fixed under warranty? Seems a bit rude if nothing else.

Thanks

butlerboy

457 posts

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#369671 19-Aug-2010 09:00

Py99ajh: Quick bit of advice. I finally got annoyed with this random skipping on recordings with lost segments and contacted magic tv. They said they would have a look at the box under warranty but said I would have to cover the costs of shipping it to them. Is this a normal thing in nz to have to pay to get you faulty machine fixed under warranty? Seems a bit rude if nothing else.

Thanks

Yip, this is normal practice. You'll find most companies state in their returns policy that it's up to the consumer to arrange for the goods to be sent back for warrenty claims.

will77

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#369672 19-Aug-2010 09:11

Take it back to the retailer where you bought it. Under the Consumer Guarantees Act they have to arrange to send it back to the manufacturer as long as you bought it from them less than 12 months ago.

I have given up on the MagicTV box. I have taken three of them back to the retailer now for various reasons including skipping in recordings, loss of power and tuners not working correctly. I finally gave up and asked for my money back, which to the credit of the retailer they did without any problems.

I think I might go for Tivo now.

MurrayM

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#369703 19-Aug-2010 10:08

I have given up on the MagicTV box. I have taken three of them back to the retailer now for various reasons including skipping in recordings, loss of power and tuners not working correctly. I finally gave up and asked for my money back, which to the credit of the retailer they did without any problems.

I think I might go for Tivo now.

Hmm, just when I had decided that the MagicTV was the box for me and I was going to get one, now I get these negative comments!

Were you just unlucky with your MagicTV's or do you think there are actual design faults that every MagicTV has?

Does every MagicTV have the problems I've been reading about here (programmes cut off, fast forwarding not working very well, etc)?

Lashams

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 4

#369708 19-Aug-2010 10:20

You could try a JC Matthew box. I've had mine now for around eight months and it seems to work pretty good. The only problem I've noticed occassionally is when I am watching a particular channel, and the record kicks in for a different channel, and the channel I am watching switches to the channel being recorded. This doesn't happen all the time, and I think may be a problem all freeview boxes have, being due to them only having two receivers and the nature of the way channels are broadcast. It happens fairly infrequently but is really annoying because it is always close to the end of the programme you are watching and you can miss the crucial ending. I tried three different boxes before settling for the JC Matthew box. Each time I found something wrong I would return the box and ask for a refund within seven days, and they seemed happy to do this. My biggest problem was with the Homecast box, because it didn't handle switching correctly through an Onkyo receiver. I wonder if they've fixed this issue yet.
Best of luck.
Stephen

terryr

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#369722 19-Aug-2010 10:54

I think the gloss has worn off a bit on the Magic Box. I had written up my experiences previously here in regards the programmes being cutoff at the 1hr mark. Well they replaced the mainboard (apparently) and it is now working correctly, for that. But I do have another annoying issue and again it only happens on about a third of the time. When I switch it on and it starts up on an initial channel the sound is off. Not necessarily muted but if I change channel then the sounds appears and can then go back to the original channel and sound is there.

In defense of Magic Box I'd still say that these issues appear to be mostly firmware related, and lets hope they stay that way!

My mother in law also has one (I recommended it to her) and her's has been fine so far (touch wood). I think the consumer acts says that the device has to be fit for the purpose it was purchased so if there were large number of people still having problems after their 1 year warranty was up we'd still have some ability to push for a fix. The main thing here is to have all readers here keep on telling everyone of any issues they have and if we get enough then I think we'd have some ability to force for fixes to be provided. I'm not trying to be mean or disrespectful of the manufacturer (I know they read this forum) but as consumers we do have rights.

I for one am happy to persevere for the time being and look forward to this device maturing and becoming great. And that means hopefully in the future the ability to move recording of onto external drives!

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TonB

12 posts

Geek

#369788 19-Aug-2010 13:21

We have had a Magic TV since it was first released and although we did have some issues with it losing series recordings in the early days this was promptly fixed with a firmware release and it has been stable ever since with none of the issues others have been reporting. Very happy with our choice.

MurrayM

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#369793 19-Aug-2010 13:35

TonB: We have had a Magic TV since it was first released and although we did have some issues with it losing series recordings in the early days this was promptly fixed with a firmware release and it has been stable ever since with none of the issues others have been reporting. Very happy with our choice.

Thanks for the positive comments! At least I now know that it's possible to get a MagicTV that works well!

VaticNZ

11 posts

Geek

#369798 19-Aug-2010 13:52

I would have to agree with TonB... We've had ours since first release and not had any issues other than the skip being a little bit jerky sometimes. But we have ours to continually record an hour for the instant rewind and I think the jerkiness is mostly when it's buffering, recording and we're playing a recorded show back. Considering that's 3 av streams simultaneously we don't tend to split hairs over it :-)

We've not had issues with series record for a long time now, and I think it was actually more a problem with the different stations updating the EPG.

I'd definitely recommend it to friends and family.

Rich

MurrayM

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#369802 19-Aug-2010 14:05

Thanks Rich, I'm definitely swinging back towards getting a MagicTV again. Good to get some positive reviews.

wiredr

203 posts

Master Geek

#369807 19-Aug-2010 14:17

Py99ajh, i have had a magic from the first release and am very happy with it . there have been some issues with freezing and jerky ff but it has always recorded and played back as required . i must say that watching master chef on the magic is a far more sensual experience than the my sky hd version,

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evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#369832 19-Aug-2010 14:53

I've had a MagicTV for a couple of months now and it's worked all that time. However, there is a couple of niggles that do get on my nerves:

- FFwd/Rwd are really jumpy! Getting it to start playing within about 5 secs of the last picture displayed is pure luck. It can jump both large and small amounts unpredictably. Not only that, it visually stutters badly, so much so that when rewinding at 2x speed it can be going forward more than it goes backwards. It can even jump forward a number of seconds and takes much trying to get it to go backwards across this spot. I'd have to say the FFwd/Rwd behavior is a constant irritant.

- My analogue recorder has convenient frame-advance and slow-mo buttons while paused. I dearly miss those as well.

Evan

evanh

152 posts

Master Geek

#369833 19-Aug-2010 14:58

Ah, there is one clear bug: Occasionally, the MagicTV will crash on channel change. Just freezes solid. Have to power cycle to recover. Tough luck if it was recording something at that time. It's feely rare but does happen, particularly when I'm channel surfing.

kiwidownunder

33 posts

Geek

#369918 19-Aug-2010 17:34

I feel sorry for those of you who have experienced problems with the magic box.This freeview recorder is the best thing since sliced bread. I can honestly say that i have never had a problem with it since i bought it 8 months ago. Try updating to the latest firmware 3.12 found at www.magictv.co.nz This has fixed a few bugs.Try this also...http://www.magictv.com/downloads/mtv3600_3_13NZbet2.zip This firmware upgrade is a beta version which is still at its' fine tuning stage. I have installed it to my magic tv box with no worries. The fast forward problem is still there,but i have been assured from the MagicTv people that this will be fixed with the next finished firmware edition..

Py99ajh

19 posts

Geek

#369952 19-Aug-2010 18:54

Thanks all for your help and suggestions!! Maybe I'll try the beta firmware to see if it cures my recording skipping problems before taking the leap of sending it back! Cheers

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