...I can honestly say that i have never had a problem with it ....
followed by...
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..
kiwidownunder: 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..
Beta version? It's more than four months old. Still worth trying though. On the subject of Firmware I see the new Panasonic recorder allows HD recordings to be transferred to Blu-ray. Would be great if MagicTV delivered the oft talked about recording over USB.
I would just like to add that I purchased a MagicTV early November last year. Yes there have been a couple of minor niggles early on that were fixed with firmware updates, butoverall I think it is one of the best purchases I have ever made. My wife even worked out how to program it to record her programs. The Freeview EPG is definitely a must have.
Yes the fast forward and rewind could be smoother, it does not have a slow motion playback, and not being able to skip forward in 30 or 60 sec jumps to skip the adds is a minor nuisance.
But overall I am more than happy with the unit's performance.
I can compare the MagicTV with a Panasonic DMR-BW850 (Twin digital tuners, 500GB HDD and Blu-Ray burner) which I also own. Each unit has a couple of things that it can do better than the other, but overall, for ease of use, I would recommend people to get the MagicTV.
I can't help but wonder if the majority of problems people are experiencing with the MagicTV are heat related. A CPU and HDD in a small plastic box without a fan is going to be like a cooker inside. Heat and electronics don't mix. The MagicTV was developed in Hong Kong where people have air conditioning which keeps the room temperature ceiling lower than what is experienced here during summertime.
kiwidownunder, there is a firmware 3.13 beta 3 on their webserver now.
Just updated to beta3 and gave the rewind a spin and ugh it skips back to somewhere around 2 minutes into the recording no matter how far into the recording I'm watching ... Roll on beta4.
The MagicTV was developed in Hong Kong where people have air conditioning which keeps the room temperature ceiling lower than what is experienced here during summertime.
kiwidownunder, there is a firmware 3.13 beta 3 on their webserver now.
Which is an explanation, but still no excuse for unloading inadequately ventilated boxes here. Besides, NZ houses are known to be some of the coldest in the world in wintertime, so by this rationale I expect very few MagicTV's to have problems over winter (unless the damage has occured in summer, of couse).
I wouldn't hold your breath for an over the air update. It hasn't happened yet. Not to me anyway.. I can't really see any difference between version 3.12 and the beta 3.13. But then again 3.13 is unfinished apparently,and the designers are still working on it. Magictv are unable to give me a release date..
sultanoswing: ... but still no excuse for unloading inadequately ventilated boxes here.
Whoa there! I certainly haven't noticed any significant heat build-up. While it is possible the units are getting too hot it's way overboard to say they aren't ventilated. There is substantial venting grills all around the box, particularly underneath.
And on that note do make sure the bottom is clear for air to flow in.
I just picked one of these units up today. I am trying to understand what the unit does if you choose to record a show (or series) and the time changes. It says in the manual that the unit 'constantly checks for changes to scheduled times & for recording overlaps' (paraphrased)...
Does this mean if I choose to record a series, and one day the episode has a different time - does the unit take care of that?
I know there is extend start & stop times as well - does this effectively mean that you have to use these as a buffer because schedule changes are not catered for?
Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz (400x8) | GA-X38-DQ6 | 4Gb Corsair Dominator@800Mhz 4-4-4-12 | HIS HD5870 | Creative X-fi Fatality Pro | 2xWD SATAII Caviar Black 640Gb / 1xSeagate SATAII 7200.12 1000Gb | 2xASUS IDE DVDRW | Silverstone OP1000 PSU | Silverstone TJ09 Case
casewindow: I just picked one of these units up today. I am trying to understand what the unit does if you choose to record a show (or series) and the time changes. It says in the manual that the unit 'constantly checks for changes to scheduled times & for recording overlaps' (paraphrased)...
Does this mean if I choose to record a series, and one day the episode has a different time - does the unit take care of that?
Yes, the EPG provides information about a series and each episode of, so fluctuations in start time and duration are handled. Masterchef is a good example, whereby sometimes the show starts at 5:15 and other times at 5:25. The only thing that can cause confusion is if multiple series of the same programme are being played at the same time, in which case both series need to be recorded. In my experience it's very rare, but it does happen. The best way to check if you're uncertain is to go into the MagicTV menu > Recording > To Do List - this shows the programmes that are scheduled to record.
I know there is extend start & stop times as well - does this effectively mean that you have to use these as a buffer because schedule changes are not catered for?
Sometimes programmes do run over time, especially for things like live broadcasts. I have my record time set to include 2mins before and after a scheduled recording and that pretty much compensates for any small changes in timing.
We've tee-ed up a whole bunch of stuff to record, hopefully it all works as I've read on here about people experiencing the MTV just stopping recording (though one example I read about seemed to be the end of one series and the start of another).
I thought 500gb would be heaps - but we've got 6.5h of HD and 6.5h of SD a week which I work out is 9 weeks worth before it fills up - I guess we better get watching & deleting as soon as stuff is recorded :)
Q6600 @ 3.2Ghz (400x8) | GA-X38-DQ6 | 4Gb Corsair Dominator@800Mhz 4-4-4-12 | HIS HD5870 | Creative X-fi Fatality Pro | 2xWD SATAII Caviar Black 640Gb / 1xSeagate SATAII 7200.12 1000Gb | 2xASUS IDE DVDRW | Silverstone OP1000 PSU | Silverstone TJ09 Case
We've tee-ed up a whole bunch of stuff to record, hopefully it all works as I've read on here about people experiencing the MTV just stopping recording (though one example I read about seemed to be the end of one series and the start of another).
I thought 500gb would be heaps - but we've got 6.5h of HD and 6.5h of SD a week which I work out is 9 weeks worth before it fills up - I guess we better get watching & deleting as soon as stuff is recorded :)
Yep! It can fill up pretty quickly! Just remember to empty your trash folder :) I've never had a missed recording or any of the lock-up/crashing problems others have reported, so maybe it's just luck of the draw.
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