Spyware:

 

Te Reo have a huge selection of cultural material.

 

Maori TV has some great older movies as well.

evilengineer:

 

rugrat:

 

Hmmm, I just went through specs, it's only two terrestrial turners. The other four tuners are for satellite, which freeview has no HD on.

 

More chance of something going wrong when programs overlap, looks like Sky Box is winner with 4 tuners capable of picking up HD.

 

 

 

Edit: They've done the tuners the wrong way around, terrestrial should have more in my opinion.

 

 

I find it hard to believe two HD tuners is too much of a limitation on a platform that's only got four or five distinct HD channels in the first place.

 

A lot of boxes, depending on the their software, will let you record two channels from a single tuner at the same time if they're on the same mux.

 

Do people really record that much these days with a full month to watch on catch up? 

 

You don't get  full HD and DD on catch up. People in house like crime shows, and British stuff which there is a lot of.

No quarantee it will use all channels on one mux, how hard would've it been for them to include another tuner,

They obviously think satellite needs four. And to record TV would be the main reason for purchasing, if don't record TV device is not needed.

Edit: I watch stuff off Prime, Media Works and TV NZ, that's three muxs. Stuff is mainly on in peak viewing hours, record two programs and only recording one program after and potential for something to go wrong. Sometimes an old movie off Maori TV, but not that often there.

rugrat:

 

You don't get  full HD and DD on catch up. People in house like crime shows, and British stuff which there is a lot of.

 

That's somewhat bizarre in this day and age.

I can get HD from Netflix and iPlayer (only stereo though) even on my crappy rural ADSL connection.

Blame the content holders, I suppose.

rugrat:

 

No quarantee it will use all channels on one mux, how hard would've it been for them to include another tuner,

 

They obviously think satellite needs four. And to record TV would be the main reason for purchasing, if don't record TV device is not needed.

 

I'm guessing that's what is supported by an off the shelf chipset.

They ain't going to pay more to go custom for extra tuners.

The specs do sound strangely similar to some of those Amlogic based Chinese boxes.  

rugrat:

 

Edit: I watch stuff off Prime, Media Works and TV NZ, that's three muxs. Stuff is mainly on in peak viewing hours, record two programs and only recording one program after and potential for something to go wrong. Sometimes an old movie off Maori TV, but not that often there.

 

Prime is only SD. You would hope that the software would be clever enough to prioritize HD programming to one of the terrestrial tuners or at least allow you to manually allocate channels that you know are SD only to one of the Sat tuners. But who knows?

It sure it happens, but personally I can't see a tuner clash happening that frequently. And I can could probably slum it with the odd SD program rather than a failed recording.      

If the device is smart enough 1 tuner per mux should be able to record  multiple individual subchannels inside the mux

Question is how many simultaneous recordings can it manage?

Apsattv:

 

If the device is smart enough 1 tuner per mux should be able to record  multiple individual subchannels inside the mux

 

Question is how many simultaneous recordings can it manage?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully it is smart enough. Simultaneous recordings will depend entirely on the little box of spinning rust that's inside of it (unless their smart and smashed an SSD in there but I doubt that)

That new PVR has turned up on Noel Leeming's site today, as indicated; listed at the stated RRP of $439: https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/televisions/dvd-video/dvd/dvd-recorders/dishtv-dual-tuner-freeview-recorder-with-1tb-hdd/prod169667.html

Who's going to be the first to buy one and post a review, then?

It won't be me. I've blown most of my spare cash on family Christmas presents already.

Won't be me either... I've had a Magic TV sitting in a cupboard since before my two TiVos stopped working and I've still not got around to plugging it in (or getting the TivOs fixed)! If I don't use what I've got no point buying something new... That said, this thread has reminded me to sort out the Magic as there are still times it's useful to record 'live' TV rather than just using VOD.

A comment a page or two back someone mentioned the unavoidable ads on TVNZ On Demand etc - one way around this is using the Kodi NZ VOD plugins, as I've found that we're never subjected to ads when watching TVNZ programming via this means. (We do have a 0.25 second audio sync issue, however! Does anyone know what's up with that? It doesn't affect anything else on Kodi.)

Groucho:

 

trig42:

 

I wonder if they will release a non recording version of this?

 

 

Their 'SmartVU X' also made by Dish probably ticks that box also running Android TV.  It's also on pre-order but only $159.85.  Curiously this device has YouTube AND Netflix pre-installed which the the recorder doesn't mention either of but I'd think YouTube would be a given being powered by Google.

 

https://www.smartvu.co.nz

 

This box looks more interesting to me. I guess they've developed an official Freeview app for Android TV? I wonder if they'll do an Apple TV app like the Aussie Freeview service.

I think you will find all they have done is use the public webstreams rather than any sort of official Freeview backed streaming service.

I doubt I will get one as, given the equipment that I already have and my use cases (and limited TV watching), it doesn't add much to my existing setup, except potentially letting me reduce the number of hooked up devices.

But if, and it's admittedly a big if given Dish's track record to date, it is robust reliable unit then I could see it working well for many people. I think including Chromecast functionality as well as tuners was a smart move, as it opens up a lot more flexibility in terms of what it can be used for. Plus, having access to the Google Play Store presumably means that other streaming apps (Plex, Emby, iPlayer) will be able to be installed or side-loaded. So, for a simple all-in

Also, having one SKU will make it easier than having to stock and explain separate terrestrial and satellite units, particularly when customers don't understand the difference. I have elderly relatives in that category. And unlike some other offerings (cough, Sky, cough), having 1TB of hard drive is a decent size for recordings. If I knew someone with straightforward needs who didn't already have a recorder then, if the reviews of quality are acceptable, it would probably be the right bit of kit.

It does look interesting, and the remote looks almost identical to the one that came with my Minix-X8H android box 4-5 years ago.

On the negative side, I did think that the tech specs on the website were disappointingly light (in terms of how much was disclosed, not the specs themselves), and 8GB of eMMC flash storage is a bit on the light side if people want to install a bunch of apps.

Questions of interest to me would include:

• Can it run Plex, Emby, iPlayer and/or Kodi, and if so how well?
• Does it have DLNA capability - either as a client, and/or to stream recordings across the network?
• Can you use the USB connection for an external hard drive (more recording space)?
• Can you use the USB connection for adoptable storage (that 8GB eMMC issue)?
• Can you use the USB connection to play media off a connected hard drive?
• Can you access recordings on the hard drive across the network (say to drop onto a phone or laptop for travel, my Panny allows this)?
• How good is the interface (design, usability, responsiveness etc)?
• Video output is listed as up to 4K @ 60 Hz, the US standard, does it do 50Hz as well?
• How good is the sound output (5.1, 7.2, Dolby Digital, Atmos etc)?
• Can I connect a different/better remote, such as the Minix A2?