What is a good PVR unit?

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#132369 19-Oct-2013 19:58

We have had a Homecast HD9200 for a number of years now, but it seems to have died on us. It has turned on to snow a couple of times and is now stuck on the bootloader.
I am going to investigate getting it repaired, but if that proves too costly, what is a good Freeview UHF PVR to go for?
Is something like the Dish TV 1050 worth going for, or am I better to spend a bit more for the panasonic DMR-XW390GZK unit? The Magic TV unit seems well regarded around here, but I think it is at the very top of what I would want to consider spending on a freeview box.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek

#917518 19-Oct-2013 20:14

I say MagicTV 3700. Love mine. I did buy a Dishtv 1050 pvr which was okay but the magic is heaps better. The dishtv unit is packed away now. I have a Panasonic BW880 packed away as it just pixelated the whole time. Have had the MagicTV 3700 for a year now and it has worked flawlessly for me.

Others will have different experiences but this is my experience and I am staying with the MagicTV

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

butlerboy

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#917535 19-Oct-2013 21:14

I've got a MagicTV 3600 and love it, I can highly recommend one as it's worked pretty much faultlessly for 3 - 4 years. If mine ever goes 'belly up' I'll be replacing it with a MagicTV 3700.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#917536 19-Oct-2013 21:21

Last years Panasonic recorders apparently had a series of faulty tuners, so 'Gilco2' could have it looked at by a Panasonic service agent, perhaps?
I rate the Panasonic's personally, the top of the line BluRay units ability to stream to my tablet is brilliant... if I didn't have MySky, I'd have one of them.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#917554 19-Oct-2013 22:25

I still think you can't beat a tivo for price, if you can buy a second hand one. I have 3 on different tvs and all going strong.

E3xtc

773 posts

Ultimate Geek

#918934 21-Oct-2013 08:57

I only have a T1050 and it does everything we need/want...but our needs/wants are pretty minimal in comparison to a lot of people...low expectations keeps me happy :)

Gilco2

1556 posts

Uber Geek

#918954 21-Oct-2013 09:28

my T1050 was okay but it packed up after a couple of days. Sent to Dishtv in Hamilton but right on Christmas so wasnt going to get it back for couple weeks due to Christmas break. JBHIFI had a sale then of the MagicTV 3700 for $477 so bought that so would have one for couple weeks. Ended up preferring it. So when T1050 arrived back I made sure it worked okay then stored it away as a spare so to speak.

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#919334 21-Oct-2013 18:48

I have the Panny 390 model you refer to.

Technically, it is a nice bit of hardware. Reasonably good storage capacity, twin tuner, good picture quality, DLNA server (useful if you have networked media players or tablets etc), external inputs (useful if you have Sky etc) and the ability to burn material to DVD R/RW if you like to keep or transport material. Fast, stable, and works well.

The user interface is pretty average though, and a bit of a step backwards from earlier models IMO. Not unusable, just clunky and counter-intuitive in places, and more requires presses of remote buttons needed for common tasks than older models used to.

The user manual is a bit of a disaster though.

Well worth buying at sub-$500 which is what it can be had for in sales.

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toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#919503 22-Oct-2013 07:51

Great thanks very much for all the responses, Looks like it is having a known hardware issue which is quite cheap to fix. Hopefully this unit should be good to go for a good bit longer after I get it sent away and repaired. Gotta say, DTVS customer service is amazing.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B