Freeview PVR - Vantage or Hyundai?

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Chuckman

38 posts

Geek

#31014 1-Mar-2009 20:25

Hi all.

I'm looking for a half-decent PVR / Freeview solution. Currently have DVD recorder (no HDD) / Sky Digital (not HD) but am fed up of recording to DVD-RAM, swapping discs and also paying Sky.

Not prepared to pay $1000 for the Zinwell official Freeview HD PVR and don't have time to get an HTPC up and running - might do that in another year or so.

Did a lot of reading around yesterday (mainly on forums here) and there seem to be a couple of decent ones available:

Vantage 6000T $300
http://www.dtvs.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=64

Hyundai AH-3110 $600
http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/hyundai-combo-satterrestrial-recorder-p-495.html

So questions:
1. Have I missed any other options?
2. Is the extra $300 worth it for the Hyundai? - I know I get DVB-S as well as T, NTFS / EXT3 instead of FAT32, extra connectivity (SCART / VGA) - anything else?
3. Either better than the other for DIVX playback?
4. Will these get full EPG functionality similar to the approved PVRs (e.g. "series link")?
5. Anything else on the horizon? - e.g. Freeview PVRs from the likes of Panasonic

Thanks for your help.

openmedia

3332 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#198655 1-Mar-2009 21:21

Chuckman:
Hi all.
I'm looking for a half-decent PVR / Freeview solution. Currently have DVD recorder (no HDD) / Sky Digital (not HD) but am fed up of recording to DVD-RAM, swapping discs and also paying Sky.
Not prepared to pay $1000 for the Zinwell official Freeview HD PVR and don't have time to get an HTPC up and running - might do that in another year or so.
Did a lot of reading around yesterday (mainly on forums here) and there seem to be a couple of decent ones available:
Vantage 6000T $300
http://www.dtvs.co.nz/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=64
Hyundai AH-3110 $600
http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/hyundai-combo-satterrestrial-recorder-p-495.html
So questions:
1. Have I missed any other options?
2. Is the extra $300 worth it for the Hyundai? - I know I get DVB-S as well as T, NTFS / EXT3 instead of FAT32, extra connectivity (SCART / VGA) - anything else?
3. Either better than the other for DIVX playback?
4. Will these get full EPG functionality similar to the approved PVRs (e.g. "series link")?
5. Anything else on the horizon? - e.g. Freeview PVRs from the likes of Panasonic
Thanks for your help.

First up don't forget to factor in the storage. to your price as neither of your alternatives come with disks.

1. Off the shelf HTPC which will probably be more than $1000
2. Dual Tuner - one dvb-t one dvb-s, the Vantage is a single DVB-t tuner. Yes it can record more than one channel per mux, but that won't allow TV1 + TV3
3. Better check their DivX support
4. Not at present.
5. Yes, but no ETA

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

davidcole

6036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#198716 2-Mar-2009 10:42

"Have I missed any other options"

What about MySkyHDI?? One off payment of $599, or $15 a month, dual, maybe triple tuner, PVR...Only disadvantages are Tv1 and TV2 are not HD, but they only have about 1 program a week each.

BTW I roll my own PVR, but for most people I think the MySky is a good option, takes a lot of the hassle out of it.

If you've got your heart set on Freeview|HD then I think your only option at this point is build your own PVR, or buy an off the self one.

I think there are a few more set top boxes around for dual dvb-s pvr's - i.e. my father in law has a twin tuning 160gb Hyundai PVR. Connecting to Freeview and Optus D2.

Previously known as psycik

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compost

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#198815 2-Mar-2009 20:24

http://www.findasensor.com/personal/pvr.htm

A time-poor geek is hardly a geek at all

Chuckman

38 posts

Geek

#198819 2-Mar-2009 20:51

Thanks all for advice.

Openmedia - Yep have factored in cost of storage - advantage of this is I can reuse a "small" 500GB SATA I already have - only cost is $50 for a USB enclosure - rather than pay inflated prices for a stock disk in a "brand" PVR.

Psycik - Have considered that, still means I'm paying a lot to Sky, HD costs another $10/month on top of that for the HD ticket plus HD channels are limited - only Sport + Movies I believe - neither of which I'm that bothered about. Sounds like the PVR your father-in-law has is the $500 Hyundai AH-3110 with a 160GB external disk.

Compost - yep found that through one of the forum threads, used it to narrow down on the 2 I'm considering

Cheers.

davidcole

6036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#198830 2-Mar-2009 21:52

Psycik - Have considered that, still means I'm paying a lot to Sky, HD costs another $10/month on top of that for the HD ticket plus HD channels are limited - only Sport + Movies I believe - neither of which I'm that bothered about. Sounds like the PVR your father-in-law has is the $500 Hyundai AH-3110 with a 160GB external disk

My father in law has internal disk (he's had his box for a couple of years now).

As for the mysky, as far as I know, you don't need to pay the extra $10 if you just want regular (non hd mysky). But regardless TV3 is in HD. And yes I agreee $10 for HD ticket + sports + movies is expensive, hence why i just went for a plain digi install.

Hopefully you find an option that works for you. If you have a spareish machine, you could roll your own Satellite based pvr for not too bad money, and add freeview HD later (only because it does require a bit more fiddling to get it going well).