Latest Digital TV Recorders

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Rickles

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#51580 29-Nov-2009 23:01

Hi, I'd be interested to know what your views and opinions are on the latest DTR's currently offered off-the-shelf and featured on the the Freeview site.

The three in question are -

    Zinwell ZMT-640PVR
    JCMathews DVR-320T
    Magic MTV 3600TD

As far as I can see, they are all the same price, do much the same things, and are feature equal other than maybe hard disk size.

1: In anyone's experience, is one brand better than another?

I note that in all three the firmware upgrade path is via USB ports on the rear panel ... would be nice to have such on the front similar to most DVDR's, but also note that they have an ethernet port yet the manuals I've found don't say what the port could be used for. The exception is the Magic unit, which purports to allow an internet connection and access to some RSS feeds and weather etc via pre-programed buttons on the remote.

2: Could any of these units be also used to connect to the internet, or a home network for other media, e.g. music?

Looking forward to your views.

R.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#277659 30-Nov-2009 06:50

Firmware upgrades for Freeview certified products are actually upgraded over the air. Firmware can be upgraded via a USB drive but will normally happen automatically.

The ethernet ports are of no use at present for any Freeview approved devices, you can't use them for accessing content on a network or the internet.

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tomgeeknz

923 posts

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#277665 30-Nov-2009 07:53

I have the Magic TV and am very happy with it's performance. Feel free to ask any questions about it and I will try to answer them.

Tom

Rickles

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#277698 30-Nov-2009 09:31

sbiddle .... thanks for your input. I've been looking at 'combining' a DVB-T box with a media-streamer (I use Squeezebox at the moment) and the closest is the TViX unit. Unfortunately the TViX doesn't have time-shifting/live pause nor an RF pass-through/loop for when we eventually get a TV with digital tuner built-in.

R.

Rickles

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#277699 30-Nov-2009 09:34

Hello, ummm, fatty or mouldy? ,

Thanks for your post. Have you used the Magic's ethernet port for internet content? Can you navigate to your PC or is it 'locked' into the RSS & weather etc services?

I note from their web site that home networking is 'planned for future firmware upgrades', so that holds some hope.

R.

Rickles

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#277975 30-Nov-2009 17:12

Folks, have been reading the Magic MTV "My Impresions" posts ... I should have looked there first eh?

Today, I was in harvey Norman and the JCMathews unit is on the floor for $649.00.

Cheers,

R.