Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not a patch on the old Thomson DHD4000, 5 Aug 2008
I got this STB for our second TV, thinking that I would replace my primary Thomson DHD4000 PVR (on our main TV) once I had got used to this Thomson DTI6300 (or TopUpTV version). I got it mainly because our old DHD4000 has a tiny hard disk and (foolishly) thought that Thomson would have leveraged (and improved on) their brilliant useability on the DHD4000 for this DTI6300. I didn't want the TUTV but thought that it would be an added bonus if I ever did decide to use it.
For this reason, as I know reviews can be misleading at times (bad news travelling quicker and wider than good news) and firmware upgrades correct many problems, I ignored some of the bad press about this box.
How wrong I was (about leveraging useability) and how I will rue the day about not double-checking such basic assumptions!!
Basically, if you don't want TUTV, don't get this box!
1. The EPG only uses about 40% of the screen area, showing only a handful of Freeview channels at a time...with a huge area of dead space before the mandatory TUTV toolbar. So it is very hard to see what is on at a glance without having to scroll backwards and forwards through multiple pages.
2. There is no way to organise the channels into a custom order. I.e. they appear in scan frequency order (or it seems to). So you can't organise it so that Channel4 and Channel4+1 are next to each other. Yes, you can setup Favourite channels but they will appear in the same order as above (i.e. just with your non-Favourite channels filtered out).
3. There is no TV preview while reviewing the EPG (unlike on the DHD4000). This means that, whatever you were watching, you can't watch or hear while reviewing the EPG. Not really a problem with being able to rewind your live TV (but see 4 below), but it was a nice feature.
4. Rewinding live TV has been a bug for a while and is still not fixed. Even if you want to rewind 2-3 secs, it often (not always) goes back to the very beginning of the cache, which makes it very, very, very annoying.
5. The DHD4000 EPG had a list view and grid view, which was very handy. In this one, you just get the grid view...and a pretty confusing one at that.
6. As others have said, it is just as power-hungry (and noisy) on standby as it is on full power.
7. There is no web site for easy technical contact details for Thomson or TopUpTV. The latter does have a web site but mainly uses phones and we all know how bad they get for service. Even some ability to post suggestions for firmware upgrade improvements would be a start.
So, all in all, unless you really, really want TUTV, don't get this box. Yes, it looks lovely and a Sky+-wannabe, but doesn't provide a fraction of the useability and features of the more expensive Humax PVR9150/9200/9300 (see http://www.pvrjunction.co.uk/compare/index.htm). So I would recommend getting a Humax and paying a little more...unless you really, really want TUTV (and don't forget that you don't get to choose what programmes from the TUTV channels you can watch - you get to choose from what the TUTV people select from those channels' programmes to give you).
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent recorder, but a few bugs, 6 Sep 2008
Thomson Top Up TV - 250Gb Freeview Twin Tuner Digital TV Recorder
This model is available with either a 160 or 250GB disc. I have had both . Both machines are identical with the only differences being the capacity of the Hard drive and therefore the recording capacity and price.
When this machine works properly, the results are excellent and there are really no other models on the market that gives this level of functionality and quality at this price. With an RGB and digital audio output, the picture and sound quality is outstanding with no noticeable degradation whatsoever when played through my 28" CRT widescreen and Dolby audio amplifier. Also you can record two channels simultanously and watch an earlier recording all at the same time. Recordings are set really simply. Just select the programme you want to watch from the 14 day EPG and press the Record button. If you are recording a series, you will be presented with an option where it will ask if you want to record all furture recordings from that series. It also intelligently knows not to record repeats, e.g. if the same episode is shown again later in the day, it wont record it twice. Another advantage is that it can record radio programmes in the same way from the many radio stations available on Freeview, though the 'series' feature doesnt function with the radio channels.
Now lets look at the negative aspects. If you have read most of the other reviews, you will notice that there are some teething problems with this model. However most can be overcome quite easily and I will show you how this can be done. The only major ongoing problem that Thomson have failed to address is the tendency for recordings to go back to the beginning if you use the fast forward (FF) feature during playback. However if this happens you can normally quickly return to where you left by FF at a fast 64X.
Now lets look at some of the problems, and how they can be overcome
1) The recording capacity is not as long as Thomson claim: This is because the 180 hours quoted is an estimate and is based on the compression ratio of the channel you are watching. If you record BBC, you will take up about 2 gb per hour, while some of the other channels only use 1gb per hour. Also if you like me decide not to use the topuptv option, you must switch off these channels manually in the TopupTV option or you will lose a huge amount of recording capacity even if you dont subscribe to topuptv.
2)Poor quality signal strength: just remember that most Freeview transmitters are running on very reduced power and will continue to do so until analogue switch off in your area. Replacing your aerial with a high gain and also a wideband variety (in certain areas) will often remedy this. The Freeview webpage will advise you if this is a problem
3) 'Series record' feature fails to work when I first used the machine: This is normal until the 14 Day EPG is downloaded. This can take upto 24 hours after initial set up.
4) Occasional freeze ups, missed recordings, and all other technical problems are increasing and becoming intoloerable: Most of the time, a simple disconnect from the mains and re-boot will solve this. however as time goes on, these bugs may increase. There is a solution to this, but its not in your instruction manual. You have to remember that your Thomson recorder is really a computer, and like all PC's you will have to reinstall software and every so often format the Hard drive. There is a complete Reset option. This will restore the units settings to factory settings and delete all your recordings Simply press MENU>SETUP>HELP, then press GREEN, RED. Then select the RESET option. Your machine should now reset itself After this you will need to update the software, so press MENU>SETUP>HELP, then type 1397.This will take you into the Engineers Menu. Select option 17 'Force next oad'. Push OK and leave the machine ON for an hour. It will then download the latest firmware upgrade, and your recorder will be like new. If the HD gets corrupted, you can also test and reformat the Hard Drive from this menus if necesssary. Most of the problems that other people have experienced in these reviews can be solved by using this procedure.
In summary, the Thomson Digital recorder is tempremental, and the software side needs attention. However these problems can be overcome and depite these problems, the price and features warrant a 5 star rating in my opinion.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent product, 22 April 2008
This was amazingly easy to set up! I just plugged in all the cables and turned it on and, after going through all the information screens, it was working. I didn't want the Top-Up TV option, so I followed the instructions on one of the included sheets which explained how to free up space on the disk which would otherwise be used up by this feature - increasing the capacity to around 120 hours.
The process of recording programmes is very simple - just choose it from the guide and press the record button. The series link option allows you to automatically record every episode and the picture quality and sound are both excellent (DVD quality).
I have only two small complaints: the box itself - and the control buttons in particular - is very flimsy (although this isn't that important because you never need to touch the box once you've configured it); and, the hard disk spins continuously making a small amount of noise, which seems completely unnecessary.
Overall, I'm very impressed.
[EDIT: The unit has now completely failed 1 year after purchase, so I'm now less impressed than I was.]
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