Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

Keith G wrote:
"Mark Carver" wrote in message

Looks interesting. One of my teenage lads wants a PVR, this might be
an affordable solution.

Any screenshots of the menus etc ?


Here ya go - ignore all the pinky/purple (that doesn't happen - it's
just the camera and the crap pix) and for some reason everything is
shifted to the left a bit which wasn't happening yesterday but it's only
a 14" portable and I haven't a clue, so I wouldn't shoot the PVR.
Anyway, I'm sure this will all mean more to you than it does to me!

[snip]

There's probably a load more, but I'm sure there's enough to give you an
idea...

Thanks for taking the trouble to do that Keith. Very interesting.


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

"Spider Pig" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:55:26 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
On Nov 16, 2:24 pm, Adrian C wrote:
[Post copied to uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.tech.tv.video.pvr]

International Megastar Keith G wrote:

Hi Keith,

Fine Post.

Keith,

Does the EPG work fine? I'm interested to know, how the software
updates. I currently have a sagem pvr but am still waiting for them to
issue a software update they promised over a year ago. So for 50 quid
and a hdd I was considering giving this one a go.


I consulted the expert in the family (#1 son) who says the Nikkai
appears OK for 'secondary use' (kids, fathers, people with learning
difficulties) but wouldn't do for a main PVR and recommends the new
Tommy:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...pf_rd_i=468294

.....which is not a lot more money (atm) and has just had an update. (The
big thing is being able to record two different programmes while
watching a third, apparently!) But bearing in mind I've only had it one
day, I think the Nikkai works well and the EPG (though considered slow
and unappealing by the above expert) seems to work OK for me. No idea
how and when it could/would be updated, though - presumably by broadcast
transmission?

Once again, the key to this gadget is not having to buy/pay for an HDD
if you have already got a spare, or being able to throw in a humungeous
amount of storage (up to 500 Gig, at least) for a modest sum at todays
prices and getting a machine with more recording capacity (endless, if
you keep feeding it HDDs) than is currently available 'off the shelf'
with perfectly decent (if not excellent!) picture and sound quality.
The 'record one/watch one' restriction does not represent a problem to
me, only having to title the recordings by hand (if you want half an
idea what the prgramme is a day later) is a PITA, from what I can see of
it!

Ya pays ya money....

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:
"Mark Carver" wrote in message

Looks interesting. One of my teenage lads wants a PVR, this might be
an affordable solution.

Any screenshots of the menus etc ?


Here ya go - ignore all the pinky/purple (that doesn't happen - it's
just the camera and the crap pix) and for some reason everything is
shifted to the left a bit which wasn't happening yesterday but it's
only a 14" portable and I haven't a clue, so I wouldn't shoot the
PVR. Anyway, I'm sure this will all mean more to you than it does to
me!

[snip]

There's probably a load more, but I'm sure there's enough to give you
an idea...

Thanks for taking the trouble to do that Keith. Very interesting.


You're welcome, Mark - I'm only sorry the pix were so crap! (Ignore all
that pink ****e - doesn't happen in real life; the colours are really
quite nice on the menus!!)

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

"Keith G" wrote in message
...



Here ya go - ignore all the pinky/purple (that doesn't happen - it's just
the camera and the crap pix) and for some reason everything is shifted to
the left a bit which wasn't happening yesterday but it's only a 14"
portable and I haven't a clue, so I wouldn't shoot the PVR. Anyway, I'm
sure this will all mean more to you than it does to me!

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/L1010029.JPG

snip


There's probably a load more, but I'm sure there's enough to give you an
idea...


Thank you for that info / screen shots Keith, as a result I have given it a
go and placed an order tonight. You should be on commission :-)

Gio

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

"Spider Pig" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:55:26 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
On Nov 16, 2:24 pm, Adrian C wrote:
[Post copied to uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.tech.tv.video.pvr]

International Megastar Keith G wrote:

Hi Keith,

Fine Post.

Keith,

Does the EPG work fine? I'm interested to know, how the software
updates. I currently have a sagem pvr but am still waiting for them to
issue a software update they promised over a year ago. So for 50 quid
and a hdd I was considering giving this one a go.

Have a look at the offerings of an Ebay dealer called
soundandvisiondirect. I got an 80GB Techwood
(Vestel) PVR from him for GBP49 including postage
from him and I have been very pleased with it. (HDD included!)

--
Graham

%Profound_observation%

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

"Gio" wrote in message ...

"Keith G" wrote in message
...



Here ya go - ignore all the pinky/purple (that doesn't happen - it's
just the camera and the crap pix) and for some reason everything is
shifted to the left a bit which wasn't happening yesterday but it's
only a 14" portable and I haven't a clue, so I wouldn't shoot the
PVR. Anyway, I'm sure this will all mean more to you than it does to
me!

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/L1010029.JPG

snip


There's probably a load more, but I'm sure there's enough to give you
an idea...


Thank you for that info / screen shots Keith, as a result I have given
it a go and placed an order tonight. You should be on commission :-)


OK Gio, I hope you like it; if you post any observations on the groups,
please ensure to include ukra - I would be very interested to hear your
opinion. From viewing earlier this evening, I can confirm that DVDs
played through it ('AV in') suffer *no* loss of quality at all, from
what I can see! (Tested with Kill Bill Vol. 1 - the Okinawa sequence!)

One thing - hook it up and scan the stations in *before* you put an HDD
in it, or the machine will play dead!

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

Does the module offer audio description channel extraction at all?

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
[Post copied to uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.tech.tv.video.pvr]

International Megastar Keith G wrote:

Meant to add the 49.99 price included shipping!

(Can't be bad! :-)

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221276&TabID=1&source=1&doy=1 6m11


OK, bottom line is - it isn't! Not at the price, if you have a spare
(IDE) HDD kicking about - and less face it, who doesn't?

Initial impression is that it's plenty OK appearancewise for the money
and comes as a nice little bundle that even includes the screws to mount
the HDD which you will have to provide for it to become anything other
than a simple Digital STB. Fitting the HDD is a breeze but involves 10
screws altogether - making quick drive-swapping impossible. In the
unlikely event that someone would want to swap hard disks on a regular
basis (they are not recognised by my PC, at least) it would pay to let
the drive 'dangle' - possibly on extended leads.

I was disappointed at first how the thing worked - it is nothing like as
clever as the Tommy I had been used to using; the Nikkai is a simple twin
tuner device with one dedicated to PVR work, while the other provides a
TV signal. This means you can watch TV and 'pause/navigate' the programme
or you can record a programme and 'chase play' it (watch while the prog
is still recording) with full navigation options, but not both - if you
are recording one channel and watching another, you will not really be
able to do anything with the channel you are watching other than pause it
and lose time.

Once you (me) get into it a bit you find that it's not so bad - picture
and sound are quite impressive (picture is excellent) and the
menus/remote control pretty intuitive. The EPG is OK and onscreen info
isn't at all bad, but one PITA is that you have name your recordings
yourself (with a 'soft', onscreen keypad) otherwise it will only give you
station, date and time info. One signal advantage that I haven't seen on
another machine (or at least, have never yet discovered) is that a button
on the remote will allow you to toggle between 'DTV' and 'VCR' which is
effectively 'AV In' - this allows you to watch another source (DVD or
Tape) *through* the Nikkai which has to be on but which can be doing
other stuff like recording at the same time (I think) - very handy for
people whose telly has only the one scart, like mine!

Biggest ****er? - You can record/playback the radio stations just fine
but you can only pause them - you can't run backwards or forwards
(FF/REW) through the programme! Other niggles are minor (lurid,
single-colour orange display for example) but the fatal flaw, for me, is
that I can't pull the recordings off the HDD; that will have to continue
to be done from the Toppy we have here - whether or not the Nikkai gets
added to the heap of other Bright Ideas that I don't use after the
'honeymoon period' (and will eventually give away) remains to be seen!

Inasmuch as the Triumph petrol tank pic is coming from a DVDR in the
Pioneer, the whole story is pictographically depicted here, really - if
anyone is interested:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-01.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-02.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-03.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-04.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-05.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-06.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-07.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-08.JPG

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/show/Nikkai-09.JPG


Now, who do I see at Maplins for my commission?


[Post copied to uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.tech.tv.video.pvr]

Hi Keith,

Fine Post.

Thought I'd bring some collective minds to ponder over your discoveries
...

:-)

--
Adrian C

eBay
 

-snip-



I had an old Rogers valve amp which I was going to 'dispose' of, however
my daughter put it on ebay where it fetched £130, purchased by a very nice
gentleman in Japan, however it cost over £90.00 just to send it to him!



Interesting - I need to dispose of some pretty specialised bits of kit -
monoblok valve amps, electrostatic speakers etc - and thought I would have
to look around for specialist sites or magazines. Is eBay in fact the best
way to go? I must be the only bloke who's never used it....

Geoff MacK

eBay
 

In article ,
Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

-snip-



I had an old Rogers valve amp which I was going to 'dispose' of,
however my daughter put it on ebay where it fetched £130, purchased
by a very nice gentleman in Japan, however it cost over £90.00 just
to send it to him!



Interesting - I need to dispose of some pretty specialised bits of kit -
monoblok valve amps, electrostatic speakers etc - and thought I would
have to look around for specialist sites or magazines. Is eBay in fact
the best way to go? I must be the only bloke who's never used it....

Hi Geoff. ;-)

Excellent way of selling near anything. One tip is to find out the cost
of packing/carriage beforehand and include that as a firm cost on your
listing. And also mention they may be collected in person.
Stupidly high carriage costs - or not stated ones - put many off bidding.

--
*How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Maplin Bareback Twin Tuna PVR
 

Sounds very fishy to me.