I'm tempted by one of these, as I've got a 300 Gb HHD kicking about,
doing nowt atm:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=pvr&doy=10m11


Anybody got one or know if they're any good?

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
I'm tempted by one of these, as I've got a 300 Gb HHD kicking about,
doing nowt atm:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=pvr&doy=10m11


Anybody got one or know if they're any good?

Dunno - but I saw it and thought it looked good value. Also their
satellite kit with rotator for 100 quid. Unusual for Maplin.

But if you don't already have a PVR bite the bullet and get a Topfield -
you won't be disappointed. There's all sorts of free software to
reconfigure it to your needs if you don't like that supplied.

--
*Who is this General Failure chap anyway - and why is he reading my HD? *

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
I'm tempted by one of these, as I've got a 300 Gb HHD kicking about,
doing nowt atm:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...=pvr&doy=10m11


Anybody got one or know if they're any good?

Dunno - but I saw it and thought it looked good value. Also their
satellite kit with rotator for 100 quid. Unusual for Maplin.

But if you don't already have a PVR bite the bullet and get a
Topfield -
you won't be disappointed. There's all sorts of free software to
reconfigure it to your needs if you don't like that supplied.


We already have a Topfield (Swim's) and a Thomson (was mine) - I get
excellent *projectable quality* DVD Videos (no siplynch problems) from
the Toppy via the computer but it won't record GQT (R4) for some reason
and 'chase play' navigation is hopeless, so I lost the Tommy under the
heading 'use it or lose it!

I was hoping someone had one and could tell me what the recorded files
were - with a 300 Gig hard disk in it it would be possible to load it up
with every damn thing that looked anything like a possible over a period
of time, then pop it/swap it out and hook it straight up to the PC for
processing as and when....

I can feel and 'online purchase' coming on....

Done! Now, we'll see....




--
*Who is this General Failure chap anyway - and why is he reading my
HD? *

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

"Keith G" wrote


I can feel and 'online purchase' coming on....

Done! Now, we'll see....


Meant to add the 49.99 price included shipping!

(Can't be bad! :-)

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Keith G" wrote


I can feel and 'online purchase' coming on....

Done! Now, we'll see....


Meant to add the 49.99 price included shipping!

(Can't be bad! :-)


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]

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

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


I can feel and 'online purchase' coming on....

Done! Now, we'll see....

Meant to add the 49.99 price included shipping!

(Can't be bad! :-)


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?

*** snip

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!


The Humax USB-computer is slow as well - about half real time. I take
the HD out when it's backing up time, connect to the PC, and read the
files with softwa

http://humaxdisk.wikispaces.com/HummyReadFiles

It *may* be that this prog works with your PVR. Otherwise, you'll have
to wait until some kind soul works it out.

The files are playable with VLC, and editable/squashable (MP4) with MPEG
Streamclip.

I recently archived a few shows to AVI, and then DVD, which play on my
DVD player. 8 hours of DVD playback in pretty good quality. So that's
more stuff not to watch ;-)

Rob

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
We already have a Topfield (Swim's) and a Thomson (was mine) - I get
excellent *projectable quality* DVD Videos (no siplynch problems) from
the Toppy via the computer but it won't record GQT (R4) for some reason
and 'chase play' navigation is hopeless, so I lost the Tommy under the
heading 'use it or lose it!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'chase play' - is that making up some
form of play list so it will chunter out more than one pre-recorded prog?
But have you checked if there is any software available to do what you
want? Mine records radio fine - or at least has on trial. I normally use
the PC for this as I'm more likely to listen to them in that area.

I was hoping someone had one and could tell me what the recorded files
were - with a 300 Gig hard disk in it it would be possible to load it up
with every damn thing that looked anything like a possible over a period
of time, then pop it/swap it out and hook it straight up to the PC for
processing as and when....

Are you sure the files on its HD can be read direct by your PC? Just
wondering...

I can feel and 'online purchase' coming on....

Done! Now, we'll see....

--
*Gravity is a myth, the earth sucks *

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

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
We already have a Topfield (Swim's) and a Thomson (was mine) - I get
excellent *projectable quality* DVD Videos (no siplynch problems)
from
the Toppy via the computer but it won't record GQT (R4) for some
reason
and 'chase play' navigation is hopeless, so I lost the Tommy under
the
heading 'use it or lose it!

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'chase play' - is that making up
some
form of play list so it will chunter out more than one pre-recorded
prog?


No, it's where you are watching/stopping/pausing/rewinding/catching up
the programme that is being recorded, but I think it's mostly skipping
back to rewatch something whether it's actually being recorded at the
time or not - the Toppy jumps about all over the place where the Tommy
is smooth (like a tape) and quick.



But have you checked if there is any software available to do what you
want? Mine records radio fine - or at least has on trial. I normally
use
the PC for this as I'm more likely to listen to them in that area.


I don't touch the Toppy or get into it at all - it's not my gadget, so I
don't *go there*!! I have no interest in the telly and almost never
watch anything other than the news; Swim supplies me with an endless
stream of 'suitable stuff' which I watch as and when, either from DVDRW
or a laptop. (So, no loss to me to lob her the Tommy solely for GQT!)



I was hoping someone had one and could tell me what the recorded
files
were - with a 300 Gig hard disk in it it would be possible to load it
up
with every damn thing that looked anything like a possible over a
period
of time, then pop it/swap it out and hook it straight up to the PC
for
processing as and when....

Are you sure the files on its HD can be read direct by your PC? Just
wondering...


No, that's the big question that won't get answered until I've had a
fiddle with it. Part of the fun is to get round the (inevitable)
barriers!!

For example, to get a Toppy recording onto the big screen goes like
this:

Toppy REC file to laptop/ArcDisk20 external HDD (slow)

ArcDisk20 to my PC (slow)

REC file to Mpeg via MPEG Streamclip (quick)

MPEG to laptop (if for me) or to DVD-Video via DVD Author/Copy2DVD if
for projecting (not too bad)

Worth it? Oh yes - the quality is top notch (up there with rentals) with
no trace of siplynch whether I edit the ads out (rare I bother on a
'watch & blow') or not! (It was the absolute kiss of death with
recordings from the Tommy, when 'archived' to any DVDR - so, Tommy still
no loss...!!)

Really worth it? Oh yes, the *arse* in Charlie's Angels Full Throttle
last night was *easily* worth it... :-)

Seriously worth it? Yes, of course - I've any number of those 'Coast',
'How We Built Britain', 'World's Biggest XYZ' 'Michael Palin In Europe'
&c. series ready to go when I'm in the mood; not to mention the numerous
'art' and music programmes' I like! Last night I caught up with Classic
Stars - Lang Lang on the piano on my Bez/Fidelios was *stunning*!!

(Biggest bugbear? - 'DOGs' and the presenters deliberately yakking
through the credits....)

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Keith G wrote:

We already have a Topfield (Swim's) and a Thomson (was mine) - I get
excellent *projectable quality* DVD Videos (no siplynch problems) from
the Toppy via the computer but it won't record GQT (R4) for some reason
and 'chase play' navigation is hopeless, so I lost the Tommy under the
heading 'use it or lose it!


I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'chase play' - is that making up some
form of play list so it will chunter out more than one pre-recorded prog?
But have you checked if there is any software available to do what you
want? Mine records radio fine - or at least has on trial. I normally use
the PC for this as I'm more likely to listen to them in that area.


I was hoping someone had one and could tell me what the recorded files
were - with a 300 Gig hard disk in it it would be possible to load it up
with every damn thing that looked anything like a possible over a period
of time, then pop it/swap it out and hook it straight up to the PC for
processing as and when....


Are you sure the files on its HD can be read direct by your PC? Just
wondering...



I would have thought at that price its unlikely to include the cost of a
Windows CE license, so it likely to be a Linux based OS, so I suspect
your windows PC won't make any sense of the disk.

--
Nick