A reliable PVR?

Author
Discussion

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I have a Sony SVRHDT500B. It looks nice, it's just the right size, it matches my Sony TV. But after three years of light use it started playing up, stuttering and conking out. Disk repair didn't work so I had to reformat it (with loss of everything recorded). However it's never been the same since, and is now back to its old ways. Last night's recording of the F1 highlights was riddled with picture break-up, stutter and hang-ups of grey or black screen if I try to jump forward or back.

So unless anyone has any ideas how to fix it, I need a new one. It needs to be small and smart, Freeview HD and twin tuner with a good EPG. Is there anything out there that fits the bill please?

FurtiveFreddy

8,577 posts

236 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I've had several Humax DVRs and although I've had a couple of failures, I'd say they're as good as it gets probably.

I'm not sure any set top box/PVR is build to last a long time these days.

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Why are they so crap?

VHS players lasted for decades... frown

croyde

22,701 posts

229 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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'Cos they are simply computers?

prand

5,910 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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FurtiveFreddy said:
I've had several Humax DVRs and although I've had a couple of failures, I'd say they're as good as it gets probably.

I'm not sure any set top box/PVR is build to last a long time these days.
Agree with this. I'm on my second Humax after the first non-hd one started to freeze and miss recording stuff. The latest one is a year old and froze this weekend which I hoep is not the start of a similar downward spiral.

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Well, my PC is about 12 years old, gets used every day and is absolutely fine. I don't see how what is basically a hard drive with few wires sticking out can be so fickle and need replacing every 3 years (with loss of everything recorded). If I'd bought an unbranded thing for £50 then fair enough, but I expect better when it says Sony and costs £250...

And this I think will be the legacy of the computer age - lost data, or the inability to play it. There is warning that the Sony is about to go wobbly, but no way to save the data.


FurtiveFreddy

8,577 posts

236 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Considering the mechanics of the things, it's a wonder VHS decks lasted for more than a couple of 3 hour tapes!

My first Sony colour TV lasted about 15 years before I finally replaced it. Most high end consumer electronics was still being assembled and imported from Japan in those days. Now, it's all made in China and lasts a couple of years if you're lucky. Chinese factories can do quality, but the amount of local supervision and checking required often leads to short cuts being taken even by the biggest brands and a predictable decline in quality.

croyde

22,701 posts

229 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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My ex has just asked permission to throw out my old Sanyo colour TV. It must be 30 years old and still a prefect picture but is missing an on/off switch. My Panasonic Plasma is only 3 years old and is already showing burn in on the screen frown

FurtiveFreddy

8,577 posts

236 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Simpo Two said:
Well, my PC is about 12 years old, gets used every day and is absolutely fine. I don't see how what is basically a hard drive with few wires sticking out can be so fickle and need replacing every 3 years (with loss of everything recorded). If I'd bought an unbranded thing for £50 then fair enough, but I expect better when it says Sony and costs £250...

And this I think will be the legacy of the computer age - lost data, or the inability to play it. There is warning that the Sony is about to go wobbly, but no way to save the data.
Often, the weak link in all these devices is the spinning disc. Depending on how your PC's disks are configured and cooled, you could easily get many years trouble-free use out of them. They are the VHS deck of the modern world! Amazing really how they can sit there spinning around all day without complaining.

Stick a small HDD in a poorly-cooled STB, which may be sitting on a stack of other hot STBs and you've got a nice recipe for disk failures, which could be the cause of your Sony woes.

It doesn't get much better with SSD, as they have a finite life when it comes to reads/writes.

Just do what I do and assume everything has an operation life of 2 years. Every year you get out of it after that is a bonus!

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
Hmmm - how about one with swap-out HDs? Surely they are standard items?

FurtiveFreddy

8,577 posts

236 months

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
FurtiveFreddy said:
Very interesting, thanks. Beyond my ability to do but I may give my tame PC bod a ring...!

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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Got a Topfield PVR and thought that was great until it decided to trash itself one day. Tried the disk recovery and got some stuff back but not all of it. The Internet seems to suggest the capacitors in the power supply degrade over time causing it to mess up.

Luckily this was around the same time I'd finished building a Home Theater PC (HTPC) with a dual tuner Freeview HD card in it so that took over all the TV recording duties.

prand

5,910 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
quotequote all
FurtiveFreddy said:
...Stick a small HDD in a poorly-cooled STB, which may be sitting on a stack of other hot STBs and you've got a nice recipe for disk failures...
Interesting point this. My first Humax unit had an overly loud fan which customers complained a lot about. So a fix was sent down the line that stoppped the fan running so fast/loud. This made me happy but was the result a cooked hard drive or other components? When you think this devicce spends most its time shut away in an airless cupboard under the TV in my house, usually with a DVD player plonked on top this does start to make sense why they don't last.

telecat

8,528 posts

240 months

Monday 22nd September 2014
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I have several HUMAX PVR's. Two 9200T's a 9150 and two FOX-HDT2's. Of those only the Original 9200 has had it disk replaced and it was a case of expanding capacity rather than failure. I think the PURE and Digitalstream PVR's are equally as good but they pulled out of the market so backup is a bit hit and miss.

sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2014
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had Topfield and still got Humax
Both excellent

Bullett

10,873 posts

183 months

Tuesday 23rd September 2014
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My Humax freesat recorder is 5 years old now. Only had to reboot it a couple of time and one of those was when I cocked up doing a firmware hack.

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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Well my current plan is to open it up, see what the HD is and fit a new one.

And then I thought - would an SSD fit/work? What does the panel think?

dave_s13

13,813 posts

268 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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We've got a humax freesat recorder with free time and smart TV stuff.

Works great on the whole but does occasionally freeze and needs cycling on/off.


Also got two non hdd humax freesat boxes. Had to replace the capacitors in one of them.... A known fault for which you can buy specific repair kits.

Simpo Two

Original Poster:

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 29th September 2014
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I'd hoped for 'reliable' rather than 'fixable' smile