Skippa Pre-Order

[Dave at IceTV]

Ordered one too, as the price is worth taking a chance. Would like to see a bigger hard drive though.

Agreed. Hopefully it is possible to swap in a larger HDD. Unfortunately it appears to have a 2.5" rather than 3.5" HDD so the options will be limited.

The largest I could find by quick internet search was a 2TB WD Green for just under $200.

The skippa's HDD is a 3.5 notebook size 2.5 inch SATA HDD. 2TB is the largest 2.5" HDD I could find online too (at twice the price of a 1TB HDD).

Not sure of the HDD brand or model but it is a DVR/PVR specific drive so that rules out the WD Green drive. If it is a WD brand drive it would be the Purple drive.

Edited due to incorrect information.

Dave
IceTV Support

[IanL-S]

wakus, this is a bit off topic, but can a flat battery result in the front display not showing anything when Toppy is in standby (TRF-2400); the odd thing is that the power button glows very brightly when in standby. The units appear to be waking up OK.

Hi Ian,

The 2400 and 2460 has a standby menu option that gives you a choice of 'front display off and power button red' or 'clock on front display and power button off'.

Maybe something reset the Topfield or reset this option. Can't remember where the option is what it is called, but have a look in all of the settings and installation menus for a Standby or VFD or Front Display setting.

Thanks Dave. I have played with those settings and it does not seem to make any difference. The condition arises when you do a recovery firmware installation from a USB stick when the Toppy boots up.

Ian

[IanL-S]

Ordered one too, as the price is worth taking a chance. Would like to see a bigger hard drive though.

Agreed. Hopefully it is possible to swap in a larger HDD. Unfortunately it appears to have a 2.5" rather than 3.5" HDD so the options will be limited.

The largest I could find by quick internet search was a 2TB WD Green for just under $200.

The skippa's HDD is a 3.5 inch SATA HDD.

Not sure of the HDD brand or model but it is a DVR/PVR specific drive so that rules out the WD Green drive. If it is a WD brand drive it would be the Purple drive.

Dave
IceTV Support

Thanks Dave. From the image the unit did not look large enough to take a 3.5" HDD.

Ian

[Dave at IceTV]

wakus, this is a bit off topic, but can a flat battery result in the front display not showing anything when Toppy is in standby (TRF-2400); the odd thing is that the power button glows very brightly when in standby. The units appear to be waking up OK.

Hi Ian,

The 2400 and 2460 has a standby menu option that gives you a choice of 'front display off and power button red' or 'clock on front display and power button off'.

Maybe something reset the Topfield or reset this option. Can't remember where the option is what it is called, but have a look in all of the settings and installation menus for a Standby or VFD or Front Display setting.

Thanks Dave. I have played with those settings and it does not seem to make any difference. The condition arises when you do a recovery firmware installation from a USB stick when the Toppy boots up.

Ian

Try this: Turn it off to standby, then off at the power point or rear switch for 1 minute. Then turn it on and do a factory reset twice. Do not restore any saved settings.

[Dave at IceTV]

Thanks Dave. From the image the unit did not look large enough to take a 3.5" HDD.

The skippa is fairly small compared to other, older design, PVRs but skippa has an external power supply and a tiny main board.

[Dave at IceTV]

Media playback via USB and DLNA Streaming - play your home videos or recordings off other devices, even if they are mkv format.

Not being very technically minded, this question only occurred to me because of some of the comments here (most of which, admittedly, is above my head).  So, it is possible that my question is silly, but please bear with me.  ;D

So, would the streaming be seamless, fast?  How exactly is it done?  I mean do you need cables etc to connect your other devices to it?  And can you play ALL recordings?  For instance avi? Or is there a list of what it can or can't play?  :-\

Yes, DLNA can be seamless and fast. In my experience the skippa can start playing avis, mp4s and mkvs via DLNA without any buffering. it is as if the file is one of it's own recordings on the internal hard drive.

The server and client both need to be connected to the same home network (either wirelessly or via network cables). Your computer(s), tablet(s) and smart phone(s) would be connected your home network already. Skippa needs to be connected to your network for IceTV to work anyway.

Some routers have media servers built in and you only need to enable the server and plug in a USB drive that contains your photos, music and videos.

What can and cannot be streamed via DLNA depends on the media server and the player. If the server app (on the PC or NAS or router etc) detects that the Player cannot play a certain audio or video format it has 2 choices: Either not show the file in the file list sent to the player or transcode the video or audio to a format that player can play. Not all DLNA media servers can transcode. But if the player can play all file types then transcoding is usually not needed.

Transcoding is often needed for tablets, phones and game consoles that either only support small video resolutions or cannot play specific audio formats or are limited in the number of audio channels they support.

Dave
IceTV Support

[csutak40]

Thank you, Dave.  So, I only have one more question, that confuses me.  Given what you've said above, what did you mean when you said that the Skippa is not shareable?

To explain what I mean...  If I recorded stuff on the Skippa, can I play those files across my network (say, on another TV - other than the one Skippa is directly connected to?)

Actually, I will give a proper example...  If I have a TV that is not a Smart TV, and connect the Skippa to it, (goes without saying that the Skippa is connected to the network) I presume I should be able to play the stuff recorded on the Skippa on that TV, but what if I have another TV, that is a SmartTV, connected to the network, can I play the Skippa's content on that as well?  Also, now I think about it, can I play stuff on the TV that the Skippa is connected that I stream through the Skippa from   the network?

[warkus]

Hi csutak40,

I already answered that for you in whirlpool and we even looked up ur tv model to ensure it was DLNA supported.

Yes, your smart TV if DLNA compliant (which we confirmed it was on your Sony) can stream recordings from the skippa if both the skippa and TV are connected to the same network whether wireless or wired connection, just both on the same network. The Skippa apparently acts as a media server as well as allowing you to play recordings on the skippa hosted on another DLNA media server on the same network, ie your windows media centre PC you mentioned on whirlpool, so both ways it is in theory possible and compatible.

Mark

[csutak40]

Hi csutak40,

I already answered that for you in whirlpool and we even looked up ur tv model to ensure it was DLNA supported.

Hi Mark,  I am not double checking on you, (even though I now realise that it must sound like that to you  :D) it is just I am having trouble getting my head around all of this, and am trying to understand, so that if I jump in and buy it, I don't get disappointed.  Given my finances, it is quite an investment for me.  :-\

I still can't understand what it is about the Skippa that is "not shareable"   ;D

[Dave at IceTV]

Ordered one too, as the price is worth taking a chance. Would like to see a bigger hard drive though.

Agreed. Hopefully it is possible to swap in a larger HDD. Unfortunately it appears to have a 2.5" rather than 3.5" HDD so the options will be limited.

The largest I could find by quick internet search was a 2TB WD Green for just under $200.

The skippa's HDD is a 3.5 inch SATA HDD.

Not sure of the HDD brand or model but it is a DVR/PVR specific drive so that rules out the WD Green drive. If it is a WD brand drive it would be the Purple drive.

Dave
IceTV Support

Thanks Dave. From the image the unit did not look large enough to take a 3.5" HDD.

Ian

My mistake. It actually is a 2.5" sized HDD.

[nis200sx]

I still can't understand what it is about the Skippa that is "not shareable"   ;D

'Not sharable' means you cannot create, move, rename and delete folders or move, rename and delete recordings on the PVR's hard drive while sitting at your home computer. You also cannot copy home videos and photos from your computer to the PVR's hard drive or copy recordings from the PVR to computer.

Network sharing allows a shared drive or folder on a computer (or PVR) to be accessible in 'My Computer' on a Windows PC that is on the same home network, as well as in the Mac and Linux equivalent of 'My Computer'. If you have 2 or more computers on your network and can open My Computer on PC 1 and browse the My Documents, My Pictures or My Music folders on PC 2 then you are using network sharing.

Windows 7 and newer has Home Group which is like a plug-n-play variation of network sharing (using SMB 2 in the background). The network protocol that Microsoft uses is SMB 2 (and SMB 3 in Win 8 ). SMB is also known as Samba - and CIFS which is an old form of SMB. Mac and Linux computers default to using different or more robust protocols like AFP and NFS.

If you can sit at your computer at home and browse files (documents, photos, music or video) stored on another computer at home or a home NAS server, or a USB drive plugged into your router, or browse photos and video on your security camera(s) or browse recordings on your PVR(s) or media center PCs etc then you are using some form of network sharing.

Network sharing only works within a home network. It is not supported over the Internet.

Your old SD toppy is not network sharable. If you had a Beyonwiz T3 it would be because it has SMB and NFS, and maybe also AFP.

[Biznitch]

Hi Dave,

I have pre-ordered a Skippa and would greatly appreciate more information regarding whether or not the 2.5" HDD can be easily upgraded and what are compatible replacement drives (Brand, Model, Size, etc.) when you have that information on hand.

Cheers,

Biznitch

[Rat]

As well all eagerly await the delivery of our Skippa's I am reminded of the numerous release date slips in the past which have still been happening recently causing it to be delayed by a month as each month passed even after the website and promotional emails went live.

It must be a difficult and frustrating process dealing with overseas manufacturers, I do hope that firmware will be updated in house by IceTV??? and we won't be waiting 18months to fix the beta release bugs???

Also have we been told who the manufacturer is??? I think this question was Skipped when I posted it before?

So in the spirit of having a bit of fun, I'm willing to bet this 6 pack of grog that my Skippa won't hit my letter box until August !!!! anyone want to take up my bet?

[warkus]

Biznitch,

Dave from icetv has stated that it is actually a 3.5" drive in another post, and that it will be an AV rated drive not a desktop rated drive, but he doesn't know which brand as yet. (Edit, I just saw that he reversed that comment and stated it is in fact 2.5". Still in theory should be the same for replacement as below...)

Based on 3.5" or 2.5", I would imagine it is entirely possible to swap it out with another large drive, assuming you can in fact get a larger 2.5" drive, but be aware that I'm pretty sure this would be something you would definitely want to discuss with ICE first before doing it to ensure warranty is maintained etc.

Thanks

Mark

[warkus]

Nis200sx, csutak40,

As per what nis200sx has stated, yes that's it in a nut shell, you can play media across the device in both directions, on it from a DLNA server and off it on another DLNA compatible device, but when it comes to editing, copying, moving media over the LAN, there is no network drive support to allow you to do that, but seriously once you have used Plex or something like that, you will realise that network drive access isn't really important...

Also in reference to transferring recordings off the unit to another PC or device, apparently there is talk that FTP can or will be enabled so this is actually likely...

Mark