Skippa Pre-Order

[EdQld]

The only question I have left now is does it live up to itself on paper... That will be the big question and I can't wait to find that out...

Mark

Agreed, on paper it looks just like what I want in a PVR, already owning a FetchTV, I can cope with the reduction to 3 Tuners and now look forward to receiving my Skippa  ;D

[csutak40]

Well my 2 cents again...

We are not in the dark about what the software will do at all, much of the info has been answered and is out there...

By software, I am talking about the nuances, that we won't know until we see the manual.  Mainly (in my case) I want to know how it will compare to TEDS.

You can see here what TEDS could do http://home.exetel.com.au/trappett/teds/  The reason I have held onto Toppy5K this long is because of TEDS.

Reading what it can do, obviously some of those things are not needed with the Skippa, but I am still not clear on  how the Skippa would handle some of the handy things that TEDS is so good at, like, for instance, handling conflicts.  OK, I realise that  conflicts would be a lot less frequent on the Skippa than on the 2 tuner Toppy, but  we still don't know how they will be handled when they occur, or (for instance) can the padding be varied by show or at least network?
Or, (another great way to avoid conflicts) can one pick which repeats one wants to record?  I mean, if there is a show that I like that gets repeated several times during the week, the first one showing in prime time, so it may clash with other shows, but some of the repeats do not.  So, with TED, I can mark that show to record repeats, but only on, say, Saturday night.  So, I don't end up with 4 recordings of the same show and I can choose to record the show at a time when it is least likely to clash with other programs.

Anyway, these are the sorts of things I meant when I said we are still in the dark about the software

[nis200sx]

By software, I am talking about the nuances, that we won't know until we see the manual.  Mainly (in my case) I want to know how it will compare to TEDS.

You can see here what TEDS could do http://home.exetel.com.au/trappett/teds/  The reason I have held onto Toppy5K this long is because of TEDS.

Reading what it can do, obviously some of those things are not needed with the Skippa, but I am still not clear on  how the Skippa would handle some of the handy things that TEDS is so good at, like, for instance, handling conflicts.  OK, I realise that  conflicts would be a lot less frequent on the Skippa than on the 2 tuner Toppy, but  we still don't know how they will be handled when they occur, or (for instance) can the padding be varied by show or at least network?
Or, (another great way to avoid conflicts) can one pick which repeats one wants to record?  I mean, if there is a show that I like that gets repeated several times during the week, the first one showing in prime time, so it may clash with other shows, but some of the repeats do not.  So, with TED, I can mark that show to record repeats, but only on, say, Saturday night.  So, I don't end up with 4 recordings of the same show and I can choose to record the show at a time when it is least likely to clash with other programs.

Anyway, these are the sorts of things I meant when I said we are still in the dark about the software

Judy, your concerns seem to come from never having used IceTV smart recording. TEDS and your old SD toppy only use the IceTV TV guide.

Most of what TED/S does IceTV smart recording does too. The only TEDS features that IceTV doesn't have (yet) are star ratings to automatically manage conflicts and separate padding options per TV network or channel or channel type (Commercial versus National).

Star ratings for each series really aren't needed when you can record more than 2 shows at once, and they're not wanted if you prefer to manage your recording schedule yourself. If there's a conflict I want to decide what gets dropped. When I used TEDS (8 years ago) I had most of my shows set to 5 stars because I wanted to record them. If I didn't really want to record them I wouldn't have scheduled them in the first place. The shows I didn't care about (which had 1 star) ended up getting cancelled by me anyway. Which made the whole star rating system pointless for me.

When using IceTV smart recording, if you notice a conflict you can set a keyword recording to make that show only record repeats, or set a series to only record on the HD channel or only on SD channels or to only record at a certain time of day or only record 1 episode per day.

Conflicts are handled by the PVRs (not just skippa) then the PVR reports the conflict to you (in My Week on the apps and website and optionally also via email). When you are alerted of a conflict (which is usually 5 days away) you can manage your recording schedules to avoid the conflict this one time or for all future episodes.

[csutak40]

Judy, your concerns seem to come from never having used IceTV smart recording. TEDS and your old SD toppy only use the IceTV TV guide.

You could be right, of course.  I do use IceTV on Windows MC, but not a lot - I only use it for shows that I want to keep, or when I want to record something and the Toppy is busy using both tuners to record something.  I haven't spend a lot of time studying it, but do find it confusing.  If you set it for "first run" then is there a reason to set it for how many times a day?  Usually, first run would mean one, but there are some shows lately when they show two episodes back to back.  So, I don't really understand the purpose of that setting.

Most of what TED/S does IceTV smart recording does too. The only TEDS features that IceTV doesn't have (yet) are star ratings to automatically manage conflicts and separate padding options per TV network or channel or channel type (Commercial versus National).

And I would have thought that would be a handy feature - quite possibly reduce the possibility of conflicts - you really don't need a lot of padding on National networks.

Star ratings for each series really aren't needed when you can record more than 2 shows at once, and they're not wanted if you prefer to manage your recording schedule yourself.

I find it very useful.  I frequently change them around to help manage conflicts.  For instance, if there is a show on the ABC I want to watch, I can give it one star and set it to tape repeats, because it will probably be repeated, so it can tape one of the repeats, (and I can even decide which of the  repeats I want to be taped) instead of the first run - and if worse comes to worse there is always iView  :P  As I said, I realise that it is much less likely to get a lot of conflicts with the Skippa.

When using IceTV smart recording, if you notice a conflict you can set a keyword recording to make that show only record repeats, or set a series to only record on the HD channel or only on SD channels or to only record at a certain time of day or only record 1 episode per day.

Must admit, I hadn't noticed any of those settings (except the opportunity to pick between SD and HD - which, on the SBS at least, wouldn't help to manage conflicts, as they usually run simultaneously on the two channels.  Also saw, as I said, the 1 episode per day setting, which I don't quite get) I haven't seen the setting for certain time of the day, or how keyword recording would help with conflicts

Conflicts are handled by the PVRs (not just skippa) then the PVR reports the conflict to you (in My Week on the apps and website and optionally also via email). When you are alerted of a conflict (which is usually 5 days away) you can manage your recording schedules to avoid the conflict this one time or for all future episodes.

Yeah, you are probably right.  If I think about it, there shouldn't be a lot of conflicts to worry  about.  Thank you very much for the explanation

[rogreb]

I took the punt and pre ordered without the manual (not a huge cost). I hope I have a similar function to my Toppy - Skip forward 30sec and Skip back 10 sec. This function if very useful when skipping adds. Also the function of starting at the beginning of the recorded program or resume from last position. Having 60+ programs currently recorded it is now difficult to manage. The ability to "save" a recording to a dedicated folder would ne nice. One for wife /kids/sport etc 

[NRo]

What's the current expected ship date in July?

[Rat]

What's the current expected ship date in July?

Two weeks away from July we have a one month window for delivery so I think this is a very relevant question (just ignore little dog man yapping around everyone's ankles) I would like to know this also but I don't think we are going to get an answer and even if we did I would take it with a grain of salt due to the MULTIPLE release date slips in the past some of which were unannounced. Some of the date slips were no doubt beyond IceTV's control, but communicating to the public here was sometimes handled poorly or not at all. As I said previously we are not out of the woods until you have it on your doorstep, I'm preparing to get mine in August so if it turns up in July that will be a nice surprise :D

[Dave at IceTV]

Insulting other people will not be tolerated on the IceTV forums.

[Dave at IceTV]

What's the current expected ship date in July?

Pre-ordered skippas will be shipped to customers in the last week of July. Depending on your location and courier efficiency etc those who pre-ordered should have it by the end of July or first week in August. Christmas in July?

[Rat]

Looks like I was right, seeing as I live in Tassie it is probable I won't get mine until August, I was not whining just being honest open and truthful.

[EdQld]

LOL "July or first week in August."

August it is then  ;D  The ever slipping timeline

[injidup]

Seriously, it's just a tv recorder! An extra week or two's wait isn't going to kill anyone! Especially as most on here already seem to have at least one PVR already.

[pious mode] I'm happy to get the pre-release pricing and understand that its a new product and shipping times can slip. [/pious off]

I have ordered a new motorbike and was told early June delivery. It's now going to be mid-late July. Such is life. (Although I do have a suspicion that the dealer quoted an unreasonably early delivery date to get the sale).

[EdQld]

"Although I do have a suspicion that the dealer quoted an unreasonably early delivery date to get the sale"

A bit like the IceTV PVR with 4 Tuners that was supposed to happen mid last year   ;D

I'm not too fussed over the delay, we have come to expect that, but of course I am hoping to get my new toy as soon as possible   8)

[Vortical]

Anyway they said it would ship in July and as Dave stated it will ship in July, they can't help delivery timeframes around the country pushing delivery dates into August.

[EdQld]

"they can't help delivery timeframes around the country pushing delivery dates into August."

Yeah, post them on the 31/07/15 and you can't help deliveries occurring in August   8)