Purchase - IceTV Device

[wazh]

I would like some input.

Just moved and in transit my Toppy died. I had been using this with Ted's and ICETV. So I know have to buy a new unit. I already have a BeyonWiz DP-S1 and used to offset what I couldnt record on the Wiz with the toppy as I filled up the drive on the wiz too quickly. So what to get? I dont need a DVD player as I never use it in the BeyonWiz.

Wouldnt mind a really good media player.

Anyway suggestions would be appreciated.

[tonymy01]

Where do you live, the Toppy is normally an easy fix and if in the Sydney region I could have a look for you and diagnose it, and the fix is cheap as chips typically.

[Lisey]

I would never EVER buy a topfield again.  they are hopeless - mine was repaired 3 times in the first year, it spent more time with Topfield than at home.
it is still stuffed reven after supposedly replacing the guts of the machine.
the wireless dongle kept overheating and would stop working - but they wont believe it
had no other option but to plus in cat 5 or buy a bought a wireless ehternet adapter - what do you know, been workign fine ever since.
their lack of willingness to listed to customers and disregard for wasting toime and money with no apoloigy ever scares me off em

[Fester]

I must say until recently I would have agree wholeheartedly with those comments. I have had the 7000 and the 7100, both heaps of junk! I really don't know why but I have now purchased a 2460 and love it. Hasn't missed a beat unlike the other rubbish. I actually destroyed the 7100 in frustration, it ended up in bits on the concrete. I think Topfield have finally got something right with the 2460.

[plumgas]

I had a 5000 for a few years until it died & I sold it to someone from topfield forum who repaired it, due to the fact of being a stable model.
I then purchased a 2400 very happy with in, actually heaps better than the 5000.

[michaelstockman]

I had a similar experience.

[Vortical]

I've used a few topfield & beyonwiz pvr's in the past couple of years including the original 7000 & 7100 that are actually still working with the original hard drives & no repairs.

Personally I still prefer topfield if you just want to record tv. The 7160, 7100HD+, 2400 & 2460 are all great tv recording devices.

On the other hand if you want a pvr with media playing abilities the beyonwiz DP-P2 special edition would also be a good choice, I,m not to familiar if other models from beyonwiz are available at the moment. Most of Topfield's currently available models can also play some media files but not as many formats as beyonwiz and it's much easier on a beyonwiz to browse your media files.

Note: i never use wireless with any of my pvrs

[Shadow]

I would never EVER buy a topfield again.  they are hopeless

The 7000 series was junk, the 7100 series a little better.

I now have a 2460 and it is the tops.

I also own a BW DP-P1 and prefer the Toppy.

If you think it is only the Topfield brand with problems I suggest you pay a visit to the Beyonwiz forums.

[prl]

The fairly careful documentation of the problems with Beyonwizes on the Beyonwiz forum also shouldn't be confused with them necessarily having more problems then other brands.

The OpenWiz Firmware Versions page has a handy set of links to both the Beyonwiz Forum "Bugs and Wishes" pages and links to the Beyonwiz Release Notes (re-posted on the forum) for almost all public releases of Beyonwiz firmware. You can look at what the problems were and see what the response has been. I'm not saying that they couldn't have been better, but I don't think there's a comparable resource for any other PVR on the market in Australia.

From my experience with a Topfield TF7000 and Beyonwiz DP-S1, DP-H1 and DP-Lite, and from what I've read here and on the DTV forum, I think that a Beyonwiz or a "new series" Topfield would work well with IceTV. On the same basis, I'd hesitate in recommending a TF7100 (the confusingly-named TF7100Plus is "new series") to work with IceTV. The TF700 doesn't have Ethernet, so its usefulness with IceTV is pretty limited (back when I owned one, only the ABC and SBS had 7-day EPGs, IceTV Interactive didn't exist, and I used sneakernet to put the IceTV EPG on the 7000).

Of the current Beyonwiz models, unless you need the analog inputs on the DP-P2, or want the big HDD on the DP-P2TB, the DP-Lite is IMO the best choice. Despite IceTV's home page saying that all IceTV PVRs have a skip function, the Beyonwiz FV-L1 is IceTV compatible, and due to its FreeView hobbling, doesn't have skip (and other useful features).

[Beyonwiz beta tester]

[Shadow]

The fairly careful documentation of the problems with Beyonwizes on the Beyonwiz forum also shouldn't be confused with them necessarily having more problems then other brands.

I never insinuated that, just pointed out that Topfield are not the only pvr's with problems.

[prl]

The fairly careful documentation of the problems with Beyonwizes on the Beyonwiz forum also shouldn't be confused with them necessarily having more problems then other brands.

I never insinuated that, just pointed out that Topfield are not the only pvr's with problems.

Fair enough, and I didn't actually disagree with that, and I said that apart from the old TF7[01]00 models, that Topfields would be a reasonable choice for a PVR to use with IceTV. I also posted a link that leads to a condensed history of pretty much all the verified problems with Beyonwizes that have been noted in the BW forum. The lists aren't small. :)

[Beyonwiz beta tester; also former Topfield TF7000 beta tester, from way back when DPG was the Topfield agent]

[Shadow]

If some one would take the top features from the 2400 series and the DP-P1 they would possibly end up with a good machine, a TopWiz  ;D ;D

[tuvpnproxy]

I have had the 7000 and the 7100, both heaps of junk