Skippa Pre-Order

[Dave at IceTV]

Signing off the manual, before it goes to the printer or goes public as a pdf file, is usually one of the last things done with a new PVR as there is nothing worse than a manual that shows incorrect images or incorrect steps to perform important functions because the firmware has been updated after the manual was signed off.

For those who need help understanding what the technical specifications mean, the Key Features that should stand out are:

IceTV AutoSkip (automatic Ad-Skip Technology) - Watching a movie or TV show without constant interruptions at the worse possible time is one of those things that will make you later wonder how you ever watched TV without AutoSkip.

IceTV Smart Recording and IceTV Electronic Program Guide - IceTV will be more tightly integrated into skippa than in any previous recorder that is able to use IceTV. This also makes future improvements and new features possible to be more easily added to skippa.

Record up to 6 programs simultaneously and watch a 7th program (either live or pre-recorded)

1080p Video Output - Sharp, clear images on even the largest TV or projector. Most PVRs only upscale to 1080i. Some don't do a good job of upscaling the SD channels.

1 TB Hard Drive - The goldilocks of hard drive sizes (just right). Hard drives smaller than 1TB are too small. Hard drives larger than 1TB hold more hours of recordings than you could ever watch.

HbbTV Enabled - All of the Catchup TV channels and Freeview Plus (and whatever else becomes available via HbbTV in future).

Opera TV Store - 100s of apps (mostly free) including Plex, games and Internet TV channels and radio channels etc. etc.

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

Plug and Play (intuitive setup wizard) - User friendly so anyone can set up a skippa.

Closed Captioning - Any PVR that does not have closed captions is not suitable for a growing percentage of the market.

[bodogbodog]

OK Dave your answer tipped me over in terms of making a decision - I'm in - a bit of a leap of faith but I really need a new PVR and IceTV have delivered to me for many years
Fingers crossed for a great product

[csutak40]

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?  :-\

[IanL-S]

For playing content on USB storage device, you will need a cable to attach it directly to the PVR (except if it is a USB Stick).

For other devices, they would all need to be attached to you home netwwork by either Ethernet (cable) or wifi, as would the Sikppa.

Ian

[csutak40]

For playing content on USB storage device, you will need a cable to attach it directly to the PVR (except if it is a USB Stick).

For other devices, they would all need to be attached to you home netwwork by either Ethernet (cable) or wifi, as would the Sikppa.

Ian

Thanks for that.  So, anything that is connected to my network, should play on the Skippa, right?  (I did realise that any USB storage device would need to be connected  ;D )  And they would play seamlessly?  I mean no buffering?

Also, having read Dave's answer to a different question...  Do I understand correctly that you can't play the contents of the Skippa on other devices on the network?

I have now found some of the comments that confused/worried me:

It seems that DNLA media servers need to build a library everytime they are started, that sounds very slow and frustrating and a major step back.

I am not pretending that the above is clear to me, but if true, it doesn't sound promising.

Then, aren't these two comments (made by IceTV staffers - Dave and Leon) contradictory?

Currently the HDD is not sharable

The Skippa can also act as a DLNA server itself - streaming recordings to Ipads / Computers around the house too.

Again, I repeat, all of this is way above my paygrade, so I could quite easily have the wrong end of the stick, but I am hoping that someone will explain in language that even I can understand  :D

[IanL-S]

Judy

This discussion is getting beyond my pay grade as well. Cannot share but is a DLNA server? There are several ways of granting access to content on a computer (PVRs are just specialised computers). Some of these are include 'share' in the name, other do not.

The information currently available gives no information on the Skippa's ability to run FTP server and WedServer (for remote administration for tasks not handled by IceTV Interactive).

Ian

[freefallfly]

Hi Dave. I'd also like to know if the SKIPPA has a built-in FTP server. I find FTP a convenient way to reliably copy a large number of recording files off my Topfield across the network. What other options does the SKIPPA have for copying recording files off it?

[Vortical]

Ice reps

How responsive is the skippa unit to the remote when skipping fwd and back and shifting through the menus and epg? When compared to something like the topfield 2400.

I'm starting to change my mind on the skippa with some of the info released. Considering a purchase.

[michaelwho]

I've pulled the trigger. The biggest thing for me is being able to stream to my ipad etc and ease of recording.

[Ian Spencer @ Home]

Dave spoke to me at length.

1TB is not the right size for everyone as stated. Yes if you watch everything frequently maybe but I record a ton of programs and often don't watch series until the end and binge watch. 1TB won't do that not even close. I record a lot and if it's crap I delete it and I delete a lot but it may take a long time until I get to it, I don't want to micromanage 1TB, it't just that size to make the target price, remember record 6 programs at once, that will fill the 1TB in no time.

My main concern is how the padding is handled. Discussions concluded not that well guaranteed as it is still a 3 tuner device although it is smart 3 tuner where more than one channel on the one frequency can be used but no going to get the same flexibility as 6 tuner setup in a Media Center

Having a very fast desktop doing video editing and VideoRedo can't even get close to reliable advertisement detection without a lot of manual intervention but maybe Skippa has some magic way of outperforming a video workstation I think I would leave it off but I think it might work watching cricket as that is quite predictable and distinct break pattern.

If I was buying a PVR for the average person including my Parents Skippa looks like it will be a no brainer PVR to use. I am tempted but my Wife says what do I need Windows Media Center and skipper for. Well it will be easier to setup for the price on each TV and will handle different file formats much better than the xBox 360's but she is not convinced particularly as IceTV guide data has been so erratic lately ;-)

All the IceTV development will obviously go into making Skippa the main project so that is the future. Microsoft hasn't wanted to support Windows Media Center for some time and abandoned it and now killing it which is a pity so I don't think it will get a lot of love from IceTV either, it's a dead end without a clear replacement yet.

The Storage space can be fixed with NAS or even a PC with lots of storage.

One more tuner and guaranteed hard padding is the sticking point. I hate recording and missing the end of something and hard padding is necessary. Two Skippa's that could automatically spread the recording load would solve that problem but likely make so much complexity to take away the simplicity of Skippa that will suit 95%+ of users.

It is a bit hard to make final judgement without having a look at it or even seeing a manual but that is what the $100/$200 discount for the early birds is for I suspect it will need a few software updates over the rest of the year but won't be worse than Foxtel's new IQ3 as that would take a lot of effort.

[Rat]

Here is an off the top of my head no facts involved guess by me :)

Seeing as the initial price for Skippa was $499 with $100 discount for us as beta testers........do you really think they will now suddenly change their minds and put it in the shop at $599 on general release?

I guess it will now have a general release of "Special new release $499" save $100 limited time only.........nearly gone......get in quick.........

[Ian Spencer @ Home]

Yes you can look at the negative but I think a product they are so passionate about will be good long term. I don't think they are going to sell Skippy and leave unmatched bugs and I think they will keep it fresh with updates hopefully with not a lot of problems. If I was working and money not an object I would love to get muy hands on this. I have invested too much in Windows media center to exit at the moment. Australian designed products are to be commended.

[csutak40]

My main concern is how the padding is handled. Discussions concluded not that well guaranteed as it is still a 3 tuner device although it is smart 3 tuner where more than one channel on the one frequency can be used but no going to get the same flexibility as 6 tuner setup in a Media Center

That is also a thing I worry about.  I am using good old TED ATM, which allows me to change the padding manually, if need be, on individual programs.  I am very used to, and love, the fact that I get a daily conflict report (only have two tuners on my ancient Toppy 5k) and I can then manually make adjustments to fix those conflicts.  It sound to me that Skippa would decide  for me and I'd have no (easy) way of fixing it - if at all.

Microsoft hasn't wanted to support Windows Media Center for some time and abandoned it and now killing it which is a pity so I don't think it will get a lot of love from IceTV either, it's a dead end without a clear replacement yet.

Hmmm...  I wasn't aware of that.  ATM, I record things I want to keep long term on the WMC, so that I can run it through VideoReDo and get rid of the ads, then move it to my NAS drive.  Another reason is that it is a pain to transfer things off the Toppy.  If WMC disappears, I'd have to find a replacement for that as well.

The Storage space can be fixed with NAS or even a PC with lots of storage.

Except (and admittedly, I am very confused on this point)  I believe the only way to transfer things off the Skippa is with a USB drive?  (michaelwho wrote in another thread, that he spoke to Dave, who said:"You can copy skippa's recordings to a USB drive to archive or play on another device or computer.
You can also copy the file's url from a network media player app like Windows Media Player and then paste that url into the address bar of a web browser and download the recording (but it's a little fiddly to do).
It currently cannot see other devices' shared folders on the network, or be seen as a shared drive by other devices on the network (but that may be added by firmware update)"
If that is true, that sounds like a real pain to me

One more tuner and guaranteed hard padding is the sticking point. I hate recording and missing the end of something and hard padding is necessary. Two Skippa's that could automatically spread the recording load would solve that problem but likely make so much complexity to take away the simplicity of Skippa that will suit 95%+ of users.

Well, again, from what I read in these threads, seems you can't spread anything between two Skippas as they aren't shareable.  So, you would need to go searching on both to find what is on which.  :-\

It is a bit hard to make final judgement without having a look at it or even seeing a manual but that is what the $100/$200 discount for the early birds is for I suspect it will need a few software updates over the rest of the year but won't be worse than Foxtel's new IQ3 as that would take a lot of effort.

$200 is a lot of money for me, but I am still worried that, not having all the answers I need, I'd be disappointed and (as I already know that my needs are complicated) possibly not being able to set it up.  I don't know anyone that could assist me here in Melbourne, so I'd have to be convinced that I could do it myself without too much stress, before I'd be willing to jump.

I also have to say that I am rather disappointed by the general lack of info.  90% of what we know (or think we know) was gained by people getting in touch with IceTV directly and asking questions, then publishing their answers here.  Some of those answers seem contradictory to me, but that may very well be my lack of understanding.  All the more reason why they should put something in writing, so that we can ponder (possibly Google) and make an informed decision.

Why can't they publish a detailed specs, not just the tiny bit that they did publish?  After all, even $399 is not peanuts, aren't we entitled to know more details,  without having to beg for it, before we spend that much money?

[Vortical]

Ice reps

How responsive is the skippa unit to the remote when skipping fwd and back and shifting through the menus and epg? When compared to something like the topfield 2400.

I'm starting to change my mind on the skippa with some of the info released. Considering a purchase.

Had a chat with Dave @ IceTV over the phone today and he advised it's definitely not laggy at all so skipping using the remote should be very quick.

I'm taking the plunge and hoping given how long this device has been in development that it's going to be a fairly rock solid device.
Figured my 7100HDpvrt is pretty much on it's last legs as it keeps having problems maintaining current time when it goes to standby and I'd rather buy in at $399 than $599

I hope I don't regret this purchase  :-\

[warkus]

Yep fingers crossed vortical, hope these are a great unit...

As for your 7100, the issue you have is a flat battery on the front panel PCB, you need to take the front panel out as its on the front of the PCB. It's a CR2032.

It's a common issue, machines are getting old and the batteries usually only last 4 to 5 years or so max.


Mark