[neil72uk]

Hi there,

I've just bought the Alba PVR from for my parents to replace their old VCR and allow them to record programmes in the evening. The recorder was easy to set up and they seem to be getting on ok with it. I did have a few questions though - I don't know too much about these things so please bear with me

1. Each morning they switch on their Digital TV (Toshiba AV505) and then pick up the PVR remote to turn the box on to watch a previous recording. Should the channels from the PVR be displayed on screen straight away (as with turning on a Sky box)? At the moment the banner showing the programme information is displayed..but there is no picture or sound. It's almost as if the PVR has frozen - I say almost as you can still change the channel but you get no picture. The first time it happened they switched off the machine from the mains and switched it back on and this 'fixed' it. It happened again today and the picture from the PVR eventually appeared but they first had to change channel from ITV to Channel 4.

2. If they wanted to record 3 separate programmes from 7pm until 8.30pm on the same channel, could they just press 'Record' and expect the machine to run until they stopped it (as with their old VCR)? Or would that process only record the first programme in the schedule?

3. I set up a timer recording for them and then switched off the PVR. Their was still some noise from the hard drive though. I would have expected the unit to be 'quiet' if I had turned it off. Any ideas on this?

Any information or advice on these issues would be most helpful.

Many thanks

Neil

[creddish]

The following answers are based on my Wharfedale LP250HDMI PVR (another Vestel PVR) but I expect the same will apply to the Alba.

Originally Posted by neil72uk

Hi there,

I've just bought the Alba PVR from for my parents to replace their old VCR and allow them to record programmes in the evening. The recorder was easy to set up and they seem to be getting on ok with it. I did have a few questions though - I don't know too much about these things so please bear with me 1. Each morning they switch on their Digital TV (Toshiba AV505) and then pick up the PVR remote to turn the box on to watch a previous recording. Should the channels from the PVR be displayed on screen straight away (as with turning on a Sky box)? At the moment the banner showing the programme information is displayed..but there is no picture or sound. It's almost as if the PVR has frozen - I say almost as you can still change the channel but you get no picture. The first time it happened they switched off the machine from the mains and switched it back on and this 'fixed' it. It happened again today and the picture from the PVR eventually appeared but they first had to change channel from ITV to Channel 4.

The sound and picture should have been displayed immediately the unit was brought out of standby. Occasionally the Vestel PVRs do lose sound and picture. For me it happens less than once every few months on average. The usual solution is to change Channel. Very rarely (it has not happened to me since I got my current unit about 5 months ago) it is necessary to power off and re-boot. If you find you have problems with sound and picture loss very frequently then I would suspect you have a problem with your unit or installation, low signal level for example.

2. If they wanted to record 3 separate programmes from 7pm until 8.30pm on the same channel, could they just press 'Record' and expect the machine to run until they stopped it (as with their old VCR)? Or would that process only record the first programme in the schedule?

It can be done but not quite like that. The Vestel PVRs record on a per programme basis rather than a time basis. This is sensible as it ensures that individual programmes are recorded and have their own separate named entries in the Library. Pressing the Record button whilst watching Live TV will record the remainder of the current programme and a banner will be displayed stating this has started with the programme name and duration displayed. The banner will display an instruction to press Record again to add more programmes. If you press Record again the next programme will be added to the list shown on the banner. You can repeat this procedure at will but you have to ensure that Record is pressed again to record the next programme whilst the banner is still displayed.

I have never used this method and only discovered it whilst testing it just now. I think it would be simpler to enter the Guide and set the recordings there, where you can see the names and durations of the programmes before you select them to record.

3. I set up a timer recording for them and then switched off the PVR. Their was still some noise from the hard drive though. I would have expected the unit to be 'quiet' if I had turned it off. Any ideas on this?

If the Hard Drive was running at the time the unit was set to standby then it normally takes about 90s before it runs down. If recordings are current or the unit needs to do some housekeeping tasks then it can run for longer before running down.

Any information or advice on these issues would be most helpful.

Many thanks

Neil

Colin

[neil72uk]

Thanks for your reply Colin...much appreciated.

I'll keep an eye on the first issue (sound and picture) and double-check that everything is connected as it should be.

As for the recording, I'm pleased to say that they managed to use the guide to set up some recordings last night and they didn't have any problems with doing this. I would like to think that my hand-written 'step by step' instructions were the reason for this..but it's probably because the Alba is so simple to use.

Just one more question about the hard drive. I paid a visit this morning to check up on things and while I was there the unit was switched off and silent. A while later there was some hard drive activity (nothing was recording or scheduled to record). Does the Alba power up it's hard drive occasionally to do some house-keeping, pick up updates etc?

Thanks

Neil

[creddish]

Originally Posted by neil72uk

Just one more question about the hard drive. I paid a visit this morning to check up on things and while I was there the unit was switched off and silent. A while later there was some hard drive activity (nothing was recording or scheduled to record). Does the Alba power up it's hard drive occasionally to do some house-keeping, pick up updates etc?

Thanks

Neil

A number of Users have posted about the occasional Hard Disk activity. I don't think it has been clearly associated with any particular reason. Some have associated it with looking for software updates but others have said it still occurs if Automatic Updates are turned off. Other have associated it with updates to reflect changes in programme schedules to aid recording accuracy. However, this obviously didn't apply in your case. Although it may be that the unit automatically checks for schedule updates as a matter of routine irrespective of whether recordings are scheduled ot not.

I've not investigated the issue in detail as I'm personally not aware of it as whenever I'm within earshot I almost always have the unit switched on (in fact I rarely use standby) as in non-Low Power mode there is virtually no different in power consumption.

Colin

[neil72uk]

Thanks once again Colin.

I'm not really too worried about the hard drive activity - my main concern is that the unit works and does what it's supposed to. So far so good!

I found the comment you made about the power consumption very interesting. I always assumed standby would be more 'efficient' - I'll have to do some more reading up on that.

Kind Regards

Neil

[creddish]

Originally Posted by neil72uk

I found the comment you made about the power consumption very interesting. I always assumed standby would be more 'efficient' - I'll have to do some more reading up on that.

Kind Regards

Neil

On many PVRs standby uses much less power than when fully on. However, in the case of most of the Vestel PVRs most of the functions including maintaining the EPG fully up to date and maintaining the Scart RF feedtrough so other units can be used in a daisy chain system with the PVR are still operational in standby. I believe about the only things that are disabled are the units outputs which use little power. Vestel do make some "Low Power" models which when set to standby switch of most functions and reduce the power consumption to less than 2W. There are however disadvantages in using the Low Power mode and it can be overridden if wished.

Colin