[Ghostleader]

As the title says, is it just me, thing is I know of at least three people who have had issue's with the sound on recordings made on their "5000" serie's, one has done all he can to resolve the issue including contacting TM to death & also writting to "What Sat" who gave the receiver in question a "Gold Award" questioning their testing in regards to this issue, no published letter or reply (Ars*holes, no answer for it then!). Aside from this I think that apart from the HAL 9000esc display bezel their boxes are quite ugly, and I don't care for their G.U.I. either! (Sorry!!) Anybody else feel the same from personal point of view & for what reason?

[wod]

i dont like them either not used one since the 1500 was out, i much prefer other receivers like vantage, azbox etc

[ChorleyMatt]

Personally, I like 'em. They're not perfect but you get good value considering the price you pay, though I do think this value statement becomes less relevant as you climb the range. My limited examples as follows:

TM5400

Positives:
Super sensitive tuner, great SD PQ where available. Never had any issues with recordings. Very good 1st timer box.

Negatives:
Crappy menus. Ugly, looks like it was built in a shed by a boffin (which it probably was!) but I prefer looking at the picture given by a box, rather than the box itself.

TM600

Positives:
Versatile (very ) in so many ways, too many to list here but trust me - it is. Good menus, has gained much sought after wife approval status. Actually looks like a piece of AV equipment - unlike the 5400.

Negatives:
Never worked consistently with my USB powered hard drive (think it needs extra power but not got round to trying it yet). Tuner/PQ not as good as the 5400 IMHO. Annoying aspect ratio problem with my box (this could well be a user issue but it's got me vexed - I can't stop 4:3 images being shown in stretchyvision).

I've also found that TM support has been above average when called upon - once by phone and once by e-mail - with the e-mail query even offering additional telephone support if required (which it wasn't as their reply was sufficient).

So, like I said, not perfect but what is?

[Ghostleader]

No nothing is a 100% including mass market stuff like Sky "Dogiboxes", that aside I would say the problem you had with your USB never working consistently & with no pattern to it working/not working I bet!, is one that is accross the board manufacturer wise, I had the Comag SL100 HD recomended to me & it had the very same problem with ANY USB stick, switching it on from standby & having to wait & see if the USB stick LED came on or not was daily hassle (The only solution was to turn it off & on into standby about three times!) I gave up on the box after about ten days of "Fannieing about" with it, with multiple firmware upgrade's etc had no effect on this "bug". I returned the Comag to the dealer & took home a Fortec Star Passion + instead, the same Maxwell 8 Gig USB drive work's with this receiver no problem, but I already knew it was the Comag that didn't want to play! & I had already had the non recording model of the Fortec Star Passion anyway so it was like putting on pair of comfy old slippers (Not that slippers have USB recording on em!). The point is I think the whole USB PVR feature is very much "Tacked on" to these receivers with very little regard by the company's as to it actually working any where near 90% of the time.

[logiciel]

The 6800HD is the best of my current three receivers by a considerable margin, and the USB recording feature has with only the minimum of hassle filled up 2.5tB of drives in just over a year!