Aldi 80GB Twin Tuner PVR 15th Dec £99.99

I'm sticking with this for a bit longer as I've found that if I switch it off on the rear and reboot it it usually works fine for the rest of the day. I have read that if you disable the auto update it doesn't lock up in standby but I don't put it in standby till I've done with it anyway. There is a recorded message on the helpline saying a new update is due on or before 5th Feb. I still have the old Philips On digital box hooked up to my HDD/DVD recorder in case I definitely don't want to miss something but it seems such a chore after the epg function on the new one where you just press OK and it's all done for you. I haven't heard any more on the swap but if the new update works I'll not need it anyway.
 
Yeah on or before 5th Feb "this upgrade will fix the problems" !!!!

BRING IT ON!
 
paffren said:
I'm sticking with this for a bit longer as I've found that if I switch it off on the rear and reboot it it usually works fine for the rest of the day. I have read that if you disable the auto update it doesn't lock up in standby but I don't put it in standby till I've done with it anyway. There is a recorded message on the helpline saying a new update is due on or before 5th Feb. I still have the old Philips On digital box hooked up to my HDD/DVD recorder in case I definitely don't want to miss something but it seems such a chore after the epg function on the new one where you just press OK and it's all done for you. I haven't heard any more on the swap but if the new update works I'll not need it anyway.
I spoke to the help desk before the Christmas break and last week.

I was told before Christmas that there would be an upgrade broadcast on the 29th Dec, and if this did not work (which it didnt) then the units may be swopped out in the new year for good stock.

Last week I called for an update and was told the upgrade did not work. When I enquired about the swop out option, I was told the manufacturer had decided this was not an option.

So my unit persists with its 2 problems of ITV sound and the "No Signal"
I quite like the unit when it works. Simple to use, record, watch, delete is just right for me, but I am getting a little fed up.

To overcome the ITV problem, I go to CH5 and then back to ITV, seems to work. For the no signal, I go to HDD P/B watch for a few secs and stop. Seems to work most of the time. Failing this I use the RESET switch, sorry ON/OFF switch at the rear.

When I first unpacked this I though it was costly for an on/off switch to be fitted, as the unit needs to be powered to make timer recordings. Maybe someone in the design team new something??
 
petergj said:
I spoke to the help desk before the Christmas break and last week.

I was told before Christmas that there would be an upgrade broadcast on the 29th Dec, and if this did not work (which it didnt) then the units may be swopped out in the new year for good stock.

Last week I called for an update and was told the upgrade did not work. When I enquired about the swop out option, I was told the manufacturer had decided this was not an option.

Did they say if they are planning to upgrade the upgrade?
 
Great news that a new version of software has been released.

As I have not touched the unit for about a week, how do i check if the upgrade has taken place?

Would have been nice to be contacted first, as I was told by the helpdesk, when something new was to happen.

From reading all the correspondance regarding this machine, it seems that technical evaluation of this products suitability for the market place, is being carried out by the end user, rather than an engineer prior to product launch.

A cheap way of finding problems, rather than employing an engineer to test before sales. Also gets the product out of the warehouse and the cash in.
 
If you click on the link provided by Lorian you will see that this v1.2 update is planned for 20 - 23rd FEBRUARY 2006 and details will be available nearer the time on the DTG.org website.

Maybe a good idea to place Lorian's link in your favourites or bookmarks if you have the PVR 101
 
Press menu button, then go to settings, configuration. Receiver upgrade should say V1.1. If not you can go down with your arrow button and highlight it then O.K. and open the manual upgrade and do it that way. It will search for a software update and implement it if there is one. It took about 20 minutes altogether, just leave it to it then do a new install to find the channels etc. Not sure what it fixes but you may need it to do the next upgrade. As for the debugging by the consumer, it's what Microsoft do all the time.
 
Well, Colin, at least they have taken the trouble to make the booking. So - just perhaps...........

I will have to put the PVR 101 back on top of the toppy, it's lying fallow at the moment as the FVRT145 is now occupying that position.
 
ROYOLD said:
I will have to put the PVR 101 back on top of the toppy, it's lying fallow at the moment as the FVRT145 is now occupying that position.

Do you like the FVRT145? Mine was delivered on Saturday and I find it very difficult to use. The PVR101 is so easy and so is the Pace Twin. I have the 101 upstairs and had the Pace Twin in the living room. I thought the 101 could go back and the Pace Twin go upstairs instead.

My husband is not very good with recording media. If ever he had to set the VCR for me he never got it right, but he never had any bother with the Twin. He has never looked at the 101.

He likes to watch Hill Street Blues when he gets home from work and I set it up for this week, but he could not work out how to get at it.

Also all last night we kept getting wide screen one minute then 4.3 for adverts, it was very confusing to watch. The telly remote did not do any good at trying to sort it out.
RosemaryP
 
The FVRT145 is no different than the FVRT150 which was the reason I purchased it. It works very well and is good value for money. Interface is excellent as is epg. Some people do not like the cloudy blue backgrounds on fusion - doesn't bother me. I like the interface tho' on the PVR 101, and for £100 it's not worth my while returning it.
Pity that it will not record two progs simultaneously tho and it does go wonky at times. Fusion 150 has never had any problems. I purchased the FVRT200 for sis & B-I-L for Christmas and they like it a lot but they would have been just as satisfied with the 145.

Have no knowledge of the Pace twin but it gets knocked quite often in the forums I notice - especially by that LV chap!.

The Digifusions have the default setting as 4:3 letterbox and this can be adjusted to 16:9 in the setup menu. I have actually changed this to 16:9 on the 145 but the 150 is still on default setting. The TV screen does adjust on most of my PVR's because some programmes are in 4:3 broadcast whilst the adverts in between are in W/S.
 
RosemaryP said:
Do you like the FVRT145? Mine was delivered on Saturday and I find it very difficult to use. The PVR101 is so easy and so is the Pace Twin. I have the 101 upstairs and had the Pace Twin in the living room. I thought the 101 could go back and the Pace Twin go upstairs instead.

I think the PVR 101 is the simplest PVR to operate I have come across. The single button (press play) access the the recordings list with the last programme recorded highlighted followed by the play button again to play it from the beginning or the "red" button to resume is optimum and the 2 minute advert skip button (right arrow) is a gem.
Also all last night we kept getting wide screen one minute then 4.3 for adverts, it was very confusing to watch. The telly remote did not do any good at trying to sort it out.
RosemaryP

All the Fusion have a long standing widescreen switching bug. There is a was a software update (1.7.5) which solved this problem for the 1xx series of Fusion PVR's but it was withdrawn as it apparently introduced other problems.

Colin
 
I still have the PVR101 and have found just lately that it has not been locking or freezing like it was doing so the only problem has been the "No Signal" bug. Switching between channels sometimes regains the signal and I only had to switch off once in 5 days. I checked to see if there had been an update because it was working much less eratically :)
 
Apparently, they have discovered that one of the bugs was not fixed by this new version!

Their phone number is 01422 263257

Still quotes the message that the update is due 20-23 Feb.

Spoke to a CS bloke and the ****** put the phone down on me when I enquired as to when the update is going to take place, and when they are going to change their automated message. Not pleased!
 
Update is (tentatively) scheduled for the 3rd March.
 
paffren said:
I found a new fault yesterday, when watching a timeshifted programme and a recording started on the other tuner the picture stuck but the sound carried on.
FFWD or skip to real-time and then rewind to where you were. Hopefully you won't have to use this workaround for much longer.
 
Update now put back to the 8th March, still a provisional slot.
 
Thanks for the reminder Lorian. There are still a few of us who haven't returned them to Aldi. If this planned update fixes the problems then we will be well pleased. I mean - even the nice slimline casing is worth the £99-99 alone never mind the excellent UI. I personally don't seem to have had many of the problems that others have reported.
 

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