Dms 2

:thumbsup: Spent 3 hours on Friday and the system is now up and running :thumbsup: . Connected straight to my Sky box, and 32" Panasonic LCD TV. Most of the time was spent on the wireless front, configuring my ne D-Link Router to see the DMS 2 and link to my NTL broadband :boring: . All said and done, I can not be happier with my decision to buy :clap: (I do reserve the right to complain later though :devil: ).

For what it's worth, here is my recommendation for the optimum configuration :lesson: :
DMS II + 32" Panasonic LCD TV + Sky box + NTL Broadband + Pokerstars table on the top right hand corner (small time player at pokerstars.com :cool: ), At The Races channel at the top left hand corner (animal lover, race horses only), and Ladbrokes race prices at the bottom left (major contributor to their anual profits).

WARNING!!

The optimum configuration is not suitable as a Living Room Solution for those with a young family (give them up for adoption, or consider switching to the Study room) ;) .
 
Werner said:
Difference is the handy t-shirt! and gyration keyboard for the Alienware system, whereas the Hi-Grade machine ends up with a 6600gt and a built in single dvb-t tuner in addition to the standard dual analogue offered by Alienware.
It would have to be a hell of a t-shirt!

The DMSII Dual is clearly a higher spec PC, but I think it's misleading to say that it's a similar price to the Alienware. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the £1900ish price for the DMSII Dual includes a 2 year warranty and doesn't include delivery (£29+VAT?) while Chopper chose 3 years for the Alienware and did include delivery (£88: ouch!). If I bump up the DMSII Dual warranty to 3 years to match Chopper's Alienware spec, I get a total of £2055+£34 delivery= £2089, compared to Alienware's £1933.

The normal DMSII, maxed out the same way, comes to £1821+delivery i.e. about £80 cheaper than the Alienware. So the DMSII looks better value than the Alienware, either low or high spec: it's just the DMSII Dual/Alienware comparison that's dodgy.
 
Actually, the Alienware website claims that until Friday you can get £150 off the price (mail-in rebate plus free shipping), which temporarily makes it a much more interesting fight...
 
By the way, did I forget to say that when I was called by Hi-Grade (on Monday) to confirm my payment details, the sales person offered me the 400Gb HDD and 2Gb RAM upgrade at £170 less than web site. Needless to say that I opted for it.

The only regret I have :thumbsdow , is going for the Digital Tuner and 6600 Graphics card. Why? Well using Sky, I have no need for a Digital Tuner, and as for the graphics card ( I was sort of warned by the sales person about this), I am certianly not a gamer (poker doesn't count), so I doubt I would notice a difference on that account. The cost of those 2 upgrades would easily have paid for the RAM and hard disk upgrade!

PS. I did not pay delivery charge (my lucky day?)
 
Like Putz, mine arrived several days ahead of schedule. I've had it for a week now, and can't praise it (or HiGrade) highly enough. I disagree with pretty much everything "suicidalsoon" said in his posts. The DMS II is a top bit of kit, which is very easy to set up and which does everything it claims. My only gripe is that it wouldn't work with my Pace 1000 Telewest cable box. However, a quick purchase of red-eye remote (http://www.redremote.co.uk/) solved that, and it all now works perfectly. Every query to HiGrade - pre and post sale - has been replied to efficiently, promptly and courteously. Top machine, top service. Nuff said.
 
Putz said:
Well, I was almost put off the DMS II by bacchus2002
comments (still haven't worked out what the XX between F and K stands for), but having spent the last 2 days reading all the comments from other users, I have decided to take the plunge. I guess I will find out for myslef if I have made a mistake or not in around 10 days (at least that is what I think it will take judging by other comments)?

I guess if it does not work out, at least I would have done my bit for the ecconomy. :confused:

Hey - wasn't me! I think you are referring to "suicidalsoon", he of the expetive deleted tendencies. I was just asking whether he was right. Now I've got my own, I know he was not - see previous post.

Cheers
 
Sry bacchus2002 :oops:
Obviously I mixed up the two of you (XXXX). Regardless, I am pretty happy with what I have (so far). Even won a couple of Poker satellites :clap:

Haven't tried much recording yet, but as soon as I am away on race days, it shall begin!!
 
I thought I already understood the details of this beastie but I guess I don't yet..

As far as I understand it you can record 2 channels at the same time.. This is due to the dual analogue inputs (for Sky viewers) <- As I understand it so far.

The single digital tuner also available alongside the dual analogues.. Does that mean you now can record on both sky channels and watch the set-top box digital too?
 
I was talking to a friend about this very question. I am told you can not record 2 channels at once (only record 1 channel (Sky) and watch another terestrial (via TV Arial?). Also said that MCE will not allow you to mix analogue and Digital at once (basically you can chose where the feed comes in from (analogue or digital) and not both at the same time. Confused :confused: You ought to be, as I am myself :eek:

No help I know, but at least I tried.

PS. Winning streak on Pokerstars continues :devil:
 
Putz, the tuner configurations work like this
(assuming you have dual analogue, single digital and 6600gt)

First, forget about watching dvb-t (freeview) and analogue at the same time (analogue, as in terrestrial and cable/digital cable/digital satellite). The reason the config with analogue+dvb-t is offered is for two reasons
1) we didnt have a dvb-t config :lesson:
2) it helps to futureproof the system...in case you move house or sell it on it can be used with either analogue or dvb-t as and when the situation arises.

No rules have been bent, you still cannot mix guides up, you still cannot record a dvb-t and watch and analogue etc at the same time.

However, to correct your last post, you definately CAN record two streams at the same time via the analogue card. And you can do this while watching a pre-recorded program too (standard mce stuff scenarios actually)

You cannot e.g. hook it up to a sky box and a terrestrial antenna simultaneuosly. TWO sky boxes, yes...two terrestrial antennas, yes.....two ntl cable boxes, yes.....a mixture of the above? NO. No mixing allowed here :D
 
Werner said:
Putz, the tuner configurations work like this
(assuming you have dual analogue, single digital and 6600gt)

First, forget about watching dvb-t (freeview) and analogue at the same time (analogue, as in terrestrial and cable/digital cable/digital satellite). The reason the config with analogue+dvb-t is offered is for two reasons
1) we didnt have a dvb-t config :lesson:
2) it helps to futureproof the system...in case you move house or sell it on it can be used with either analogue or dvb-t as and when the situation arises.

No rules have been bent, you still cannot mix guides up, you still cannot record a dvb-t and watch and analogue etc at the same time.

However, to correct your last post, you definately CAN record two streams at the same time via the analogue card. And you can do this while watching a pre-recorded program too (standard mce stuff scenarios actually)

You cannot e.g. hook it up to a sky box and a terrestrial antenna simultaneuosly. TWO sky boxes, yes...two terrestrial antennas, yes.....two ntl cable boxes, yes.....a mixture of the above? NO. No mixing allowed here :D


Thanks for the clarification!

I think I'll be placing my order today :)
 
:oops: Thanks for the correction Werner. I am sure I can find some use for this new discovery (for me any way).

I guess I will need to choose my friends more carefully in the future :thumbsdow

Two qusetions for you:

1. Do you need a new friend?
2. have you got a horse tip? :lease:
 
Werner said:
Both machines end up around £1900 odd for 3.4ghz, 2gb ram, 400gb hdd
BryanKitts said:
I get a total of £2055+£34 delivery= £2089, compared to Alienware's £1933
Putz said:
Hi-Grade.. offered me the 400Gb HDD and 2Gb RAM upgrade at £170 less than web site. ...I did not pay delivery charge
Well, that would certainly explain the difference between Werner's figure and the one I got from the website. Makes it hard to compare specs when you can't trust the website prices!

Anyone got the Dual yet? I'm holding out for the dual digital version, hoping it won't be too far behind, but I'd be very interested to hear anyone's experience of the current DMSII Dual.
 
Sorry to disappoint, but my figures werent based on any insider information. I just went to higrade.com, configured the dms2-dual with 400gb hdd, 2gb ram and hit "recalculate".

I didnt change the warranty to be honest, it slipped my mind. Changing the warranty and adding delivery costs obviously ups the price some more.

Makes me wonder which kind sales person gave Putz such a good deal. Or maybe Putz swopped some horse betting tips as a barter...hmmm :D
 
Does the DMSII Dual support FM radio like the DMSII? Presumably that would be another advantage of the Dual over the digital Artisan.
 
I am completely confused about whether dual Digital as is Freeview is available? I dont want dual analogue or single analogue with single digital, I never use analogue and I just need 2 freeview recievers.

As far as I can tell this is not available, can someone confirm that my understanding is correct ? I am confused as to why this isnt available and it seems shortsighted not to have it as for me its the thing that decides what I will buy.
 
wytco0 said:
I am completely confused about whether dual Digital as is Freeview is available? I dont want dual analogue or single analogue with single digital, I never use analogue and I just need 2 freeview recievers.

As far as I can tell this is not available, can someone confirm that my understanding is correct ? I am confused as to why this isnt available and it seems shortsighted not to have it as for me its the thing that decides what I will buy.

You might want to check this out..

http://www.higrade.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=3369

I belive that is Hi-Grade's dual digital model although I'm not 100% as I didn't research digital as I'm a sky user.

On another note I ordered my DMSII yesterday! I'll be plugging it into my new Panny PV500 I'll let you all know how it goes once it's up and running :)

Just to make sure I'm buying the right kit I take it I need a surround sound receiver and speakers now.. You can't plug the speakers into the unit right?
 
wytco0 said:
...I am confused as to why [a dual digital version] isnt available...
As I understand it, there are only two card slots and it's not easy for Higrade to get rid of the analogue tuner card (they get it bundled with the case; you'd lose the front inputs, radio etc.) so there's only space left for one digital tuner card. As soon as single cards containing dual digital tuners become available the problem is solved, but such cards have not appeared as early as expected.

You might be able to buy a single digital version now and then pay for a card upgrade if/when a dual tuner card becomes available, but I don't think Higrade has ever committed to offering this. Personally, it seems the biggest drawback of the DMSII compared to the Artisan: the non-standard backplate means the only upgrades to tuners/graphics cards etc. are what Higrade want to offer.

I'm holding out for the dual digital tuner version (unless something better comes along first...).
 
Ch0pper said:
Just to make sure I'm buying the right kit I take it I need a surround sound receiver and speakers now.. You can't plug the speakers into the unit right?

The DMS II has no amplification built in so no you cannot just plug in speakers unless they have onboard amps.

The back panel has 8 phono sockets for 7.1 audio and both an optical and coax SPDIF digital output(like many DVD players). Therefore you can connect to any Home Cinema amp or all in one outfit either using the analogue or digital connectors.

Most speaker systems designed for computer use use 3.5mm jacks so will not connect directly unless they have a digital input as well.
 
wytco0 said:
I am completely confused about whether dual Digital as is Freeview is available? I dont want dual analogue or single analogue with single digital, I never use analogue and I just need 2 freeview recievers.

As far as I can tell this is not available, can someone confirm that my understanding is correct ? I am confused as to why this isnt available and it seems shortsighted not to have it as for me its the thing that decides what I will buy.

This might help..

USB digital receiver thingy. Not sure if there's a UK version, or if this will work in the UK.. Anyone know?

USB Thingummy
 
Had my unit a couple of weeks now mostly pleased but do have a few issues which I'd appreciate any help with
1. Problems coming in and out of standby often freezing up or front display countinues read starting up.
2. Clock keeps being wrong need manually adjusting this obviously screws up MCE recordings.Is this bullguard software related have disabled it at start up but still occuring.
3. LG 32" monitor not connecting via DVI works with S video.Experimented with resolutions refresh rates etc. LG looking into it but no solutions.
4.Unable to get resolution right when using as bog standard computer web surfing etc.
System is DMS2 LG 32 monitor PACE NTL.
Cheers for any help/suggestions
 
I had no. 2. Fixed it by disabling the internet time update (bring up the clock properties) and used nettime instead. Works lovely.
 
:thumbsdow
ranz said:
Had my unit a couple of weeks now mostly pleased but do have a few issues which I'd appreciate any help with
1. Problems coming in and out of standby often freezing up or front display countinues read starting up.

Could be related to problem 2? I had this problem but when I corrected the internet timing, it disappeard :clap:

2. Clock keeps being wrong need manually adjusting this obviously screws up MCE recordings.Is this bullguard software related have disabled it at start up but still occuring.

Mat is spot on :smashin:

3. LG 32" monitor not connecting via DVI works with S video.Experimented with resolutions refresh rates etc. LG looking into it but no solutions.

I thought all DVI monitors were supposed to work straight away :eek: Must be the monitor as mine works fine :thumbsup:

4.Unable to get resolution right when using as bog standard computer web surfing etc.

DVI would do this automatically. Sort it out LG man!!! :devil:

One major problem with the DMS II though :thumbsdow Does not help your horse run faster!! :rolleyes:
 
I've noticed something odd and wonder if you guys have it too.

I've been running xp game advisor and noticed my cpu came out as 2.8, used cpuinfo and sure enough the core speed is 2.8 but the current core speed is 3.4. If i reboot it shows as 3.4 but if i then put it in standby when i come out it's 2.8 again.

Anyone else get this? anyone know what it means, if anything?
 

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