diesel Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 (edited) As reported in this thread, seems Topfield may be about to release a new single tuner HD PVR onto the Australian market - $499 @ Retravision. Does anyone know anymore details? Features High Definition Digital Tv Recorder with Large 250GB Hard Disk Drive Record HD TV Channel and Playback Simultaneously (1920x1080i) Fully DVB-T compliant Single Recording with one tuner 2000 services (TV or Radio) programmable Service switching time less than 1 second Service list & Favorite service list editing On-Screen Display (OSD) Electronic Program Guide (EPG) supported Subtitle & Teletext supported Parental lock facility by service and program event Firmware upgrade via USB2.0 & RS-232 S/PDIF for digital audio output Multilingual audio supported Powerful trick mode supported (One Touch Recording, Time Recording, Time Shifting) Playback of the selected region repeatedly Timeshift supported Recording and Playback simultaneously Edited August 4, 2008 by diesel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgdownload Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Can't say I've heard anything. Single tuner does seem an interesting approach. Don't think the cost of a second tuner should add much to the overall cost. Can understand wanting to make the usage very simple (and going down to 1 tuner makes coding the firmware logic a LOT easier - and presumably more stable). Would have thought thought that a better approach would be have a live tv tuner and a recording tv tuner which would be almost as simple to impliment and mean that whilst recording the user could still watch another channel (something they take for granted in a lowly VCR). Price seems a little high but presumably it will translate to sub $400 on the street. Regards Peter Gillespie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonymy01 Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Maybe it is being offered as the Beyonwiz DP-H1 competitor? Although it is missing one very important thing the DP-H1 has, an ethernet connection to allow it to update with ICE, be a "remote client" of other Beyonwiz's, and play media files off the network... Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortical Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 (edited) Maybe it is being offered as the Beyonwiz DP-H1 competitor? Although it is missing one very important thing the DP-H1 has, an ethernet connection to allow it to update with ICE, be a "remote client" of other Beyonwiz's, and play media files off the network...Regards Tony the H1 is also missing a HDD too. I doubt it's in real competition with a H1, Topfield are probably just trying to fill a gap in the market. How many Single Tuner HD PVR's are there that have the Topfield PVR functionality. Edited August 4, 2008 by Vortical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelz Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Seems like a good idea seeing as these days all tv's come with a built in HD tuner so you can watch that and use the toppy for another channel(like the old vcr days).But would have to be around the $400 mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortical Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 (edited) Seems like a good idea seeing as these days all tv's come with a built in HD tuner so you can watch that and use the toppy for another channel(like the old vcr days).But would have to be around the $400 mark. The 7100 RRP is $799 but users seem to easily get it over $100 cheaper instore Taking this into account people may find the same for the 7050. I agree $399 is a more reasonable price, especially considering for $180 more *than the $499 Retravision price) you can get a twin tuner 7100 with networking and Ice Interactive capabilities. Edited August 4, 2008 by Vortical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 At the very least it allows folks looking for a simple and cheaper way to record HD TV to get a recorder...though twin tuners is a bare minimum these days with multicasting. When can we start to see some quad tuner PVRs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
achjimmy Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 Single tuner is not for me but for those people still using a VCR this could be the jump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterca Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 I agree, seems a backward step introducing a single tuner PVR these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdoc Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I agree, seems a backward step introducing a single tuner PVR these days. I think there is a market, just not at that price. Around $250 - $299 for mine. It would slip in nicely as a bedroom type PVR where you just want to pause or rewind the occassional show, or for your grandparents who just want to upgrade from their VCR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeps Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I dnt see why ppl need more than two tuners? I'm quite happy with one… there's 5 FTA channels…. How often are any of them showing good stuff at the same time? Two channels - yes, more than that - very rarely imo. I'd be happy to buy a single tuner, as there's very rarely (imo) more than one thing worth recording at a time If it would save me $$ then I'd go for it..but yeh 200-300 is the range not 4-500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozdoc Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I dnt see why ppl need more than two tuners? For a main room PVR, IMO twin tuners are essential. Good rating shows tend to go up against each other, and when you then ad in the mix the need for padding, and then the possibility of recording concurrent shows on the one channel (?do you split or merge timers), then even twin tuners can look a bit skinny at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossicker Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I think there is a market, just not at that price. Around $250 - $299 for mine. I agree. At $400 - $500 it's a definite No Go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Devil Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Interesting idea but not convinced it is a good one. There are heaps of good inexpensive single tuner SD PVRs out there that scale up very effectively. And many TVs and receivers being sold do that upscaling. About the only drawback to that is the dedicated HD broadcasting although that is slow coming to regional areas with their limited advertising base. Here there are many programs only broadcast in SD and not duplicated in HD. So I agree with the consensus that price is probably too high. However history shows us the trend. My first Pioneer DVDR with analog tuner cost over $AUD1400 and they are now a fraction of that. Similarly the early HD STBs were priced in the $600 range. So a reliable PVR with the excellent functions of the 7000 series at the $3o0 mark could be appealing to some. That said I would always recommend a twin tuner unit. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgdownload Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I'd be happy to buy a single tuner, as there's very rarely (imo) more than one thing worth recording at a timeWe'll the "IMO" is your answer. However the other reason you need twin tuners is not because two good shows are on at the same time, but because they might start stop and overlap by say 5-10 minutes. FOr that 5 minutes with a single tuner you are missing the other show.Regards Peter Gillespie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Devil Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 We'll the "IMO" is your answer. However the other reason you need twin tuners is not because two good shows are on at the same time, but because they might start stop and overlap by say 5-10 minutes. FOr that 5 minutes with a single tuner you are missing the other show.Regards Peter Gillespie Actually you can extrapolate that because I sometimes need to use the twin tuner Humax Smart as well as the Toppy 7000 for exactly that reason. And it is often more than 5 minutes involved. Even the ABC cannot be relied upon to stick to advertised schedules. SBS seems to be the only reliable one at the moment. So I sometimes need 3 tuners but it is extremely rare to have 4 recording. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossicker Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 because they might start stop and overlap by say 5-10 minutes. This is a good case for Government regulation. Like they do in Melbourne with the Trams, if you don't stick to the schedule, you get fined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twitch1503562349 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 This is a good case for Government regulation. Like they do in Melbourne with the Trams, if you don't stick to the schedule, you get fined. Unfortuantely though for the public, Connex being 5 minutes late is still defined as "on time" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonymy01 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 I needed 3 tuners on Sunday night (luckily I kept my 5K). Dexter on Ten SD F1 on Ten HD CSI-NY on Nine HD. Of course both the F1 and Dexter is on the same mux, so I could have watched the F1 while recording Dexter & CSI, but I like to timeshift a little and catch up during the ad breaks, esp at that time of night where sometimes an ad break makes me fall asleep :-) Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Devil Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 ......... but I like to timeshift a little and catch up during the ad breaks, esp at that time of night where sometimes an ad break makes me fall asleep :-)Regards About the only TV we look at live these days is the news, and that is only because we are eating at that time. EVERYTHING else is time shifted. And even with the news there would be advantages in skipping through some of the trite stuff they deem to be newsworthy. How times have changed since the days of messy tape! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossicker Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Unfortuantely though for the public, Connex being 5 minutes late is still defined as "on time" Yes but at least they don't overlap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Unfortuantely though for the public, Connex being 5 minutes late is still defined as "on time" Cityrail in Sydney did the same thing. Their definition of late was >2mins. They redefined this to >5mins and shazzam their on time running magically improves overnight! Back on track, we require 3 tuners about once a week in our household (so watching live TV through the TVs tuner is one option. But as PG Download said, it's more a case of the extra padding you need to add to timers to ensure you don't miss the end of a show whilst new ones are due to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel Posted August 14, 2008 Author Share Posted August 14, 2008 I see the 7050 is now on the Australian Topfield site . Is RRP $499 or $549? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Devil Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I see the 7050 is now on the Australian Topfield site . Is RRP $499 or $549? The site says $549 which is a bit on the high side for a single tuner PVR, particularly when only a few dollars more gets the twin tuner 7000. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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