Mystar - Issues And Comments

[whispa1970]

Order Confirmed

Congratulations, you are one of the first in line to receive a new MyStar HD when it launches on November 15. You should receive your new MyStar HD by the 25th November.

Australia Post will deliver it to your address, but if there's no adult to sign for it or you're not home, you may need to pick it up from your local post office.

Thanks and enjoy your new MyStar HD.

Hopefully i'll get a couple of days of the trial channels before it ends on the 29th...

One of the first, by he 25th mate, your going to be one of the last. There will be 3000 boxes installed by the first few days, each tech had around 8 to 10 decoders, 300 techs Australia wide, thats not going to last long.

[jayweb]

of the HDMI cables? it doesn't really matter if you spend $10 or $100, you're gunna get the same image quality, it's not like your analogue (RCA and other types) cables

Not true. I have a cheap HDMI cable (came with a previous purchase) that will not carry a 1080p signal, but down to 1080i it works adequately.

The performance of a HDMI cable is dictated by its ability to pass the required bandwidth.

So I am hoping, but not too confident, that it will be good enough to keep.

[DrP]

You do not have any issues with your remote. Its your TV, your lighting, the angle of the sun, the phase of the moon... anything but your mystar and/or its remote. I bet you have a cat. That's what causes it.

Out of all the mystar subscribers I know directly, 2nd hand or via forums etc that are having problems of one kind or another (the sorts of things that have been detailed again and again in this thread) what really surprises me is the general reluctance to quit the mystar in the face of all the issues. Mostly they don't complain, they just grin and bear it.

Edited November 5, 2009 by DrP

[DrP]

IV had mystar from the start, and have been very lucky by the sound of it, I dont seem to get all the trouble others get , and restarts in the morning , IM also glad to be in the minority PS{theres alot out there in the minority}

There's a lot more in the majority (to quote whispa 'der').

Edited November 5, 2009 by DrP

[whispa1970]

You do not have any issues with your remote. Its your TV, your lighting, the angle of the sun, the phase of the moon... anything but your mystar and/or its remote. I bet you have a cat. That's what causes it.

Out of all the mystar subscribers I know directly, 2nd hand or via forums etc that are having problems of one kind or another (the sorts of things that have been detailed again and again in this thread) what really surprises me is the general reluctance to quit the mystar in the face of all the issues. Mostly they don't complain, they just grin and bear it.

I know its an issue, I see it on a regular basis, from my collective memory i think it only happens on flat screens, unsure of the breakdown of Plasma, LED/LCD.

Are you suggesting people return the Mystar because of this issue?

I have a Samsung 55 inch LED TV and I have never had the issue.

Edited November 6, 2009 by whispa1970

[Karlston]

Welcome to the exclusive club optima!

Indeed.

I read somewhere that happy problem free Mystar owners have regular monthly meetings, but can't recall where, but will find out and later post the phone box's location. :-)

[DrP]

I know its an issue, I see it on a regular basis, from my collective memory i think it only happens on flat screens, unsure of the breakdown of Plasma, LED/LCD.

Bzzzt. Would you like a short clip of a mystar that has no PDP, no LED, no LCD, no CLF, no .... well none of anything that has been claimed to cause the problem anywhere near and yet the problem persists? I'm sure I can arrange it. Heck, I'm sure that plenty of people on this forum can arrange it.

Are you suggesting people return the Mystar because of this issue?

You bet. I suppose you recommend people persist with a STB that performs random actions with random delays when a button is pressed on the remote.

I have a Samsung 55 inch LED TV and I have never had the issue.

Yeah. Just like none of your STBs ever restart overnight.

Edited November 6, 2009 by DrP

[speedfreek]

You do not have any issues with your remote. Its your TV, your lighting, the angle of the sun, the phase of the moon... anything but your mystar and/or its remote. I bet you have a cat. That's what causes it.

Oddly enough i used to have a cat but it never arose when i did have it

[speedfreek]

Not true. I have a cheap HDMI cable (came with a previous purchase) that will not carry a 1080p signal, but down to 1080i it works adequately.

The performance of a HDMI cable is dictated by its ability to pass the required bandwidth.

how old is this cable?

I know a little while ago they did release a new spec cable, 1.3b or whatever it is and from others i've heard an improvement (not massive, just better colours and clarity). That being said, as long as it is to standard (be it the newer 1.3 version or the 1.1) it should not matter as to what price you pay as in the end you're going to get the same thing, which is why i say to people, if you're spending anymore than $50 on a HDMI cable, you are being ripped off, though really, at most you should only pay $35-$40 unless you're getting a longer cable cause then you're just paying for the name.

[vk2mpj]

So will I require a visit from the tech if I am already a MyStar customer? Or is it a simple case of user swap the boxes out?

[speedfreek]

There is the option to do self install, as it will come with the required cables.

[jayweb]

how old is this cable?

I know a little while ago they did release a new spec cable, 1.3b or whatever it is and from others i've heard an improvement (not massive, just better colours and clarity). That being said, as long as it is to standard (be it the newer 1.3 version or the 1.1) it should not matter as to what price you pay as in the end you're going to get the same thing, which is why i say to people, if you're spending anymore than $50 on a HDMI cable, you are being ripped off, though really, at most you should only pay $35-$40 unless you're getting a longer cable cause then you're just paying for the name.

The cable is not that old less than 18 months (so should be 1.3 or 1.3a) and it will not do 1080p, just red & green dots and lots of them, change it to 1080i and adequate, though no where near as good as better cable.

There is an issue with bandwidth, but I do agree in that many people pay too much for HDMI cables (just gravy for the JB & HN et al stores). Hence the reason why I use and recommend EZYHD cables. Not expensive and they do the job well.

Whilst I agree in theory that all HDMI cables should be fairly similar, they just aren't. If you find someone who can deliver a quality product at competitive price, as I and many others here have, stick to them.

[vk2mpj]

There is the option to do self install, as it will come with the required cables.

Okay then, can someone please justify the $100 "set-up" fee that they are charging if I can swap it out myself?

[MrMan]

Okay then, can someone please justify the $100 "set-up" fee that they are charging if I can swap it out myself?

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...t&p=1444738

Edited November 6, 2009 by MrMan

[aaaaplay]

I do think they need a new interface because on the new mystar hd it is quite blocky in the text and on screen functions.

[Andyt32]

There is the option to do self install, as it will come with the required cables.

when i rang and told em i wanna get My star HD and he said it will be shipped out forgot what date he said it will come he said best to swap it over your self rather then pay for the tech to come out its like $50 + for the tech

would save money if ya can do it ya self and send the other one back .

[whispa1970]

Bzzzt. Would you like a short clip of a mystar that has no PDP, no LED, no LCD, no CLF, no .... well none of anything that has been claimed to cause the problem anywhere near and yet the problem persists? I'm sure I can arrange it. Heck, I'm sure that plenty of people on this forum can arrange it.

You bet. I suppose you recommend people persist with a STB that performs random actions with random delays when a button is pressed on the remote.

Yeah. Just like none of your STBs ever restart overnight.

You must have forgotten, I dont notice it resets at some time in the wee hours.

The remote works perfectly for me. I am unsure why you take the stance that because something happens to you it must happen to everyone.

Anyway, why do you still have yours if your telling everyone else to send it back.

Edited November 6, 2009 by whispa1970

[speedfreek]

The cable is not that old less than 18 months (so should be 1.3 or 1.3a) and it will not do 1080p, just red & green dots and lots of them, change it to 1080i and adequate, though no where near as good as better cable.

Sounds more like a dodgy cable, though go 720p if you can't do 1080p, as 720p is better (Progressive > interlaced)

[mrfixits]

Austar Technical Support told me that I need to turn my mystar box to a 35 degree angle because my plasma is causing interferance with mystar's remote as the mystar does the opposite to the remote command. Anyone else heard this? I also asked if I got the new mystar HD, could I keep my existing SD box, pay whatever fee, and use it solely to play back the recordings. I was told no, it has to be connected to the dish in order to play back the recordings. Didn't make a lot of sense to me.

This is what i was told about a year or so ago and the funny thing is that it did work, it has something to do with the rays coming off the plasma.....i was told that techs where looking at that issue back then and they should have a fix in a few weeks, sure am glad i send back the 3 i had. As for the recordings on the Standard mystar it doesn't have to be connected to the dish but the box must be active....when i told austar to stick this heap if crap up there c$%ts they said we will disconnect you now and credit you back what ever was leftover, and i could keep viewing the channels just couldn't pause or record anymore....what they forgot to tell me was that i wont be able to view any of the shows that i had stored on the hard drive (i think i posted something about this quite a while back).

Another good trick if you (like me) don't wont to turn you box go out and get a universal remote, I was lucky i had 2 logitech 1000i's and it worked a treat.

Austar will tell you anything to shut you up and make money. If you get the HD good luck but i don't think you will find it has a much better pic that your std mystar using RGB on a HDTV, i now have STD Austar boxes in 5 rooms, and all have as good as HD picture by using 2 with RCA out to RCA in on DVD-R's with 1080p upscaling using HDMI out to HDMI in on a HD TV (give's me a great smooth 1080p pic), 1 with RCA out to a Beyonwiz DP-P2 then out via HDMI and i am getting a clean 1080i pic, (plus i can pause, record & pay back recorded Austar shows while recording 2 FTA channels) another one is in the theatre that is hooked up to a Yamaha Amp and upconverts with some super microchip and ...no joke the pic is as good and FTA HD (plus that has a Beyonwiz DP-P2 as well, and the other is on a Sony amp and again the pic is great, without this setup the pic was all blocky and crap as all my TV's are large screen.

But again good luck and let us know what the pic is like....unless i can get Austar to get rid of the $100 set up fee ....(can't see why i should have to pay $100 to set up something my self) i wont be in any great hurry to get one, I'm still getting over the last lot i had.

[mrfixits]

Bzzzt. Would you like a short clip of a mystar that has no PDP, no LED, no LCD, no CLF, no .... well none of anything that has been claimed to cause the problem anywhere near and yet the problem persists? I'm sure I can arrange it. Heck, I'm sure that plenty of people on this forum can arrange it.

You bet. I suppose you recommend people persist with a STB that performs random actions with random delays when a button is pressed on the remote.

Yeah. Just like none of your STBs ever restart overnight.

I had this problem everday on my plasma's, (Day and night) but on the LG LCD i never got the problem, so i took that mystar box and pluged it in next to one of my plasma's and it had the remote issues again (that is when i tried the turning trick that Austar said to try and it worked...(but i used my Logitech 1000i for both plasma's so i never got any remote issues, still got the fast forward issue...LOL)...Austar said it is/was a known issue (back when i rang them about a year or so ago) and they also said it only some makes of TV's that cause it. my 2 Panasonic's had issues but like i said the LG LCD never did. But the box was still a heap of ****.

[mrfixits]

Sounds more like a dodgy cable, though go 720p if you can't do 1080p, as 720p is better (Progressive > interlaced)

Mate spend the money on a good HDMI cable, i have for all my gear but one day i needed one as i forgot to get one when i got everything to build my HTPC so the only place that was open was WOW, and the only HDMI cable that was in stock was a cheap $19 one ...so i grabbed it plugged it in turned it all on and i had red and green lines running down the screen, (thinking i f%$ked something up or some drivers may have been missing) the motherboard has a S-Video out, so i tried that and it worked fine, so i set everything up and again i tried the cheap HDMI cable and got the same thing, so i took my $175 cable from the Theatre and tried that and the Pic was perfect....went out the next day and took that cheap crap one back and picked up a good one from Jaycar for about $40 and it worked great.

[nutmeg1]

A quick google search shows that high priced cables are a waste of money check cnets reviews.As they say its a digital signal so unless you have a long run

5 mtrs + don't buy expensive cable.

[speedfreek]

Mate spend the money on a good HDMI cable,

Well i try to buy brands i know, lessen the chance of a dodgy cable, though i'm not going to spend $50-$100 on one. When my mum got her LCD TV, ended up getting her a $25 HDMI cable from Big W, works fine on the upscaling dvd player (shame that it does 1080i, be good if i could set the player to 720p instead) and when i brought over my 360 it worked perfect over 1080p

the only HDMI cable that was in stock was a cheap $19 one ...so i grabbed it plugged it in turned it all on and i had red and green lines running down the screen, (thinking i f%$ked something up or some drivers may have been missing) the motherboard has a S-Video out, so i tried that and it worked fine,

I'd put it down to a dodgy cable, there's no saying that spending $40 or more on one will guarantee you of one that will be perfect either.

so i set everything up and again i tried the cheap HDMI cable and got the same thing, so i took my $175 cable from the Theatre and tried that and the Pic was perfect....went out the next day and took that cheap crap one back and picked up a good one from Jaycar for about $40 and it worked great.

$175? Let me guess, it was a Monster brand?

$40 is pretty manageable still but getting a bit high, though one would be forgiven if they were the latest spec ones they seem to be about double of the regular one, as mentioned previous when buying mum one for $25 there was the 1.3a or whatever spec ones and they were about $20 more

[gbb]

The remote issue has seemed to have settled down but found it very frustrating nonetheless. They say that there are no remote issues with the hd box. I'm in a similar situation to you, mr fixits, in that I'm just running svid out to dvd recorder and outputting in 1080p over HDMI. I could only justify going to the hd mystar to watch the sport channels.

[DrP]

You must have forgotten, I dont notice it resets at some time in the wee hours.

Actually you claimed that your boxes did not reset in the wee hours (or any other time), not that you don't notice. Would you like me to dig the post out for you?

The remote works perfectly for me. I am unsure why you take the stance that because something happens to you it must happen to everyone.

Clearly many that have contributed to this thread have experienced the problem. Via direct, 2nd hand or distant relationships I know of approx 50 people that have remote control issues with the mystar. I guess everyone here and everyone else I know of with remote control problems is making it all up. While certain PDPs may contribute to the issue there is clearly more than just that happening, especially in the light of mrfixit's post where using a different non-Austar remote control improved the situation.

Anyway, why do you still have yours if your telling everyone else to send it back.

Just shows how much attention you don't pay before making your BS posts. I have never subscribed to the mystar service and based on what I see on a daily basis probably never will. I'm sure everyone here hopes the HD version is a product that actually does what its supposed to and does it reliably but I bet no one would be willing to hold their breath waiting.

Edited November 6, 2009 by DrP