thudabot Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 thought I would post here as this seems the most up to date toppy thread. I have to say I'm very unimpressed with this new unit at first thoughts. being an owner of the LG PVR there are some startling differences from a functioning point of view. 1. Graphics and OSD seem to have been desinged by a 2 year old, they look very ordinary as if just slapped together as an afterthought, very ugly. Especially the screen where recorded programs are displayed. LG - nice screen shots of each program, Toppy - just a list. Also on this screen where you have the ammount of HDD left, LG - nice pie chart graphic so you can see straight away if it's a quarter full, half full etc, Toppy - 205030 MB free (or something) 2. When playing back the 'playback' graphic is displayed way too long, long enough for me to find the Exit button and press to cancel it. 3. Remote of the LG beats it hands down even if a little bulky in terms of user friendliness. Colour coded buttons take straight to resorded programs and screen to set up your recording. I have to squit down and find the buttons on the Toppy. From all my previous understanding of the Toppy being a true 2 tuner unit I'm supposed to be able to record 2 things and watch another, I have quickly tried to record 2 different programs yet i couldn't watch a third. This is the same as my LG. ANyway a little rant over and out
Hydrology Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 From all my previous understanding of the Toppy being a true 2 tuner unit I'm supposed to be able to record 2 things and watch another, I have quickly tried to record 2 different programs yet i couldn't watch a third. This is the same as my LG. Incorrect. The Topfield was ALWAYS marketed as being a true twin tuner unit and no more. So you can record two different stations and watched a PREVIOUSLY RECORDED SHOW at the same time. You cannot watch a third station, after all, its a twin tuner only unit! I have to say despite some bugs I couldnt be more polarised in my opinion over yours regarding this product. I have no problem with the GUI, no problems with how things are laid out. May I ask, why did you buy this over the LG unit you already owned?
thudabot Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 don't get me wrong, the quality is great, but the GUI on the LG would win any contest. i really should do a screen shot comparison. i wanted a bigger hard drive for my new plasma and have always read how good the toppy is so i just got it. i don't have a lot of time to muck around and view them all in-store
diesel Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 don't get me wrong, the quality is great, but the GUI on the LG would win any contest.i really should do a screen shot comparison. LG would certainly have a bigger R&D budget for developing GUIs when you consider all the different products they develop and most likely use the same/similar GUI. This allows them to create a GUI which is much better looking (and hopefully easier to use) and by being common across their products gives their users instant familiarity and spreads the R&D costs. You can't expect the niche product developers like Topfield and Beyonwiz to have similar R&D budgets when they are very much limited in their ability to spread costs across their product base.
thudabot Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Incorrect. The Topfield was ALWAYS marketed as being a true twin tuner unit and no more. So you can record two different stations and watched a PREVIOUSLY RECORDED SHOW at the same time. You cannot watch a third station, after all, its a twin tuner only unit! this is true, i must have had a brain failure
50mxe20 Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 this is true, i must have had a brain failure Tis ok mate, I got caught on that one too, first time.
ozdoc Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Incorrect. The Topfield was ALWAYS marketed as being a true twin tuner unit and no more. So you can record two different stations and watched a PREVIOUSLY RECORDED SHOW at the same time. You cannot watch a third station, after all, its a twin tuner only unit! Just out of interest, can you watch a 'third' station if it's in the same mux as one of the channels being recorded? (eg, watch ABC2, while recording ABC and seven). (The SD Toppy can handle this task)
Greg Hudson Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 > You cannot watch a third station, after all, its a twin tuner only unit! G'Day. Actually, your statement above is incorrect... You can record 2 channels AND watch a 3rd *IF* the channel you are watching is a sub-channel of either of the recorded ones. Example: Record CH 9 and Ch 7 (Standard Def). Now go to CH 7 HI DEF and watch another program (if content is different to SD transmission) or Display the GUIDES for either CH 7 or CH 9 (Guides are effectively another channel) Regards, Greg.
diesel Posted January 14, 2008 Posted January 14, 2008 Actually, your statement above is incorrect... You can record 2 channels AND watch a 3rd *IF* the channel you are watching is a sub-channel of either of the recorded ones. Example:Record CH 9 and Ch 7 (Standard Def). Now go to CH 7 HI DEF and watch another program (if content is different to SD transmission) or Display the GUIDES for either CH 7 or CH 9 (Guides are effectively another channel) This is a good point now with the multi channeling that 10 and 7 are doing - though it's still relatively limited when this occurs. Hopefully more soon
thudabot Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 had to bring this up again as i cannot help but make comparisons with the LG 1. when you playback a recorded program the 'playback' skinny rectangular green box at top of screen stay on? is this correct? i seem to have to have to press the exit button on the remote every time to make it dissapear. 2. when pressing the record button to just start recording the program you are watching, there's no way to set a record time for that recording without having to set up a manual recording. eg on the LG when record button is pressed you get a list of options of how long you want this recording to be. if undertermined you press ok and it defaults to 'unlimited' but otherwise you can scroll through the different times such as 5 min through to 60min. its an ewasy way to record something you know will go for an hour as you just set it for 60 min. i have to say some of these features of the LG almost makes the best unit on the market in terms of user friendliness, ease of use and better GUI. the quality difference i can't see from my initial viewing and i have hooked them up side by side. i forgot from my initial research what the big difference with the tuners is from both units but i can't see an advantage for the twin tuners, as i can already record and watch something different on the LG with one tuner. i'm thinking i should have got the 250GB LG unit at the moment
eleventyseven Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 had to bring this up again as i cannot help but make comparisons with the LG1. when you playback a recorded program the 'playback' skinny rectangular green box at top of screen stay on? is this correct? i seem to have to have to press the exit button on the remote every time to make it dissapear. 2. when pressing the record button to just start recording the program you are watching, there's no way to set a record time for that recording without having to set up a manual recording. eg on the LG when record button is pressed you get a list of options of how long you want this recording to be. if undertermined you press ok and it defaults to 'unlimited' but otherwise you can scroll through the different times such as 5 min through to 60min. its an ewasy way to record something you know will go for an hour as you just set it for 60 min. i have to say some of these features of the LG almost makes the best unit on the market in terms of user friendliness, ease of use and better GUI. the quality difference i can't see from my initial viewing and i have hooked them up side by side. i forgot from my initial research what the big difference with the tuners is from both units but i can't see an advantage for the twin tuners, as i can already record and watch something different on the LG with one tuner. i'm thinking i should have got the 250GB LG unit at the moment Thudabot, if I understand your comments correctly, I think the first is an easy fix (as for number 2 maybe someone else can help... or future firmware). 1. Go to System Settings -> PVR Setting -> Progress Bar Display. I have this set to "Normal speed" and it sounds like you may have this set to "Never hiding". Change it and it will disappear after 10 seconds.
suede Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 why does the topfield website make no mention of the 7000?
eleventyseven Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 why does the topfield website make no mention of the 7000? Try http://www.itopfield.com.au/ or click here -> Topfield Australia A distributor owns the topfield.com.au domain so Topfield had to go with itopfield (or something like that).
deangelj Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 had to bring this up again as i cannot help but make comparisons with the LG2. when pressing the record button to just start recording the program you are watching, there's no way to set a record time for that recording without having to set up a manual recording. eg on the LG when record button is pressed you get a list of options of how long you want this recording to be. if undertermined you press ok and it defaults to 'unlimited' but otherwise you can scroll through the different times such as 5 min through to 60min. its an ewasy way to record something you know will go for an hour as you just set it for 60 min. i have to say some of these features of the LG almost makes the best unit on the market in terms of user friendliness, ease of use and better GUI. the quality difference i can't see from my initial viewing and i have hooked them up side by side. i forgot from my initial research what the big difference with the tuners is from both units but i can't see an advantage for the twin tuners, as i can already record and watch something different on the LG with one tuner. i'm thinking i should have got the 250GB LG unit at the moment After you press the record button to do a "quick record" press record again to bring up the recording options which you can change. You really need to use the 7000 for a while before making statements like this. There are differences in all PVRs and some do things differently than others - it doesn't make them any less user friendly. For example if I wanted a quick record why do I need to reply to a menu? The LG system seems less than optimal to me...
Robert E Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 > You cannot watch a third station, after all, its a twin tuner only unit!G'Day. Actually, your statement above is incorrect... You can record 2 channels AND watch a 3rd *IF* the channel you are watching is a sub-channel of either of the recorded ones. Example: Record CH 9 and Ch 7 (Standard Def). Now go to CH 7 HI DEF and watch another program (if content is different to SD transmission) or Display the GUIDES for either CH 7 or CH 9 (Guides are effectively another channel) Regards, Greg. It's actually even better than that in that you can record these three programs. Using your example (assuming you have time-shift enabled and it's set for a long enough time - menu variable from 30min to 6h) when the 7 HD program finishes enter time-shift and then press the record button and respond YES to Do you want to record the timeshifted program. You then end up with recordings of all 3 - the 2 timer recorded programs and the time-shift recording. ps Don't try this on a BW Robert
thudabot Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 Thudabot, if I understand your comments correctly, I think the first is an easy fix (as for number 2 maybe someone else can help... or future firmware).1. Go to System Settings -> PVR Setting -> Progress Bar Display. I have this set to "Normal speed" and it sounds like you may have this set to "Never hiding". Change it and it will disappear after 10 seconds. sorry i have no such thing as PVR setting under my System settings
eleventyseven Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 sorry i have no such thing as PVR setting under my System settings You might need to update your firmware. There's some great instructions Here If I can give you one bit of advice... follow them EXACTLY as they are. Call it the school of hard knocks
50mxe20 Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 sorry i have no such thing as PVR setting under my System settingsWhat headings do you have? under System?
thudabot Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 (edited) this is what i mean, having to update firmware as such for a new unit. should work sweet as out of the box. also noticed there's no way to change channels within the PIP box without going into the menu and selecting a station that way. there's no up/down button on the remote for changing PIP channels ??? also the picture on the PIP seems to always default on the same channel that you are watching when activating PIP, just a few of these things that I never thought I'd have to muck around with. under system settings menu this is all i have: time setting parental control a/v output setting osd transparency infor box display time info box position time shifting Edited January 21, 2008 by thudabot
eleventyseven Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 this is what i mean, having to update firmware as such for a new unit. should work sweet as out of the box.also noticed there's no way to change channels within the PIP box without going into the menu and selecting a station that way. there's no up/down button on the remote for changing PIP channels ??? also the picture on the PIP seems to always default on the same channel that you are watching when activating PIP, just a few of these things that I never thought I'd have to muck around with. under system settings menu this is all i have: time setting parental control a/v output setting osd transparency infor box display time info box position time shifting Thudabot, take it back. I've heard there's a good LG unit you can buy...
thudabot Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 i think the moral of the story is to try the PVR you are looking at before buying especially if you have had one in the past that you are going to compare ease of use, conveniance, remote, GUI etc. make sure you see it working hooked up to a TV. they are very frustrating things to not have when used to having them, especially since the Toppy gets so hyped up. i mean fancy not having having a button for changing PIP channels and having a playback window permanantly displayed onscreen..... im sure i will be able to live with these things in time but i might ask the question about swapping it over. dunno why the LG still suffers from bad brand name stigma didnt want to start a LG v Toppy topic here but i have posted some screenies if interested in the GUI difference http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtop...mp;#entry922466 also why does my unit only show as 205GB (205540 MB) when it's supposed to be 250GB
50mxe20 Posted January 21, 2008 Posted January 21, 2008 also why does my unit only show as 205GB (205540 MB) when it's supposed to be 250GBSounds like it needs a f/w update and an HDD reformat. From memory that will bring it up to 235. Some space get used by the time shifting of course.What firmware is it showing at the moment.
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