bl0cka Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 So I can't just set it to 90% to allocate 10% of the HDD for timeshift archiving, leaving the rest of scheduled recordings? What happens if it is disabled and the HDD gets full? An error for not enough room hence no recording?
50mxe20 Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 am i right in saying that this unit cannot edit recorded programs?i cannot find anywhere to do this The following is copied from the manual:(Pretty basic) 7.4 Editing a recording You can cut out or save a part such as a commercial from a recording by performing the following steps: 1. Press the button to display the progress bar during a playback. 2. Move to the beginning scene of the part you want to edit by holding down the __??_ V?? or__ ??_ V+ button. 3. Press the button. 4. Move to the end scene. 5. Press the button, then the edit options are displayed 6. If you choose the Cut option, it will be removed from the original recording and discarded. 7. If you choose the Save option, the cut will be saved in a new file which is named after the original recording with a suffix of 'CUT' and a number.
Vortical Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) So I can't just set it to 90% to allocate 10% of the HDD for timeshift archiving, leaving the rest of scheduled recordings?What happens if it is disabled and the HDD gets full? An error for not enough room hence no recording? It has nothing to do with Timeshift buffers. It's purely recorded timer files only. There is a Timeshift Storage option which depending on your firmware version does different things. In earlier firmware versions it kept every single timeshift buffer until the hdd filled up but now it only keeps the last two timeshift buffers recorded. We're still working on refining this but it's ultimately up to Topfield with what gets implemented. I've never let my HDD fill up so I don't know what happens if it does. Personally I think it's a really bad idea letting a HDD fill up in the first place and that's why the reserved space is a great option for users who have trouble managing their free space. If you set it to 90% it will reserve 90% of the HDD as free space for the Timeshift buffer ect... If you set it to 10% it will reserve 10% of the HDD as free space for the Timeshift buffer ect.. I hope that's clear now bl0cka Edited February 19, 2008 by Vortical
Tassie Devil Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 I've never let my HDD fill up so I don't know what happens if it does.Personally I think it's a really bad idea letting a HDD fill up in the first place and that's why the reserved space is a great option for users who have trouble managing their free space. Agree it is a bad idea and it is hard to see why it should happen. What is the point of recording more videos than you have time to look at? IMHO it is fine to record in SD and let the Toppy upscale. Not sure I understand why this is so sac religious to some people. HD can be reserved for the few odd spectacular programs which might benefit, but I've yet to come across them. The only time I've come close to filling up the 160 gb on the Humax Smart was when I made a stupid error in the timer setting and recorded hours of junk. But movies do eat up HDD space, particularly those from the commercial networks because 1/3 of it is ads + the time padding required. My wife and I take the time to look up the reviews in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. The time spent there saves wasted time (and HDD space) with crummy movies. Sometimes we do not find a single movie worth recording all week. The most has been 3. However we do trial most of the French, German (not the comedies - the German sense of comedy does not coincide with ours) and Scandinavian efforts from SBS and there have been a few gems in among the foreign rubbish. We can usually tell in the first 15 minutes if it will be worth looking at. But that is just us, to each his own. Bottom line is that the Toppy 7000 & Humax Smart have made video viewing so much easier than the battery of VCRs they displaced John
hallycat Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Thanks John and Peter for your comments. To give some background, last year I purchased a new Samsung LCD 81cm wide screen TV. A couple of months down the track I realised it isn't digital (I never used it without the PVR) and it doesn't support HDMI at all. I should have done more research before forking out $1300 or just plain waited a couple of months...but you live and learn. Anyway, the HD PVR will simply give me access to more channels, I don't think it will improve the picture quality, however, I am pretty happy with PQ as it is. I rarely view live TV, I record nearly everything I want to watch so I can skip ads. I always watch TV through the PVR as it is all hooked up to the sound system and I use a Harmony 800 remote to control all devices. If I buy the 7000 the 5000 will simply be relegated to the bedroom TV. This where it becomes a dilemma for me. Is it really worth having HD considering that the TV is analogue and doesn't support HDMI. The reason for the extended warranty is because my previous PVR (DigiCrystal) died 2 weeks out of warranty. HN offered to give me a 4 year extended warranty for the price of a 3 year one ($119). Who knows, I might even buy a HD TV in the future but not in the immediate future. My sister has an LG HD PVR which she loves but it isn't a true twin tuner and I am not interested in anything less than a full twin tuner. For this reason I am deferring to DTV forum members to give me the pros and cons of purchasing a Toppy 7000 now so I can at least make an informed decision as to its value to me. If you guys already own one... who better to ask
Tassie Devil Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Thanks John and Peter for your comments. To give some background, last year I purchased a new Samsung LCD 81cm wide screen TV. A couple of months down the track I realised it isn't digital (I never used it without the PVR) and it doesn't support HDMI at all. I should have done more research before forking out $1300 or just plain waited a couple of months...but you live and learn. Anyway, the HD PVR will simply give me access to more channels, I don't think it will improve the picture quality, however, I am pretty happy with PQ as it is. I rarely view live TV, I record nearly everything I want to watch so I can skip ads. I always watch TV through the PVR as it is all hooked up to the sound system and I use a Harmony 800 remote to control all devices. If I buy the 7000 the 5000 will simply be relegated to the bedroom TV. This where it becomes a dilemma for me. Is it really worth having HD considering that the TV is analogue and doesn't support HDMI. The reason for the extended warranty is because my previous PVR (DigiCrystal) died 2 weeks out of warranty. HN offered to give me a 4 year extended warranty for the price of a 3 year one ($119). Who knows, I might even buy a HD TV in the future but not in the immediate future. My sister has an LG HD PVR which she loves but it isn't a true twin tuner and I am not interested in anything less than a full twin tuner. For this reason I am deferring to DTV forum members to give me the pros and cons of purchasing a Toppy 7000 now so I can at least make an informed decision as to its value to me. If you guys already own one... who better to ask Don't get too worried about HDMI. It is not without its problems anyway because of HDCP. You will be chuffed with the PQ ex component - I have the second system setup with a choice of component or HDMI to make it easier for my wife (the HDMI link requires switching the TV input so I've avoided that for her) and the PQ via component is excellent. So if your TV is a HD display, you will get the benefit of better PQ from the Toppy 7000. John
pgdownload Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 For this reason I am deferring to DTV forum members to give me the pros and cons of purchasing a Toppy 7000 now so I can at least make an informed decision as to its value to me. If you guys already own one... who better to ask As Tassie says, component can actually look better than HDMI on some setups - these cables are designed for eventual copy protection measures, not any great leap in PQ over a component cable.So the idea of getting a $100 HD STB is a bust? If you have the 5000 then possibly only a 1.7 HD box might be needed as 90%+ of your recordings can be made on the 5000. The LG can do everything except automatically record 2 things at once (ie if you go out for the night). So the only time you might miss out is if there are 2 HD only shows you want to record and you're out for the evening. Just a thought. What is the resolution of your TV? 480lines? 720 lines? As I said, a 7000 would no doubt fulfil all your requirements (but a HD STB would also get you 90% of the way there), the only question is is that 10% of functionality (being able to record the HD stations) worth $800 to you? Regards Peter Gillespie
Vortical Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 As I said, a 7000 would no doubt fulfil all your requirements (but a HD STB would also get you 90% of the way there), the only question is is that 10% of functionality (being able to record the HD stations) worth $800 to you? Depends how much your own time is worth to you I guess. And with the HD channels showing different content it's worthwhile in my opinion. Here is a good example of why a pvr is so much better than a STB; My wife loves the new dancing show on at the moment and with the pvr she watch a 1 hour scheduled program skipping all the useless garbage and just watching who the bottom 6 contestants were, their final dances and who left. Guess how long it took her to watch that show. 12 minutes. So that gave us back 48 minutes of our lives, although I probably could have done with the extra 12 minutes back as well. I can't begin to explain how much time the pvr has freed up for us to do other things. We literally can't live without our Topfield 7000 HDPVR now.
hallycat Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Once again thanks John and Peter. The TV does support Component cables and the DVD is hooked up via component. The Toppy 5000 uses scart to component. I also have a pair of component cables wandering around here from something else. The TV is 720x576i @50Hz if that answers the lines if that helps too. I am really grateful for your help here.
hallycat Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) I can't begin to explain how much time the pvr has freed up for us to do other things.We literally can't live without our Topfield 7000 HDPVR now. lol u don't have to sell me on PVR's they are the best thing since VCR and then much better Now, someone mentioned that I might hook up two PVRs...well that is what I thought....not a bad idea...gives me double the hdd but not what I was intending but is food for thought...Use the HD for only HD channels and the SD for general stuff...lol that will look after all my component ports. I rarely watch TV in bed anyway...I like to read books Edited February 19, 2008 by hallycat
thudabot Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 The following is copied from the manual:(Pretty basic) 7.4 Editing a recording You can cut out or save a part such as a commercial from a recording by performing the following steps: 1. Press the button to display the progress bar during a playback. 2. Move to the beginning scene of the part you want to edit by holding down the __??_ V?? or__ ??_ V+ button. 3. Press the button. 4. Move to the end scene. 5. Press the button, then the edit options are displayed 6. If you choose the Cut option, it will be removed from the original recording and discarded. 7. If you choose the Save option, the cut will be saved in a new file which is named after the original recording with a suffix of 'CUT' and a number. Thanks lyle but my manual does not have this info under 7.4 or anywhere else. Seems like i have an old version? Another cross for the Topfield
thudabot Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 I rarely watch TV in bed anyway...I like to read books so why do you want a true twin tuner? you are aware that you can record and watch something different with a 1.7 tuner?
hallycat Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 so why do you want a true twin tuner?you are aware that you can record and watch something different with a 1.7 tuner? I already have one twin tuner...I don't want to downgrade for the bedroom...i want to upgrade for the lounge where I watch TV.
Moosy Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Hey Guys I've had a TF7000 PVR for a few weeks now but in the last few days it has started to lose the channels from my favorites when ever the unit is turned off. Has anyone had this problem before? Unit was working fine but has now keeps on wiping the channels. Thanks Marty
Tassie Devil Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Hey GuysI've had a TF7000 PVR for a few weeks now but in the last few days it has started to lose the channels from my favorites when ever the unit is turned off. Has anyone had this problem before? Unit was working fine but has now keeps on wiping the channels. Thanks Marty Sorry Marty, I've not experienced that because I've never bothered with favorites - we have too few to really require that here!!! I guess that could be another problem the next release of software will solve. Talking to the guy at iTopfield I got the impression they are really anxious to finally clear all these niggles up. The fact that some Toppy 7000 experience some problems that others do not is puzzling them as much as the rest of us. All very frustrating to everyone but the inevitable result of a product which has grown like Topsy (pun intended) with add on patches to try to cope in the software. John (feeling sympathy with the challenge of solving the complex problems involved)
bl0cka Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Question: Tonight I have been instructed by the boss to record 2 shows on the same channel which are back to back. I used the EPG to select the recording, and I have a 10min buffer for the end of the show. Given the first show will finish when the second is meant to start - what happens with the 10min buffer? Will it cancel the buffer and just start recording to a new file when the second is due to start? I don't want the first file to finish recording at 8.29 and then the second to begin at 8.30 as I will miss either the end or beginning of one of them? or do i need to record them both in the one file to be safe? (make it a 2hour recording?)
Tassie Devil Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 or do i need to record them both in the one file to be safe? (make it a 2hour recording?) That is what I would do and make it 1/2 hour longer. Their start/stop times are far too unreliable to do what you are attempting. Having the one bigger file is fine as long as you have the PVR set to "continuous". As soon as you have finished with the first file, stop, and next time you start where you stopped off. Having 2 separate files would only be useful if you want to see the second one first. Even so, at 250X FF you would soon get it it. John
50mxe20 Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 or do i need to record them both in the one file to be safe? (make it a 2hour recording?)If it was me that is what I would do.
bl0cka Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Thanks guys, I was primarily wanting to split it because then it would be easier for the wife (ie no FF required). Bit of a limitation of using the EPG to record unfortunately. Anyone know what actually happens per the scenario in my above post though?
pgdownload Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Thanks guys, I was primarily wanting to split it because then it would be easier for the wife (ie no FF required). Bit of a limitation of using the EPG to record unfortunately. Anyone know what actually happens per the scenario in my above post though?Its possible you won't be able to record over lapping timers on the same channel (The SD Toppy's can't - its a stupid bug). However regardless ANY overlapping timers act completely independently so whatever time you set them to record is what time will be recorded.As for does your suggestion work well why don't you have a test run now - set up 2 10 minute timers the way you mention and see what happens. As for other options there are two I can see: 1) Set one timer for the SD version of the channel and the other for the HD version of the channel. This can work fine or 2) Create a single big episode. Then make a COPY of the show (I believe you press PLAY then REC to make a copy). You don't actually take up any more space I believe as the copy is simply a pointer to the original file. Then you can use the standard Toppy functions to trim each version so that only the show you want is available. Rename the files appropriately and your wife is set. Regards Peter Gillespie PS I'm not really familiar with the whole COPY routine of the 7000 so perhaps an owner could confirm my suggestion?
Tassie Devil Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Its possible you won't be able to record over lapping timers on the same channel (The SD Toppy's can't - its a stupid bug). However regardless ANY overlapping timers act completely independently so whatever time you set them to record is what time will be recorded.As for does your suggestion work well why don't you have a test run now - set up 2 10 minute timers the way you mention and see what happens. As for other options there are two I can see: 1) Set one timer for the SD version of the channel and the other for the HD version of the channel. This can work fine or 2) Create a single big episode. Then make a COPY of the show (I believe you press PLAY then REC to make a copy). You don't actually take up any more space I believe as the copy is simply a pointer to the original file. Then you can use the standard Toppy functions to trim each version so that only the show you want is available. Rename the files appropriately and your wife is set. Regards Peter Gillespie PS I'm not really familiar with the whole COPY routine of the 7000 so perhaps an owner could confirm my suggestion? Re the COPY. I do this all the time with the 5000 - I have to before Austar rolls over keys & corrupts it. But it is a completely new file. After COPY I delete the original. I guess the 7000 is the same but I cannot understand why you would make a copy anyway! John
pgdownload Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I guess the 7000 is the same but I cannot understand why you would make a copy anyway!The 7000 handles editing and copying completely differently to the 5000. The OP request is one reason why copying a file might be desirable (ie to split a recording into 2 discrete shows)Regards Peter Gillespie
bl0cka Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 I think I will try the copy scenario!! I couldn't record on the hd and sd concurrently as another recording is being set at the same time. I tried entering two recordings which overlap with the padding and the timer menu popped up with an error and deleted the timer recording that the new one clashed with. However it let me press the record button for a clashing program via the EPG. Which was weird. I will test it (clashing schedules via EPG) at some point so that if it does stuff up, I won't miss any recordings.
Vortical Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 (edited) bl0cka Have you joined the iTopfield website yet? (Follow the links in my signature below) There's a lot more people there who can easily answer many of your specific questions. There is quite a few owners on that site along with a lot of useful and helpful information. Many of us are extremely dedicated to helping users out and also making this great pvr even better. Edited February 20, 2008 by Vortical
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