5100 PVR Questions

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I've decided to ditch Star Choice because of the apathy & anti-customer stance I believe Shaw has rooted into SC operations. Anyways, since checking out the options the 5100 PVR looks like the most promising alternative to meet my needs.
I'm looking for advice/input from some of our esteemed techies and TV nuts out here re: the following /forums/images/icons/blush.gif)

1. As objectively as possible (LOL), what are the bugs and shortcomings of this unit, and how easy are they to live with?

2. The specs indicate it has Dolby Digital AC-3 output. What channels does ExpressVu provide a Dolby Digital signal (along with the musicam signal) for?

3. Have you had any second thoughts about your purchase?

4. How much has it affected the way you spend time in front of the TV (i.e. how much of what you watch is from recorded material?)

5. Would there be any problems archiving some of the recorded programming to my S-VHS VCR?

Sorry for all the questions, but for $700 plus tax ya gots to do your homework.

And on a side note, kudos to the folks at KUSAT for hosting this forum. It's a great place to share information & views.

Cheers all /forums/images/icons/blush.gif)

[mika911]

1) Yes, there are some slight problems with the PVR. However, if it wasn't for the Internet I would not call these "bugs." I would call it the personality of the device. There are no major problems in my view. Little things exist such as: flipping through channels too fast brings black screen, if you turn the unit off (which you don't need to do) the chances of you not getting your recording is 1 in 2 I would say, plus some other annoying things like: if you are watching live TV and go to your PVR list, it deletes the live TV buffer. Of course, if you had been recording it would have caused no problem.

To get you started: just remember - don't go too fast if you are channel surfing AND leave your PVR on to ensure your recordings happen without a glitch. Furthermore, if you experience any problems, hold the front panel power button for a few seconds until the red light comes on.


2) Do not know this one.


3) Thankfully, I have not had any second thoughts about my purchase. I only wish I could have had one sooner and I wish I could have another one.


4) Humm...this is a tough question. If I include my other PVRs...I would say 70-80% of what I watch is recorded. PVRs change the way you watch television. Plus, it is nice not having to put off work that I need to get done before I sit down to watch television. I can spend 20-30 minutes to finish what I need to do and then go watch whatever I want. I do usually still watch my favorite shows on a same-day basis, but always on a PVR (at least a few minutes after start so I don't have to see commercials). Live sporting events I usually watch live still. Of course, I still do some manual TV watching and channel surfing.


5) It would be great to archive to your SVHS VCR because you would have a perfect signal going to your SVHS VCR and you would be able to start your VCR recording more precisely (and edit out commercials for the tape copy really really easily) because you are in control of when the program starts, etc.

[mikealex]

mika911 answered most of your questions, but I thought I would throw in my $0.02 anyway.

1. known problems:
- changing channels too fast can cause a black screen. just change to another channel and back again to fix
- 0 length recordings. leaving the receiver on at all times takes care of this
- it is a good idea to reset the receiver about once a week by pressing the power button on the receiver for about 5 seconds

2. TMN shows some DD content, as does Vu (the PPV channels). I'm not really sure how much though, since I don't watch movies on TV because they don't show enough movies in widescreen

Also, the HDTV channels have some DD content.

3. No 2nd thoughts at all. It is a great toy!

4.Unless I'm just channel surfing, I watch EVERYTHING off the PVR. Even hockey. I tell the PVR to record the game, and then I start watching about an hour after it starts. After skipping all the commercials, and the intermissions, I usually catch up to the live broadcast about half way through the 3rd.

It is also great for replays, or to pause while you get another beer! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

5. Archiving to a VCR works well. My sister missed the first 10 episodes of 24, but I still had them on my PVR, so I dumped them all to tape for her. The only downside is that it happens in real time (takes an hour to archive an hour long show).

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I don't think I can answer all your questions but let me just say that I love my 5100. I too was a Starchoice user but switched because of Bell's PVR. I have never had any problems with the unit (I usually leave it on all the time) and it has dramatically changed the way my wife and I watch TV. It truly allows you to take advantage of timeshifting (record programs that you missed at 1:00 am or catch an earlier viewing at 6:00 pm). It now turns out that only 25% of our tv viewing is live while the rest are previously recorded. You can choose what you want to watch according to your own moods and likes, not according to a predetermined schedule.

One final point - at first my wife was sceptical about a $700.00 receiver purchase, especially already owning Starchoice, but now she is the biggest advocate of the 5100! You can't argue that!

Good luck with your decision.

[Cal]

I love it. It will change the way you watch TV. I almost never watch live TV anymore.

Its very nice to let it be recording something from the satalight while your watching something previously recorded.

You can transfer shows to VCR no problem. I do it for family when they miss a show. It will record whatever you play. There is no current way to dump more then one show at a time to tape. You will need to start each show manually. I'd love to queue up 8 hours of shows and let it go over night.

[Filthy]

I watch as much as I can delayed or recorded from the PVR. LIVE TV is for Chumps, suckers and those not able to convince their significant others that a PVR is the greatest consumer electronic product out there!

[snoman]

Filthy don't be coy.
Tell us what you really think of the PVR
/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Will Filthy be <font color=green>green with envy </font color=green>

or

drooling when the new Dual HD tuner integrated PVR is released by:
<font color=red>MOTOROLA </font color=red> this summer?

[mikealex]

Hey, there is always something newer and better coming down the pipe. That is just the way of consumer electronics. Buy a computer, it is obsolete in a week (or sooner).

Hopefully, Motorola will come out with a better PVR this summer. But, by then, I will have had the benefit of my 5100 for almost ayear. And, until they do release this dual HD tuner PVR, it is just more promises of vapourware.

BTW, the chances of an HD capable PVR coming out this summer is, IMHO, almost nil. Hollywood is very set against it until suitable copy protection issues get worked out, and the HD standards bodies are a long way from agreeing on a standard copy protection scheme for HD.

[Filthy]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr>


Will Filthy be green with envy

or

drooling when the new Dual HD tuner integrated PVR is released by:
MOTOROLA this summer?

<hr></blockquote>

Yeah, I think I saw a commercial on TV back in November of 2000 talking about the 'future of television' according to SC. Do you really think they will deliver one this time? Man THAT IS Funny! /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

[damian]

I love the PVR, use it all the time. Leave it on 7/24 and the worst of the problems never show up. Any word on the next software release?

I won't wade into the copyright protection issues, I'm too close to the subject. Visit your local theatre and buy/rent your DVD's. 'nuff said.

[noelk]

beachguy - it is a significant purchase, but worth it in my opinion. Here's my thoughts...

1. As objectively as possible (LOL), what are the bugs and shortcomings of this unit, and how easy are they to live with?

Bugs as mentioned above. However, I still find every 5-8 weeks mine still acts a bit quirky. Just last night I was fast forwarding and it wasn't 'smooth', but a bit jerky. Looks like time for another reboot of the unit (by holding the power button for 10 seconds). It doesn't bother me at all to leave the unit on or patentily change channels - I usually scroll using the banner anyway - it's the occasional unit freezes and recording failures that can drive me crazy. However, for balance, let me note I use it for 3-4 hours every day and these major problems crop up on average every 8-10 weeks.

2. The specs indicate it has Dolby Digital AC-3 output. What channels does ExpressVu provide a Dolby Digital signal (along with the musicam signal) for?

Can't help you here.


3. Have you had any second thoughts about your purchase?

Yes. It's a lot of money. BEV has twice offered to replace my receiver, and if it fails again I'll likely take them up on the offer. The problem is that 98% of the time the unit works marvelously, but those 2% failures are just soooo frustrating. While I have had second thoughts, I don't regret the purchase. It HAS changed the way we watch TV!

4. How much has it affected the way you spend time in front of the TV (i.e. how much of what you watch is from recorded material?)

I'd guess that 75% of our viewing is recorded. That other 25% is mindless surfing when we should be doing something more productive (work around the house, reading, etc). Sports we almost always start out watching live, but will pause in spots or skip back for a replay, catching up during commercials or intermissions.

It really does change the way you watch TV. I remember when I first got satellite then went to visit my parents and found it sooo difficult to channel surf without that banner telling you the program name. Now I find if we're at a friends or my parents' house and we're watching a show and miss a line of dialogue or want to see a reply, for a split second I'll look for the remote before remembering there's no PVR.

5. Would there be any problems archiving some of the recorded programming to my S-VHS VCR?

Shouldn't be a problem. I archive shows every week for my sister in England. While I used to program the VCR for Enterprise, now I record it on the PVR and then record it on my VCR while I'm watching the epiosde from the PVR...this way she even gets to skip the commercials.

Noel

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Thanks for all the input guys!!
Good info., it should help others who are also considering the PVR.
As for me, I checked my line-of-sight for Nimiq and checked out a 5100 at a local store tonight. It's a bit of an investment but it's just too cool to resist. I'll be returning to buy one. Probably won't be able to install it till Sun. or Mon. though. Work is too busy at the moment.
I'll post again with comments once I've used it for a few days.
Cheers all.

[mikealex]

Just so you're aware, if you haven't been following the other threads, the 5100 received a firmware update last night. I don't know what the difference is yet, but hopefully it will fix some of the problems.

I have confirmed that that black screen when changing channels too fast is still there.