UPC DVR Reviews / Questions / Help

belmulletman

Ok,
Thought I'd start a specific thread for anyone who has questions about the UPC DVR from current owners (or, if someone has one and is havin problems maybe we can sort it out here!)
Also, people can post there thoughts / impressions of the box / software.

Anywho, i'll post my thoughts on it in a couple of days once i've had some time with it...

B.

Alun

The bug where you couldn't access "My TV Agenda" from the EPG page appears to have been fixed BTW. My software version now is 3.2.0.6 .. can't remember what it was before, but I seem to remember someone saying it was 3.2.0.1? Anyway, good to see they're busy!

BTW anyone notice the background image when you go to the Menu page? It says "Instellingen" which is Dutch for "Settings"!! I wonder how long it'll be before that's spotted

belmulletman

my box has always been 3.2.0.6... and that "bug" is present... unless they updated today...

Alun

Hmmm .. that's weird. I remember when they installed the box yesterday that the bug was there, and just now I happened to select "My TV Agenda" from the EPG page (not really thinking) and it worked! I was surprised, since I remember reading about the bug on the A4 sheet that came with the box, so did it again to confirm what I saw.

Maybe they updated the box but didn't update the software version number?

patrickmooney

I've love to see a way to return to first channel, akin to the yellow button. When you are browsing, I used to LOVE that page up and page down to jump the 100s and the yellow to return to 101. When in the tv guide, it's also difficult to jump channels.
Had anyone been able to add tv channels as favourates? I've only been able to add radio stations. Also there is no longer any epg info for radio that I can see.

belmulletman

wow... they noted the bug on that sheet... i didn't even look at it... probably should have!!

i know there's a few other quirks i've spotted, but can't remember them off hand... will have to wait till i get home this evening to see...

belmulletman

patrickmooney wrote:

I've love to see a way to return to first channel, akin to the yellow button. When you are browsing, I used to LOVE that page up and page down to jump the 100s and the yellow to return to 101. When in the tv guide, it's also difficult to jump channels.
Had anyone been able to add tv channels as favourates? I've only been able to add radio stations. Also there is no longer any epg info for radio that I can see.

I've not tried it with TV stations, i must though to see. i've done it alright with Radio... and ditto on the yellow button thing, that was a handy feature alright!

elderlemon

Can't get subtitles to stay off. Someone switched it on for BB1 - I go that that channel, press i and switch subtitles off. All is ok until you change channel - when you go back to bbc1 they are on again. Pain in the ...

Alun

elderlemon wrote:

Can't get subtitles to stay off. Someone switched it on for BB1 - I go that that channel, press i and switch subtitles off. All is ok until you change channel - when you go back to bbc1 they are on again. Pain in the ...

They're on by default for all channels that have them. Follow the instructions on the single sheet of A4 that came with the box to default them to off.

elderlemon

what sheet of paper? I got nothing with the box except for a power cable.

---- never mind. Found it in settings.

Alun wrote:

They're on by default for all channels that have them. Follow the instructions on the single sheet of A4 that came with the box to default them to off.

Alun

elderlemon wrote:

what sheet of paper? I got nothing with the box except for a power cable.

---- never mind. Found it in settings.

It was a single sheet of A4 entitled CUSTOMER INFORMATION.

Alun

Alun wrote:

Hmmm .. that's weird. I remember when they installed the box yesterday that the bug was there, and just now I happened to select "My TV Agenda" from the EPG page (not really thinking) and it worked! I was surprised, since I remember reading about the bug on the A4 sheet that came with the box, so did it again to confirm what I saw.

Maybe they updated the box but didn't update the software version number?

Replying to my own post here .. it seems that selecting "My TV Agenda" from the EPG screen only works if you either have nothing in it or only reminders. If you have at least one timed recording in there it doesn't work and you get dumped back to the programme you were watching.

flogen

I assume the answer to this was 'yes', but did the engineers take your old NTL box away or did they leave it (or even ask if you wanted it or wanted them to take it?)?

patrickmooney

Interesting observation. I was recording a programme earlier and watching live tv. I proceeded to both pause and rewind live tv without fail, thus where the twin tunners come into play. Now I wonder how Sky+ allow you to record two shows and watch live tv? Three tuners?

murpho999

patrickmooney wrote:

Interesting observation. I was recording a programme earlier and watching live tv. I proceeded to both pause and rewind live tv without fail, thus where the twin tunners come into play. Now I wonder how Sky+ allow you to record two shows and watch live tv? Three tuners?

Sky+ has two tuners that enable you to record two programs at once but you cannot watch live TV (except for one you are recording) whilst doing this.

With Sky you can watch 1 program whilst recording 1 other but not 2.

My understanding of NTL is that you can only record 1 program at a time, which I find a bit annoying.

Also, I understand that NTL does not have a 'series link' like Sky has.

This is an extremely handy feature as it records a whole series for you. I know on NTL you can schedule it for daily/weekly/monthly etc but if the next broadcast of the series is at another time to the previous one then the NTL DVR will miss it whereas the Sky box will record it.

I do not understand why NTL box does not have this considering how long Sky+ has been on the market and how long NTL have had to develop the product!

rockal

Is it possible to record 2 programs at same time by using a DVD recorder and DVR.

Alun

murpho999 wrote:

I do not understand why NTL box does not have this considering how long Sky+ has been on the market and how long NTL have had to develop the product!

I don't think it's purely a matter of an extra bit of software. The information to make series link work also has to be in the EPG somewhere, and I don't know how this happens in reality. In Sky's case do they have to manually construct this information from the basic EPG information it receives (where from?) or does it get it as part of that EPG information. I don't think it's quite as simple as just linking programmes in the EPG with the same name either .. you can get situations with episodes being repeated before the next episode is broadcast etc. which would screw things up.

elderlemon

well at its simpliest a series link is just a repeating record - record from this time to this time every tuesday until this date. That's the simple way and doesn't take into accout changes in programming schedule etc but it would work for a lot of situations. This is just a software change and is easy to do.

The harder way is to tag each program with an ID and when you want to record a series it scans the epg for this id number. that way it adjusts to programming schedule changes. This assumes NTL are putting in this kind of info in the first place - I doubt very much NTL are at this level (yet) but its the only way to bring in this kind of service.

Me I'd take the first one now and wait for the full blown series link to come in later.

patrickmooney

On Sky re recording two channels at once, it makes sense that you are locked on one of the channels in order to do so. I see the Virgin+ box has 4 tuners. 3 for TV, one for data. Plus it's HD. I wonder if the new HD box when it's released will have simliar specs.

belmulletman

patrickmooney wrote:

I've love to see a way to return to first channel, akin to the yellow button. When you are browsing, I used to LOVE that page up and page down to jump the 100s and the yellow to return to 101. When in the tv guide, it's also difficult to jump channels.
Had anyone been able to add tv channels as favourates? I've only been able to add radio stations. Also there is no longer any epg info for radio that I can see.

Hey...
If you want to add TV channels to your Favourites, what you need to do is... Press "Guide". Once that screen appears, press the Yellow button. You'll see all channels listed there with there respective category. jump to the channel you want and press the Blue Button to add it to your favourites. (Tip: you can type in the channel number to jump directly to it, this can be done in the normal TV Guide as well)

So, when you specified your Favourites, when your watching tv, press OK to bring up the mini Guide and press the Blue Button to switch to Favourite mode. in this mode when you press CH+ or CH- it will just between the channels you've specified as being your favourites. to go back to Normal mode, press the Blue button when the mini guide is up!

Hope that helps.

patrickmooney

Excellent stuff. I like the tip about typing in the channel number in the TV Guide! Nice and simple!

patrickmooney

Does anyone know how to get out of a hung "please wait" screen. I had set up several recordings yesterday, non where affected. But the parents hit "on demand" by accident, which never loaded. The "please wait" screen remained ons screen from 3pm - 10pm, no button would remove it. They ended up having to move into the second room and watch on the old NTL Digital box. Funny. I unplugged and it was fine when it came back. But not a good first day experience for the parents. Another strange behaviour, if you reboot during a record, it will not continue recording when it comes back up.

PauloMN

If you order a DVR from NTL, do they take your existing box back?

Will probably get one, bit miffed at the €49 charge for existing customers but free for new subs bit though.

Alun

patrickmooney wrote:

Does anyone know how to get out of a hung "please wait" screen. I had set up several recordings yesterday, non where affected. But the parents hit "on demand" by accident, which never loaded. The "please wait" screen remained ons screen from 3pm - 10pm, no button would remove it.

That's funny, I've just tried it on mine and the 'back' button got me back out of it quite reliably. ISTR that I tried it when I first got the box too and then it timed out after a while with a message like "No interactive services available" or something like that.

patrickmooney

Yes the back button should work, but for some reason yesterday it wouldn't. Only way to fix was an unplug.

Psygnosis

Do they take your old box back?

Alun

Psygnosis wrote:

Do they take your old box back?

If you want them to. Of course, if you keep your old box as well as the new DVR, I'm sure they'll charge you for a second connection, however much that costs. When the installers rang me to confirm my booking, they asked me whether I wanted to keep the old box or not.

paulm17781

I got mine installed this morning but apparently there is a problem with the provisioning system and I can't watch anything. :mad:

If there are problems there are problems but it is still quite irritating.

belmulletman

Hi All,

Here is my take of the UPC DVR. I've had it since Tuesday and recorded shows and messed with it for a few days.

So, to get started, the box it's self. Well, it's considerably bigger than the old little Pace box, but that's completely understandable. it's about the same size as my old Philips HDD/DVD recorder, so about the size of a standard DVD player. I do like the display on the front that show the channel and programme you are watching. It's a nice touch. There's loads of buttons on the front of the unit to control most features. The remote, is fine. it's a standard remote, and to be honest, i rarely use standard remotes as i have Logitech Harmony that i use. On that note, the harmony 525 works perfectly with it. The box was already built into the Logitech software so i just had to add it to my system.

Right, so now for the system it's self. I have to start by saying, it's not the most elegant system, and is a little fiddly, BUT, it works. It is a bit of a bummer that you can't record 2 programmes at once, but you can record one while wathcing another, or while watching one you've recorded before.
The Guide, while it takes a little to open (when i say a little, usually between 4-6 seconds, so not an overly long time and to be honest, about the same as the Sky Guide if you ask me) actually works. It goes 7 days in advance (e.g. today being Saturday, i can set-up shows to record this day next week). the show summary is good. while in the guide, to jump to a specific channel, just type the channel number in and it will go straight to it, which is handy.
The "mini guide" (what was browse) only shows what's currently on, and what's on next. while I do miss being able to see what's on a specific channel without entering the guide, the fact the guide actually works now, makes up for that.
Playing back recordings is not a problem, hit Menu -> Digital Video Recorder -> My Programmes and select what you've recored and it plays. the recording keeps all the programme info and even the subtitles (which is nice... NB. this only works for shows you selected to record through the guide and not shows you've set to record manually)
The quality, is the same as what was broadcast. it's like the way Sky+ works, as in, it captures the digital bit stream as opposed to recording it analogue and compressing it down. There is a noticeable bug that i've found. if you're in the "Guide" and go to "My TV Agenda" it'll just drop you back to the channel you were viewing. To access "MY TV Agenda" (this is what shows you what you've set up to record) you must go through the menu, Digital Video Recorder and select it in there. while it is a bug, it's not a big deal, and is something i'm sure is easily fixed with an upgrade.
Setting up and "advance memo" (ie. a custom recording for daily, weekly or monthly) is not a problem, i've done this and it's worked flawlessly.
If you turn the system off, it'll still record the programmes no problem.

Pausing, Rewinding, FF live TV is not a problem and works perfectly. the Rewinding part only kicks in after viewing a channel for 30 seconds, and if you change the channel, it's reset and start again. which is fine. I've used the Pause feature more than anything else and is REALLY handy and works well.

So, what else is there to say. The system works well, and does what is says on the tin. I'm sure it can only get better with updates and new features (Series link is one i definitely want to see!)

If anyone has any specific questions that i might be able to help with please ask away and if i can answer i will.

If i think i've anything i've left out of this i'll add it later. but to date, it's been a good experience, and one that'll hopefully get better!


B.

patrickmooney

Does anyone know of a central email address to fire bugs into UPC for this DVR. I've uncovered quite a few, it's nice putting them here, would be better if we could submit them directly to UPC.

belmulletman

patrickmooney wrote:

Does anyone know of a central email address to fire bugs into UPC for this DVR. I've uncovered quite a few, it's nice putting them here, would be better if we could submit them directly to UPC.

What sort of bugs have you found?
I don't know an email off hand, but i'm sure someone does!

Alun

belmulletman wrote:

There is a noticeable bug that i've found. if you're in the "Guide" and go to "My TV Agenda" it'll just drop you back to the channel you were viewing.

That's a known bug and is mentioned on the A4 Sheet that came with the box, and it says they're working on it.

For those that didn't get it(and there seem to have been a few) here's a scan ...

belmulletman

Alun wrote:

That's a known bug and is mentioned on the A4 Sheet that came with the box, and it says they're working on it.

For those that didn't get it(and there seem to have been a few) here's a scan ...

Ah, cheers for the scan... I didn't get that sheet with my unit! it's good to know that they are working on it.
I thought there was an update last night, but alas there wasn't. i turned the unit off about 3am, but shortly after i turned it off, it started making noises, i looked at the display, and it was off, and the red standby light was off. it then suddenly turned it self back on to stand-by, with the incorrect time... i checked to see if the software version had changed, but not yet... hopefully they'll send an update out this week.

Actually, has anyone seen any sort of marketing for the DVR? I've not seen anything anywhere... not even on their own site (which is a bit mad really!)

Alun

belmulletman wrote:

Ah, cheers for the scan... I didn't get that sheet with my unit! it's good to know that they are working on it.
I thought there was an update last night, but alas there wasn't. i turned the unit off about 3am, but shortly after i turned it off, it started making noises, i looked at the display, and it was off, and the red standby light was off. it then suddenly turned it self back on to stand-by, with the incorrect time... i checked to see if the software version had changed, but not yet... hopefully they'll send an update out this week.

Mine always makes a little noise shortly after switching it off, and also just after switching it on. Probably the hard disk spinning up/down.

As for the display, it seems to do that when the signal goes down for whatever reason. Strangely enough the minutes display is always correct, but the hours display is one or two hours behind.

belmulletman

Alun wrote:

Mine always makes a little noise shortly after switching it off, and also just after switching it on. Probably the hard disk spinning up/down.

As for the display, it seems to do that when the signal goes down for whatever reason. Strangely enough the minutes display is always correct, but the hours display is one or two hours behind.

Same here, but what happened last night, was like the unit actually rebooted it's self! cause it had spinned down and was off... and it was like 20min's later when it started... anywho, it's not broken or anything so it's all good...
as for the time, I find once it's been turned on, the time on the front sets properly...

patrickmooney

Thanks for that scan too. Didn't get it. They do have marketing material on their site, went up on Friday I think http://www.ntl.ie/television/digitaltv/extras/dvr/

Solair

Who makes the box?
Is it the Scientific Atlanta or a Philips product?
UPC seem fond of both on the continent.

Alun

Solair wrote:

Who makes the box? Is it the Scientific Atlanta or a Philips product? UPC seem fond of both on the continent.

Neither .. it's a Thompson box

paulm17781

paulm17781 wrote:

I got mine installed this morning but apparently there is a problem with the provisioning system and I can't watch anything. :mad:

If there are problems there are problems but it is still quite irritating.

Despite several different excuses from NTL resulting in the need for an engineer call on Wednesday, it was working when I got home.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled it works now but the various stories and untruth's give by NTL are really, really annoying. What really gets me is that I was never called back to be old it was working. Someone did something to get it to work but NTL chose not to share this info. :mad:

The tax man

If the provisioning system is down during the day your stb and smart card number will be entered into the system and join the queue along with all the others. When the system is up and running again they'll get processed. Call centre people won't have a clue what you're on about:rolleyes: :rolleyes: I used to get the person doing the provision to give the customer a quick buzz to confirm it went through ok cause any(provisioning) faults won't show up till the provision attempt was made. If it failed I'd call back to sort things out.

Good to see it went through in the end.:)

Eamo71

Solair wrote:

Who makes the box?
Is it the Scientific Atlanta or a Philips product?
UPC seem fond of both on the continent.

Philips will be making UPC's HD box - 250GB with 3 tuners.

murpho999

Well I had my UPC DVR installed today and as an ex Sky Plus user here are my comments.

Firstly, regarding size, it is bigger than the old crappy Pace box but is not too big as one poster complained of earlier. It's slightly larger in height than a DVD player, but looks nice and slick and comes in a modern looking silver casing and black display. Display is also nice as it displays channel and program info. Not really necessary but it looks good.

First big improvement over the Pace box is the remote signal strength. The unit picks up the signal much quicker and easier than before. With the old Pace box I found that I really had to point it in a straight line to the box but the new DVR remote signal is much stronger and the unit responds to remote no matter what direction you point the remote. Small point but for me it makes use less frustrating.

Most significant and biggest improvement is the EPG. Some people find it slow but I don't. It's light years quicker than the PACE box. It takes about 4-6 seconds to load but when loaded it is complete. Sometimes with Sky you get into the guide quicker but often had to wait 30 secs or more for full listings to fill in. Also the guide is for a full 7 days which is great. Overall the EPG is a huge improvement over the old one regarding functionality and looks. Also, when you select guide the channel you are watching remains in right hand corner with sound, no crappy City Channel like you have with the Pace box.
With Sky you lose the channel you were watching and forced to listen to crappy music.

Mini guide also works well but I do find it a pity that you can only see what's on now and next on each channel. In order to browse programs later you have to go to the full guide. This is different to Sky+ where you can browse all the days listings. Hopefully this might change in a future upgrade. You can view program info on UPC box better than Sky plus as with Sky you can only view info in Guide, not while you are surfing.

Whilst in the guide you can view all channels or view by category. Also, you can switch view to full day listing per channel which is handy. You can't do that on Sky.

Find it a pity that there is no A-Z listing which is useful when looking for a program.

As for recording functions I have found some pros and cons.

Firstly, I do not like it that you can only record one program at a time. Yes you can record one channel and watch another at the same time, but on Sky+ you can record 2 programs at one time which is handy.

Secondly, the lack of series link is a great pity and is a great feature on Sky.
You can manually set up recurring recordings for daily, weekly or Mon-Fri but this is not the same as a series link that tracks programs if they are broadcast at different times.

Recording programs is easy to do, you can do this by pressing record in TV Guide/Mini Guide or whilst watching a channel. Large red LED lights up on front of unit whilst it's recording.

Pause/rewind live TV works very well and is easy to use. Only thing I find is that if you rewind a few minutes and then want to return to LiveTV you have to fast forward through everything to get back to 'real time' . Bit of a nuisance as on Sky you just pressed 'Stop' and you were back to live broadcast.

One drawback I have found also is that if you are watching a program and half way through you decide to record it, it only records from the moment that you press record, and does not save the part you have already watched. You can do this on Sky and is handy, especially if you think that a program you are watching may be interesting to someone else in your house. With the UPC box you will miss the start.

Access to your recordings straightforward enough. Simply go to Menu and select DVR and then My Programs. Layout is very straightforward and you simply highlight the program you want to watch and select it.
Only things missing here compared to Sky is that with Sky you can specify what minute you want it start playback and you can't do that with UPC (not that I can find anyway). Also, I don't think you can hook the unit up to another device (DVD recorder, VCR) to copy, which is also a handy feature on Sky.

Overall, I am happy as it is so much better than the old Pace box. More responsive remote and better EPG are the major improvements for me.

If they can just get the recording issues sorted then UPC would have a killer product. I hope this can happen with future software upgrades.

So, my final recomendation for those in doubt would be to go for it.
The benefits of a proper EPG and also being able to record, pause/rewind live TV really are fantastic and you couldn't live without once you are used to it.

murpho999

Eamo71 wrote:

Philips will be making UPC's HD box - 250GB with 3 tuners.

Where are you getting this info from and when will HD be available?
3 Tuners would be great!!

MHP

Can the DVR be connected to a DVD recorder? Can a DVR recording be copied to the DVD recorder?

paulm17781

The tax man wrote:

If the provisioning system is down during the day your stb and smart card number will be entered into the system and join the queue along with all the others. When the system is up and running again they'll get processed. Call centre people won't have a clue what you're on about:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

This is probably true, one person blatantly lied to me though, that is what gets me.

belmulletman

murpho999 wrote:

Pause/rewind live TV works very well and is easy to use. Only thing I find is that if you rewind a few minutes and then want to return to LiveTV you have to fast forward through everything to get back to 'real time' . Bit of a nuisance as on Sky you just pressed 'Stop' and you were back to live broadcast.

If you want to jump back to real time, just press the UPC button and it will drop you back in to the real time broadcast.

Hope this helps, as the fast forwarding things was doing my nut until i found this out!

Alun

murpho999 wrote:

One drawback I have found also is that if you are watching a program and half way through you decide to record it, it only records from the moment that you press record, and does not save the part you have already watched. You can do this on Sky and is handy, especially if you think that a program you are watching may be interesting to someone else in your house. With the UPC box you will miss the start.

Yes, I found that a little disappointing too, especially seeing as the message that pops up when you hit Record in the middle of the program seems to suggest that it will do just that! Only when you go to the list of recordings can you see from the length of the recording that it hasn't

Also, I don't think you can hook the unit up to another device (DVD recorder, VCR) to copy, which is also a handy feature on Sky.

There's a SCART on the back labelled DVD/VCR, just hook your VCR up to that, set it up to record from whichever EXTernal source the box is attached to and bobs-yer-uncle.

Alun

Had a a minor glitch with mine this morning .. turned it on and went straight to "My Programmes" and the percentage used was all over the place .. 3600% used on one programme, 5000% on another, and the global usage was 7200% or something silly!. After I pressed the Information button for one programme and then hit the Back key it was all back to sensible values. Strange.

Eamo71

murpho999 wrote:

Where are you getting this info from and when will HD be available?
3 Tuners would be great!!

Hey Murpho,

A friend of mine works in the meija and gave me the press pack from the launch. I'm looking at it right now so yeah 3 tuners. He told me UPC will probably not upgrade the Thompson box to 3 tuners and expect most people to switch to the HD box. Can't wait.

Should be available at the end of 07. Though lot will depend on the content available (so there could be delays). The box is ready to go though....

Alun

Eamo71 wrote:

A friend of mine works in the meija and gave me the press pack from the launch. I'm looking at it right now so yeah 3 tuners. He told me UPC will probably not upgrade the Thompson box to 3 tuners and expect most people to switch to the HD box. Can't wait.

Seems like an odd strategy though .. why introduce the SD one when you're expecting "most people" to switch to the HD version literally a few months later? Doesn't make sense to me.

Eamo71

Alun wrote:

Seems like an odd strategy though .. why introduce the SD one when you're expecting "most people" to switch to the HD version literally a few months later? Doesn't make sense to me.

That's me paraphrasing waht my mate told me... maybe I picked it up wrong...

I don;t think they expect people to instantly switch ... but over time with the improved HD service a lot of the mediabox standard customers will probably jump to the HD one. So I guess if you want your 3 tuners the HD box will be the one for you...