Looking for a saorview HD box

Pappy o' daniel · 01-03-2011 10:37AM #1

My father has a terrible reception on analogue so I tried my PS3 with playtv and got a perfect reception through saorview, so Im looking for a stand alone STB with teletext being essential.

Looking through this board people favoured the metronic zapbox from amazon but the price has more than doubled. What do people recommend?

watty · 01-03-2011 11:11AM

either
wait a few months for more Saorview Certified Box to be released
OR
Get a Walker Saorview Certified Box
OR
Get a UK "Freeview HD" Certified box (absolutely not "Freeview" boxes as they don't work. The Tv3 and TG4 teletext may not work on SOME "Freeview HD" Certified boxes, but by end of 2012 or so the traditional Teletext will be turned off and by then TG4 and TV3 should be adding their pages to the Saorview MHEG5 application based Interactive Text. (RTE content already).

If you want Teletext past 2012, it must be MHEG5 based, thus actual Saorview box or "Freeview HD" box are really the only choices.

The UK retailers have "Freeview HD" Certified boxes from about £45. The Walker box is about €90 to €100.

More Saorview Certified boxes by May 2011 when "full launch" occurs.

Pappy o' daniel · 01-03-2011 11:44AM

Thanks. What UK "Freeview HD" box would you recommend?
£45 seems a good price, would they be available on pixmania or amazon?

watty · 01-03-2011 12:23PM

Probably only in UK retail.

Pixmania is the French orientated Online store owned by Currys Group, it tends to have TNT rather than Freeveiw product.

Yes, Amazon UK sells "Freeview HD" aka DVB-T2 set-boxes. Do not buy plain "freeview" even if it has HDMI. From about £45

I don't know if they ship here.

These are REALLY budget basement boxes. A Walker box or waiting a couple of months may be better
http://www.amazon.co.uk/KRYSTEL-DVBT2-Freeview-Box-Receiver/dp/B003SQE8DI/ref=sr_1_107?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298982095&sr=1-107
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bush-DVB680-Freeview-Set-Top/dp/B004OOTSNS/ref=sr_1_116?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298982095&sr=1-116

http://powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP11DT
IMO this box is overpriced by €15 to €30
I'd not touch any of those Satellite Set-boxes on that site at all.

St Senan · 01-03-2011 12:33PM

This is what you need http://www.powercity.ie/?brands=WALKER&pages=1&par=10-23

watty · 01-03-2011 12:42PM

Same as my last link

STB · 01-03-2011 04:37PM

watty wrote: »

A Walker box or waiting a couple of months may be better
http://www.amazon.co.uk/KRYSTEL-DVBT2-Freeview-Box-Receiver/dp/B003SQE8DI/ref=sr_1_107?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298982095&sr=1-107
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bush-DVB680-Freeview-Set-Top/dp/B004OOTSNS/ref=sr_1_116?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298982095&sr=1-116

http://powercity.ie/?par=10-23-WP11DT
IMO this box is overpriced by €15 to €30
I'd not touch any of those Satellite Set-boxes on that site at all.

The 2nd box the bush, is basically the Walker box!

Pappy o' daniel · 01-03-2011 05:01PM

Fairly crappy that you have an excellent system like saorview in place but nothing to actually watch it on. Some retailers here should get their **** together

watty · 01-03-2011 05:26PM

They retailer want it a secret till they have sold off all the obsolete stuff.

watty · 01-03-2011 05:27PM

STB wrote: »

The 2nd box the bush, is basically the Walker box!

proves my point the Walker is overpriced.

Tony · 01-03-2011 07:01PM

Its got nothing to do with retailers, there is only one Saorview certified box so far which is the Walker. It costs 20K to have a box certified so the maufacturers are not exactly lined up for this given the size of the Irish market.

Retailers do not make Saorview boxes.

Pappy o' daniel wrote: »

Fairly crappy that you have an excellent system like saorview in place but nothing to actually watch it on. Some retailers here should get their **** together

Tony · 01-03-2011 07:02PM

watty wrote: »

proves my point the Walker is overpriced.

I agree Watty, I reckon the wholesale price should be halved

ted1 · 01-03-2011 08:28PM

i suspect walker didn't pay for certification. I wouldn't be surprised if the ida, enterprise ireland or even RTE covered the costs.

Tony · 01-03-2011 08:38PM

ted1 wrote: »

i suspect walker didn't pay for certification. I wouldn't be surprised if the ida, enterprise ireland or even RTE covered the costs.

What leads you to suspect this ?

watty · 01-03-2011 08:49PM

IDA and Enterprise Ireland don't work like that. For Grants you have to put up most of the money.

RTE definately doesn't work like that. Given Ireland's defamation laws you might want to edit your post.

ted1 · 01-03-2011 08:56PM

Watty i said i suspect which is my opinion which is in no way defamation. I use to work as a design engineer and am aware that their is the possibility of funding for domestic companies especially if it leads to first to market.

watty · 01-03-2011 10:57PM

Walker are just an Importer/Distributer, mostly of Vestel. They don't design or make anything. Management Buyout of the old Mitsubishi distribution of Vestel gear.

Though Vestel is Turkish their HW and SW development is mostly in UK and US. Not in Dublin.

ULMarc · 02-03-2011 12:28AM

hey Pappy o' daniel,

I'd agree with some of the lads and say hang on for another month or two if you want to decide on a solution that's best for your father.

I was wondering if you'd tell me how playTV is going for you. One just arrived for me today and I'm literally dying to get my hands on it tomorrow but I am SO curious. How has it been coping for you. Does the the HD signal get decoded properly?

02-03-2011 12:34AM

ther u go nice cheap box and works fine.

http://www.tvtrade.ie/xoro-digital-tv-receiver.html

watty · 02-03-2011 08:29AM

B wrote: »

ther u go nice cheap box and works fine.

http://www.tvtrade.ie/xoro-digital-tv-receiver.html

Bad value. Avoid (from that link)
Disadvantages of Xoro HRT 7510 Digital TV Receiver

Though this box can be used to receive the new Irish Saorview channels it is does not have the Saorview sticker.
It does not have MHEG5 middleware
Quirky - remote operartes on the same codes as LG TV which makes it not practical to operate with this one make of TV

http://www.saortv.info/about/mheg5/

There are more Soarview Certified Products shortly (best choice)
The "Freeview HD" boxes are a far more compatible choice than these cheap generic boxes and are from £45. All "Freeview HD" boxes have an MHEG5 engine.

Tony · 02-03-2011 09:04AM

I'll ask again, what are you basing this opinion on?

ted1 wrote: »

Watty i said i suspect which is my opinion

ted1 · 02-03-2011 10:09AM

Tony,

I already answered the question. I've got grants and funding for hardware to get certified...... i imagine there clever enough too.

Tony · 02-03-2011 10:40AM

Ted you did not reply to my question (its usual to quote when answering a question) and secondly your reply to Watty does not answer my question.

So I will try for a third time. What evidence do you base this opinion on ? If its just a hunch then please say so, otherwise I'd steer clear of potentially libellous statements which could lead to all sorts of problems for this forum.

Since Walkers manufacturing base is in Turkey I really dont see how the IDA would want to become involved.

ted1 wrote: »

Tony,

I already answered the question. I've got grants and funding for hardware to get certified...... i imagine there clever enough too.

ted1 · 02-03-2011 10:51AM

Tony wrote: »

Ted you did not reply to my question (its usual to quote when answering a question) and secondly your reply to Watty does not answer my question.

So I will try for a third time. What evidence do you base this opinion on ? If its just a hunch then please say so, otherwise I'd steer clear of potentially libellous statements which could lead to all sorts of problems for this forum.

Since Walkers manufacturing base is in Turkey I really dont see how the IDA would want to become involved.

Tony, i said I suspect this implies a hunch, and would not be libellous. i also fail to see how it would be libellous even if i never said it. it's not like i said they were crap over priced boxes which may be libellous, which happens to have been said by many users on this forum. i think your barking up the wrong tree. theres plenty of other posts on here that would be much more libellous.

What would be libellous about it???

Tony · 02-03-2011 11:05AM

Ted implying that a company engaged in unfair practice (receiving 20K for certification for a comercial product is such unless every maufacturer is offered this) could be considered libellous.

I would wage money that anyone from Walker, RTE or the IDA reading your statement would not be happy with it. None of the parties you mentioned would gain any commercial advantage from such a move.

You have no evidence whatsoever to back up your suspicion so I'd have to wonder what your motives are for saying such a thing.

Apologies to the forum for the off topic posts

LIS · 10-03-2011 12:12AM

hi guys......its not the price i would worry about at this early stage,they will hopefully drop in price.it is the lack of retailers.
walker boxes are a very tidy machine indeed but they are very hard to come by.most retailers are on back order and even then they will only get a handfull:(

Tony · 10-03-2011 09:08AM

Unfortunately this is a direct result of the high cost of certification with very few manufactuers interested as Ireland is relatively speaking a small market on a European scale.

Sagem have a box which works in the Nordic region so we are encouraging them to submit a box as the certification costs are lower for a box already working in the Nordic region.

LIS wrote: »

hi guys......its not the price i would worry about at this early stage,they will hopefully drop in price.it is the lack of retailers.
walker boxes are a very tidy machine indeed but they are very hard to come by.most retailers are on back order and even then they will only get a handfull:(

jonnygee · 11-03-2011 11:44PM

So, did Walker pay for the certifacation or did vestel pay for the certifacation of these set top boxes.
In the uk a vestel box can be bought at different prices from different brand names.
so whats to stop different brand names selling the same box as walker at different prices if the same box is already certified.
Surely they wouldnt have to pay again to get a box that is already certified, certified again , if you know what i mean.

STB · 12-03-2011 03:13AM

Walker are the Irish chaps that were behind the Black Diamond TVs sold years ago and which had quite a good name here. They are sourcing their gear from the same factory that manufactured Black Diamonds for Europe. The OEM is Vestel Turkey, a very large manufacturer of TVs and STBs. They make them according to spec and rebrand them for the likes of Walker, Bush, etc. They dont do exclusive from what I have seen in the UK - the Freeview HD chassis - the T8300 is availble under a rake of brand names.

Walker have a few branded products which have been certified. Walker being the lads that trumped up the money, not the OEM. They were the first.

Again Vestel are a major OEM. And maybe if Vestel, the manuafcturer say had a couple of T8300's in for certification (as the previous poster was getting at) then they could rely on the likes of Tesco's to shift a few rebadged as Technika etc as the chassis and box would be certified and it wouldnt matter what make it was - this is just a branding exercise. I understand that this is infact whats going on anyhow and is well advanced.

Vestel T8300 OEM sample chassis (look familiar ?)

Nialler123 · 15-04-2011 04:59PM

I see a GRUNDIG GUD300HD Freeview HD Digital TV Receiver on ebay. anyone know if this will show saorview channels?

vdubber9411 · 15-04-2011 05:35PM

Pappy o' daniel wrote: »

My father has a terrible reception on analogue so I tried my PS3 with playtv and got a perfect reception through saorview, so Im looking for a stand alone STB with teletext being essential.

Looking through this board people favoured the metronic zapbox from amazon but the price has more than doubled. What do people recommend?

Try the Ferguson T50. Its the one I supply and its fantastic. USB connection so you can record to hard drive or USB pen. Walker have been named as they are Irish based from what I can see. Who wants Walker, I would'nt touch them!!!

Sam Russell · 15-04-2011 06:00PM

You could try one of these.

http://www.adverts.ie/540407

Nialler123 · 17-04-2011 12:53AM

Will any Freeview HD Dvb-t2 show Saorview. Yes or no will do!

elsie1b · 17-04-2011 09:25AM

Nialler123 wrote: »

Will any Freeview HD Dvb-t2 show Saorview. Yes or no will do!

Yes. The epg will be an hour out at certain times of the year and text services can be slow because box is set for U.K. Numbering of channels can also be affected,i.e in 8 or 9 hundreds depending on box.
If you don't live in an area that can receive overspill from Wales/N.IRE etc,you'd probably be better with a saorview approved box.

vdubber9411 · 17-04-2011 05:25PM

YES.

MGEG4! Don't worry about MHEG5, its all b*llox

gerrymartin · 17-04-2011 06:23PM

vdubber9411 wrote: »

Try the Ferguson T50. Its the one I supply and its fantastic. USB connection so you can record to hard drive or USB pen. Walker have been named as they are Irish based from what I can see. Who wants Walker, I would'nt touch them!!!

I don't think that box will support teletext? The OP stated that particular function was essential.

gerrymartin · 17-04-2011 06:35PM

vdubber9411 wrote: »

YES.

MGEG4! Don't worry about MHEG5, its all b*llox

For interactive services,teletext and in channel streaming(similar to the uk's red button option) MHEG5 will be essential. So while the T50 and similar boxes without the MHEG5 will happily receive HD and SD MP4 broadcasts, thats all they can do and will fall far short of many customers expectations. More to the point if you are supplying these boxes to customers who think they will do more than it "Says on the tin" you could find yourself with a lot of angry punters to say the least. MHEG5 is certainly not all b*llox. Might be worth a rethink??

Tony · 17-04-2011 06:38PM

I fully agree

gerrymartin wrote: »

For interactive services,teletext and in channel streaming(similar to the uk's red button option) MHEG5 will be essential. So while the T50 and similar boxes without the MHEG5 will happily receive HD and SD MP4 broadcasts, thats all they can do and will fall far short of many customers expectations. More to the point if you are supplying these boxes to customers who think they will do more than it "Says on the tin" you could find yourself with a lot of angry punters to say the least. MHEG5 is certainly not all b*llox. Might be worth a rethink??

St Senan · 17-04-2011 08:42PM

vdubber9411 wrote: »

YES.

MGEG4! Don't worry about MHEG5, its all b*llox

I raised the question about non Saorview certified and Combo boxes to the Saorview people at the recant trade seminar in Dublin. Saorviews technical guy Des said that what will happen is that these clones and combo boxes wont receive OTA software updates which will eventually cause these boxes problems. So i would not be selling these to the public.
Black Briar can also confirm this as he also attended the seminar.

Sam Russell · 17-04-2011 09:16PM

OTA will only deliver the software the producer provides. Panasonic, a major multinational, selling a large number of TVs into Ireland have refused to upgrade their faulty sets despite many requests. OTA is only as good as the manufacturer of the product. Most equipment can be upgraded by USB from software provided over the internet.

And is their (RTE NL authorised) testing so poor that future upgrades are going to be required? Is this a case of making it up as we go along?

Pulease .....

St Senan · 17-04-2011 09:29PM

Sam these mpeg4 boxes dont do Aertel or interactive services. I would rather supply and install a certified Saorview box. That way i wont have any arguements in the future when some elderly couple in the country side want to get the lotto numbers or look up the weather forecast.

Sam Russell · 17-04-2011 10:07PM

scaller wrote: »

Sam these mpeg4 boxes dont do Aertel or interactive services. I would rather supply and install a certified Saorview box. That way i wont have any arguements in the future when some elderly couple in the country side want to get the lotto numbers or look up the weather forecast.

Agree with you totally, but OTA upgrades are a nonsense unless they know they are going off-spec.

Saorview certified is the correct way to go for an installer or a retailer. Only problem is there are not a whole lot of cerified products around, and they are at a premium price, for a non-premium product.

St Senan · 17-04-2011 10:10PM

They did say that some sort of combo box will be certified in the future Triax we think as there was triax brochures on the seats.

Tony · 17-04-2011 10:38PM

scaller wrote: »

eventually cause these boxes problems.

My view is theres a bit of scaremongering going on here by RTE . Unless they deviate from the spec mpeg 4 HD boxes will continue to operate as they do now. The current situation with only two certified boxes on the market is unhealthy and is not doing anybody trade or consumer any favours.

jonnygee · 18-04-2011 07:55AM

I think that there is a limited timespan for the trade to maximise business from selling stb,s. between now and aso probably.
I predict that after aso that i will be able to pick up a box while doing my weekly shopping in Tesco,s for 49.99 euro or less.

Tony · 18-04-2011 08:06AM

jonnygee wrote: »

I predict that after aso that i will be able to pick up a box while doing my weekly shopping in Tesco,s for 49.99 euro or less.

I doubt that since only 2 boxes have been certified, unless this changes there will be no pressure on the retail price.

jonnygee · 18-04-2011 08:23AM

But there has to be a change in retail price, what is to stop tesco from changing the software on one of it,s 30 pound boxes and selling it here as compatible.

Tony · 18-04-2011 08:24AM

jonnygee wrote: »

But there has to be a change in retail price, what is to stop tesco from changing the software on one of it,s 30 pound boxes and selling it here as compatible.

Why does there have to be a change? Theres noting stopping tesco from selling any box it chooses but if they want to sell a cerified box they have to stump up 20k for the privelidge.

Macy0161 · 18-04-2011 08:38AM

scaller wrote: »

They did say that some sort of combo box will be certified in the future Triax we think as there was triax brochures on the seats.

Any mention of timescale? Trying to stall the father in law waiting for this.

btw, I'd pony up for a certified receiver, even if the Walkers are overpriced. Not much of a saving if you buy a cheaper box now, that needs upgrading in 18 months. And btw2, I've a few Walker TV's and can't say I've ever had issue with their quality.

jonnygee · 18-04-2011 08:41AM

I dont think people will care if the box is certified or not, all they want to know is will it work. I think price will need to change downwards, just look at the amount of people already seeking cheaper alternatives on this forum.
(Sam Russell will probably be a millionaire, maybe he already is?:))

Tony · 18-04-2011 09:03AM

jonnygee wrote: »

I dont think people will care if the box is certified or not,

Thats not been my experience so far.

Looking for a saorview HD box

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