sonsenfrancais
Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2008
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 78
- My Satellite Setup
-
Hotbird3
Atlantic Bird 3
TM5300D USB
TM3300 2CI
BIS card
- My Location
- Cardiff
It goes against the grain rather to post a message praising a box - we usually discuss problems rather than give free advertising. But this is a bit different...
I use a 60 cm dish pointed at AB3, with two LNBs. Up to now I've used a TM5300 to record the French FTA programmes to USB, and a TM5400 to record 20 or so encrypted channels you get with the BIS package and their Viaccess card.
I use VideoRedoPlus to convert the .TS files to .mpg, and DivXAuthor to convert to .divx for storing
The problem has always been that while the FTA channels always recorded perfectly, the encrypted channels often didn't. Fast movement across the screen, or camera pans, and the resultant mpgs were badly pixelated, and would not convert to divx. I never found out why this was.
The other problem was that the menu selections while recording were very limited - you couldn't use the EPG to see what was playing even on the same transponder
The 7100 has made all the difference in the world. The two satellite tuners (I don't use the terrestrial) will allow recording of any two programs, and a third if the transponder is available. Even more important, the EPG works whiloe recording, you can zap through the channels, and the logic of the menu system is impeccable.
Lest you should think I work for Technomate, let me say what seriously needs to be rethought with this box
There are two USB ports and a 500 Gbyte hard drive which is easily removable without opening up the main box. Unfortunately, you have to select one default drive, and you can't copy from hard drive to USB
This means that the 8Gbyte USBs I use risk filling up in one evening if I record two long films.
The hard drive, once extracted, can be connected by E-SAT to a computer, but not easily. Power needs to be provided, and the idea of constantly plugging and unplugging the fragile data and power connections doesn't appeal
My solution was to put the 500Gbyte drive into a powered drive cabinet with a USB port. The 7100 picks up the drive fine, and I can port the data to my PC. But the drive cabinet set me back another 40 quid...
Apart from that, though, this is a seriously nice piece of equipment
I use a 60 cm dish pointed at AB3, with two LNBs. Up to now I've used a TM5300 to record the French FTA programmes to USB, and a TM5400 to record 20 or so encrypted channels you get with the BIS package and their Viaccess card.
I use VideoRedoPlus to convert the .TS files to .mpg, and DivXAuthor to convert to .divx for storing
The problem has always been that while the FTA channels always recorded perfectly, the encrypted channels often didn't. Fast movement across the screen, or camera pans, and the resultant mpgs were badly pixelated, and would not convert to divx. I never found out why this was.
The other problem was that the menu selections while recording were very limited - you couldn't use the EPG to see what was playing even on the same transponder
The 7100 has made all the difference in the world. The two satellite tuners (I don't use the terrestrial) will allow recording of any two programs, and a third if the transponder is available. Even more important, the EPG works whiloe recording, you can zap through the channels, and the logic of the menu system is impeccable.
Lest you should think I work for Technomate, let me say what seriously needs to be rethought with this box
There are two USB ports and a 500 Gbyte hard drive which is easily removable without opening up the main box. Unfortunately, you have to select one default drive, and you can't copy from hard drive to USB
This means that the 8Gbyte USBs I use risk filling up in one evening if I record two long films.
The hard drive, once extracted, can be connected by E-SAT to a computer, but not easily. Power needs to be provided, and the idea of constantly plugging and unplugging the fragile data and power connections doesn't appeal
My solution was to put the 500Gbyte drive into a powered drive cabinet with a USB port. The 7100 picks up the drive fine, and I can port the data to my PC. But the drive cabinet set me back another 40 quid...
Apart from that, though, this is a seriously nice piece of equipment
