It was their entry-level machine, at the time, as is the Panasonic.
Amusingly, Panasonic's "get in touch with us" web page doesn't work, either. Oh, well, shan't be buying anything from them ever again.
To implement this feature would probably cost them very little. In my limited experience of flat screen TVs anyway, price points seem to be set by disabling features and charging customers a premium for any of these "extras" they may require.
Quite possibly the problem is, nobody you ask in a shop or wherever will be able to tell you for definite whether a particular model of any make will have this feature. It may even have a specific name which may even differ between manufacturers.
Before the Sony finally gives up the ghost it might be an idea to post this on other NG's and find out whether this feature has a specific name and how common it is on entry level machines nowadays.
The problem is the difficulty of extracting all the necessary information beforehand, rather than taking anything on trust. Online reviews can be useful is some respects - it appears that on an earlier Panasonic model half of the EPG screen was either filled with advertising or left with a blank space if disabled. Presumably the next model up in the range at a cost of an extra 50 was spared this "feature".
michael adams
...
We don't have a PVR, but there was a Humax in a holiday cottage we stayed in earlier in the year.
I thought the program guide/interface was dreadful
Andy Burns put finger to keyboard:
The one that was showing before the user started watching a recording is the only sensible answer.
Indeed...
as you have nothing to compare it with I think you might be surprised at how even more dreadful others are
tim
Possibly because the whole interface and most of the functionality can be replaced with third party software and many years of development have gone into the popular software utilities that many thousands of Topfield users run on their machines.
I've been looking for a new HD RVR box but reviews indicate that they all seem to have the (minor) problems that are not seen on my Toppy 5800 running the Mystuff TAP.
It not just Topfield boxes. Some of the "brand leaders" appear to have the same capacitor problems with boxes of 3/4 years of age. My Humax HD satellite box runs very hot and is probably due for a PSU repair soon!
Yes. I followed the forum for a while but never felt knowledgeable or brave enough to fiddle with firmware.
I have not attempted anything other than fixing the power supply on the
5810. With no ambition to stream video, it does all I need although *fast forward* could be improved.In message , at 12:36:15 on Mon, 9 Dec 2013, Mark remarked:
I've got a 6yr old Panasonic, which every now and again just records blackness. Never been able to work out what triggers this.
Also have an older Humax which has the irritating "I'm busy recording something at the moment - bugger off" syndrome. It's also taken to having hiccups - partway through replaying a programme it sometimes glitches and from then on the sound and video are out of synch.
Tried skipping back and/or forwards a bit? Just occasionally XBMC on a Raspberry will get out of sync and skipping back and then forward a couple of 30 sec lumps normally makes it right again.
In message , at
16:05:48 on Tue, 10 Dec 2013, Dave Liquorice remarked:Yes, if you stop it and restart, it re-synchs.
TAPs will transform your Toppy into something that is close to best in its class. Out-of-the box its an average machine with buggy firmware.
There is a firmware patch for that
Personally I don't use fast forward or rewind as the native toppy has other methods that are better. With TAps you can also jump through the adverts using the red/green/yellow/blue buttons.
In message , michael adams writes
You and usually find the user guide on the manufacturers website which does tell you a lot about what you can and can't do. I have a Toshiba which isn't bad except the standby light is a very strong red ring whereas the information when active is in blue and virtually impossible to read unless your nose is within six inches of the display.
The 5810 does 2,4,8,16 out of the box. The button operation is *buggy* however.
Nice.
I still have 2 moribund Toppy 5800's taking up space. One has a tuner fault and the other I think I cocked up a firmware change. Both have replacement capacitors thanks to Andy.
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